A successful Irish University Sailing Association (IUSA) Intervarsity team racing championships concluded today at Kilrush Marina on the Shannon Estuary in County Clare.
To a bystander not familiar with team racing it may have appeared somewhat chaotic with lots of boats, whistle blowing and flags. Team racing encourages an indepth knowledge of the rules and the umpires did a fantastic job in ensuring racing went off smoothly. The round robin series consisting of one hundred and thirty seven races followed by twenty eight quarter final races were all completed on the first two days. On the final day's racing twenty three races were run to complete the semi finals and finals. Twenty eight teams representing eight Irish universities, two Scottish universities and one hundred and sixty eight competitors in total took part. Conditions on the final day were excellent for racing with a light to moderate westerly breeze.
Racing concluded with everyone off the water and tidyed up in time for the rugby match. Overall winners lifting the IUSA Plate were UCC 1. NUIG Galway, co-hosting with UCC for the first time reached the semi-finals in their fleet. Credit must go to the student organisers from both universities for an extremely well run event. Prizegiving takes place in the Temple Gate Hotel in Ennis this Saturday night.
The universities represented were National University of Ireland Galway (NUIG), University College Cork (UCC), University of Limerick (UL), Dublin Institute of Technology (DIT), University College Dublin (UCD), Dublin City University (DCU), Trinity College Dublin (TCU), Queens University Belfast (QUB), Stratclyde University (SU), Scottish Student Sailing (SSS).
Final Results:
Gold Fleet: 1st UCC 1, 2nd SSS 1, 3rd UCD 1
Silver Fleet: 1st UCD 2, 2nd UCC 3
Bronze Fleet: 1st DCU 1, 2nd UCC 4
Simon McGibney of Kilrush Marina with Kathy Hynes Development Officer for Clubs and Participation NUIG
