2025 FIREBALL MUNSTER CHAMPIONSHIP AT MONKSTOWN BAY SC
Eighteen Fireballs gathered at Monkstown Bay Sailing Club last weekend (21/22 June) for their Munster Championship, kindly sponsored by Doyle Sails. The weather gods were kind and this was another spectacular event at MBSC with warm medium breezes on Saturday and stronger gusty conditions on Sunday.
Race officer Ciaran McSweeney and his team sent the fleet out beyond Cobh for the clearer air and less fickle tides. Four hard fought races ensued with extremely close competition throughout the fleet. The Thompson brothers dominated the next three of the four races of the day with impressive boat speed and handling, helped no doubt by their recent outing to the UK Nationals where they did extremely well in that highly competitive and experienced fleet. Regular podium contenders Noel Butler & Stephen Oram found themselves chasing the Thompsons with first day scores of 6, 2,2,3. With four races under the belt the fleet were sent home to relax and enjoy a meal and beverages at the club.
Sunday dawned with little wind inshore but with reports of 17 knots in the race area. The fleet were sent out on a pleasant spinnaker run with a tide under them and initially the winds were lively but not overly challenging. Race five got underway in those decent winds and with some waves but as the race continued the wind kept building and the waters became choppier. Those who headed inshore for race five saw a big gain compared to those who headed out to sea and were faced with a massive header as they tacked for the one-time layline. There may have been other factors at play including tide but ultimately those heading inshore led from start to finish. With building breeze racing was then completedd for the day - conclusing their championship at 5 races. Team Thompson with their low scores took the overall, discarding race five score, and beat Butler & Oram by 5 points to 8 once discards were computed. Josh Porter & Cara McDowell found their mojo in the last race to take second and elevate themselves to third overall.
Events on the immediate horizon include a major coaching session at the DMYC with Adam Bowers and Cara McDowell on the weekend of 5th & 6th of July.
- The Volvo Dun Laoghaire regatta the following weekend
- Fireball Nationals in Tralee Bay SC Fenit on 8th, 9th & 10th August,
- One day coaching session with Thomas Chaix,
- Worlds on Lake Garda with at least seven Irish teams travelling
- Ulsters at Mullaghmore SC on 20th & 21st September.
RESULTS
PHOTO: Alan Fehily