ISA Mitsubishi Youth Nationals 2011 - Ross Killian Race Report
Fifteen 420s entered the ISA Youth Nationals jointly hosted hosted by the Royal St George Yacht club and the National Yacht Club. On the from the 29th of April to the 2nd of May. Conditions were mixed for the event providing good if somewhat tricky racing over the first tree days of the competition.
Race 1 on Friday morning presented 15-18 knots from the north, Emma Geary and Niamh Connolly lead for the first lap of the outer loop course with Aodh Kennedy and Daniel Brown close behind, on the second beat both Geary & Connolly and Kennedy and Brown took the right hand side of the beat letting Patrick and Chloe Crosbie slip by them up the left and take the lead. The Crosbies did not falter and held the lead to the finish, a pattern that was to continue for the rest of the event.
In Race 2 Geary & Connolly were determined not to let the lead slip away, and after taking the lead they defended well against the very close challenge of Richard Roberts & Peter Stokes. The Geary Connolly team ended the day strong with a third win in the ever dying breeze, and this time another girls team, that of Tara Flood & Lucy Bolger fought through the pack to take second.
Day 2 started with a brisk 18 knots and a big sea rolling into Dublin bay, but as the day progressed the wind became less and less stable and when the sun came out the wind dropped significantly. It was a true “head out of the boat day” and the sailors had to be very aware of the changing conditions around them to make good tactical decisions. No team did this better that Crosbie & Crosbie, on a day where there were only two races they recorded a perfect score of 1, 1. It was a good day for sibling teams as Fiona & Patrick Daly also showed some form scoring a 2 and a 4. The Crosbies great day moved them into joint first position overall with Geary & Connolly.
On day 3 there was still a large sea rolling, and a few sailors fell foul to seasickness between races. The breeze strength was 12-15 kts from the North East. This was the day for another team to shine, having waited in the wings for the previous 2 days it seemed Kennedy & Browne were ready to take control, and they did so in style taking 3 race wins from 3. The first race of the day being a a particularly close fight with Roberts & Stokes with Kennedy taking the lead on the run and flying the kite on the reach to power home with the win. This seemed to give them the confidence they need as they went on to win the remaining two races. Elsewhere on the course the Crosbies had a good afternoon taking 10 points from the day with Geary & Connolly also taking in 10 points on a day when they struggled to find the form they showed earlier in the weekend.
This left the competition with Kennedy & Browne leading by a point going into the last day, however an early morning protest concerning an incident from the day before saw Paddy & Chloe Crosbie move up a place in the last race which left the first 3 boats on the same number of points.
Unfortunately, conditions prevented sailing on the final day with wind gusting 25 kts and a very large and hard to manage sea running the race management made the decision to cancel racing for the day and finish the championship. The tie break went in favour of Crosbies & Crosbie with Kennedy & Browne in Second and Geary & Connolly completing the podium. The organisation for the event did an excellent job of getting fair races in and it was valuable practice for those sailors still eligible to race in the ISAF youth world at this venue next year.
While there is undoubtedly a gap in level between the first 6 boats and the rest of the fleet this difference is getting smaller particularly with the sailors from the west who have made significant progress since last Autumn. Continued training and practice is sure to bring the fleet closer in competitiveness and before long we should have ten boats vying for the the first few spots.