News & Fixtures

 

On the weekend of the 6th and 7th of November, UCD Sailing club made the journey up to Carlingford Lough for the Irish University Sailing Association Eastern championships hosted by TCD at the Carlingford Lough Yacht Club.

 This two day event is one of the 5 college team racing events held throughout the year, the events are sailed in two-man Firefly dinghies.

The first day brought light westerly breeze and a strong tide, both of which posed a challenge to all teams, making for exciting racing on the water. UCD had 3 teams in the gold fleet, demonstrating the great strength in depth that the club continues to enjoy. Both UCD1 and UCD2 had a golden day, both achieving four wins out of four races. In the silver fleet UCD4 were acquitting themselves well achieving 3 2ins out of four races while in the bronze fleet UCD5 and UCD6 were more than holding their own.

Sunday morning dawned bright, sunny and windless, a far cry from the forecasted hurricane. After a short delay onshore waiting for wind, the first race was started at half 11. UCD1 managed to win both their ¼ final and semi-final to reach the final of the gold fleet. Unfortunately both UCD2 and UCD3 got knocked out in the quarter-finals. UCD4 managed to reach the semi-finals of silver fleet but their progress was halted by a controversial umpire decision which cost them a place in the final. In an interesting twist of events, UCD5 were knocked out by UCD6 in the semi-finals of bronze fleet.

In the gold fleet final UCD1 faced a stern test against the Super troopers, a team made up of ex-college sailors who had a wealth of experience on their side. In the first race, the supertroopers looked to have it all sewn up until the last leg when UCD made what looked for a while like the perfect recovery only to just lose out on the finish line. In the second race of this “best of three” final, the supertroopers executed a clinical race to close out the final and take victory. A disappointing end for UCD1 however, they can take solace from being the first college team at an incredibly competitive event. After an interesting battle UCD6 managed to take the honours in the bronze fleet beating DIT2 in the final.

UCDSC would like to thank TCD for hosting and running a fantastic event, from the racing on the water to the social off the water.

Final Results: Gold Fleet: 1st- UCD1.  Bronze Fleet: 1st- UCD6; 3rd- UCD5

UCD1- Simon Doran and Christine Lynch, Barry McCartin and Ross Johnson, Nick Harger and Katie Curtin.

UCD6- David Lee and Stephen Shovlin, Rob O’Donoghue and Aoife O’Riordan, James Hanratty and Finnbarr Bradley.