The IDRA14 Class Association held their National Championships at Galway Bay Sailing Club from Thursday through Saturday. The 1946-founded class of both wooden and fibreglass clinker-built boats is now made up mainly of sailors based in the Dublin Bay clubs, and the event with a fleet of 18 boats of all ages had the feeling of a family occasion, with two and sometimes three generations racing against each other. The visitors were very impressed with the renovations to the clubhouse and will be spreading the word around the clubs back home.
Big westerlies out in the Atlantic dominated the weather. Conditions proved challenging with only one race completed Thursday, and racing was cancelled on Friday. Everyone was determined to get the remaining races completed on Saturday even though the planned 11:00 start had to be pushed out to 16:00 to wait for the wind to drop off. A heavy swell had built up after the week of westerlies and it was the first time in memory that no spinnaker was flown in any race at a Nationals.
Alan Henry & Simon Revill of Sutton Dinghy Club won the event taking first place in all races they sailed. There was a healthy spread across the top places, with all the main IDRA 14-sailing clubs in the top four, with Sutton first and second, Clontarf third and Dun Laoghaire Motor Yacht Club fourth.
Full results here:
IDRA14 National Championships Results are here
The event concluded with a convivial dinner in the hospitable clubhouse on Saturday night, which enabled the visitors to express their thanks to the voluntary teams – led by Race Officer Dave Vinnell and Gary Allen – for succeeding in putting through an interesting series despite challenging conditions.
