FIREBALL ULSTER CHAMPSIONSHIPS CONCLUDE AT MULLAGHMORE SC
The Irish Fireball Association summer Championship circuit blasted ahead at the weekend at Mullaghmore Sailing Club, with an entry of 25 boats for this Ulster Championship. Saturday saw champagne conditions on the waters of Mullaghmore, with strong winds and big, big waves. The breeze remained in force right up to the final race of the day, with the entire fleet screaming around the Olympic Triangle course. Back ashore, the members of the host club laid on a fantastic BBQ for the competing sailors, which was very welcome after some great racing.
On Sunday, the sailors woke up to lightish winds, fading to very light as the day went on. The warning gun went just after 11am and the fleet got away in semi-trapezing conditions. By the end of race five, the wind had fallen very light as boats approached the finish and now as the fleet awaited race six, there was less and less sign of anything approaching a reasonable breeze. After four very physical races on the Saturday there were no complaints that race six never materialised due to lack of pressure and sailors used the opportunity to pack up a bit early for the trek home.
When the numbers were crunched Barry & Rimmington were undisputed Ulster Champions counting four wins, the Thompsons were 2nd with extremely impressive and consistent results and Og Butler & Inan third. Class veterans Butler & Oram were 4th, one point adrift. The even more veteran Niall McGrotty & Neil Cramer were 5th with a very solid scoresheet. Sixth place definitely deserves a mention – David Evans & William Draper beat Miller & Butler on equal points to take sixth place – a fantastic result for the young talented lightweight pair in the prevailing conditions.
In the silver fleet Sam Street & Tiarnan Brown were tops with Fireball newcomers Katie Tingle & Maeve Leonard 2nd and Brian Jones & Barry O’Connor 3rd. A special prize went to another Fireball veteran, Keith Walker who travelled over from Hayling Island SC to helm for Michael Keegan. It’s worth mentioning the number of young sailors now enjoying Fireball racing, having found the boat affordable, high performance and above all, fun. Very many have been introduced to the class by Chris Bateman who has been running coaching sessions at Monkstown Bay SC. It is also worth mentioning that the winning boat, a Winder lovingly restored by Josh Porter, is over 25 years old, proving the point that a well-maintained boat, especially those built by Winder, Duvosin and Weathermark, remain extremely competitive throughout their long lives.
Credit must go to all the volunteers at Mullaghmore for hosting a decent size fleet. The Fireball fleet look forward to returning to this fantastic location before too long. Next up for Fireballs is the National Championship at RCYC August 16th – 18th, in tandem with 29ers and 420s. With entries increasing this season for each event red-hot competition is expected at the Nationals 2024.