SAILING/All-Ireland Championship:Following a sudden death conclusion to the All-Ireland Sailing Championships, Stefan Hyde of the Royal Cork Yacht Club yesterday became the 60th winner of the Irish Dinghy Racing Association Helmsman trophy on Dublin Bay yesterday.
The 25-year old was joined for this event by crewmen Daire O'Reilly and Declan MacManus.
Initially, 16 sailors from around Ireland were nominated to compete and two flights of eight distilled this down to six finalists. A repechage series was planned for yesterday morning but that was abandoned after thick fog disrupted the programme.
In response, the top four from each flight qualified but despite the shortened series, when the fog eventually lifted a sea breeze barely filled to less than five knots and still the programme was threatened by no wind.
To the credit of the principal race officers and their teams, Jack Roy on the senior course and Con Murphy on the nearby junior course, a short final race was staged across less than one mile.
After an impressive first leg, Hyde held his nerve as Maurice "Prof" O'Connell, the Ireland Olympic team contender for the Star class, closed down his lead on the downwind leg.
Hyde covered well and O'Connell took the runners-up place with four-time champion Tom Fitzpatrick third.
Meanwhile on Seapoint bay, Chris Penny, representing both Carrickfergus Sailing Club and East Antrim Boat Club, emerged victorious in the junior championship title. Sailed in Laser Radials, 24 sailors were entered and like their senior counterparts, had their repechage round cancelled so 16 sailors competed in a single-race final.
Annalise Murphy of the National YC justified her "wildcard" nomination to the event by placing third overall and was the girls champion.
This year's senior championship featured on-the-water umpiring for the first time but it was another innovation that received the best feedback from the competitors. The arrival of the ISA's "SailFleet" of eight brand new J80 Sportsboats was warmly welcomed as it permitted fully equalised boats to be sailed by every helm.
The €500,000 project, which was funded by corporate sponsors and a €180,000 grant from the Department of Arts, Sports and Tourism, will shortly commence a tour of Ireland to provide public sailing opportunities as well as other racing events.
