Royal Irish YC sailors Niall Dowling and Michael Boyd have a long shared history in offshore racing, stemming from their 1996 Round Ireland win on Boyd’s J35 Big Ears. The pair teamed up again in the last Round Ireland, finishing a creditable sixth out of 39 boats in a J133, Jeronimo.
However, it’s their J105 campaign that has been raising eyebrows down south.
Together, the pair have been a force of nature in the RORC series, leading the doublehanded division by a whopping 171 points in their first season.
But that’s not all. They’ve been taking on the fully-crewed yachts, too. And winning.
Slingshot currently tops the rankings in IRC Class 2, albeit by a smaller margin, and lies fifth in the overall IRC standings – 108 boats in all.
The pair won the Cervantes Trophy race, a 127-miler from Cowes to Le Havre in France, came third in the 245-mile Myth of Malham Round Eddystone race, and finished second overall in the recent Morgan Cup Race, missing out on a class win in IRC2 by just nine minutes.
Boyd and Dowling will be just one of the boats Afloat will be in contact with during the race, bringing you up-to-date reports live from the fleet as the race progresses. Keep an eye on Afloat.ie in the coming days for more.
In the meantime, Afloat asked Niall Dowling if he had any predictions for the race, ten days out from the gathering in Wicklow.
“It’s gonna be cold, wet and miserable,” he said, “And there’ll probably be a fight on board before Tuskar Rock.”
For details on Slingshot’s recent exploits, click here.
