East Antrim Boat Club on Larne Lough on the Antrim coast welcomed 60 Optimists from all over Ireland to the Ulster Championships last Saturday and Sunday 18th and 19th September. A stalwart of the club, Tom Jobling, reckons it may have been three decades since there was an Optimist event at the Larne
Only four of the sixty strong fleet were from the North of Ireland; the Doig brothers and Ben Brownlees from the host club and Matthew Holden of Ballyholme.
In the 21 strong Senior fleet, Howth Yacht Club sailors Des Turvey and Harry Dunne dominated, finishing first and second, respectively. Turvey finished consistently in the top four, with Dunne never out of the first five but close on their heels was Oisin Pierse of Royal Cork in third slot.
Oisin Pierse from Royal Cork YC chasing Des Turvey (1556)
In the Junior division, first places were spread over the top scorers with Conor Cronin of Malahide, who had three, runner-up Carolina Carra of Royal St.George and fourth-placed Sarah Scott of Howth YC with one each in a fleet of 23.
The 16 strong Regatta fleet had seven races, and here Maeve and Emily Donagh from Lough Derg YC dominated, with Maeve counting four bullets and Emily one to finish first and second in that fleet. In third slot was Basile Dion of National YC.
The Lough experienced some of the very quiet conditions, which have occurred frequently in the North over the last couple of weeks, but Race Officer Richard Doig and his team did manage to get six races in the Senior and Junior fleets and seven in the Regatta fleet.
Full results here
