Razmilovic fight to the finish

On final day of the Anglo Irish Bank Etchell European Championship

Nils Razmilovic won the Anglo Irish Bank Etchell European Championship today after a very close contest with his brother Ante. The final race, held today on account of the UK Bank Holiday, was set up to be a tense affair with only a couple of points separating the top two.

Some initial duelling before the start was short lived and as racing got underway the top contenders got on with the business of winning the race. Local sailor and one of the founders of the Etchell class in Ireland, Anthony Shanks led for most of the race after a right hand wind shift gave him the lead on the first leg. However this was not to last and three boats passed the Irish crew before the finish. Ante Razmilovic needed to win and have two boats between him and his brother Nils in this final race, but at the finish his win was not enough, Nils finishing second on the day but secured the overall European title by a single point.

Top Irish boat was Galert, sailed by Dan O'Grady, Raz Beshoff and Ben o'Donoghue. They finished sixth overall, and were closely followed by the Collins' Mel, Killian and father Kieran, in seventh and Anthony Shanks in eighth, sailing with his sister Diana and Mark Delaney.

The class now looks forward to the World Championships next week in San Francisco. Representatives from Howth Yacht Club will be travelling to the US to present a bid to host the event themselves in 2009. The success of this weekend's event should go along wasy to convincing class governors of the suitability of the North side venue.

Results:

Pos	Boat	Owner	Club	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6	Tot	Net
1	Matatu	N Razmilovic	R Swedish YC	1	1	4	3	4	2	15	11
2	Swedish Blue	A Razmilovic	R Thames YC	4	3	3	1	7	1	19	12
3	Bushfire	J Tilly	R Corninthian YC	7	2	5	5	14	9	42	28
4	Tamborine	M Collins	Howth YC	29	9	1	8	5	12	64	35
5	Gelert	O'Grady/Others	Howth YC	32	5	14	4	1	8	64	32
6	Ragtime	G Gerard	Gulf Harbour NZ	26	10	12	2	2	17	69	43
7	Wobbegong	D Flynn	R Corinathian YC	11	7	2	16	6	5	47	31
8	Muddy Paws	A Shanks	HYC/RStGYC	23	6	10	6	11	4	60	37
9	Mayhem	K Tippell	R Corinthian YC	3	11	25	17	8	15	79	54
10	The Chill	Lacy/McCormack	Howth YC	2	13	15	10	36	19	95	59
11	China White	A Cooper	R Corinathian YC	16	17	9	7	9	14	72	55
12	Snatch	A Oddie	R Corinthian YC	5	18	36	9	10	3	81	45
13	Who Cares	D Flood	Howth YC	6	26	11	24	15	24	106	80
14	Eitlean	Bourke/Others	Howth YC	21	4	20	13	36	7	101	65
15	Fuzzy Duck	B & C O'Neill	Howth YC	19	8	21	14	17	18	97	76
16	Palaver	T Thompson	R Corinthian YC	12	16	18	12	23	26	107	81
17	Auld Blue	D Faherty	Howth YC	30	15	7	18	19	21	110	80
18	Evelina	P Kelsey	R Corinthian YC	18	22	8	25	12	6	91	66
19	Maverick	I Andrew	Hayling Island SC	10	14	17	26	20	20	107	81
20	Spirit of Freedom	A Marr	R Gourock YC	8	19	16	19	22	22	106	84
21	Defiance	P & W Lacy	Howth YC	36	20	26	15	3	13	113	77
22	Festina 2	M Till	R Corinthian YC	9	12	22	22	21	11	97	75
23	Jabberwocky	S Knowles	Howth YC	25	27	19	11	13	16	111	84
24	Ray of Light	J Hunt	S Staff. YC	13	36	6	20	36	10	121	85
25	Lambay Rules	Hyland/Quinn	HYC/RStGYC	28	23	23	23	16	25	138	110
26	Glance	O'Reilly/Dix	Howth YC	22	24	13	28	36	30	153	117
27	Hobe El Bahar	M Cimarosti	R Circolo Nautico	14	28	24	21	36	27	150	114
28	Growler	O Cimarosti	R Circolo Nautico	20	21	28	30	25	23	147	117
29	Impluse	D Cowan	R Mersey YC	17	31	27	27	24	31	157	126
30	Mano	F & J Norton	Howth YC	24	30	36	29	18	32	169	133
31	Invader	T Tansey	R Mersey YC	15	32	36	36	36	33	188	152
32	pEtchellant	Cagney/Others	Howth YC	31	25	36	36	36	28	192	156
33	Out of Denmark	K Jorgensen	KDY Denmark	27	29	36	36	36	29	193	157
34=	Atalanta's Gold	C Renshaw	R Mersey YC	36	36	36	36	36	36	216	180
34=	Living on the Etch	B Tyrrell	Howth YC	36	36	36	36	36	36	216	180