Day 1 of the Fortis IRC Championship

by Trish Jenkins on 11 Jun 2006 Day one of the Fortis IRC Championship saw fantastic conditions, bright sunshine and solid breeze of between 15-20 knots, quite frankly you can’t get better sailing conditions than that!

The superb conditions were welcomed by the competitors and the race committee as Chief Race Officer Jamie Wilkinson explained:

'We started racing approaching high tide and our only real consideration was to avoid the Dragon fleet in the vicinity of East Knoll. The chosen race area was between Britannia Events and off Hill Head. All of the fleet got clean away which allowed us to stay in the same race area for the second race without
having to move any marks. The competitors enjoyed windward leeward courses for the first two races. Due to a lack of depth, the third race was in the vicinity of East Bramble where we set a course including a shy reach which is always testing for competitors.'

Race 1

IRC SZ
Benny Kelly’s TP52 Panthera continued their impressive form this season by
winning the opener by a considerable margin from Ger O’Rourke’s Cookson 50 Chieftain but the Cookson 50 was pushed all the way by Kit Hobday’s Farr 52 Bear of Britain and after correction the gap was 2 seconds. The tightest finish of the day.

IRC 0
Tim Costello’s Mills 40 Tiamet, one of the smallest boats in the fleet won the opening race with John Shepherd’s Ker 46 Fair Do’s VII piping Colm Barrington’s Ker 50 Magic Glove. A special mention to RORC members Nick and Annie Haigh who came in 4th on Steamy Rebel, a hastily chartered entry.

IRC 1
The biggest class of the Fortis IRC Championship saw three Irish boats taking the top three places. Eamonn Rohan’s Corby 37 Blondie scampering home by a decent margin from Conor and Denise Phelan’s Ker 37 Jump Juice. In 3rd place at their first regatta was David Dwyer’s Mills 39 Marinerscover.ie.

IRC 2
Stephen and Benedict James’ Swan 48 Jacobite revelled in the breezy conditions to post an emphatic win over Anthony O’Leary’s Corby 35 Antix. These two boats dominated race 1 with Salamander XVIII owned by John Corson was 3rd.

IRC 3
Michael Tattersall’s X-99 Electra showed a clean pair of heels in race 1 with Jackie Welch’s Elan 333 Elusive in 2nd place. Roger Swinney’s Bolero Ayanami was 3rd.

Race 2

IRC SZ
Ger O’Rourke Cookson 50 Chieftain managed to get the better of the competition winning by over two minutes from Benny Kelly’s Panthera and over 4 minutes ahead of Charles Dunstone’s new TP25 Red competing in her first ever regatta.

IRC 0
Tim Costello continued his winning form as the Mills 40 Tiamat took race 2 but they were pushed hard by John Shepherd’s Ker 46 Fair Do’s VII who were only 19 seconds behind on corrected time. Colm Barrington’s Ker 50 Magic Glove was placed 3rd.

IRC 1
David Dwyer’s Mills 39 Marinerscove.ie posted their first ever bullet beating Coor and Denise Phelan’s Ker 37 Jump Juice into 2nd place but only by 12 seconds. Ian Maclean’s Ker 36 Software Mistress managed 3rd.

IRC 2
Stephen James’ elegant Swan 48 Jacobite was 1st over the line as well as winning on corrected time. With Anthony O’Leary’s Corby 35 Antix in 2nd and Mike MacCarthy’s Ker 32 Checkmate in 3rd.

IRC 3
Jackie Welch’s Elan 333 Elusive managed to get the better of Mike Tattersall’s Electra, but only by 30 seconds with Roger Swinney’s Bolero Ayanami coming in 3rd.

Race 3

IRC SZ
Ger O’Rourke’s Chieftain finished a good day on the water by winning the last race from Kit Hobday’s Farr 52 Bear of Britain with Benny Kelly’s TP52 Panthera in 3rd place despite taking line honours.

Ger O’Rourke owner of Chieftain ended the day top of IRC SZ and commented:

'It was fantastic racing. Nice fast courses and the Race Committee really did their job getting the races off in quick succession. We enjoyed the extra breeze and also the round the cans race as reaching is our best point of sail. All in all we were happy to pace the Transpac 52’s upwind but we could never relax as they are definitely quicker downwind because of their sail area. In lighter breeze we lose the advantage of a canting keel and they will probably get the better of us.'

IRC 0
Tiamat knocked in a hat trick of victories soundly beating John Shepherd’s Fair Do’s VII into 2nd place and despite finishing the race 6 minutes ahead of her rivals, Colm Barrington’s Ker 50 was 3rd.

IRC 1
Conor and Denise Phelan’s Ker 37 Jump Juice hosted her 1st win of the regatta beating the rival Corby 37 Blondie owned by Eamonn Rohan into 2nd place. Ian Maclean’s Software Mistress ended the day with a consistent 3rd.

Jeremy Robinson the North Sails designer was calling tactics on the Mills 39 Marinerscove.ie. He said:'It was a mixed day for us, however the breeze definitely suited us as we were able to get ahead on the first beat and in
clear air we could dictate to a great extent where we wanted to be on the water. Personally, I was happy with the new sails that we have created having learnt much from designing the sails for Tiamat last year.

Unfortunately we had a minor gear failure in the last race which caused us to retire but with one discard allowed, we are still very much in the hunt and there is still plenty of racing to come.'

IRC 2
Stephen James’ Jacobite made a clean sweep of bullets by winning race 3 with Anthony O’Leary’s Corby 35 Antix having to settle for 2nd place once again. Mike MacCarthy Ker 32 Checkmate was in 3rd place.

After 3 races, John Brinkers sail designer at UK Halsey who was calling
tactics on Stephen James’ Swan 48 Jacobite said: 'Obviously we are delighted to have won all our races today but we are under no illusion that Anthony O’Leary’s Corby 35 Antix is tough competition. In fact, apart from one mistake in the 1st race by Antix, we definitely wouldn’t have own that one. If the breeze stays heavy, I fancy our chances but if it goes light, they will be all over us.'

IRC 3
Jackie Welch’s Elan 333 Elusive finished a great day at the office with a
bullet in race 3. Impala 28 Parallel Universe recovered from a retirement in race 2 to take 2nd place with Michael Tattersall’s consistent X-99 coming in 3rd.

Jerome Burgaud hails from North Aquitaine, France and was racing his First 34.7 TBS. He agreed with Jeremy Robinson. 'It was very difficult for us today as a small boat. We find it difficult to compete upwind with boats like Jacobite, maybe tomorrow and Sunday we will have less wind which will suit our boat much more.'

Summing up after 3 races of the Fortis IRC Championship Ger O’Rourke’s Cookson 50 Chieftain is leading IRC SZ and hoping for more breeze tomorrow.

In the highly competitive IRC 0 Tim Costello’s Mills 40 Tiamat is punching well above her weight as the smallest boat in the class, with a perfect score line of 3 bullets.

Conor and Denise Phelan’s Ker 37 Jump Juice got the upper hand in IRC 1 at the end of the first day’s racing but is level on points with their rival Eamonn Rohan’s Corby 37 Blondie who had a disappointing 4th in race 2, including 3 spectacular wipeouts.

In IRC 2 Stephen James’ Swan 48 Jacobite finished off a perfect score line on day 1 and are hoping for more fresh breeze and flat water.

Jackie Welch and Robert Dobson’s Elan 333 Elusive had a brilliant day in IRC 3 and the Poole based boat is enjoying her debut season at RORC events.

The forecast for tomorrow is for south easterly winds force 4 with more glorious Solent sunshine and a maximum temperature of 25˚C.

Racing Manager, Janet Grosvenor has confirmed that the opening match for
the England football team at the World Cup will be closely monitored by the
Race Committee and should a goal be scored, the competitors of the Fortis
IRC Championship will be informed as soon as the referee ratifies the
decision. ENDS/…

Event website: http://www.rorc.org/content/view/143/91/