#HYC - Saturday night (19 January) saw Howth Yacht Club’s annual Achievers Awards to recognise those who have gone above and beyond for the club in the previous year.

Junior sailor Rocco Wright was one of the stars of the evening, receiving the Seaward Bell Trophy for excelling in events both at home and abroad.

Wright’s category included Eve McMahon, Luke Turvey, Johnny Flynn and Jamie McMahon — all exemplars of the calibre of junior racing talent at the club today.

On the same note, the GM Award for the sailor or sailors who best represent and enhance the spirit of junior sailing went to the Scott girls Hannah, Sarah and Lucy for their enthusiasm — which included the daunting task of saving on Ian Malcolm’s Howth 17.

The Howth 17 class itself took the Cliona Murphy Memorial Trophy that encapsulates the spirit of the club as a whole, dedicating time and effort to a specific goal in which the club can take pride.

In other awards, Diarmuid Brodie was named Instructor of the Year for his outstanding service to HYC members over the previous 12 months, while Sarah Robertson was rewarded for her efforts with the Volunteer of the Year gong.

Dave Cullen and team on Checkmate XV were named Boat of the Year after wins in all three Dun Laoghaire regattas, their overall wins in the inaugural Wave Regatta and the Half Ton Classics Cup.

And the Silver Fox Trophy for excellence in racing, cruising or organisation went to the junior 49er world champion pair of Robert Dickson and Sean Waddilove, winning out over Colin Kavanagh and the most recent Irish Sailor of the Year Conor Fogerty.

An aspiring journalist from Dublin was among those highly commended in the first YJA Young Blogger of the Year Competition.

Cathal McCahey, 21, was longlisted for the inaugural prize for his video profile on Ireland’s 49er Olympic hopefuls Robert Dickson and Sean Waddilove, produced for Dublin City University’s campus TV news programme.

McCahey was recognised among a talented young group whose entries displayed skills from video to photography, writing blogs and ebooks, and even painting.

This year’s top prize went to Monique and Ollie Vennis-Ozanne from Fareham in Hampshire, UK for their video on last year’s Ovington Junior Inland Sailing Championship, which impressed the judges with its mix of drone footage, crew interviews and running commentary.

The siblings received their award at the RYA Dinghy Show in Alexandra Palace last Saturday 3 March.

Entries are now open for the 2018 YJA Young Blogger Competition, which is open to any aspiring journalist aged 21 or younger on 31 December 2018.

#NYC - Eleven accolades for outstanding achievement by its members will be presented at the National Yacht Club’s annual Sailing Awards Dinner next Saturday 24 February.

Among those to be recognised on the evening are Anne and Michael Madsen, who previously won the Township Cup in 2016 for an epic voyage to Norway.

Roberto Sastre will be presented the storied Boyne Regatta Cup for his offshore racing exploits, while Peter and Kerri Mulligan will receive the Muglins Cup for the most interesting family cruise of 2017.

To book your table at €35 per plate, call Tim or Louise at 01 280 5725, or email [email protected] or [email protected].

#RSGYC - Nominations are invited for the Royal St George Yacht Club’s Oscar Annual Sailing Awards to recognise RSGYC members for their sailing achievements in 2017.

All nominations are encouraged and will assist the Sailing Committee in recognising those RSGYC sailors and club members with significant achievements during the last year.

The following trophies and awards will be presented early next month:

• Commodore’s Cup (Best Offshore Performance)
• Vice-Commodore’s Cup (Significant Dinghy Performance)
• O’Hanlon Cup (Best Cruise of 2017)
• Enriquetta Cup (Significant Keelboat Performance)
• Causeway Trophy (Sportsmanship)
• Club Member of the Year
• Youth Trophy (Significant Contribution to the Club by a Youth Sailor)

If you have nominations for any of the above trophies or categories above, please take a moment to nominate the person, boat, or crew so that their sailing achievements can be recognised.

The awards will be presented on Saturday 3 February at one of the great evenings at the RSGYC, with sailors of all ages, their families and friends in attendance.

Nominations close next Friday 12 January and should be submitted online HERE.

#Rowing: Shane O’Driscoll and Mark O’Donovan have been nominated for the Team of the Year at the RTÉ Sports Awards for 2017. The world champions in the lightweight pair could take over from Paul O’Donovan and Gary O’Donovan, who won in 2016. The awards will be presented on Saturday, December 16^th. The public can vote on the night.  

#Rowing: The awards season is proving a fruitful one for rowers. Mark O’Donovan and Shane O’Driscoll were honoured at the Canon Hayes Centre awards and fellow Skibbereen man Paul O’Donovan has been nominated for the RTÉ Sportsperson of the Year award. All three won gold medals at the 2017 World Championships.

 Ireland coach Dominic Casey was also nominated for the World Rowing Coach of the Year at the World Rowing Awards. Casey and Morten Espersen, the former Ireland high peformance director, were also nominated for Distinguished Service to International Rowing.

 On the night, the France coach Alexis Besancon was chosen as Coach of the Year. John Boultbee of Australia won the Distinguished Service to International Rowing.

 The Male Crew of the Year were the German eight, Female Crew of the Year was single sculler Jeannine Gmelin and World Para Crew of the Year went to Birgit Skarstein of Norway.

#Rowing: Shane O’Driscoll and Mark O'Donovan have been honoured at the Irish Youth Foundation Excellence in Sport Awards. The world champions in the lightweight pair received their awards at the charity event hosted by golfer Padraig Harrington on Monday night in Dublin.

 Other recipients included rugby great Paul O’Connell, European gold medal winning sprinter Gina Akpe-Moses, father-and-son horse racing duo Aidan O’Brien and Joseph O’Brien, World Rugby Referee of the Year Joy Neville and Olympic boxer Michael Carruth.

 Lions rugby coach, Warren Gatland, the Dublin Gaelic football team and the Irish Show Jumping Team were also honoured.

 “This is the first national recognition award we’ve received since the World Championships and it means an awful lot to us,” O’Driscoll said. “It’s nice to reflect on your achievements and we’re delighted to be recognised. It will keep us going for a while, now that we’re back into the hard slog of winter training.

 “It’s also nice to have rowing recognised, because it’s such a great sport. You can take it up at any age and it’s such good fun. Anyone, young or old, can jump in a boat!” he said.

 The rowing stars were interviewed on stage at the ceremony by RTÉ sports presenter Joanne Cantwell, who asked what they had done differently this year to achieve their world level success.

 “We had a bit more belief in ourselves and to put it simply, we didn’t want to come fourth again. We wanted to win a medal at every regatta,” O’Driscoll said.

 “We focused on overcoming our doubts and giving it everything because there’s no point in going out there if you think you can’t do it or you’re not 100 per cent committed and I think that’s something all the sports people in the audience could identify with.”

 Speaking about sharing the stage with other sports stars, the Skibbereen  oarsman said: “It was great to be up there with people like Paul O’Connell. He’s a living legend and when he stood up to speak, the whole room just went quiet. He was a very inspirational speaker and he talked about the fact that since he’s retired, he only remembers good things about his sports career, even though he probably found it all very challenging at the time. So it was great to hear insights like that.”

 O’Driscoll said that he and O’Donovan were honoured to receive the award from such a worthwhile organisation.

 “We got a real insight into the work of the Irish Youth Foundation at the awards and when you hear about the hardship some young people experience, it’s shocking. It makes you feel so privileged and I’m glad that sport can be a positive outlet for so many young people.”

 All proceeds from the black tie fundraising event go toward the Irish Youth Foundation’s work with children and young people living in disadvantaged circumstances. The charity works primarily in the areas of  homelessness, after-school education, primary-to-secondary school transition and skills and employability. Last year the Excellence in Sport Awards raised over €100,000.

#RYANI - The RYANI Annual Awards on Friday 24 November recognised successful sailors, rising stars and volunteers who have made a positive difference to the sport over the last year.

Double Olympic sailing gold medallist Shirley Robertson OBE was on hand to announce the award winners along with RYANI chief operating officer Richard Honeyford at Malone House in Belfast.

Young Sailor of the Year going to Laser Radial specialist Sally Bell from Royal North of Ireland Yacht Club, who graduated from the RYANI Performance Academy to the Irish Youth Academy this year. The 18-year-old’s successful 2017 peaked with in her selection for the Youth Worlds taking place in China this December.

The award for Young Powerboater of the Year went to East Antrim Boat Club’s Joshua Kane, who swapped Toppers for RIBs at an early stage, winning the NI heats for his age bracket the RYA Honda Youth RIB Championships three years funning, as well as being instrumental in the running of the Youth RIB Finals in NI and assisting junior sail training.

Club Race Coach of the Year is Katie Kane, a former RYA Junior and Youth Squad member, who has competed at national and international level in both the Topper and Laser classes and now coaches at her home club East Antrim BC as well as with the Hampton Yacht Club’s Oppy team in Virginia, USA. Katie us also involved in running East Antrim’s Women on the Water programme.

Instructor of the Year is Colin De Fleury of Belfast Lough Sailability, who lead his team to second place in this summer’s Preisdents Cup as well as seeing five boats place in the top 10 at the Hansa Nationals.

Young Volunteer of the Year is split between Katie Shivers and Joshua Reddy of Ballyholme Yacht Club for their tireless efforts in helping run their club’s Women on the Water and ‘Dolphins and Sharks’ programmes.

Four special awards went to Wiclif McCready, for stoking the passions of hundreds of sailors as proprietor of McCready Sailboats; Cliff Burns, for his role as safeguarding offier for the RYANI over the last decade; boatbuilder Alastair Duffin for his impact on sailing, especially in the GP14 class; and Ballyholme Yacht Club’s Robin Gray for his work as the RYA’s regional race management co-ordinator in Northern Ireland for the last 10 years.

The top award of the evening, Club of the Year, went to Carrickfergus Sailing Club, which had an impressive year both in sailing achievements and in community efforts – donating boats to local schools, fundraising via sailing challenges and more.

“Nights like this help to remind us all what our sport is all about,” said Richard Honeyford at the event. “It is an excellent occasion to recognise the commitment of so many people to sailing and boating in Northern Ireland.”

The COO added that RYANI is “looking forward to another thrilling year of sailing and boating as it is very evident that we have great talent within our clubs.

“I am especially proud of all of our volunteers who have been invaluable to us. Volunteers are the bedrock of the sport and we are very grateful for all they do to facilitate sailing and yachting events throughout Northern Ireland.”

#Rowing: Ireland coach Dominic Casey has been chosen as one of the finalists for the Coach of the Year at the World Rowing Awards for the second successive year. Casey coaches the Ireland lightweights, who had an extraordinary 2017.

 The lightweight pair of Mark O’Donovan and Shane O’Driscoll capped a year of wins in the World Cup events and the European Championships with a World Championship gold. Paul O’Donovan also took top position on the podium in Florida after winning the lightweight single sculls. He and his brother Gary had taken two World Cup medals and a European Championship silver in the lightweight double. Denise Walsh was a World Championship finalist and took medals at the European Championships and the World Cup in Belgrade. The Ireland lightweight quadruple and the lightweight pair of David O’Malley and Shane Mulvaney took medals at the World Under-23 Championships.

 Casey has also been nominated for an award for Distinguished Services to International Rowing. Former Ireland high performance director, Morten Espersen, is also a nominee for this award.

#Rowing: Waterways Ireland presented prizes to winning crews after the successful Erne Head of the River on Saturday in Enniskillen. Trinity were the best overall club at the event, while local club Enniskillen Royal Boat Club had the top junior women’s and junior men’s eights.

 The chief executive of Waterways Ireland, Dawn Livingstone, said: “I am delighted to support the Erne Head of The River through the Waterways Ireland Event Programme. Sport and recreation on and along the waterways is growing strongly – 30 extra crews came to the event today.  We hope to continue to work with Rowing Ireland to see that growth replicated across the waterways through 2017 and into the future.”

 The Waterways Ireland head office is sited in Enniskillen.