IRM Class at Cork Week - Day 4

The Caribbean it was not. A misty wet day with brisk south westerly winds produced great racing for the IRM grand prix class at Cork Week today, as Peter Harrison's Farr 52 Chernikeeff 2, the 2003 UK IRM National Champion, moved closer to overall victory.

The first race was the less pleasant of the two. Although the visibility lifted slightly after being thoroughly clagged in at the scheduled start time, the rain was still almost horizontal as the starts got away. Making a clean start and getting a good clear lane of relatively undisturbed breeze it was Babbalaas, the IC 45 of David McLean which has Jeremy Robinson driving and Ossie Stewart doing tactics which put up the best pursuit of the Farr 52's and went on to win by 28 seconds. Proving once again just how close racing has been under IRM at this regatta, there was just two and half minutes between the first and the tenth boat.

After taking second place in the first race Chernikeeff went on to win the second race. They were in command of their own destiny by early in the first beat, going on to win by only 14 seconds from Babbalaas, who now lie second overall with just two points of a deficit behind Chernikeeff. " We just got better starts today - certainly of the Farr 45's - and were just able to hold our lanes well in both races and that really made all the difference. We had our issues at times - and lost a jib sheet when a j-lock exploded in the second race - but we had some good lay lines and good sets and drops and that is important when it is so close. Racing was great with plenty of pressure from the other Farr 45's." recalled Babbalaas bowman Andy Nicholson.