The AIB Autumn Series 2020 kicked off in style on Sunday as competitors were met with blue skies and a Westerly breeze which at times reached 15 knots. 40 boats raced across two courses on Sunday with the 1720s racing separately for their Munsters and will join the series for week 2.
On course A, South East of Trabolgan, Barry Rose and crew on Adrielle opted to give the Spinnaker Classes two windward leeward races. With a variable breeze between 8 and 15 knots and neap tides, the start was ‘All In’, Class Zero completing three laps and Classes 1 and 2 completing two laps.
Despite it being their first outing this year, the crew of ‘Jump Juice’ dominated Class Zero with two firsts as Maurice O’Connell skippered in Conor Phelan’s absence. Molly Murphy on ‘Nieulargo’ was forced to sacrifice some of their regular crew as sister Mia competed in the 1720 Munsters, with two seconds it didn’t taken long to get in the groove as they closed the gap significantly on Jump in race 2. ‘Saxon Senator’ had two thirds and rounding up Class Zero, Frank Doyle’s J112 ‘Cara’ had two fourths.
Class One was ultra competitive with four boats within two points of each other. Ultimately, Kieran Dorgan and crew on ‘Altair’ from Cove Sailing Club won the day with a 4,1 but there is almost nothing between ‘Miss Whiplash’, ‘Coracle’, ‘Cortegada’ and the Tingle’s X34 ‘Alpaca’. This sets up Class One for a fascinating series ahead.
In Class Two, Mike McCann’s Etchells ‘Don’t Dilly Dally’ had two convincing victories with a hard fight for second place amongst Dave Lane’s J24 ‘YouGottaWanna’, Richard Leonard’s ‘Bandit’ and Denis Byrne’s ‘Cracker’.
On Course B, the Non-Spinnaker classes opted for two races around the cans in the harbour under the watchful eye of Rear Admiral Keelboats Daragh Connolly. Racing was postponed for a time as the breeze filled in but two great harbour races followed. In IRC WS One, ‘Prince Of Tide’s’ showed her continued turn of pace with two firsts in varied conditions. ‘Magnet’, ‘Ellida’ and former Admiral Mike McCarthy’s ‘Jolastan’ are only separated by two points in a tight battle behind.
In Echo WS Two, John & Fiona Murphy’s ‘Esme’ leads with a 1,4 but the Coleman’s ‘Blue Oyster’ is only one point behind with a 5,1 and ‘Plumbat’ only one point behind again with a a 2,5.
Head of Business Banking with AIB Cork, Eoin Gunn, was on hand with Admiral Colin Morehead to present the prizes at a socially distant prize giving on the lawn. Both Eoin and Colin wished competitors well and thanked them for their adherence to COVID-19 guidelines throughout the event.
Eoin Gunn, Head of Business Banking with AIB and Admiral Colin Morehead at the prize giving. The club would also like to thank Volvo Car Ireland for their continued support.
Full results are here and images below courtesy of Bob Bateman
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