The Optimist Ulster Championships took place at the weekend on the 26^th and 27^th of June at Ballyholme Yacht Club on the North East of Belfast Lough.

Patrick Crosbie took the Senior title with a solid performance on 12 points, in an  event that was to have it’s own share of drama coupled with a nail biting conclusion, when, even down to the last race, any one of a number of sailors were still in contention.

Daire Cournane of RCYC/KYC won his fourth provincial Junior title this season. It is understood that, subject to verification, he may be the first Junior sailor to have achieved this marvellous feat of winning all four provincial titles in the one season. He won the Ulster title with an extraordinary 6 bullets and in the process discarded a 1^st.

Finally, after three events of light winds, we had an event at which there could be no complaints and the heavier sailors rubbed their hands with glee as the wind increased during the day from 15 knots to 22 knots and gusted even higher at times.

Race One.

In the Junior fleet’s first race, Daire Cournane made it look so easy when winning from Fergus Flood (HYC) and Robert Dickson (HYC). The two Howth sailors were to fight bravely all through the day and the next day, but nothing they could do was going to break Daire’s firm hold on the series.

Richard Thompson showed his liking for the windy conditions with an 8^th finish and Rebecca O’Shaughnessy had a great 12^th place finish.

In the Senior fleet, Peter McCann had a very impressive race in the conditions to take first followed by Patrick Crosbie 2^nd, Sèafra Guilfoyle 3^rd, Eoin Leyden 5^th, Harry Whitaker 7^th, John Durcan 9^th and Philip Brownlow 10^th. Not a bad showing with 7 RCYC sailors in the top ten finishers.

Race Two

In the  Junior fleet business resumed as normal with Daire Cournane taking the honours. He was followed this time by his brother Ronan with a fantastic 4^th place. Rebecca O’Shaughnessy had her sail of the event, finishing in a marvellous 9^th place.

In the Senior fleet, Philip Brownlow put in a marvellous performance to finish in 1^st place and behind him came, John Durcan 2^nd, Sèafra Guilfoyle 4^th, Patrick Crosbie 5^th, Peter McCann 6^th, Eoin Leyden 8^th, and Sophie Browne 9^th .

Race Three

No changes to the pattern here with Daire Cournane in 1^st. He was followed by Jamie Tingle who was to have the first of his strong results of the remainder of the event, when he finished in 6^th place. Claire O’Sullivan had a very creditable 13^th finish while Matthew Kehoe 25^th and Richard McGinley 26^th were to have two of their best results of the event.

In the Senior fleet Sèafra Guilfoyle took the lead and led the way around the course, on the final run, with less than thirty metres to the last mark, disaster struck as he  gybed on top of a wave losing his balance and ultimately, the series, in the one moment, as he capsized. Philip Brownlow who had been chasing closely, whizzed past to take 1^st, followed by Patrick Crosbie 2^nd, John Durcan 3^rd, Peter McCann 7^th, Sophie Browne 9^th and the hapless Sèafra finally finishing in 11^th position.

Racing was then over for the day and it was a happy bunch of sailors who headed for home having had a great days racing in the splendid sunshine on Belfast Lough.

Sunday:

Conditions were similar to the previous day, with the wind rising as the day went on.

Race Four.

Daire Cournane was once again the victor in the Junior race. His usual two partners  Fergus Flood (HYC) and Richard Dickson (HYC) were to finish 2^nd and 3^rd respectively, a finish sequence that was to continue for the next two races.

Jamie Tingle, revelling in the conditions got a great 5^th place, Richard Thompson in the Silver fleet was seizing the day and had a massive 6^th place finish followed by Ronan Cournane in 9^th place. James McCann was to pull off a remarkable 18^th place which given his age (Oppy 10) and size in the wind and wave conditions, was nothing short of miraculous.

In the Senior fleet, Sèafra Guilfoyle hell bent on making up for his mistake of the previous day, took off like a scalded cat. He made no error this time and came in 1^st with Peter McCann 2^nd, Patrick Crosbie 3^rd, Harry Whitaker 5^th, Eoin Lyden 7^th, Sophie Browne 8^th and Jil McGinley who was finally coming into her own, in 10^th place.

Race Five.

Daire Cournane was the winner again. The rapidly improving Jamie Tingle had a fantastic 4^th place and Anna Kelly (RCYC/BBSC) had a great 12^th place finish.

In the Senior fleet, naughty things were going on and the OD had to raise a black flag. Both Patrick Crosbie and Sèafra Guilfoyle fell foul and were out of the fifth race. Peter McCann was unable to start because of a slight technical difficulty with his gear.

When the race started, John Durcan very determinedly took over pole position and then did not relinquish, sailing in fine style into 1^st place, followed by Sophie Browne in 2^nd and a now back to form Jil McGinley in 5^th place.

Race Six.

Daire Cournane took the Junior Leinster title with his amazing sixth win in a row.

Jamie Tingle finished strongly in 8^th position and Rebecca O’Shaughnessy finished her regatta strongly in 12^th place.

In the Senior race, it was all still to play for, and without the necessity of a black flag the race got under way. However, as the fleet sailed up the first beat there was a huge  wind shift and then a squall hit the race area, hitting the sailors and spectators with torrential rain and consequential reduced visibility. Notwithstanding the fact that the Juniors were still racing, the Senior race was abandoned much to the relief of at least two of the sailors who had been heading towards Scotland !

The event was over and Patrick Crosbie was the popular Senior winner.

The RCYC overall impact on the top of the Senior Gold fleet overall was;

1^st Patrick Crosbie

2^nd John Durcan

4^th Peter McCann

5^th Sèafra Guilfoyle

6^th Philip Brownlow

7^th Sophie Browne

9^th Eoin Lyden

12^th Harry Whitaker

15^th Jil McGinley

25^th Eva Donworth

28^th Louise Shanahan

In Senior Silver Maeve O’Sullivan bravely carried the flag as sole RCYC silver and finished in a worthy 34^th place overall

In the Junior Fleet in Gold the RCYC had:

1^st Daire Cournane

7^th Jamie Tingle

10^th Ronan Cournane

In the Junior Silver, Richard Thompson stole the show with a great performance on the water giving him the honour of 1^st Junior Silver.

The Junior Silver fleet performances were as follows:

1^st Richard Thompson.

4^th Rebecca O’Shaughnessy

6th Anna Kelly

9^th Claire O’Sullivan

20^th Matthew Kehoe

21^st James McCann

At this event RCYC had no sailors in the regatta fleet, which was won by Gemma McDowell of Malahide Yacht Club.

Once again all our sailors were exemplary both on and off the water, “except” when later in the day, in the Ballyholme Clubhouse, they cheered loudly for each goal that Germany scored against England in the World Cup. That was however, hardly a yellow card offence !