Malahide Yacht Club successfully hosted the 2022 Kona Nationals on Sunday last, sponsored by Surf dock.
A hardy group of competitors took to the water to contest the Alan Harris Memorial Cup for this, the most prestigious event of the Kona national calendar.
Conditions were certainly challenging, not least for the race committee expertly led by OOD Niall Gallagher and our club photographer Margaret Fay.
Four races were completed in quick succession, in a freshening South-Easterly gusting over 20 knots with heavy rainfall, making the event a test of skill and stamina in equal measure. Close racing could be seen throughout the fleet, however in the end it was MYC Kona Class Captain Zilvinas (Joe) Galeckas who showed exceptional consistency, winning three of the four races to take a convincing victory.
Des Gibney of RSGYC took second with Miha Rothl of MYC in third. Commodore Ciaran O'Reilly was on hand for the prize giving and was delighted to crown Joe the Kona national champion for the second year in a row!
Andrew Christofides
