March 27th - 28th saw the round one of the Irish Slalom Series (ISS) kick off at Newtownards Sailing Club, Co. Down. A poor forecast may have dampened spirits in the run up to the weekend, but come Saturday morning, the wind filled in for what turned out to be a great weekend of slalom racing for the near 60 entrants.

A major difference this year was the speed of registration. This a result of competitors availing of the online pre registration and payment on www.irishslalom.ie . Having completed the simple online steps, competitors only had to pick up their vests on the Saturday morning. This allowed for a prompt 10am briefing and the sounding of the first start sequence at 11am.

Race Officer (OD) for the year Ciaran O’Brien laid out a 6 buoy downwind slalom course with the help of the Newtownards Sailing Club (NSC) boat crew. The OD positioned the start at the opposite end of the course to the launching area. This excellent decision provided many advantages including; more room behind the starting line, cleaner wind and also it made competitors think about the tactics involved in the race starts. The spectators and camera crew also benefited from the close action of the 45 sailors screaming into the first mark.

Gold fleet racing kicked off with two full rounds of heats on Saturday morning. This meant that only 50% of the fleet were ever racing at the one time. The heat structure allowed for world class racing, removing the chances of competitors being the victims of dirty winds. Once two rounds were completed, it was decided that 5 back to back "all-in" races could be run in the afternoon with winds ranging from 20-30 knots. The action on the water was spectacular, with high speeds, dramatic turns at the marks and “drag like” starts out at sea racing towards the club house. The pace was very fast in the afternoon with current Champion Pearse Geaney and Maurice Owens fighting it out for podium position. Other top five contenders included newcomer and local sailor William Revels, the steady Hannes Louette, Fintan Day and current Grand Master champion Chris Loughridge.

As the tide dropped and more beach revealed itself, the silver fleet took to the water for a simple out and back format, 11 races were held in total with John Boyce stepping up to the mark coaching and encouraging the entire fleet who were feeling the effects of the winter water temperature. Standouts in the silver fleet included the youngest sailor, John Patrick Fletcher, all three ladies, Alessia Stocca, Laura Macauley and Rebecca Fletcher, but it was Kevin McGuinness, Aidan Granfield and Gary Pope who took the top 3 positions in reverse order.

Saturday night kicked off with a banquet buffet in the sailing club followed by the 2009 prize giving. The 2009 champions received locally handmade windsurf trophies. A special annual trophy in memory of Alan Harris was created for contribution to windsurfing in Ireland, a cause for which Alan was a driving force. Fintan Day one of the longest standing Surfdock team riders proudly presented the trophy to Danny Mulryan. On a charitable note event organiser Paddy Lyner raised £330 for windsurfers4cancerresearch through a raffle were a deserved Alistar Nichol won the latest DVD “trictionary”

Following the prize giving competitors were treated to a vinyl DJ set from Newtownards own Alan “wheels of steel” Watts. Alan is better known for his newsletter and online post www.windsurfcraic.co.uk. Dodgy dancing was the name of the game and it was decided early the next day that Stephen Kelly had taken his third consecutive event win in this newly hotly contested discipline!

The weekend also saw the launch of the Irish Slalom Series clothing range. Hoodies and beanies are available from our website www.irishslalom.ie . T-shirts, jackets and accessories are currently in production. All proceeds from the sale of merchandise will be used to further develop the ISS.

Sunday dawned with yet again more bright and breezy weather - much the dismay of a few people. Some bodies were not to cope with the previous days of action, this early in the season. Nevertheless a slightly smaller gold fleet took to the water to complete five races to total eleven races and give an all important 3^rd discard. A Master blaster where by the entire fleet followed a rib across Strangford Lough and back, signalled the end of what was a great weekends racing.

A special thanks also to Eimear Owens from Discovery foods, who laid on much needed hot lunches for the competitors on both days with help from friends.

Following the second day of racing, an early prize giving kicked off with prizes from generous local sponsorship: Pier 36, www.wookieWindsurfing.com , Tushingham and McCready sailboats.

A big thanks to all the volunteers in the boats who ensured racing ran smoothly and safely, as well as those who helped take in the boats at low tide which was a task in itself. We would like to thank the commodore and committee of Newtownards Sailing Club for letting us avail of their fabulous facilities, most notably event organiser Paddy Lyner, whose great input was reflected in the fantastic atmosphere.

A big thank you also to all the competitors who made the trip North despite the poor forecast.

Our trial run of GPS replays (in conjunction with Cormac O’Beirne of www.slowtrain.ie ) can now be see at http://www.tacktracker.com/web/races?rgid=1795235398

Full results can be seen here as well as a host of action shots from the weekend here.

Gold Fleet

Overall

1. Pearse Geaney
2. Maurice Owens
3. Hannes Louet-Feisser

Master

1. Hannes Louet-Feisser

Grand Master

1. Chris Loughridge

U-20

1. Matt McNutt

2. Joseph Fletcher

U-17

1. Ben McNutt

2. Eamon Kelly

Lady

1. Alison Beirne

Silver Fleet Overall

1. Gary Pope

2. Aidan Grandfield

3. Kevin McGuinness

Ladies

1. Laura McCauley

2. Rebecca Fletcher

Dodgy Dancing Award

Stephen Kelly