Irish Match Racing National Championships

The format for the Irish Match Racing National Championships was changed in 2012. The title would now be decided through a challenge event. This meant that any team could challenge the current national champion for the title. Which is exactly what we did. The event was sailed in J80's in our home club of Howth. We took on the 2011 champions, Team Top Gun, in what was effectively a first to 3 points championship.

The weight limit just about allowed us to sail with a crew of 5.  We had the same team as from Nantes a few weeks earlier, with the addition of Graham, who helped out on the bow and in the cockpit. We had been sailing the boats quite a lot in the run up to the event, doing Wednesday night races and training at the weekends, so were were really happy with our boat handling and speed. 

 The racing took place in relatively flat water outside Howth Harbor, with about 15-18 knots of breeze. We started the series well, getting a penalty on Team Top Gun in the pre-start of race 1. They lead off the line, but they couldn't find enough room to shed their penalty before the finish. In race two we came from behind and gained the lead after a big luffing battle on the first downwind leg. We extend our lead around the course and took a comfortable win.

We just needed one more win to completes the series. But the third race started badly for us. We got a penalty in the pre-start for a port-starboard infringement. The two boats split off the start line. We headed out to the left hand side of the course and managed to gain enough of a lead to fit in a penalty turn on the port lay line. We crossed ahead and lead around the top mark. From there we managed to hang on to the lead and took the win in race 3, making us the new Irish Match Racing National Champions!

We all had high expectations coming in the event so there was a great sense of relief when we crossed the finish line in race 3. We were also delighted to have won the title.

We look forward to defending the title in the future.