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Displaying items by tag: Bobby Driscoll

Northern Ireland's Bobby Driscoll shares the lead Topper World Championships on Lake Garda in Italy after winning six of eight races sailed so far in the 5.3 division.

The Ballyholme sailor from Belfast Lough has a three-point lead over Leo Yates of Great Britain.

The under 18 Irish Topper squad is performing strongly, with Driscoll's clubmate Daniel Palmer in third place.

Joining them in the top ten is Liam Duggan of Royal Cork YC in 7th.

As the fleet combines boys and girls, Riona McMorrow Moriarty lies in 16th place overall but is the second girl.

Cormac Byrne and Autumn Halliday are in 22nd and 23rd, respectively, with Emily MacAfee in 27th. 

Seventeen young Topper sailors from Northern Ireland are taking part and results have been impressive in what was a huge fleet of 170 covering the two divisions – Topper 4.2s and 5.3s.

Riva Del Garda delivered classic Lake Garda conditions for the opening races of the Championships 2022. After a wait of three years, the first wins went to Bobby Driscoll of Ballyholme and Royal North YCs  on Belfast Lough’s south shore in the Yellow flight with three straight wins – an impressive result matched by Leo Yates of Island Barn SC, south east of London,  in the Blue fleet who also chalked up three straight wins .

Bobby Driscoll who is the son of the well-known Irish Finn 1996 Olympian and coach John Driscoll, was well ahead of the chasing pack in the 17-18 Knot Ora breeze and 35 degree heat, which dropped a little for the final race. After eight races in which Driscoll scored six wins, he now leads the fleet by three points from Leo Yates of Island Barn SC near London and only one point behind is Ballyholme’s Daniel Palmer.  Cormac Byrne of Strangford SC, Ballyholme and Quoile is well up at 22nd and currently Autumn Halliday from Strangford Lough YC at 23rd is one of the top girls.

And another Northern sailor, Calum Pollard from County Antrim YC on the north side of Belfast Lough in the 24-boat strong Topper 4.2 Championship, leads the fleet and counts four first places in seven races. He has been awarded the Gold Bib twice.

Racing continues until the 29th July.

Download results below.

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The Dragon was designed by Johan Anker in 1929 as an entry for a competition run by the Royal Yacht Club of Gothenburg, to find a small keel-boat that could be used for simple weekend cruising among the islands and fjords of the Scandinavian seaboard. The original design had two berths and was ideally suited for cruising in his home waters of Norway. The boat quickly attracted owners and within ten years it had spread all over Europe.

The Dragon's long keel and elegant metre-boat lines remain unchanged, but today Dragons are constructed using the latest technology to make the boat durable and easy to maintain. GRP is the most popular material, but both new and old wooden boats regularly win major competitions while looking as beautiful as any craft afloat. Exotic materials are banned throughout the boat, and strict rules are applied to all areas of construction to avoid sacrificing value for a fractional increase in speed.

The key to the Dragon's enduring appeal lies in the careful development of its rig. Its well-balanced sail plan makes boat handling easy for lightweights, while a controlled process of development has produced one of the most flexible and controllable rigs of any racing boat.