Tigh Soluis II leads J/109 Irish Nationals

by D Apthorp on 17 Jul 2008
The fourth and fifth races of the J/109 Irish National Championship were held over a trapezoid course on Wednesday and Tigh Soluis II and Beth of Five Star who sweept up in the third day of racing.

The first start of the day was a general recall and on the restart Jaguar of Burnham (Adrian Lower) and Just Us (Dan Buckley) led from Aquelina (James & Sheila Tyrrell) and Tigh Soluis II (Ken Grant). A reach saw the J/109 fleet meet with IRC 1 at the gybe mark.

By the second lap Tigh Soluis II had secured a strong lead from Beth of Five Star (Guy Knight) who in turn had taken some distance out of Jaguar of Burnham. Tigh Soluis II continued to extend their lead on the final lap. Meanwhile J-Dream (David & Kirsty Apthorp) and Catalpa (Tom Smyth) traded places on the final run as were Stalker (Steven Tapper) and Basic Instinct (Jonathan Hearth) and Batfish II (Bill Blain) and Powder Monkey (Chris Moore).

Result race 4
1st – Tigh Soluis II (Ken Grant)
2nd – Beth of Five Star (Guy Knight)
3rd – Jaguar of Burnham (Adrian Lower)

The fifth race saw Jaguar of Burnham caught up with Aquelina on the start on the wrong side of the Inner Distance Mark and had to restart. Meanwhile Tigh Soluis II led the fleet in a similar style to the first race of the day only to lose out to Beth of Five Star and Outrajeous (Richard & Valerie Griffith).

On the final beat Juke Box (Brian Moreton) and Joker II (John Maybury) had an excellent leg and squeezed into 3rd and 4th places respectively. Jaguar of Burnham made an excellent recovery to finish 14th. Guy Knight (Beth of Five Star) said, 'we are delighted that we have found boat speed which we have been lacking. It must have been the extra Murphys last night , as we had the luck of the Irish with us!'

Result race 5
1st – Beth of Five Star (Guy Knight)
2nd – Outrajeous (Richard & Valerie Griffith)
3rd – Juke Box (Brian Moreton)

Overnight leaders after three days of racing at the J/109 Irish National Championship at ACC Bank Cork Week are Tigh Soluis II (16 points) from J-Dream (21 points) and Juke Box (27 points).