Ballyholme pair are All Ireland champions
BALLYHOLME Yacht Club’s Robert Espey and crew Michael Ferguson were the winners of this year’s Irish Sailing Champions’ Cup which took place at Royal North of Ireland Yacht Club in Cultra.
Espey, who raced on his home waters of Belfast Lough, was a formidable contender in this year’s hosting class from the start.
Eighteen Irish national champions and Olympians from all over Ireland assembled at RNIYC on Saturday, only to be greeted by rather unfavourable weather conditions. The call was made to cancel all racing on Saturday, with gusts at over 30 knots. This meant an early start for Flight One on Sunday morning.
There was no repechage; rather, the top five from each flight went through to a four-race final. The day was well run, and huge credit must go to the Royal North of Ireland YC team and Race Officer Ruan O’Tiarnaigh, who kept everything on track.
Espey, who claimed his place in the fleet as the nomination from the RS400 class as their national champion, finished top of his flight after three races ahead of Barry McCartin of Cushendall in second and Olympian Finn Lynch in third.
He had tough competition throughout, not least from another Olympian in Robert Dickson (Howth Yacht Club) and his club colleague Ross McDonald. McDonald recently won the IRC European Championships at the Royal Irish Yacht Club on Outrajeous, making it an exceptionally tight final series.
