Irish pair win national Fireballs

The Shetland National Fireball Championship has been won by an Irish crew who snatched victory in three out of the four races which formed this year’s pared-down championship.

Barry McCartin and Conor Kinsella were triumphant after fog lifted enough to allow racing to get underway on Friday. The pair were also second in the only race they didn’t win – which went to Czech sailors Jiri Paruzek and Jakub Kosvica, who were among several Czech crews taking part in the National or European championships (which were due to start on Sunday).

William Mouat and Neil Fraser had the best scores of any of the Shetland crews and came in fourth in the National Championship. John Manson and Ivan Fraser came in fourth in one race while David Grant and Andrew Grant scored a second and third.

Championship organiser John Manson said conditions had been variable for the racing with light to medium strength winds. “At times it was s struggle. The fog came and went and the wind direction moved quite regularly which caused us to move the course quite a lot,” he said.