Dingle Sailing Club sailors Adam Byrne and Paddy Cunnane are the Topaz Irish National Champions 2014.
The Topaz National Championships were hosted by Dingle Sailing Club for the first time on the 23-24 August 2014. The event included entries from Lough Derg Sailing Club, Dungarvan Sailing Club, Tralee Bay Sailing Club, Foynes Yacht Club, Malahide, Cork and Dingle. The Topaz sailboat is a recognised class by the Irish Sailing Association (ISA) who provided a fleet of 24 boats for the competing sailors. Full results sheet downloadable below.
Saturday saw very little breeze which tested the sailors' with light-air conditions. The first gun was at 11.30am and sailing continued until 3.30pm with a total of 4 races completed.
Several sailors reported Fungie joining Race 3 but could not be confirmed by the Race committee. Race 4 brought a stronger breeze which saw local sailor Fionn O'Regan consolidate his strong lead of at 2, 1, 1 and 1 for the 4 races. Force 6 winds were forecast for Sunday which duly arrived providing very fresh but excellent sailing conditions. The wind was blowing from the Harbour mouth (SE) which is somewhat unusual for Dingle.
These strong conditions provided some thrilling sailing especially on the broad-reach leg of the race. Race leader Fionn O'Regan from Saturday was pipped at the post by a single point which saw the National Champion title go to Dingle sailors Adam Byrne and Paddy Cunnane.
Category winners saw Dungarvan Sailing club sailor Jack Kiely take the U16 title who also finished 4th overall. Ellie Cunnane and Stephen Cunnane (DINGLESC) won the U12 title.
The U14 title went to Tralee Bay Sailing club sailors John Kelliher and Tadgh Hurley who also had a strong 5th place overall finish.
The event was managed by Race organiser Aileen O'Carroll and Race officer Colm O'Shea. Dingle Sailing Club made preparations for the event, working with the ISA and
arranging race training the week prior to the event. The club recognise that hosting events of this calibre contribute to the skills and development of our sailors and provide an opportunity for our sailors to compete and win, at the National level. Dingle Sailing Club is a community club with an ethos to make sailing accessible to all. None of this is possible without the support and help from our volunteers and sponsors.
RESULTS
FIRST PLACE, "TOPAZ IRISH NATIONAL CHAMPIONS 2014"
ADAM BYRNE (CREW) DINGLE SAILING CLUB
PADDY CUNNANE (HELM) DINGLE SAILING CLUB
SECOND PLACE
FIONN O'REGAN, DINGLE SAILING CLUB
THIRD PLACE
LIA MCCANN (HELM) DINGLE SAILING CLUB
RUAIRI GALWEY (CREW) DINGLE SAILING CLUB
CATEGORY WINNERS:
UNDER 16
JACK KIELY, DUNGARVAN SAILING CLUB
UNDER 14
JOHN KELLIHER (HELM) TRALEE BAY SAILING CLUB
TADGH HURLEY (CREW) TRALEE BAY SAILING CLUB
UNDER 12
ELLIE CUNNANE (HELM) DINGLE SAILING CLUB
STEPHEN CUNNANE (CREW) DINGLE SAILING CLUB
