The 173 strong fleet of youth sailors at the Sovereign Ski Topper World Championships produced some surprises on the first day of the finals on Dublin Bay. Having dominated the qualifying series this week, Matt Venables of Sutton YC (UK) found himself edged out somewhat in the Gold fleet, managing two 4ths in the first two finals.
Toppers prepare for a race start. More photos from Gareth Craig on the gallery here.
Ireland's Patrick Crosbie (RCYC) grabbed the first win of the day, just ahead of Laura Gilmore of Northern Ireland, with Gilmore winning race 2 ahead of Britain's Danielle Rowe. It was a strong performance from young Crosbie, named by the ISA earlier this year as Ireland's most promising youth sailor, in his first year of racing toppers.
Newcastle's Joe Henderson dominated in the Silver Fleet finals, taking two strong wins. "I got good starts and played the tide", said the 13year old with ambitions to become a round-the-world racer, adding "it was a nice wind, with light chop but not too much hiking". Once again the girls performed strongly, with Britain's Samantha Foster and Ireland's Alison Dolan both taking 2nd places.
In Bronze fleet Conrad Parkinson of Northern Ireland really upset the form book, having sprung from a best of 22nd in this week's qualifiers to score victories in both of todays races. Ireland's Thomas Moore scored two seconds, with Patrick Butler nabbing a third in the first race. The happy face of Youngwan Kim said it all, as he took a third for Korea in race 2, clearly none the worse for jet lag!
After waiting 2 hours for a sea breeze to settle in, Principle Race Officer Con Murphy ran three races for gold, and two each for silver and bronze in a steady 10kts of wind. "we expect light airs and rain tomorrow for the second day of the finals" said Murphy, adding strong winds are expected on Friday, giving testing conditions to these young sailors. Day 3 Results here.
Below event photos by Michael Chester.
