Hot Orange – Ruffian 23 Irish National Championships

Another day and another post about CSC sailors success at National Events!!
Today is the turn of Hot Orange, Stephen Penney and his crew who sailed a brilliant 3 day event to first in the top spot!
The Ruffian 23 Irish National Championships were held at the weekend at the National Yacht Club in Dun Laoghaire.
Trevor Kirkpatrick and his crew on Carageen finished in 6th place in a close battle with only 2 points between 3rd and 6th place.
Well done everyone, and nice shirts guys!! 😁😁

Sheep Dawg at Strangford

Great weekend sailing at the Strangford Narrows Series for Trevor D’Arcy and Alan McClernon on the VX, bit too much wind for them on Friday and Saturday but things improved for a great breeze on Sunday and Monday. 1st in IRC 1 Sunday with a max speed of 18.5 knots and an unconfirmed 1st on Monday. Great racing in the tidal waters of Strangford Lough never disappoints ! Thanks to Strangford Sailing Club for allowing them to base themselves there for the weekend, very hospitable with awesome surroundings.

Team Elixir

Team Elixir returned home after 3 weeks away from CSC competing at a windy Volvo Dun Laoghaire regatta and then the Strangford Narrows series. 

At Dun Laoghaire, they competed in seven races with wind speeds of between 20-38 Knots and big seas from the South. They finished joint 7th in a highly competitive fleet including Olympic gold medallists. 

On the way home they stopped at Strangford Lough for this year’s Narrows Series to defend their Bar Buoy race win from last year. Unfortunately, the Bar Buoy race was cancelled due to the weather, the standing waves at the bar were observed to be 4-5 meters! 

Over the following 3 days, the winds eased slightly each day to allow 3 good days of racing.

Elixir managed 2nd overall. Trevor D’Arcy and Alan McClernon finished 3rd in their class with 2 firsts under their belt. David McFarlane (VX1) and Liam Donnelly also from CSC were doing well until Liam decided to go swimming with the resident dolphins in the lough. 🙈