Inland Championships 1999
report by Brian Spence, Adam McCarthy & Noel Butler
A group of hardy Laser 2 sailors gathered at Antrim Boat Club last weekend to compete in a weekend of very close racing on Lough Neagh. The Inland Championship was visited by fickle winds and glorious sunshine on day one, which was not welcomed by all the sailors because of the light and shifty conditions. Race one kicked off with a win for Michael Ferguson and Jeremy Tomalin sailing "Boom Boom Room." They successfully held off "Qualtron" helmed by Marcus Spillane and crewed by Adam McCarthy. Team "3Com More Connected", Noel Butler and Garth Ablett did not cope with the fluctuating lighter winds as well as the leaders and finished 3rd ahead of ex 470 Olympic hopeful Sinead Curren. Sinead has just returned to the Laser 2 class having bought a new boat. She teamed up with crew Brian Spence for this regatta as Brian's regular helm, Linda Eadie, was unavailable due competing in team racing trials in Dublin.
In the second race Spillane/McCarthy finished first in an untypical departure from their ultra-consistent second place per race finishes which has brought them overall wins in recent events. They were followed home by Butler/Ablett, who narrowly beat local heros Simon Hutchinson and Aoibhin Gallagher sailing "Alligators on Tour". Ferguson/Tomalin had been involved with Carl Haughton and Dave Meehan (sailing "Cold Turkey") and Curren/Spence on the start line and subsequently retired. Hugh Butler/Leo Bishop finished in fourth place with Jimmy Nyhan and Maritta Buwalda (sailing "Intermac") in fifth. In the light conditions no other boats succeeded in making it to the finish before the time limit expired.
The final race of the day started after a huge shift to the West and a more consistant albeit light breeze. The course was changed to a windward leeward with a winward gate. Ferguson/Tomalin had another strong performance, beating Spillane/McCarthy in a race which saw the lead change a number of times. Curren/Spence had their best showing of the day in an easy 3rd from Butler/Bishop in 4th. Butler/Ablett finished 5th havingrecovered from 2nd last due to some start-line fun with Haughton/Meehan and a port-starbord incident with Butler/Bishop which saw the 3Com boys dropping their spinnaker, taking a 720 penalty and rehoisting.
Overnight Spillane/McCarthy lead with 4.75pts from Butler/Ablett placed 2nd with 10pts with Ferguson/Tomalin placed 3rd on 13.5 pts.
Day two brought moderate winds and rain, and lots of it. Race one saw a strong race by Butler/Ablett leading from start to finish from Spillane/McCarthy with Ferguson/Tomalin 3rd. Race 2 was almost a replay of race 1 and had the same finishing order although "McCready Sailboats" (Curran/Spence) spent most of the race in third, before wiping out in spectacular fashion on the 2nd Reach, just as they were about to pass Spillane/McCarthy for 2nd. They dropped to 8th by the start of the last beat but frustration pulled them back 3 spots, one of them to the misfortune of Haughton/Meehan who again got caught up in all the excitement.
The last race ended up in a "black ball fight" between the top 3 contenders. Butler/Ablett went into the last race with a 0.25 point lead on 6.5 pts from Spillane/McCarthy on 6.75 pts with Ferguson/Tomalin on 7.5 pts. The Championship was wide open.
The course was changed from triangles to a windward/leeward. Spillane/McCarthy lead up the first beat with Butler/Ablett being narrowly beaten to the top mark by Ferguson/Tomalin who had hit the left corner on the 1st beat. Spillane/McCarthy and Ferguson/Tomalin both went right on the run, with Butler and Ablett opting for a gybe-hoist and heading left. By the leeward mark, Ferguson/Tomalin's mastery of downwind gybing angles had gotten the better of Spillane/McCarthy who had chosen to sail deep. From then on Ferguson and Tomalin extended their lead and took the championship with a comfortable race win for their first ever regional title. Spillane/McCarthy held on to a solid 2nd despite an intense tacking duel with Butler/Ablett who were pulling out all the stops to avoid finishing behind the current ranking leaders. Curren/Spence finished 4th overall and Butler/Bishop edged out Nyhan/Buwalda on countback for the 5th spot.
With only 1.25 points separating the top three boats, this event was typical of the extremely close racing in the Laser 2 class which is experiencing huge growth with numerous boats joining the fleet particularly in the Dublin, Cork and Wexford/Waterford areas.
Congratulations to Tom Lubliner/Mary McGuiness who are storming up the rankings,
winning the best improved of the fleet for the second event running. Thanks to
Antrim boat club for their hospitality. In the Traveller Ranking Series,
Spillane/McCarthy are in the lead with Butler/Ablett and Ferguson/Tomalin are
tied for 2nd. All to play for at the next event in Dunmore East on 17th/18th July.
| Pos | Sail# | Helm | Crew | Club | Race 1 | Race 2 | Race 3 | Race 4 | Race 5 | Race 6 | TotPts |
| 1 | 10110 | Michael Ferguson | Jeremy Tomalin | BYC | 0.75 | -12DNF | 0.75 | 3 | 3 | 0.75 | 8.25 |
| 2 | 9130 | Marcus Spillane | Adam McCarthy | RCYC | -2 | 0.75 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 8.75 |
| 3 | 10039 | Noel Butler | Garth Ablett | DMYC | 3 | 2 | -5 | 0.75 | 0.75 | 3 | 9.5 |
| 4 | 10387 | Sinead Curran | Brian Spence | BYC | 4 | -12DNF | 3 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 20 |
| 5 | 10114 | Hugh Butler | Leo Bishop | RStGYC | 5 | 4 | 4 | -7 | 7 | 6 | 26 |
| 6 | 10361 | Jimmy Nyhan | Maritta Buwalda | RCYC | 7 | 5 | -9 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 26 |
| 7 | 8456 | Tom Lubliner | Mary McGuinness | CHYC | 6 | -12DNF | 6 | 9 | 6 | 9 | 36 |
| 8 | 8958 | Simon Hutchieson | Aoibhinn Gallagher | ABC | 9 | 3 | 8 | 10 | -12DNF | 10 | 40 |
| 9 | 10356 | Carl Haughton | David Meehan | RStGYC | 10 | -12DNF | 11 | 6 | 8 | 7 | 42 |
| 10 | 10034 | Margaret Casey | Niamh McKenna | DMYC | 11 | -12DNF | 10 | 8 | 9 | 8 | 46 |
| 11 | 8432 | Ciara MacDonnell | Siobhan | CHYC | 8 | -12DNF | 7 | 11 | 10 | 11 | 47 |