On Sunday, March 23rd, Bantry Bay Sailing Club launched the Irish Sailing fleet of Fireflies at 9:10 a.m. They had collected the boats from Malahide and Cork for the Munster Provincial Schools Team Racing Event. It was a drizzly morning with a light southerly wind. The race officer, Tim McCarthy, managed to lay a course for racing to commence at 10:53 a.m. when the wind settled at five knots.

Only four races were completed before the wind died until 1:00 p.m. The sixth race started in a light northerly breeze.

Bantry Bay Sailing Club launches the Irish Sailing fleet of Fireflies for the Munster Provincial Schools Team Racing Championships 2024

After four more races, the wind died again, but it slowly filled in from the west. The 10th race started at 2:49 pm in a strengthening westerly and held until 5:00 pm. Over 40 races were completed throughout the day. The Umpires, Dave Sheahan, Chief Umpire and Eunice Kennedy, were kept busy throughout the day with plenty of whistle-blowing as the racing was very tight amongst the top six teams.

Light winds for the Munster Provincial Schools Team Racing Championships 2024 on Bantry Bay

By the end of the day, 80% of the Round Robin was completed to have a result. The teams were split into two groups to achieve an 80% score, resulting in a number of tie-breaks between the first six placed teams. These were decided by a do-or-die race to determine the first five placed teams. The first race was between Schull 1 and Schull 2, tied on 100% race wins. The second race was Skibbereen 2 and Colaiste Mhuire 1, tied on 75%. The third race was Bandon 2 and St. Francis (ROCO), tied on 67%.

The final results were:

1. Schull 1
2. Schull 2
3. Skibbereen 2
4. Colaiste Mhuire 1
5. Bandon 2
6. St. Francis (ROCO)
7. Christian Brothers Cork
8. Skibbereen 1 & Colaiste Mhuire 2
9. Colaiste Phobail Bhaeanntrai, Scoile Muire Cork, Schull 3, and Bandon 1, all tied on the same % wins.

Colaiste Phobail Bheanntrai, who, with one day's training, competed  Munster Schools Team Racing Event Trophy at Bantry Bay

The first five placed teams go forward to the Irish Schools Team Racing Association (I.S.T.R.A) National Championships in May.

This was the first occasion that Bantry Bay Sailing Club hosted a Team Racing Event. They put on a magnificent regatta. Although it was a drizzly day and there were some delays in racing, this did not temper the mood of the competitors. They were in high spirits and enjoyed the event. They were also very complimentary of Bantry Bay Sailing Club.

Kathryn Kingston had put together a fantastic group of volunteers, and nothing was an issue for them. It was a great location for the event, from their club to the sailing area. The club was supported by volunteers from Glandore Harbour Sailing Club and F.O.M.E.C. They are planning team racing clinics and other sailing events going forward. Although Bantry has not got a Team Racing programme yet, the local school, Colaiste Phobail Bhaeanntrai, put together a team for the event. They will be more involved in Schools Team Racing in the future.

A resurgence in demand for top-grade team racing events has resulted in the revival of the renowned George Invitational. The event maintained over twenty years of continuity in the sport in Dun Laoghaire in the
70's, 80's & 90's until the club ran the second World Team Racing Championships in 1999. It continued into the mid-2010's; now, it has made its triumphant return. In times past the Invitational welcomed the top team racers from the UK, Ireland & the US to Dun Laoghaire to compete for the George Invitational Trophy.

Set against the backdrop of the home of Team Racing in Dun Laoghaire, the George is organising two days of Swiss League team racing aboard Fireflies dinghies followed by knockout sailing on May the 25th and 26th. The event is a celebration of the clubs long & successful history as the cradle of Irish team racing and the birthplace of the sport almost eight decades ago. In addition to the thrilling racing, team racers, both past and present, will have the chance to connect and immerse themselves in the excitement of the event. Moreover, all sailors, race officials, and volunteers are invited to join in the Saturday night dinner at The George dining room.

Teams are encouraged to enter now to avail of the early bird offer that expires on the 31st of March. The event website can be found here

The Royal S George YC in Dun Laoghaire may have been founded in 1838, but its involvement in front-line Team Racing is right up to date in 2024

In response to a surge in the popularity of team racing in Ireland over recent years, the Irish Team Racing Association (ITRA) has announced a packed 2024 calendar aimed at further growing the sport across the country.

The announcement followed the election of a new ITRA committee at an AGM held in late 2023. 

The ITRA Committee intends to bring adults of all ages and abilities into team racing over the coming years through an array of events running between April and October. While team racing has been immensely popular amongst young adult sailors across the country for a long time, the association is hopeful that a full calendar will allow for continuity and growth in the community after university and beyond.

In addition to this, the ITRA is also aiming to grow women's participation in helming and in the sport in general. A "Take the Helm" event is set to take place this April 13th and 14th in Malahide, with a second event provisionally scheduled for September. Currently, training sessions are being organised in the south, east and west of the country to help get more women helming ahead of the event.

The packed calendar is also set to include a mixed pairs event, a 2K Keelboat event before concluding with the ITRA Nationals in Baltimore in October, which will be held over three days for the first time. 

Many in the sailing community are excited about the ITRA's plans for growth and development of team racing in Ireland. With the already established Irish University Sailing Association (IUSA) and Irish Schools Team Racing Association (ISTRA), the ITRA's efforts are expected to bring even more attention and growth to the sport in the country.

THE IRISH TEAM RACING ASSOCIATION CALENDAR 2024

• Take the Helm, Malahide Sailing Club, April 13th & 14th
• Royal St George Invitational, RStGYC, May 25th & 26th
• Mixed Pairs Team Racing Event, Galway, June 22nd & 23rd
• Take the Helm 2, Venue TBC, September 21st & 22nd (Provisional)
• 2K Keelboat Team Racing, Dun Laoighaire, September 28th & 29th
• ITRA National Championships, Baltimore, October 18th-20th

The Irish Team Racing Association’s 75th National Championships concluded Saturday in the Royal St George Yacht Club at Dun Laoghaire Harbour. The round-robin event was truncated to a day’s racing as the forecast showed winds gusting to 30 knots Sunday morning.

Eighteen teams competed in the event, and after sixty races in two round-robin leagues, the top four teams progressed to a semifinal knockout.

Tight racing at the ITRA 75th Anniversary team racing at Dun Laoghaire Harbour

Baltimore, comprising UCC alumni, was the top team in League A, with Georges Street clear second. George Jesters, the UCD alumni team, topped League B but with Lunsters edging Bunkers on % wins.

The league toppers progressed from the semis to the final, although Lunsters took a race off Baltimore, having suffered a capsize in the first race.

The best of three finals started in the fading light of dusk with a brisk breeze with intermittent strong squalls.

Control off the startline was to be critical. Baltimore emerged into a winning combination to take the first race. Jesters struck back to even the score and forced a decider in failing light.

An ITRA Finals race at dusk in Dun Laoghaire Harbour

Jesters controlled well off the start line in the final race and sailed into a one-two combination which they didn’t yield, taking the 75th anniversary event and adding it to their BUSA crown.

ITRA Silver Medalists Baltimore Sailing Club= Johnny Durcan, Fionn Lyden & Mark Hassett. Crews: Trudy O'Hare, Rosa Lyden & Adam Hyland

The Petit Final was won by Georges Street, defeating Lunster's sudden death. Prestige Worldwide won the youth event, and Holy Child Killiney were awarded the all-girl team prize.

ITRA Bronze Medalists Georges Street, Peter Fagan, Toby Fowler & Noah McCarthy Crews - Emma Gallagher, Fiona Ferguson, & Rosemary Tyrrell

At the event dinner in George, John Sheehy presented ITRA outgoing Chairman Ailbe Millerick & outgoing ITRA Secretary Eunice Kennedy jacket awards for their long service to Team Racing in Ireland.

John Sheehy (centre) presents ITRA outgoing Chairman Ailbe Millerick & outgoing ITRA Secretary Eunice Kennedy with ITRA jacket awards

2023 ITRA Champions George Jesters

Jack Fahy, Liam Glynn, Tom Higgins
Crews: Kathy Kelly, Emilly Hill & Cian Lynch

Silver Medalists Baltimore Sailing Club
Johnny Durcan, Fionn Lyden & Mark Hassett.
Crews: Trudy O'Hare, Rosa Lyden & Adam Hyland.

Bronze Medalists Georges Street
Peter Fagan, Toby Fowler & Noah McCarthy
Crews - Emma Gallagher, Fiona Ferguson, & Rosemary Tyrrell.

First Youth - Prestige Worldwide
Russell Bolger, Max Cantwell, and Peter Williams
Crews - Lilley Dwyer, Patrick Foley and Ella Dempsey

All-girl team prize  

Olivia Ryan, Zita Tempany, Nora Jane Sexton, Orla Casey, Molly O'Flaherty, Ameline Hennessy, Lily Donagh, Lucia Cullen and H.C.K. Principal Caroline O'Brien

A team racing party piece at the Royal St. George Yacht Club ITRA dinner 

Eighteen teams are lined up to contest the 75th Team Racing National Championships in the Royal St George YC in Fireflies this weekend, supported by a team of 35 volunteers on and off the water under the watchful eyes of Eunice Kennedy, ITRA Secretary Ronan Adams, Sailing Manager RStGYC and Event Director Ailbe MiIlerick.

Entries closed Monday, with Holy Child Killiney (HKC) taking the last youth spot. Demand from School teams was very strong, and three teams remained on the waiting list at closure.

Four places are reserved for invited youth champion teams as they are at or close to the standard of the ‘senior teams’ and will enjoy the experience rather than simply being cannon fodder. A few scalps will be taken by this talented group.

Teams from Queens Belfast in the north to Baltimore SC in the south will be taking part, including the Colleges and College alumni teams from both UCD, UCC and Trinity under various guises.

Favourites are Live Action (George) with Liam Glynn & Jack Fahey, who won the British University Sailing Championships for UCD earlier this year (a feat last completed by Johnny Ross Murphy and the Craig brothers Brian & Peter for Trinity 50 years earlier).

Also top-seeded is Johnny Durcan’s Baltimore SC team (UCC Alumni) who won the Irish Universities Championships in Carlingford, defeating UCD in light airs reinforced by Mark Hassett and Fionn Lyden. Deep6 represents DUSC. The George is well represented by the formidable ‘No Show’ (Toby Fowler, Peter Fagan and Noel McCarthy), ‘Live-Action’ Jack Higgins et al and Georges St. (Jacques Murphy, Finn Walker & Tim Norwood). Top schools’ teams comprise St Conleths (Daniel O’Connor ISTRA Champs), St Andrews College represented in two teams, SAC4Cup and Shake the Boaty.

Russel Bolger Junior Helmsman’s Champion is leading Prestige Worldwide. St. Michaels and HCK will compete for their rankings and have a tilt at the more experienced racers. Missing are former Elmo winners ‘Nauti Buoys’ Rocco, Turvey and Daley, who unfortunately couldn’t muster their team due to study pressure. The weather forecast is being watched by the organisers with interest but have confidence that Race Officer Michael Conway & his team will complete the event!

Teams: Live Action, Bunkers, Baltimore SC, Lunster, Deep 6, QUB, Georges St., George Jesters, George No Show, UCC1, UCC2, Tech Univ. Dublin, SAC4Cup, Shake-the-Boaty, Prestige Worldwide, St Conleths, St Michaels & Holy Child Killiney.

The Shanahan team racing Cup returns for the 2023/24 season in a new format at Dun Laoghaire Harbour.

Hosted by the Irish National Sailing & Powerboat School in conjunction with Gonzaga College SJ, the event will be run over three Wednesdays, November 29th 2023, January 17th and February 7th 2024.

The winner will be the school with the best results over the three events, however, schools do not need to enter all three events in order to participate.

The organisers hope that the format change will give schools more race time before regional and national championships. It will also give less experienced sailors a greater opportunity to represent their school, and if the weather doesn’t co-operate, the format avoids the need to try and find suitable dates to reschedule.

RS Feva sailing

Fiachra Etchingham of Gonzaga College has been the driver of this competition since its inception. “The competition, supported by the Shanahan family, aims to promote friendly competition between schools and be as inclusive as possible, catering for sailors of all abilities”.

A team can enter by contacting the Irish National Sailing & Powerboat School’s office on 01 2844195 or by email to [email protected].

Schools will initially be limited in sending up to two teams per school to facilitate as many schools as possible in entering teams up to capacity constraints. Should additional spaces for schools be available as the entry closing date approaches, more than two teams per school will be accepted.

The 2022/2023 academic year Shanahan Cup eventually took place last February, after poor weather delayed earlier attempts. The Cup was won by St Michael’s College holding off tough competition from 9 other teams.

A short video from the last event gives an idea of some of the fun for school students:

In 1947 a group of sailors from Dun Laoghaire Harbour and West Kirby Sailing Club sat down in the bar in the RStGYC and devised rules to make inter-club racing more interesting.

You could engage in ungentlemanly conduct to win the match, such as ‘mislead & baulk’ your opponent, cover opposition boats to allow your teammates to advance; scores were cumulative and winning the race wasn’t all.

Thus, the first Team Racing rules were formulated. West Kirby had been invited to Dun Laoghaire for ‘open’ water racing, which was not then available on the west coast of England as the minefields protecting Liverpool Port had not yet been cleared.

The following year, Dun Laoghaire clubs got together to run the inaugural IDRA National Team Racing Championships in Fireflies a World first. 75 years later the event repeats under the auspices of ITRA (Irish Team Racing Assoc.) and the RStGYC on 18th/19th November in the ‘George’ and entries open next Tuesday (on rsgyc.ie).

Four youth teams will receive invitations. These comprise the Irish winners and runners-up from the Elmo and Schools Nationals '23 events, which were truly amazing events rallying 32 representative teams.

Demand for entries is expected to be brisk as this is the ultimate event of 2023.

The RYA Eric Twiname Junior & Youth Team Racing Championships took place 7-8 October 2023 at Oxford Sailing Club on Farmoor Reservoir.

Possibly the world’s biggest event for youth team racing, this renowned regatta saw a huge 348 sailors turning up to participate. Racing started promptly on Saturday with a good strong breeze of 15-17 knots, and the race committee got in as many races as possible.

Unlike traditional fleet racing regattas, this event features kids aged 8 to 18 sharing RS Feva and Firefly dinghies. Teams do on-water changeovers and compete in short-burst races.

“What is brilliant about the event is that it's team racing, not fleet racing. This gives the sailors a better opportunity to learn and experience the racing rules of sailing. It starts to sew the seeds of team racing skills; sailing as slow as possible rather than as fast as possible to win” Jake Elsbury, Training & Fleet Co-Ordinator at RS Sailing. “It is unique to most other sailing events as the teams experience short, sharp, intense periods on the water. Races are just 6 minutes long but voracious compared to fleet racing in various ways.”

The 2023 Championships is the first time the event was run on three courses. Usually, it is just split into two; Youth (Under 19s) and Junior (Under 17s) and teams race 3 v 3. However, this year the committee wanted to make it more inclusive, so the Junior category was split into two classes; the Under 17s and the Under 15s.

wClassed as ‘pre-Junior’, the Under 15s competed in 2 v 2 races to make it more accessible for those who have never team raced before. “It’s very straight forward; don’t be last!” Jake explains. This decision was also taken considering the huge demand for the Junior event – there was an excess of 50 applicants this year.

The Junior categories raced in the RS Feva. “They’re sporty, fast, agile and robust.” Jake continues, “It is proper racing pedigree great for stop/start, tactical team racing. And it will bounce off others like bumper cars if there is a collision. They’re the perfect boat for youth sailors to showcase their skills and engage in friendly competition.”

The Championships are also known for their social side. When sailors are not racing, they are either on a rib together, engaging with the tactics on the water, or they are back on land. Families come with gazebos, BBQs and picnic and make a proper day of it. Between racing, sailors get to know competitors off the water too and have plenty of opportunities to make new friends.

On Day 2 there was slight delay as there was no wind to start with. Everyone got on the water as soon as possible and rafted up with fun and games. Racing started at 11am with a super light breeze that went on to build to 10 knots.

Event Director, Jake Fennick, ran the regatta on behalf of the RYA. “It was an unforgettable championship. A monster in size, we had 348 sailors at the venue! With 73 teams across the three courses, we did almost 300 races on the Saturday. That wouldn’t have been possible without the support from RS. We couldn’t have got those extra flights of boats in without them.”

There was a huge array of volunteers from straight-forward event support, administrators, juries, umpires and race officers. All-in-all it was a superb mix of fast and furious racing blended with some well-timed breaks for social time ashore. Click here for the Youth (Under 19s) results, Junior (Under 17s) results and the Pre-Junior (Under 15s) results.

The Eric Twiname Trust wants to see more people taking part in team racing and building confidence in youth sailors. As Jack put it: “This is your call to arms! If you experienced team racing, loved it and want to do more, contact the RYA for help and guidance to make it happen at your own club.”

Team Racers Rian Geraghty McDonnell, Emily Arrowsmith, Isabelle Kearney, Kitty Flanagan, Finn Walker and Max Goodbody were the overall winners of St Andrew’s College Alumni inaugural Team Racing Championship that took place in Dun Laoghaire harbour on October 21st. 

There were lots of thrills and spills but thankfully no rain for the St Andrew’s College Alumni Team Racing Championship at the Royal St. George Yacht Club

As Afloat reported earlier, the South Dublin college's event was hosted by the Royal St. George Yacht Club. Nine teams (54 SAC participants) and 30 volunteers were led by Principal Race Officer Robbie Walker and his team.

The St Andrew’s College Alumni Team Racing Championship at the Royal St. George Yacht Club was held in club Firefly dinghies and raced inside Dun Laoghaire harbour 

Thankfully, the breeze dropped from this week's recent Storm Babet conditions to provide ideal nine- 12 knot winds to the extent that the regatta had sunny spells and no rain!

There was an impressive turnout of 54 sailors for the St Andrew’s College Alumni inaugural Team Racing Championship at the Royal St. George Yacht Club

St Andrew’s College Alumni inaugural Team Racing Championship Second place: Amy O’Halloran, Sam Ledoux, Caoilinn Geraghty-McDonnell, Oisin Hughes, Kei Walker and Matvey Sorgassi

Second place (pictured above) was won by Amy O’Halloran, Sam Ledoux, Caoilinn Geraghty-McDonnell, Oisin Hughes, Kei Walker and Matvey Sorgassi.

Third overall at the St Andrew’s College Alumni inaugural Team Racing Championship went to Peter Williams, Oscar Legge, Rachel Flood, Eva Spain, Georgia Goodbody and Ruby Slye O’Connell

Third place (some of the team pictured above) went to Peter Williams, Oscar Legge, Rachel Flood, Eva Spain, Georgia Goodbody and Ruby Slye O’Connell.

Next year, the college's sailing administrator, Mary Justine Geraghty, told Afloat, 'We hope to build on the team numbers as our current SAC sailors progress to University level (become SAC Alumni Sailors) and our junior school sailors join SAC secondary school. It can only get bigger and better!'

County Dublin's St Andrew's College (SAC) will stage its inaugural Alumni Team Racing Championships at the Royal St. George Yacht Club in Dun Laoghaire Harbour on Saturday. 

Nine teams comprising 54 sailors will compete for a specially made half-model Firefly trophy.

A leather-bound book has also been produced to hold a list of the winning team names, the competitors and a brief summary of the annual event along with some photos. 

The Booterstown school currently has 150 active sailors with 90 training every Wednesday afternoon from the RSTGYC and the RIYC in both keelboat and team racing programmes for SAC primary and secondary schools.