Leaders one point apart

Antix and marinerscove.ie neck and neck at the end of the Liebherr Cruiser National Championships and Irish IRC Nationals

Blazing sunshine and an obliging sea breeze delivered a full race programme on Dublin Bay for the Liebherr Cruiser National Championships hosted by the Royal St George Yacht Club, combining all the best local race management resources. Eight national champions under IRC and Ireland’s ECHO performance handicapping system were decided over the three-day series.

Commodore’s Cup team-mates Antix, owned by Anthony O’Leary, and marinerscove.ie led by Dave Dwyer, both of the Royal Cork Yacht Club were separated by a single point at the end of the seven-race series and though defending his 2009 title, Dwyer could not muster the performance to overcome Friday’s two fourth places in spite of winning the last two races.

Class One saw Paul O’Higgins’s Dun Laoghaire Corby 33 Rockabill V retain the title after five wins in the series while John Murphy and Richard Colwell on Kinetic from Howth Yacht Club led a group of Corby 25s to hold his Class Two IRC title. An exotic Fauroux Quarter-Tonner, skippered by Cork’s Neil Kennefick, won the Class Three championship, beating the 2008 champion Flor O’Driscoll in his venerable J/24 Hard On Port.

A total of 117 boats competed in the series with 880 sailors involved from 19 clubs around Ireland as well as Wales, Liverpool and The Solent. Next year’s event will be held in Crosshaven at the Royal Cork Yacht Club.