Synergy Wins Cruiser Mid-Season

Sunday's dinghy races were packed with excitement, with excellent courses set by Paddy Rooney, the lively off-shore easterlies together with the post-Olympic Games enthusiasm, firing up the competitors.

Race 1 saw Kieran & Brian Cranley lead the A-Fleet course most of the way, with Andy Browne and Diane Burgess neck and neck on a few occasions. The final dash for the finish line was truly exciting, with the Cranleys first to finish, beating Andy and Diane by eleven seconds. Helen McParland won the first race on handicap. In the B Fleet, Conor Quinn comfortably won with David Corkey second and Hannahelisa Smyth finishing third.

Race 2 was equally exciting with the same results in the B-Fleet, while in the A-Fleet, Andy and Diane managed to finish first, 6 seconds ahead of the Cranleys, who won the race on handicap. Sailing Secretary Philip O'Connor was unfortunate to retire from both races due to broken gear. Dara O'Connor now leads the A-Fleet Mid Season series and Conor Quinn leads the B-Fleet Mid Season.

Cruiser Racing
Saturday’s cruiser race was very closely fought, and it was a very welcome first race of the season for Don Campbell in Thetis. The conditions were stormy so the start was fast, and by the time the boats got to Warrenpoint, Humdinger had built up a strong lead, with Atlantic Diva and Synergy neck and neck with Thetis unable to make up all the ground it lost at the start.

Everything went smoothly until they got into the shadow of the mountain at the Woodhouse - the wind dropped away and started going round in circles. Humdinger's lead evaporated while Synergy and Atlantic Diva fought to master the difficult conditions. Humdinger found good wind first with Synergy stealing second place from Atlantic Diva. What followed was a dash for the line with Humdinger, Synergy, Atlantic Diva and Thetis finishing in that order both on the water and after correcting times for handicaps.

That being the last race of the Mid-Season, the season’s scores were as follows:
1 – Synergy – Chris Cassidy, John Woods & Pat Dunbar .. 6 points
2 – Atlantic Diva – Gerry Byrne & John Gray .. 12 points
3 – MaxiMeyes – Mick McCann & Michael McAteer .. 16 points

Chris Cassidy and Pat Dunbar on board winning Cruiser Synergy