Michael Carroll's Chancer was the overall IRC ratings winner of the Frank Godsell March League 2023 for cruiser racers at Kinsale Yacht Club, while Alan Mulcahy was the IRC White Sails winner of the 41st edition of the league.
The Spring League starts this Sunday at Kinsale Yacht Club after the March League ended in a close encounter between the top two boats.
The battle between Reavra Too and Chancer for top place in the season's opening league at Kinsale Yacht finished very closely.
Michael Carroll’s Chancer won the third and final race of the Frank Godsell series in both IRC and ECHO handicaps. That gave him overall victory in ECHO on five points, one ahead of Stephen Lysaght’s Reavra Too on six points. The crucial intervention under this handicap was by Nigel Dann’s Val Kriss, sailing for the first time in the series and taking second place. This pushed Reavra Too down to third finish in the race and second overall. Sam Cohen’s Gunsmoke II finished fourth in Sunday’s race, to claim overall third of the series.
Brian Carroll "Chancer winner both IRC and Echo with Michele Kennelly Frank Godsell Sponsor and Anthony Scannell, Vice Commodore (right) Photo: Bob Bateman
In IRC, Reavra Too and Chancer could not be separated on overall points at the top, both finishing on five. However, winning Sunday’s race gave Chancer the better countback of two wins and a third place against one win and two second places for Reavra Too. Gunsmoke II was third overall.
In Whitesails, no spinnakers, Alan Mulcahy’s Apache took first place overall in both IRC and ECHO handicaps. He won the last race in IRC, making a hat-trick of successes in the three races. However, in ECHO he was pushed into second place on Sunday by John O’Connor’s Fast Buck, which achieved its second win in the series under this handicap system. That left Apache the overall ECHO winner on 5. Fast Buck moved up to second place overall on 7 and Miss Charlie was third on 9.
Apache was also IRC Whitesails overall winner through that hat trick of three points for the series. Patrick Beckett’s Miss Charlie was second on eight and Fast Buck third overall on nine points.
The Spring league will start on Sunday at the club and run for five weeks. Racing is scheduled under both handicaps with placings also counting for the South Coast Offshore Racing Association’s annual league. There is Spinnaker and White Sail racing in the Axiom Private Clients series.
