LAURA DILLON emerged triumphant from the annual Church and General ISA Helmsman Championship at Ballyholme Yacht Club yesterday after a closely-fought series which was decided in the protest room. The victory neatly rounds off a highly-successful season that also included a bronze medal at the IYRU Youth Worlds at Newport, Rhode Island.
The ten-race series on Belfast Lough opened on Saturday morning with Dillon and her crew, John Gilmore, establishing an early over-all lead after the first three races in which the pair counted a first and two seconds. Tied for the second overall place were European Laser Il champions Tom Fitzpatrick with David McHugh, and the new ISA Junior champion, Gerbil Owens, with Philip Johnston.
However, by the end of the first day, Fitzpatrick, also Dillon's mentor and coach, had established a narrow lead of just 1.25 points. Owens had dropped back down the fleet after counting an eleventh, allowing class veteran Sean Craig, with Ben O'Donoghue, to move into third position. The remainder of the IS boats were well spread out down the points table.
Sunday morning dawned with lighter winds and an easier sea than the previous day and the stage was set for a battle royale between Fitzpatrick and Dillon. A second and two firsts for Dillon brought her within .25 points going into the final race. Marginally ahead of her main rival at the weather mark a collision between the two boats resulted in protest and counterprotest.
Fitzpatrick went on to win the race, while Dillon could only manage fourth. However, the 1994 Helmsman champion was subsequently disqualified by the protest committee and Irish sailing recorded its first ever female "champion of champions".
Sean Craig took third overall, with the sole Olympic team member in attendance, soling skipper Marshall King, taking fourth, and the local Laser sailor, Garreth Flannagan, fifth.
Mustang Sally clocked up another win in the fourth outing of the Nissan Autumn League at Howth Yacht Club yesterday and now leads the Class 0 CHS division by 6.5 points after a brisk force four race around the cans off Ireland's eye.
Elsewhere in the 211-boat fleet the first discard came into play for the 12 competing classes and Aztec (Peter Beamish) and Pathfinder (Philip Watson), the leaders in class two and three respectively, took two more bullets to consolidate their overall margins with two of the six races left to sail.
