An Invitational qualification event for the ISAF Team Racing World Championships was held last Saturday (2nd April) in the Royal St George Yacht club in Dún Laoighaire.

5 Teams were invited to compete, including UCD1 and UCD2. UL1 and two teams from outside college, the George Gladiators (GG) and the Supertroopers (ST), made up the remaining 3 teams. Securing invites to this prestigious event for two teams shows the incredibly high standard that UCDSC has achieved this year, competing in not only College events but also in National events.

Saturday dawned with a moderate breeze and a bright sun making conditions perfect for intense tight racing. UCD1 started the day off brightly winning their first two races however the round robin took a turn for the worse when they lost their last two races to finish with 2 wins from their first four races. UCD2 managed to get 1 win from their first four races. They second round robin produced similar results. After the second round robin a quick break was taken and scores were totted up placing UCD1 in 3^rd position behind the GG and the ST. UCD2, along with UL, were unfortunately eliminated at this stage as they could not mathematically qualify for the worlds.

A Third round robin was thus run involving UCD1, ST and GG. UCD1 needed to win at least one race to have any chance of qualifying. In both races they were winning until the last mark and then subsequently lost the race on the last leg. While hugely disappointing not to have qualified for the team racing worlds, there is no doubt that UCD1 and 2 gained massive experience by taking part in this event.

UCD1- Simon Doran and Christine Lynch, Aidan McLaverty and Danielle Vincent, Barry McCartin and Sharon Quigley

UCD2- Andrew O’Donoghue and Gillian Condy, Rory Murphy and Jean Lucey, Nick Harger and Katie Curtin