BLUEJAY Wins J/109 Europeans

(Cork, Ireland)- The “almost Mediterranean” weather combined with some classic Irish wind/weather to make this year’s CORK Week another memorable one. All classes had great racing and on the last day of racing you could feel the tension on the dock, with virtually all the classes still to be decided. Cork Harbour and the surrounding area have huge land effects on the wind and, especially on the last day, the gradient made for constant changes which drove tacticians crazy.
The eighteen 109’s (ten from England and eight from Ireland) were competing for their European Championship and as Greg Burgess’s BLUEJAY took the gun on the first race of last day, the crew punched the air with delight, knowing they’d clinched first overall. Brian Moreton’s JUKE BOX was second and Ian Nagle and Paul O’Malley’s JELLY BABY, snatched third place on the last day from Robert O’Leary’s JEROBOAM.