Eighty to contest youth championships

7th April 2009

Over 80 young sailors in 7 classes will compete for national championship honours at the Youth National and Junior Pathway Championship. The event will inlcudes selection trials for the Laser Radial, Laser 4.7' and 420 dinghies and also acts as a qualifier for sailors interested in representing Ireland at the ISAF Youth World Championships in Brazil in July.

“This event will be very hotly contested, particularly among the Boys in the Laser Radial class as this year there are very many strong contenders for the National title, said Rory Fitzpatrick.

Already registered to compete include Ross Vaughan, Oliver Loughead, Chris Penny and Philip Doran who is currently the U17 Laser 4.7 World Champion.

“For 2009 this event looks set to attract even more competitors over the Easter break. The formula of running with a range of junior classes works on two fronts: families can bring all their young sailors to the one regatta and the junior sailors also get the opportunity to mix and learn from the more experienced youth.” said Fitzpatrick.

Based in the Fasnet International Outdoor Education & Marine Centre, the sailors will sail in two race areas in Schull Harbour and Roaringwater Bay. Race Officer David Harte is in charge of the Youth fleet, which includes the Laser Standard, Laser Radial, Laser 4.7 and double-handed 420 dinghy. Liam Dineen is the Race Officer for the Junior Pathway Classes, which includes the Topper and Optimist dinghies and the double-handed Feva.

Published in News From the Afloat.ie Archive

About The Author

Afloat.ie Team

Email The Author

Afloat.ie is Ireland's dedicated marine journalism team.

Have you got a story for our reporters? Email us here.

We've got a favour to ask

More people are reading Afloat.ie than ever thanks to the power of the internet but we're in stormy seas because advertising revenues across the media are falling fast. Unlike many news sites, we haven’t put up a paywall because we want to keep our marine journalism open.

Afloat.ie is Ireland's only full–time marine journalism team and it takes time, money and hard work to produce our content.

So you can see why we need to ask for your help.

If everyone chipped in, we can enhance our coverage and our future would be more secure. You can help us through a small donation. Thank you.