The final all-out sailing series of the season got underway off the coast of north Co Dublin yesterday when magnificent conditions graced the 213-boat fleet competing in the Heineken HYC Autumn League. Bright sunshine and a fresh northwesterly breeze, that was squally at times, made for a fast race with close results in many classes.
In class zero, Roy Dickson's Cracklin' Rosie laid down the gauntlet to fellow Howth entry Mustang Sally owned by Max McMullan, who has recorded a string of event wins this season. With a huge on-thewater gap of five minutes, narrowed to over a minute after handicapping, McMullan and his crew will be more focused next Sunday.
Yesterday saw Cormac Twomey's Sarah J from Dun Laoghaire engage Mustang Sally and although virtually neck and neck coming towards the finish, the local crew pulled ahead to maintain their narrow lead on the water.
All three boats can be expected to duel closely ahead of the other six big-boats in the class over the coming five weeks with no predictions as to the outcome at this stage.
Nineteen 1720 Sportsboats have turned out for the series with Richard and David Burrows taking the first race on Bond Girl. In an everchanging fleet that seems to produce favourites by event, rather than class, Robert Dix's Lemon is also back up the fleet, as are the Evans family on Yon-Ka L'Experience in second and third places respectively.
Barry O'Neill's Cadbury's Time Out is on form having had a shaky start to the season and follows a third place in the recent Carlsberg RAYC Superleague with sixth yesterday. Alfred winner Martin Byrne dropped completely down the pack to last yesterday, but is certain to be back on form for next weekend.
Around the other non `rockstar' classes, Tom Murphy's Midnight Express from Waterford continues an exceptional season with an opening win of class one on Channel Handicap.
Among the one-designs, Gerry O'Neill's Just Good Friends won the Shipmans on Scratch, while David Lovegrove took his usual first place in the nine-boat Puppeteer class on Snowgoose. In one of the biggest fleets competing, Andrew Sargent's Gizmo took first place by just under 30 seconds ahead of another 30 boats.
Howth Yacht Club Autumn League: Cruiser 0 CHS: 1 Cracklin' Rosie, R Dickson HYC; 2 Mustang Sally, M McMullan HYC; 3 Sarah-J, C Twomey RStGYC. Cruiser 0 ECHO: 1 Cracklin' Rosie; 2 Janey Mac 11, A Lee RORC; 3 Sarah-J. Cruiser 1 CHS: 1 Midnight Express, T & J Murphy WHSC; 2 Equinox, J McDonald HYC; 3 Alakush, J & I Guinness HYC. Cruiser 1 ECHO: 1 Mystique, R & R Michael HYC; 2 Midnight Express; 3 Alakush. Cruiser 1 CLASSIC: 1 Alakush; 2 Mystique; 3 Tearaway, K & M Cairns HYC. Cruiser 2 CHS: 1 Bonanza, A Gore-Grimes HYC; 2 Jokers Wild, F Ennis HYC; 3 Pathfinder, G & P Watson HYC. Cruiser 2 ECHO: 1 Outrage, Boyle/Murphy MYC&HYC; 2 Snapper, M Higgins HYC; 3 ETE, C Fanning SSC. Cruiser 3 CHS: 1 Equity, Sparkman/Stephens HYC; 2 GungHo, I Switzer HYC; 3 Two Step, C Nolan/Others HYC. Cruiser 3 ECHO: 1 Equity; 2 Cabaret, M MacCourt MYC; 3 Schullduggery, Magee/Others MYC. 1720 scratch: 1 Bond Girl, R & D Burrows HYC; 2 Lemon, Dix/Roche RIYC; 3 Yon-Ka L'Experience, The Evans's HYC. Puppe- teer scratch: 1 Snowgoose, D & K Lovegrove; 2 Ibis, D Hudson; 3. Gannet, T Chillingworth. Puppeteer ECHO: 1 Cloud 9, C Feeley; 2 Toucan, J McCaffrey; 3 Ibis; Shipman: Scratch: 1 Just Good Friends, G O'Neill; 2 Fifi, P & D McCabe; 3 Panache, T & R Headon. Shipman ECHO: 1 Fifi; 2 Just Good Friends; 3 Panache. Folkboat scratch: 1 Alar, G Wilson; 2 Footloose, M Howell; 3 Alpha, B O'Loughlin. Folkboat ECHO: 1 Alar; 2 Alpha; 3 Footloose. Squib scratch: 1 Gizmo, A Sargent; 2 Misfire, M Thompson; 3 Too, Dee Sheahan/Dwyer. Squib. ECHO: 1 Shadowfax, P Merry; 2 Golden Eagle, T Nolan; 3. Squabble, J Mahony. 17-Footer scratch: 1 Isobel, Mulligan/Others; 2. Zaida, Houlihan/Roane; 3 Aura, I Malcolm. 17-Footer ECHO: 1 Zaida; 2 Echo, M Lynch; 3 Pauline P Heydon.
