The 2011 Student Yachting World Cup came to a close yesterday after three more races. The winds were light giving the fleet a different challenge from what they had encountered for most of the week.
The previous day had seen the Irish team put in some good results and reign victorious in the protest room, which together had pulled them back into contention for a podium finish. Starting the final day of racing the Irish lay 3rd some distance behind the defending team, Solent, in 2nd but only one point ahead of the English team from Southampton. With the possibility of finishing behind both English teams adding fuel to the fire, the Irish hit the water with a point to prove.
In the first race the Cork boat made a perfect start right off the pin but as the wind slowly swung around to the right they could only manage to round the top mark in a tight group just outside the top five. A cleverly placed gybe threw the Irish back into the top five with the inside track coming into the leeward mark. A poor rounding at the mark however cancelled out their gains and they found themselves back in the midfleet fight. Another strong downwind before the end made up for some of their earlier mistakes and helped them sneak just past the English team to finish one place ahead of them in 5th.
As the second race started the wind was starting to drop below 10 knots. This made life difficult in the Irish boat with their old sails making it hard to keep pace with some of the newer boats. With this in mind most people would have ruled them out when they came round the first mark amongst the last three boats. The Irish team however were determined not to let their third place slip and in the downwind threw in gybe after gybe to keep themselves in the strongest breeze and sail right through the fleet to catch up on the leading pack. After rounding the bottom mark they immediately tacked out to the left side of the beat to get to some new pressure, which it seemed that only the Norwegians and themselves had seen. The Irish sailed around the boats ahead and rounded the next mark in fourth. They went on to complete this amazing comeback by leap frogging the French on the final beat to finish in 3rd place, four ahead of Team England and make it mathematically impossible to lose their 3rd place overall before the last race.
Unfortunately the two English teams had miscalculated and still thought Ireland a threat. The two decided to aggressively match race the Irish before the start and in the face of this English tag team were forced to bail out of their pin end start and duck the fleet as they started on port. In the now very light conditions the Irish found it hard to get back into the race and after sealing third place with second too far off, they took their foot off the pedal. Eventually they came round to finish somewhere midfleet, interestingly their only finish outside the top six over a very consistent week.
A delighted Irish team came ashore to receive third position overall. Despite their pre-event goal of winning the championship, third position was an incredible feat given the amount of setbacks the team had to endure with equipment. It never feels right to blame your boat but with daily breakages and the charter company agreeing that the boat should be sunk, there are times when it is justified.
The Team would like to take this opportunity to thank all those who have helped get them here, namely their sponsors; Cork Institute of Technology, Bank of Ireland, Avis and Euro Car Parks. They of course would all like to thank there family and friends who have given their support to the team leading up to the event and all throughout the week.
And sure… This. is. it.
McLoverty out
Today the SYWOC fleet endured some frustrating conditions with winds ranging from 2 to 22 knots in heavy swell. The race committee managed to get in only two races in the constantly changing winds, with one windward/leeward and a shortened coastal race. The Irish managed to fair well in the conditions despite, surprise surprise, breaking another piece of key gear, the jib halyard.
In the first race Team Ireland started well in the strong breeze but were unable to get into phase with the shifting conditions. The problematic boat seemed to be moving fast again today but some times just in the wrong direction. Coming onto the last downwind on the final lap of the course Ireland sat unhappily in 7th position. Halfway down the leg the wind managed to drop to almost nothing and shift 180 degrees three times. The race committee controversially decided to continue the racing with the French team leading. Ireland managed to gain only one place in the chaos but due to other teams being over the line at the start they were recorded as finishing 3rd.
The fleet had to wait over an hour to commence the second race. Eventually the race committee managed to get it all under way again when the wind picked back up to around the 15knot mark. This race was to be a coastal race of over 15 miles. With 30 seconds to go before the start, the Irish were dead set for a great start as the furthest boat to the pin. However the halyard holding up their jib went the way of many of their other boat parts and just gave way. The team did admirably to quickly set about switching the halyard and start without losing too much time. The Irish boat raced out to the right of the course and after 2 miles of clear air established themselves in second place going onto the next leg. Again the wind would not hold up and it dropped off just before their next mark rounding. Some of the problems surrounding dropping a jib and raising a spinnaker on the same halyard lead to the Irish giving up second place to the English team on the run. Fortunately the race was shortened and Team Ireland recorded their second 3rd of the day.
Back on land yesterdays problems resurfaced as they still had to go into the protest room to argue their right to redress in two of yesterdays races and for the jib incident in the second race today. The team’s dashing legal representative Aidan McLaverty was the man charged with challenging the jury and race committee in the face of poor odds. In spite of this, twenty minutes after entering the dragon’s den, Aidan emerged with victory in all three battles. The team’s first place in the second race yesterday was reinstated and the two races that were affected by the gear breakages were scored with average points from the day. As a result Team Ireland have surprised many to come back from midfleet to sit in the top three going into the final races tomorrow. Sure that’ll be that.
Today can only be described as a day of ups and downs for the cork based team. After yesterdays disappointment the team were looking for a strong reaction to their misfortunes with some good results. This, however, was not to be the case.
While the Irish were going through their usual pre-race routine, gear failure struck when the kicker’s metal rivets tore from the mast. The team did attempt to mend it themselves but in the strong winds they were unable to make a satisfactory repair. In the end the problem forced the crew to return to shore to allow the boat charter company to do their job.
Making it back just in time for the start of the second race, the crew quickly made amends with a strong start off the pin end and with some striking boat speed maneuvered themselves into the lead position by the first mark. In a race somewhat similar to the practice race, Ireland stretched out their lead to finish first across the line. There was no luck for the Irish here as the team had been scored OCS (over the line at the start).
(The team in action (in red) on day 1 of the Student Yachting Worlds.)
Even with all the setbacks Ireland showed great character to bounce back from obscurity to lead the third race around the track. Unfortunately more gear failure was to blame when crossing the second placed French team on the last upwind a jib cleat broke and jammed stopping the boat dead in the water as they attempted to tack. Ireland went on to finish the race second, and record their best finish of the event so far.
In the final race of the day a bad start lead to a poor first mark rounding position of seventh place. A smart shout about the offset location of the leeward mark from skipper George Kenefick allowed the team to sneak around the group ahead of them into fourth position and remain so until the finish in the one lap race.
Upon returning to shore the team lodged two requests for redress in both the first and second race. They were granted average points for the gear failure in the first race. Their result in the second race is still pending a decision as the team found video footage to prove their position below the line when they were judged to be over and now await a hearing with the race committee tomorrow to make a decision. If their attempts for exoneration prevail this Irish team will be right back in the mix in third position breathing down the neck of the leading pair. Sure this is it…
