#fireball – Barry 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.
The silver trophy was won by local James Farrell
Brian Tedz Byrne and Kenny Rumball were third
Second were Noel Butler and Stephen Oram
