| Etchells Nationals: 11th & 12th August | | | | | On Saturday morning, conditions were looking ominous with rain and no wind. However, PRO Derek Bothwell anticipated a change and got racing started on schedule at 10.30 in a steadily increasing Southerly wind. | | | | Des Flood was the early leader in Race one but he was chased down and finally overtaken by Dan O’Grady on the second beat. This was the finishing order, with Tommy Fitzpatrick finishing third in another close battle with Graham Elmes. | | | | The light jibs were replaced for Race 2 as the wind continued to build. Anthony Shanks lead all the way around and was followed home by O’Grady and the consistent Elmes in Third. | | | | By Race 3, the wind had increased to 20 kts and some of the new crews were beginning to get a feel for the physical nature of the boats. O’Grady took his second victory of the day, with William Lacy finding some pace in the stronger conditions to finish a strong 2nd and Elmes once again in 3rd. |
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| | | | Overnight, O’Grady lead from Elmes and Fizpatrick. Raz Beshoff and Paul Reilly, crewing with O’Grady, cunningly lead a significant portion of their competitors on a tour of the local hostelries on Saturday evening, and the effect was noticeable with a very slow start from some on Sunday morning. | | | | Westerly winds and a cross tide greeted the fleet on Sunday morning. The wind continued to decrease throughout the day and was considerably shiftier as it was blowing off the beach. | | | | The first race was taken comfortably by Tom Ftizpatrick, with regular crew of Jack and Frank Norton, and guest Laura Dillon all staying on board this time. Anthony Shanks won a very close tussle with O’Grady for 2nd place. | | | | Race 2 saw a great battle on the 3rd and final beat with the young(ish) crew of Neil Spain, Dec McManus and Dara O’Reilly battling with Fitzpatrick, Shanks and O’Grady. Eventually, O’Grady took the gun from Fitzpatrick, with Spainer a strong 3rd. | | | | O'Grady, Beshoff and Reilly in Snow Patrol had it in the bag after 5 races, so the battle was for 2nd onward in the last race. | | | | Tommy Fitzpatrick took another bullet from Mary O’Loughlin and Shanksie in 3rd. | | | | The predominantly light conditions gave close racing all weekend and most people had a few moments to shine. The race management did the usual excellent job and all of the competitors agreed it was the perfect preparation for the upcoming Europeans in The Royal Irish. | | | | Final results: | | | | | |
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