13 June 2015
McCartin and Conor Kinsella have retained the Ulster
Fireball Championships trophy after six races over two days in
Cushendall. Second were Noel Butler and Stephen Oram and third were
Kenny Rumball and Brian Tedz Byrne. Day one of the event saw lively
NW winds of 12-18 knots. McCartin/Kinsella posted three wins that
day on Olympic Triangular courses. Frank Miller and Ed
Butler benefitted from the windy conditions and
lay in fourth place overnight with two fourths and a fifth putting
them ahead of team Clancy and Niall McGrotty & Neil Cramer.
Further back Louise McKenna and Hermine O'Keeffe kept ahead of Mary
Chambers and Brenda McGuire and local pairing of James Farrell and
Terry Rowan who were sailing their first competitive event in a
Fireball. Numbers at the event were disappointing at nine boats
when a couple had to drop out at the last minute but for those who
travelled it was a really great event.
Day two saw the winds drop a bit lighter and by the time the fleet
was afloat it was quite light and a somewhat patchy, north easterly
in direction. Race one saw a big shift right on the second beat and
Rumball/Tedz came out of this best and led to the finish of the
windward-leeward race. Miller/Butler also benefitted from that
shift but threw away a second place to team Clancy by not tacking
immediately at the final leeward to cover to the finish. The next 2
races took place in similar conditions but there were patches of
decent wind; finding them was the trick. Rumball/Tedz showed their
talent for wind sniffing and won the third race. McCartin/Kinsella
kept a solid grip on the event with two seconds on day 2 though
they got badly caught by the shift in race one leaving them 6th in
that discarded race. The Clancys showed better pace on day 2 and
pulled ahead of Miller/Butler overall while McGrotty/Cramer didn't
achieve their usual form for the conditions. The silver trophy was
won by locals James Farrell and Terry Rowan, the latter sailing a
Fireball for the first time. Hospitality at the club was remarkable
with free food laid on after racing on Saturday night. The setting
for the racing could not have been prettier this surely must be one
of the nicest places to sail on the island and with the motorway
making it less than 3 hours drive from Dublin it's safe to say the
Fireball fleet will be back, next time with better
numbers.