SAILING: THERE WERE shocks aplenty when four Irish championship titles were decided at Howth yesterday following a spectacular three-day series in the Saab ICRA Nationals.
More than 100 boats and up to 1,000 sailors took part in the seven-race series under the IRC-handicapping system.
Arguably the biggest surprise came in the Division Zero fleet, where Anthony O'Leary's Antix Eile failed to make good on Friday's domination of this 13-boat class; wins in races one and two were followed by middling performances that saw the Ker 39-footer place fourth.
The top four places in Division Zero went to Royal Cork YC stablemates.
David Dwyer's marinerscove.ie beat Conor Phelan's Jump Juice for the top place but only after the tie-break separated them.
Eamonn Rohan's Blonde IV also found form after Friday's poor start, eventually explained by her propeller failing to close.
Looking toward the Commodore's Cup in six weeks' time, O'Leary's performance in Friday's lighter airs was reassuring, while the new spinnakers used for the stronger breezes on Saturday and Sunday in Howth may also make a difference in Cowes.
There were few surprises in Division One, where Tino Hyland and Nigel Biggs brought their brand new J109 Sail4Cancer to its first win and the national title.
"We're really pleased as the boat only came out of the wrappers two weeks ago," Hyland said.
"This win is dedicated to Nigel's father, John, who died before Christmas."
Hyland and Biggs counted all top three places in this 28-strong class in which the runner-up - Mike MacCarthy's Checkmate from the RCYC - and Barry Cunningham's Contango from the Royal Irish YC caught the eye.
The largest fleet was in Division Two, where Richard Colwell and John Murphy flew the flag for Howth YC and delivered the goods with an emphatic first place.
In fact the eventual winners carried a maximum-points penalty for early starting in Friday's unruly opening race in that fleet. And as late as Saturday evening, it seemed Barry and David Rose on Obsession VI might pull off a successful defence as they lagged just half a point behind the Welsh visitor Wil Williams on Wil2Win.
But the discard kicked in yesterday after the sixth race, and the overnight leaders saw their lead evaporate as they covered one another for the final two races.
Second-placed Tim Goodbody on White Mischief also pounced after a highly consistent series and was pleased to show-off the capabilities of his "classic one-design".
In Division Three Flor O'Driscoll picked up a national title, his J24 Hard On Port counting no less than five wins in the series and roundly defeating local supreme Vince Gaffney.
