#CoastalRowing: The good results kept coming for Kerry clubs on the second day of the All Ireland Coastal Rowing Championships in Wexford. Flesk Valley won the senior men’s championship, while Workmen’s took the senior women’s crown. A Donegal club did break into the winning ranks. Cumann Rámhaíochta Chloich Cheann Fhaola (Cloughaneely CCF) had wins in women’s, men’s and mixed classes.

ICRF All Ireland Coastal Championships (Selected Results; winners):

Saturday

Men

Open Classic: Cloughaneely CCF

Celtic Longboats: Vartry A

Heritage: St Patrick’s. Under-18: Cromane

East Coast Skiffs: St Patrick’s. Under-16: Stella Maris

Under-21: Flesk Valley

Under-16: Fossa

Intermediate: Workmen’s.

Pre Veterans: Commercial, Killarney

Masters: Glenarm

Women

Celtic Longboats: Vartry

Heritage: St Patrick’s A. Under-18 Heritage: Cromane

Open Classic: Cloughaneely CCF

East Coast Skiffs: St Michael’s. Novice: Fingal

Under-21: Workmen’s

Intermediate: Workmen’s

Pre Veterans: Workmen’s

Mixed

Veteran: Workmen’s A

Sunday

Men

Senior: Flesk Valley

Currach: Cloughaneely CCF

Novice: Flesk Valley

Junior: Vartry

Under 18: Workmen’s

Veteran: Commercial, Killarney

Women

Senior: Workmen’s

Currach: Fergus

Novice: Cloughaneely CCF

Junior: Workmen’s

Under 18: Workmen’s

Under 16: Flesk Valley

Veteran: Sneem

Mixed

Senior: Vartry

Currach: Cloughaneely CCF

Pre-Vet: Workmen’s

Masters: Templenoe

#CoastalRowing: Crews overcame sometimes difficult, windy, conditions at the big ICRF All Ireland Coastal Rowing Championships at Ferrybank in Wexford today. Kerry clubs did particularly well, with Flesk Valley, Cromane, Fossa, Workmen’s and Commercial all taking gold medals. The organisers of the event gave special awards to Mary B Teahan and Joe McAllister for their achievements in the organising of the event, given that there was a second Championships also taking place in Cork.

ICRF All Ireland Coastal Championships (Selected Results; winners):

Men

Open Classic: Cloughaneely CCF

Celtic Longboats: Vartry A

Heritage: St Patrick’s. Under-18: Cromane

East Coast Skiffs: St Patrick’s. Under-16: Stella Maris

Under-21: Flesk Valley

Under-16: Fossa

Intermediate: Workmen’s.

Pre Veterans: Commercial, Killarney

Masters: Glenarm

Women

Celtic Longboats: Vartry

Heritage: St Patrick’s A. Under-18 Heritage: Cromane

Open Classic: Cloughaneely CCF

East Coast Skiffs: St Michael’s. Novice: Fingal

Under-21: Workmen’s

Intermediate: Workmen’s

Pre Veterans: Workmen’s

Mixed

Veteran: Workmen’s A

The historic 70th Anniversary staging of the All Ireland Sailing Championship has seen the famous silver salver depart for a long journey to its new home in Baltimore, as the winner is Baltimore SC’s Fionn Lyden, who was crewed to the win – raced in GP 14s – by Liam Manning.

Although Lyden is currently best known as the 2017 Under 23 Bronze Medallist in the Olympic Finn, he was racing at Mullingar as the nominee of the Irish Team Racing Association, for it was through inter-University team racing that his name first registered nationally as a sailor to watch.

In the final race a strategic decision by Lyden resulted in a two-boat match race between him and Shane McCarthy that took place at one side of the race area

He and Liam Manning had their work cut out against a formidable field in the final, with defending champion Alex Barry of Monkstown Bay and the RS400 class, and GP14 World Champion Shane McCarthy of Greystones, both on top form.

Fionn Lyden was a wild card entry on behalf of the Irish Team Racing Association

But Lyden kept his cool and finished the series with 16 points to the 18 of Alex Barry and the 19 of Shane MacCarthy, who came through to third overall in a tie-break with Laser sailor Sean Craig (Royal St George) also on 19.

Read our All Ireland preview by WM Nixon here

Irish Sailng adds (on Monday, October 9 at 1300): Fresh from winning bronze at the U23 Finn World Championships earlier this summer, Baltimore’s Fionn Lyden has won the All Ireland Sailing Championships at Mullingar Sailing Club today.

The series was decided on a knife-edge finale that saw Lyden match-race to the finishing-line with GP14 World Champion Shane McCarthy from Greystones who was denied victory by the tie-break in the series.

Lyden’s crew was fellow West Cork sailor Liam Manning from Schull and the pair represented the Irish Team Racing Association who were Wild Card entries in the championship that is celebrating 70 years.

Two very different days of racing tested the sailors: Saturday was a typical autumnal afternoon on Lough Owel – strong and quite blustery but manageable conditions apart from a few capsizes.

Sunday morning saw the repechage races to decide the last two places in the final, but then the wind dropped and the lake turned into a mirror. Patience from Jack Roy’s Race Management team was rewarded in the late afternoon when a light breeze picked up enough to allow three races in quick succession.

The going was slow, but in the final race a strategic decision by Lyden resulted in a two-boat match race between him and Shane McCarthy that took place at one side of the race area, while the rest of the fleet including last year’s winner Alex Barry battled it out for a podium place.

The final results were Fionn Lyden with crew Liam Manning of Baltimore SC; in second place were Alex Barry with crew Richard Leonard of Monkstown Bay SC , and in third was Shane McCarthy and crew Andy Davis of Greystones SC.

Defending champion Anthony O'Leary must win one of two repechage places to earn a place in tomorrow's final of the ISA All Ireland Sailing Championships at Royal Cork Yacht Club.

The six finalists confirmed for tomorrow are RS400 Sailor Alex Barry with crew Richard Leonard, National 18 Sailor Ewen Barry with crew Stanley Browne, 1720 Sailor Peter O Leary with crew Sandy Remmington, Laser Sailor Darragh O Sullivan with crew mark Hasset, IRC 2 Sailor John Swan with crew Ryan Glynn, Laser Radial Sailor Annalise Murphy with crew Seafra Guilfoyle.

Seeking two two repechage places tomorrow morning are 2015 Winner Anthony OLeary with crew John Durcan, IDRA14 Sailor Alan Henry with crew Simon Revill,  RS200 Sailor Neil Spain with crew John Downey J24 Sailor Cillian Dickson with crew Gordon Stirling, Flying Fifteen Sailor David Gorman with crew Stephen O’Shaughnessy, SB20 Sailor Stephen Hyde with crew Jerry Dowling, IRC3 Paul Gibbons with crew Killian Collins, SOD Sailor Mark McCormick with crew Nicky McCormick.

Two invitees have declined their invitations to this weekend's Irish Sailing Association (ISA) All Ireland sailing competition at Royal Cork Yacht Club over an entry fee that the ISA says it is forced to charge in the absence of an event sponsor.

GP14 World Champion Shane MacCarthy says the 'entry fee is too expensive and not in line with dinghy entry fees'. 

Fellow GP14 helmsman Hugh Gill goes further and says the €220 charge is 'an indication of how the ISA is out of touch with how the majority of sailors manage their participation in the sport'. 

Neither sailor is attending the Crosshaven event that is to be sailed in National 18 dinghies.

16 sailors, including Rio Olympic silver medalist Annalise Murphy, have been invited to attend the annual end–of–season event organised by the national governing body.

Sutton Dinghy Club's Gill wrote to Afloat to say he had declined the invitation due to the insistence by the ISA that all entrants, despite being invited to participate, must pay an entry fee of €220. Gill says' Other participants have entered but have sent correspondence expressing their disappointment regarding the entry fee'.  He adds: 'The imposition of an entry fee is a recent change, maybe for the past 5 years, to what was always an invitational event attended by various Class National Champions and other sailors who had achieved success on the international stage. To impose any fee on this event let alone a charge of €220 for an event comprising a number of short races over two days for 16 invited sailors is another indication of how the ISA has lost touch with the reality of how the majority of sailors manage their participation in the sport'. 

In response, ISA Chief Executive Harry Hermon has described the withdrawal of both GP14 helmsmen as 'most unfortunate'. 

In a statement the ISA says: 'the background to the current situation is that up until 2008, the event was sponsored which enabled the host club to run it without an entry fee. Since that date there has been an entry fee paid to the host club, with the average being in the range of €120 - €150. Last year’s event had an entry fee of €130.

Each year, as part of a review following the event, we ask sailors how it can be improved. These questions produce mostly expected answers, namely dinghy sailors prefer the event to be in dinghies, while keelboat sailors prefer keelboats! In recent years the event has been run in J80 Keelboats, and this year we are delighted to be able to return to dinghies using the National 18’s thanks to the generosity of the National 18 Class in loaning their boats.

Last year, the feedback highlighted the fact, that while the on-the-water format was good, the social side was totally lacking, with a very low turnout for the Championship dinner. In fact, many of the sailors indicated in advance that they would be attending, but on the night very few appeared. This left the host club with a lot of uneaten food and a significant loss on the night. This year in response to the feedback received from the competitors, the ISA decided to try to make it a more sociable event and to promote the dinner as something worth attending, hence the cost of the dinner is included in the entry fee. The fee of €220, is made up of three dinners at €30 each and entry fee of €130, the same as last year. As all event organisers will concur, the costs associated with staging an event with only 16 entrants do not differ significantly from staging a larger event with more competitors enabling lower entry fees. It is also worth noting that the ISA sets the entry fee, but does not get any of the funds generated through the staging of the event.

All the other nominees accepted the nomination and the entry fee of €220. The two competitors who were subsequently invited to take up the slots made available by Shane and Hugh were delighted to accept. It is regrettable that two sailors, who should be sailing in the event have declined their invitation, however in the absence of a sponsor, we do not believe it is unreasonable to ask the competitors to pay for the costs associated with staging the event, and buying dinner for the person lending them their boat.

At this late stage it is not possible to change the format or pricing structure for the event, however the ISA will initiate a detailed review of the event following this year’s championship, and in the improving financial environment specific efforts will be made to attract a sponsor for future championships.

In closing I'd like to express our gratitude to Royal Cork Yacht Club for hosting the event and to thank the members of the National 18 class for facilitating this event by lending their boats, their generosity is acknowledged.

We wish all the contestants every success and hope that all the participants have a truly enjoyable event and a sociable evening' – Harry Hermon, ISA.

South coast youth sailors took to the podium in style at the ISA All Ireland Junior Sailing Championships prizegiving this afternoon securing the top three places overall in the 16-boat invitational fleet.

It is the third year in a row that Royal Cork sailors have retained the youth sailing trophy.

Despite much of the rest of the country being either battered by gales or beset by rain, on the West Cork Riviera they managed to find sailable conditions yesterday and today to put in eight good races rounded out by a Medal Race with the sixteen crew in competition in Fastnet Marine & Outdoor Centre’s special fleet of David Harte-devised competition dinghies.

Youth champions from left – 2nd place James McCann, Geoff Power Waterford Harbour Sailing Club, 1st place Johnny Durcan, Florence Lyden Royal Cork Yacht Club National Yacht Club, 3rd place Harry Durcan, Noah McCarfth Royal Cork Yacht Club3at Fastnet Marine & Outdoor Education Centre. Photo: ISA/Facebook

Crewed by Florence Lyden, the pair give allegiance to both Royal Cork Yacht Club and Dun Laoghaire’s National YC, Johnny Durcan was on top of his form in Saturday’s moderate sou’sou’west wind and today’s more challenging gusty conditions.

The cup of success was overflowing and then some for the Durcan family, as the Medal Race was won by Johnny’s twin brother Harry crewed by Noah McCarthy, but Johnny was second and could comfortably carry the double points of 4 as his scoreline in the preliminaries was 2,1,3,1,2,2,1.

Rising Waterford star Geoff Power of Dunmore East, crewed by James McCannn of Crosshaven, was second overall, but fetched up well down as he posted 29 points to the remarkable 16 of the new champion, while Harry Durcan was back at 33.

Kate Lyttle and Niamh Henry – 2016 All Ireland Womens Junior Champions

Overall Results 

1 Laser Radial Johnny Durcan Florence Lyden RCYC & NYC

2 420 Geoff Power James McCann Waterford Harbour Sailing Club
3 29er Harry Durcan Noah McCarthy Royal Cork Yacht Club
4 420 Kate Lyttle Niamh Henry Royal St George Yacht Club
5  Optimist Tom Higgins Henry Higgins Royal St George Yacht Club
6 Topper Jack Fahy Eoghan Byrne Royal St George Yacht Club
7  Laser 4.7 Peter Fagan Ross Morgan Royal St George Yacht Club
8  Laser 4.7 Clare Gorman Ella Hemeryck National Yacht Club
9 Optimist Harry Twomey Charlie Moloney RCYC & CHSC
10 Topper Sophie Crosbie Caoimhe Foster Royal Cork Yacht Club
11  RS200 Junior Toby Hudson Fowler Greg Arrowsmith Royal St George Yacht Club
12 Mirror Sarah White Eoghan Duffy Sligo Yacht Club / Lough Ree Yacht Club
13 RS Feva Henry Start Morgan Devine Royal St George Yacht Club
14 Topaz Adam Byrne Ciaran MacGearailt Dingle Sailing Club
15 Optimist Leah Rickard Luke Rickard National Yacht Club
16 Topaz Dylan Reidy Killian Reidy Foynes Yacht Club

Downloadable scoresheet below

16 'successful nominees' for the ISA All Ireland Senior Sailing Championships 2016 at Royal Cork Yacht Club on October 1st have been announced by the Irish Sailing Association.

A third of the invitees are from the host club who will race over two days in National 18 dinghies in Cork Harbour. The notice of race for the championships is downloadable here.

2015 defending champion Anthony O’Leary will race against club mates Ewen Barry representing the National 18s, Alex Barry from the RS400s, Stefan Hyde of the SB20 class as well as RCYC's Paul Gibbons who represents ICRA Divison 3. Recently crowned 1720 champion Peter O'Leary completes the home club line–up.

Also from Munster, Darragh O'Sullivan of Kinsale Yacht Club represents the Laser Standard class.

There are seven Dublin sailors representing five clubs. Olympic silver medallist Annalise Murphy (Laser Radial) and Flying Fifteen Champion David Gorman will fly the National Yacht Club flag. Sutton Dinghy Club sends IDRA14 and GP14 reps Alan Henry and Hugh Gill respectively. Dun Laoghaire's Royal Irish Yacht Club is represented by ICRA Division 1s Colin Byrne. Jonny Swan of Howth Yacht Club represents ICRA division 2. 

Wicklow GP14 world champion Shane MacCarthy from Greystones Sailing Club is also nominated along with clinker dinghy helmsmen Sam Shiels of Skerries SC from the Mermaids and Mark McCormick of Lough Ree YC representing the Shannon One Designs.

The full nominee list is below:

The defending All Ireland Sailing Champions Anthony O'Leary with crew Dan O'Grady and Cian Guilfoyle were winners again but this year by a clear margin of five points after two days of competition on Dublin Bay.

Counting two wins and two second places in the supplied J/80 sportsboat fleet, the Commodore's Cup champion from Royal Cork beat fellow Cork Harbour sailor Alex Barry of Monkstown Bay and Royal Cork who was runner up on 11 points. See full results sheet below.

Not only does today's give Royal Cork a one–two in the senior competition but the Munster club also won the Junior Helmsmans title a fortnight ago too.

Third today was Howth's ICRA representative Cillian Dickson on 12 points. The ISA event was hosted by the National Yacht Club.

'We definitely sailed better this year than last' O'Leary told reporters on coming ashore. 

But O'Leary didn't have it all his own way early on. As the south-easterly breeze built at mid-day O'Leary led the first race but RS400 rep Barry stayed within striking distance and at the finish line the MBSC sailor took the advantage by a boat length, setting up a thrilling conclusion to the 2015 All Irelands.

Anthony O'Leary's sons Peter and Nicholas have also won the ISA championship a number of times (in both the 1720 and J/80 sportsboat classes) bringing the O'Leary family total to seven of the last ten championships.

After a series of light air qualifiers on Saturday, Sunday brought more breeze for the eight finalists

The start of race two – O'Leary (5) to leeward with a second or two to go

(Above) Anthony O'Leary with crew Dan O'Grady and Cian Guilfoyle in winning form in race two and (below) setting up for race three. Time between races was at a premium with competitors having only minutes to prepare in a rapid fire final.

Sailing with four up, Howth's ICRA representative Cillian Dickson was third overall. Diana Kissane (pictured above), crewing for Dickson was the only female in the top three crews. Diana will sail in the women's match racing grand final at the end of October. 

On the water judging was a feature of the All Ireland's on Dublin Bay

Roy Darrer from Waterford harbour SC was fourth

2015 ISA All Ireland Sailing Championships Results

Read also WM Nixon on why The Irish Championship Of Sailing Champions Is More Important Than We Might Think 

2015 All Ireland photo gallery HERE

Last year's champions Cara McDowell of Malahide Yacht Club and Royal Cork Yacht Club’s Harry Durcan return to defend their ISA All-Ireland Youth Sailing Championships titles in Kinsale this weekend.

The Irish Sailing Association (ISA) received nominations this month from all sailing classes in Ireland for their top sailor to fight it out to become the All Ireland champion. The final entry list is below

Sailing in Topaz dinghies, an eight race series concludes with a medal race on Sunday.

#allireland – Wild card entry Harry Durcan leads the Junior Helmsmans championhips at Kinsale Yacht Club this evening by a singe point from his Royal Cork clubmate Peter McCann. Durcan's twin brother Johnny is lying third after four races sailed in a dominant display by Royal Cork youth sailors. Full results below.

16 young helms waited breeze until 1pm today before the first race of the ISA event commenced in a ten–knot southerly, just enough to get them moving. As they came down on a run to the finish line the winds abandoned Kinsale Harbour all together and boats were left drifting. A maximum race time was set for 40 minutes and race was abandoned before any boats made it to the finish line. Boat number 3 with James McCann and Michael Carroll from Royal Cork Yacht Club were only 10 metres from the finish line.

Race two commenced in 8 knots of breeze with a cloud formation that seemed to promise consistent winds and the promise came through. Cliona NiShuillebhain and Jill McGinley of Kinsale Yacht Club gave a steady performance throughout the race and remained in the lead spot to the finish line.

The wind stayed with them and at 15:00 race three commenced. Séafra Guilfoyle and Michael Carrol of Royal Cork Yacht Club worked their way up through the fleet to cross the finish line first.

Race four started at 16:00 – the two Harry's (Durcan and Whittaker) from Royal Cork Yacht Club started with a good lead and were first round the weather mark on the first beat and again first round on the second beat with a 40 second lead. The tide started flooding up to 3knots, which caught a few competitors that took the course wide were held back, with 8 competitors resulting in DNF from not going over the finish line within the time limit.

Winds became light again for race 5 and five resulted in DNF. The girls from Kinsale Yacht Club slammed it again and won Race 5, with Peter McCann and Michael O'Suileabhan in 2nd place and the Harries in at 3rd.

Results after day one