International One Metre (IOM) Irish Championship

Howth, Sunday 23rd March 2003

The day started off with dense fog, total calm and no water in the sailing area.  The tide came in on time and within fifteen minutes the fog lifted and the wind arrived.  With encouragement from OOD Paddy O'Neill, the competitors quickly readied their boats and the first race of the day was underway.

Jeff Kay of Howth took the first race, beating defending champion Richard Rowan of Paisley MYC. This order was reversed in the next race with Richard beating Jeff.  This pattern continued for the next four races until Richard gained the advantage by taking race seven. This 'match racing' between the pairs continued right to the final race, with Richard maintaining the advantage to retain the championship.

Competition was equally keen in the trailing pack with Oliver Williams holding the rest at bay to take third place. Guy Kilroy of the Royal Irish, despite claiming that he was 'a bit rusty' took a credible fourth place ahead of Steve Atkinson of Carrickfergus.

This brings to a close the Howth YC IOM season as radio controlled boat sailors start to ready their bigger boats for the Summer season.  IOM racing will start again following the Autumn League in October.