SAILING: Just over one week ago, Limerick's Ger O'Rourke and the crew of Kingspan Chieftain were being feted as overall winners of the gruelling Sevenstar Round Britain and Ireland Race.

Irish victories in any of sailing's widespread disciplines are few and far between and tales of the Cookson 50-footer's sleigh-ride southwards from the North Sea to beat both weather and a 29-boat fleet will be a lasting memory of the 2006 season.

But a minor victory is worth noting too, this week and incredibly it comes from the same race more than a week after the first boats completed the 1,760-mile course. Skippered by Kieran Jameson, the Sigma 38-footer Changeling crossed the finishing line on Wednesday night after more than 16 days at sea.

Although last boat to finish, Changeling collects the Class 3 trophy. By contrast, the larger boats in Class 2 all failed to complete the course and there were 10 retrials in total.

Having been at sea since O'Rourke's win, Jameson added his praise for Chieftain's victory. "I'm a firm believer in offshore racing and I'm delighted that an Irish boat has won," he told The Irish Times last night.

Royal Ocean Racing Club organisers estimated due to headwinds, Changeling sailed an additional 500 miles compared to other boats. Jameson admitted: "The hardest part was going up the west coast of Ireland then having to head up to the outer Shetlands - another 450 miles."

Rounding Mucka Flugga and competing was the real high-point for Jameson who has sailed 15 Fastnet Races in the past. "We opened a bottle of champagne - it was our Cape Horn." Having had a beat to the northern-most corner of the course, the wind moved to the south soon after, obliging them to continue their beat around the course.

Crew member Kareena Knaggs switches from offshore to inshore as she joins Mary O'Loughlin's all-female crew to continue training for the ISAF Nations Cup match-racing championship in Crosshaven in 10 days' time. The world number-one ranked Claire Leroy has been confirmed for the event while Mathieu Richard is the top ranked helm for the men's event.

As a result, O'Loughlin will be missing from this weekend's Audi Etchells National Championship at Howth where 26 crews will be in action from this afternoon. Locals Dan O'Grady, Raz Beshoff and Paul Reilly are tipped as the best of the Irish contenders against an international line-up from four countries.