The annual lift out of cruisers at the National Yacht Club in Dun Laoghaire Harbour is usually a good sign that winter is not far, and last weekend inevitably saw the first single-digit temperatures and a sure sign winter Performance training, DMYC Frostbites and the final events of the year are around the corner.
The National YC Autumn programme started mid-September and will resume this weekend after a two-week break to facilitate the liftout.
Optimists, Toppers, Fevas, ILCA and 29ers have settled into a training phase with coaching delivered by strong lead coaches under the guidance of the club head coach.
The Topper class: a success story!
Just a year ago, the NYC Topper squad was heavily depleted, with sailors having graduated to bigger boats and "the COVID gap" directly affecting entry into the class. The club, however, maintained the programme despite the low numbers, allowing a few talents to emerge and a regular entry in the class from sailors graduating from the Optimist and our summer courses. From 3 sailors regularly training last Autumn, we now have over 20 sailors signed up for this year's programme.
Club charters have helped speed up entry into the class by starting training and sailing the boat whilst sourcing their own.
Lead coach Ellie Cunnane and NYC coach Hugh O'Connor have their hands full managing a range of ambitious young sailors.
The year's final events certainly showed that the club Topper class is back to full health, with no less than five sailors completing the four races series of the Malahide Traveller Series inside the top 10. The club also has four sailors selected in the Irish Sailing national squad, making it the ideal base for the squad training sessions when in Dun Laoghaire.
Optimist rankings are out!
The final Optimist ranking event was in September, and we are now waiting to meet nationally one last time in 2023 with the National Training Week and Halloween regatta.
In the meantime, the national rankings came out with a strong show by our younger sailors. We had three very successful progressions from regatta racing into the main fleet during the season with encouraging results. The more seasoned sailors who started in the main fleets had a strong season, as the club placed six out of nine sailors in the top 10. In Juniors, all four sailors who started the season in the main fleet secured the top 10 nationally. In seniors, Gemma Brady was the top lady in third overall. Louise Hanley, who just transferred into the Topper, was 10th.
Gemma has strong ambitions for the next few months before making her transition, and it started at the weekend, taking a strong 5th place at the UK end-of-season.
Malahide fun!
For the second year in a row, a few sailors used the Malahide Dinghy regatta to get a bit of sailing whilst Dun Laoghaire was tied up with the lift out.
Damien Dion took third place at the Kona Nationals in Malahide
The sailors were welcomed by winter sunshine and light air. If the first race ended up being a drifter, the second one was lovely in 5-6 kts from the East.
Windsurfer Tryout fun for National Yacht Club sailors in Malahide
The club entered sailors in the Optimist, RS Feva, Mirror and the Kona (windsurfing) classes and secured three podium finishes with Alex Butcher 2nd in the Optimist, Aurele Dion and Ben Chaix 2nd in the PY (sailing a Mirror) and Damien Dion 3rd in the Kona.
Junior podium places for the National Yacht Club's (from left to right) Ben Chaix, Alex Butcher and Aurele Dion
The day's highlight was probably all the kids messing and swapping boats between races one and two, with Felix Dion's Kona becoming the "must-do" tryout.
Flying 15 and SB20 in Lough Derg
Another way to use the lift-out weekend effectively was to travel to Dromineer to compete at the Freshwater One Design Keelboat Regatta. One NYC SB20 and five Flying Fifteens journeyed west to enjoy Lough Derg YC hospitality. Alan Green and Keith Poole were just a point shy of second and settled with third overall in the FF15 fleet.
All Ireland win!
As reported earlier by Afloat, NYC Finn Lynch completed a season rich in emotions by taking the All-Ireland Trophy 2023 in Foynes.
The club has three juniors ready to follow in his footsteps in Schull next weekend at the Junior All Ireland event. Gemma Brady (Optimist) crewed by Hannah Walsh, Ben O'Shaughnessy (29er) with his usual crew, Ethan Spain and Lucia Cullen (29er) with her usual crew, Alanna Twomey.
29er tryout: Oct 29th
The NYC has set up a 29er tryout day
The club has set up a 29er tryout day (weather permitting) on Sunday, the 29th of October, alongside the club's regular training.
