#allireland – London Olympic keelboat representative Peter O'Leary is the new All Ireland sailing champion after a light air series was completed at Dromineer on Lough Derg this afternoon. Cork sailors also filled second and third spots with O'Leary's Baltimore club mate Fionn Lyden, who won the Junior title a fortnight ago, second and Royal Cork's George Kenefick, the defending champion, third.

O'Leary from Baltimore Sailing Club dominated the final three-race series and did not to have to sail the last race but did so anyway. He lifted the Helmsman's Salver for the second time, having first won the title in 2006.

O'Leary who raced under the burgee of Baltimore Sailing Club but who also has close ties with Royal Cork becomes the seventh Cork sailor in a row to win the title. His brother Nicholas being a triple champion from 2008 to 2010.

A total of 24 sailors drawn from a selection of one design and cruiser classes competed for the title. O'Leary was issued with a wild card invitation by the Irish Sailing Association (ISA) following his Olympic regatta participation.

Racing in J80 keelboats, the sixth consecutive time the event was held in the keelboat class, the regatta began with a qualifier round on Friday for eight of the teams with only the top three then making it through to a 16 boat, 2 flight preliminary series on Saturday. The original aim had been for the two separate flights of eight boats to sail three races a piece before a two-race repechage and three-race final series on Sunday. However due to the absence of any wind on Saturday afternoon it was not possible for the second flight to sail any races. Based on the circumstances, the race management team made the decision to forego the repechage in favour of attempting the three-race series for Flight 2 in the morning with the top four boats from each flight progressing to a three-race final series in the afternoon.

Competition in the final series was tight. Amongst the eight helms were three former Olympic sailors including Peter O'Leary and Ryan Seaton who both competed at the 2012 Games and Mark Mansfield who sailed at four consecutive Olympics from 1992 to 2004. Also sailing was reigning champion, George Kenefick who was back to defend his title and the youngest of all the competitors, 17 year old Fionn Lyden who only two weeks ago won the ISA Junior All Ireland Championship in Schull, Co. Cork.

Baltimore's Peter O'Leary holds the original 1947 IYA Salver trophy aloft at Lough Derg this afternoon

The deciding three races began in the early afternoon in winds that steadily grew to 12 knots for the final race. Peter O'Leary, who was sailing with his brother Robert O'Leary and Robbie English, quickly made his presence known by taking the lead and winning the first race. Having been top of the leader board going in to the final, Fionn Lyden and his crew of David Harte and Darragh McCormack slipped to second place overall followed closely by Mark Mansfield in third.

Another race win followed by a second place finish and the title was Peter's. Young Fionn Lyden sailed a magnificent regatta and beat off two Olympians to claim the silver. In third place was last year's winner George Kenefick who clawed his way up from the back of the fleet to win the final race and take the bronze. He finished tied on points with Mansfield but beat him based on a count back; George's best result during the regatta was a first while Mark's was a second.

The final results are below: