Olympic selection is the prize that awaits either Howth's David Burrows or Ballyholme's John Driscoll at Ireland's Finn dinghy trial on the Baltic sea next week. The result of the 10-race dog fight between the two Irish sailors, in a fleet of some 80-boats, will put one on the Sydney startline and leave the other at the end of their Olympic 2000 road.
The trial system, devised by the Irish Sailing Association, uses a positive scoring method whereby the sailors score through individual races and overall places at the event. For example, first place in a race gets 25 points, second place gets 24 points and so on. The event multiplier is five, thus first in the event gets 125 points.
Following the other trials at the Spa regatta in Holland in late May and the European championships earlier this month, Burrows has scored 447 points and Driscoll 392. A further 375 points is available at Kiel next week and though Burrows's cushion of nearly 50 points may appear sizeable, Driscoll's deficit is easily recoverable over the course of the Baltic series.
Amongst the Irish joining the Finns at Kiel is Laser singlehander Jon Lasenby who is looking for one more top 12 result to qualify for Sydney, and Europe single-hander Maria Coleman, already qualified for the Olympic regatta.
Still in search of the qualification standard is the 470 pairing of Tom Fitzpatrick and David McHugh. In Cork, the 1999 Sovereign's Cup regatta takes place at Kinsale Yacht Club next Wednesday morning. It is intended that two
races for each class will be held each day, except for the non-spinnaker class which will have one race per day. Further information and entry forms can be obtained from Ann Kelly on 021 773433.
The South Coast club have appointed a new marina manager. Billy Long commences work on Monday June 28th immediately after the Sovereign's Cup. An experienced sailor, Long has been a member of the winning cruiser-racer team for several years.
In Northern Ireland, with only 1.25 points separating the top three boats, Michael Ferguson and Jeremy Tomalin from Ballyholme YC produced their first regional title win in the Laser 2 Inland championships last weekend. Royal Cork's Marcus Spillane and Adam McCarthy on Lough Neagh were second and third respectively.
Tomorrow the National YC celebrates its £1 million addition to its waterfront club house in Dun Laoghaire with its annual regatta on Dublin Bay. Over 300 boats are expected to enter. The new additions were completed 10 days ahead of schedule. The first three days of the Royal Southampton Yacht Club Practice regatta for Champagne Mumm Admiral's Cup IMS 50s and Sydney 40s have just been completed. A total of 10 races took place, including an additional 16 practice starts for international competitors from the Netherlands, USA, Italy, Germany, and the UK.
