The Final Trial - All Guts and Glory

It had all the makings of a classic. The marks were being lifted within days. The long-awaited North-Easter had finally arrived. The tides were suitable. Everything was in place. But the waves were pretty big.

Four hardy or perhaps foolhardy souls turned out on Saturday morning to have a blast. A last chance to take the crown from John Chambers' Moth or to end up as flotsam on Killiney beach.

John's Moth had held the lead since April. Could he lose the lead on the last day?  Well, he did. Paul Keane's new time of 46:31 is nearly five minutes faster than the previous best and a good reward for a radical day's sailing.

Read the rest of the story to see how close the sailors actually came to being flotsam. The Island Trial is NOT for beginners.  Or anything without lots of volume in the bow. Or for waterproof bags that aren't waterproof.

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Paul Keane, Neil O'Toole and Hugh Sheehy lined up in the first batch of entrants, crossing the start at about 10:45 in big seas and a Bft4-5 NE'er. Dan O'Connell headed out an hour later, but the adventure was the same for all.  Three Lasers and one OK Dinghy.

Keane led across the line with Sheehy and O'Toole in pursuit. Keane pulled ahead on the run out to the Island where he discovered that the slack tide had not made for small waves. The southern tip had "the largest steepest waves I've ever seen in a Laser". Despite the waves Keane's boat handling served him well and he came around safely. His peak speed of 20km/h was slightly bettered by O'Toole's 21km/h as he came around the Island next.

O'Toole felt lucky to still have his mast in the boat after a number of sudden stops left the cockpit flooded, the iPhone dead despite its waterproof case, and the mast-tip having explored territory well forward of the bow.  Although he skipped the marks on the outbound leg and we don't have a GPS track of the return, O'Toole's time of approximately 48 mins has great merit.

Sheehy got to the overfalls last of the three. Then he misjudged the spot for his gybe around the Island and gave himself a difficult last minute choice. After getting to within 100m of clear water he would have to either gybe twice more in the middle of the waves or chicken out and beat back upwind. He took the sensible choice and chickened out, leaving the other two boats worrying until he reappeared safe again on the windward side of the Island.

O'Connell arrived an hour later, sailing alone (hmmmm) and into stronger tide. Large breaking waves were visible from the safe water to windward of the Island and he sensibly turned back.

But, the last day sees a new leader.  Keane's time of 46:31 is one heck of an achievement in large waves, strong winds and through truly hairy conditions.

While we may be out of time this year, Paul Keane's time can still be bettered. Apart from the waves at the Island, everywhere else had a large, nasty and confused chop that slowed all the boats considerably, particularly on the return leg. 40 minutes is probably possible in a Laser.

The ideal boat on this day was probably something like a 505. Single trapeze. Lots of buoyancy in the bow. No way a Moth could make it on a day like that and Skiffs or multihulls should beware.....and ABSOLUTELY no beginners please!