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Displaying items by tag: Sienna Wright

Although Sienna Wright of Howth is just 15, she approaches sailing in particular and life generally with remarkable sophistication and style. Thus her mid-January winning of the Silver Medal in the ILCA 6 Youth Women’s Worlds in Argentina, coupled with her total victory in the U17 Championship in the same series seemed to flow on seamlessly from a podium place in the Youth Worlds in December.

Published in Sailor of the Month
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Celebrations in Argentina on Friday night for Howth Yacht Club's Sienna Wright (15) were well earned as she added to her ILCA 6 medal haul with a silver medal – and the under 17 title, too – on the final day of racing at the 2024 class Youth's Women Fleet of the World Championships at Yacht Club Argentino.

After 12 races sailed and one discard, the Irish youth world bronze medalist had an eight-point margin in the 31-boat fleet to claim the silver prize and, as Afloat reported previously, held second overall going into the final rounds.

Barely a month after taking to the podium at the Youth World Sailing Championships, Ireland's Sienna Wright has won the Under 17 world title as well as the overall silver medal in her ILCA6 class this weekend (Buenos Aires, Argentina Friday 19th January 2024). Photo:  Matias CapizanoBarely a month after taking to the podium at the Youth World Sailing Championships, Ireland's Sienna Wright has won the Under 17 world title as well as the overall silver medal in her ILCA6 class this weekend (Buenos Aires, Argentina Friday 19th January 2024). Photo:  Matias Capizano

On the sixth and final day of the championship, the last races were held with a south wind of approximately 8 to 12 knots.

Italian Maria Vittoria Arseni became the overall champion after sailing consistently well all week. The third-place award went to Italian Ginevra Caracciolo.

The 15-year-old Dubliner included three race wins in her tally (including a standout performance on a penultimate day by winning the first race of the day), but discarding a retiral from race six, so on 25 points, Arseni ended up some 12 points clear at the top.

The Howth sailor delivered a highly consistent 12-race series across the wind range in which she took three bullets and featured in the top six leading boats for most of the event Photo:  Matias CapizanoThe Howth sailor delivered a highly consistent 12-race series across the wind range in which she took three bullets and featured in the top six leading boats for most of the event Photo:  Matias Capizano

Scroll down the results for the girl's division results below.

Published in Howth YC

Howth Yacht Club's Sienna Wright is lying second overall heading into the final day of racing at the ILCA 6 2024 ILCA 6 Youth World Championships Yacht Club Argentino on Friday.

After ten races sailed and one discard, the Irish youth world bronze medalist is vying for the overall lead in a 31-boat fleet.

The 15-year-old Dubliner includes three race wins in her tally but is also discarding a retiral from race six to be on 25 points and behind Italy's Maria Vittoria Arseni.

Wright had a standout performance on the penultimate day by winning the first race of the day and now trais the leader by just five points. Italian Ginevra Caracciolo drops one position and is now in third place.

Scroll down the results for the girl's division results below.

Published in Howth YC
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Consistent sailing from Sienna Wright sees the Howth Yacht Club ace on equal points with the overall leader of the female ILCA 6 fleet at the Youth Sailing World Championships in Brazil and 29er European Champions Ben O’Shaughnessy and Ethan Spain of Royal Cork YC and the National Yacht Club have moved up from seventh to fifth place.

It was a day of change at the top of the standings across the Youth Sailing World Championships as new leaders emerged after a third day of racing.

Sienna Wright of Howth Yacht Club sits in second overall in the ILCA 6 fleet at the Youth Sailing World Championships in Brazil Photo: World SailingSienna Wright of Howth Yacht Club sits in second overall in the ILCA 6 fleet at the Youth Sailing World Championships in Brazil Photo: World Sailing

Alenka Valencic (SLO) and Roos Wind (NED) both earned bullets to leave little separation between the sailors at the top of the ILCA 6 female class.

Valencic took victory in the day’s opening race, finishing ahead of Sophie Zimmermann (PER) and Petra Marendic (CRO), who sits third overall.

That is just one place and six points ahead of Wind, who bounced back from a 17th-place finish in the opener to pip her Croatian opponent into second for the day’s final race, with Sienna Wright (IRL) third.

That was enough for Wright to sit second overnight, level on points with leader Emma Mattivi (ITA), who posted a pair of sixth-place finishes.

Four Irish boats and six sailors are competing in Armação dos Buzios.

29er Female

Lucia Cullen and Alana Twomey (Royal St. George YC and Royal Cork YC) lie 16th, dropping back from 11th in the 25 boat Female Skiff 29er class.

Lucia Cullen and Alana Twomey (Royal St. George YC and Royal Cork YC) lie 16th, round a mark during racing at the World Sailing Youth Championships in the 25 boat Female Skiff 29er class.Lucia Cullen and Alana Twomey (Royal St. George YC and Royal Cork YC) lie 16th, round a mark during racing at the World Sailing Youth Championships in the 25 boat Female Skiff 29er class

Ewa Lewandowska and Julia Maria Żmudzińska maintained their dominant lead in the 29er female class despite bullets going elsewhere on day three of the competition.

The Polish pair sit 16 points clear of Fleur Babin and Sarah Jannin, who strengthened their grip on second with two bullets.

The French duo edged leaders Lewandowska and Żmudzińska into second on the first and last races of the day, with the other won by Laura Hamilton and Carolina Zager (USA).

The Americans edged Jule Ernst and Louisa Schmidt (GER) and Boróka and Szonja Fehér (HUN), with the Hungarians now third overall.

29er Male/Mixed

Ireland's 29er European Champions Ben O’Shaughnessy and Ethan Spain of Royal Cork YC and the National Yacht Club have moved up from seventh to fifth place after nine races sailed in their 30 boat fleet.

Karl Devaux and Hugo Revil (FRA) kept their hold on top spot of the 29er male standings but face stiff competition from Alex Demurtas and Giovanni Santi (ITA).
 
Devaux and Revil clinched victory in the opening race of the day, their fourth of the competition, but were not allowed to extend their lead as the Demurtas and Santi won the final two races.
 
The Italians bid to reel in their French rivals who took a blow after a seventh-place finish in race seven, with Lukas Kraus and Ondrej Bastar (CZE) and Charlie Gran and Sam Webb (GBR) finishing behind Devaux and Revil.
 
But Demurtas and Santi bounced back with consecutive bullets to sit 14 points off the summit overnight, edging out the leaders in the day’s final race with Guilherme and Fernando Prazeres Menezes (BRA) taking third to climb to fourth overall, a point behind Gran and Webb.
 
''The wind shifted a lot in intensity,” said Guilherme. “We jumped to fourth in the classification and we’re going with everything we can to reach the top positions tomorrow and look for that podium.”

ILCA 6 Male

Fiachra McDonnell of the Royal St. George YC stays 20th from 48 in the male ILCA 6 fleet. 

An opening race bullet helped Mattia Cesana (ITA) to the top of the ILCA 6 male standings after the third day of racing.

Cesana took his second race victory of the competition, coming in ahead of Santiago Guinand (PER) and Soma Sigmond (HUN) on another day of mixed results across the fleet.

The second race was won by João Pontes (POR), with Guinand again second and Jack Graham-Troll (GBR) third.

It leaves Cesana with a 12-point lead in the standings after nearest challengers Hidde Schraffordt (NED) and David Ponesti Mesquida (ESP) struggled to close the gap with finishes of 35th and 36th, respectively, in the second race of the day after strong showings in the first.

Racing continues on Thursday. Results are here

Published in World Sailing

Howth Yacht Club talent Sienna Wright leads the ILCA 6 fleet after the first day of racing at the Youth World Sailing Championships in Brazil, with a total of four Irish boats and six sailors competing in Armação dos Buzios.

Croatia’s Petra Marendic was declared an early overall leader in the female one-person class but then disqualified from race one, leaving Wright with a two-point lead at the top of the 45-boat fleet.

“It was a nice day on the water,” said Wright. “The wind was pretty nice, the waves were quite choppy, and there was quite a big swell out there, but the wind was up and down all day.”

The youth world championships scoreboard shows Sienna Wrigtht with a six-point lead in the ILCA 6 Female one person dinghy The 2023 Youth World championships scoreboard shows Sienna Wrigtht with a six-point lead in the ILCA 6 Female One-Person Dinghy 

A strong Cork-Dublin youth sailing team sees three of the four Irish boats sitting in the top ten of their respective fleets after two races sailed.

Female 29er

Lucia Cullen and Alana Twomey (Royal St. George YC and Royal Cork YC) are lying sixth from 25 in the Female Skiff 29er class.  A near-flawless opening day on the water fired Lewandowska and Maria Zmudzinska to the top of the 29er female standings.

The Polish pair won all three races to establish an early six-point lead over Fleur Babin and Sarah Jannin (FRA), with Laura Hamilton and Carolina Zager (USA) a further two points back despite a black flag in the opening race.

Male 29er

In the Male/Mixed 29er, a pair of victories handed Devaux and Revil (FRA) the overnight lead in the 29er Male/Mixed class. The French duo, who won the event in 2021, earned bullets in the day’s second and third races to end the day with a 12-point lead at the top of the standings after finishing fifth in the opening race. Ireland's 29er European Champions Ben O’Shaughnessy and Ethan Spain of Royal Cork YC and the National Yacht Club are lying seventh from 30.

Male ILCA 6 

A pair of third-place finishes guided Hidde Schraffordt (NED) to the top of the ILCA 6 male standings after the first day of sailing, with Fiachra McDonnell of the Royal St. George YC lying 19th from 48.

There is no Irish representation in the 420, iQFOiL or Formula Kite classes.

 Racing continues on Tuesday. Results are here

Published in World Sailing

Steadily rising star Sienna Wright from Howth recorded a formidable tally in the Under 17 Division in the ILCA 6s at two major regattas in Poland during July.

The Youth Worlds early in the month saw her take the silver in the U17s, and then in the third week, the Youth Worlds of the class (formerly the Laser Radials) saw her record her second international silver, again in the U17s.

The summer which eluded Ireland during July was generally very present in Poland, and her comment that it provided sailing which was “Quite tricky, very shifty conditions, long hours, but in the end, it was a good result” well illustrates the kind of resilience and dedication which is required of Ireland’s young talent at this level. This international success will add an extra edge to the ILCA Nationals 2023 at Wright’s home club of Howth from August 18th to 20th.

Published in Sailor of the Month
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It’s been a bumper month for Howth Yacht Club’s Sienna Wright on the international stage, with U17 silver medals in the ILCA 6 Youth Worlds and Europeans.

Last week in Gdynia, Poland at the Youth European Championships (12-19 July), the younger sister of April’s Junior Sailor of the Month Rocco Wright placed 13th overall in the gold fleet and second among the under-17s in an impressive performance in the former Laser Radial.

And it came just two weeks after a similarly strong showing at the class Youth World Championships in Dziwnów, Poland (1-9 July) where she claimed silver in her age bracket and placed 18th overall.

Speaking after her latest achievement, Sienna said of the week: “It was quite tricky, very shifty conditions, long days waiting, long hours, but in the end it was a good result so I’m happy.”

Published in Laser
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In a building breeze throughout the day, the three Irish sailors competing in the 52-boat ILCA 4/Laser World Championship warm-up event in Villamoura, Portugal, posted some good results.

Sienna Wright of Howth Yacht Club, sailing under the Faro burgee, is currently the leading female helm in eighth place overall. She is also the leading Irish boat on 15 points, counting an eighth and a seventh while discarding her worst result, a 12th place.

Close behind her is Daniel O’Connor of the Royal St George Yacht Club on 19 points and in 11th place overall. Daniel had a tough first race finishing 23rd but he recovered well with an eighth and an 11th in the second and third races, respectively.

Krzysztof Ciborowski also of the Royal St George Yacht Club, is the third Irish boat, and he found the conditions challenging throughout the day but recovered well, particularly towards the end of the afternoon and now lies in 38th place overall.

There are three races scheduled for tomorrow, with the race organisers trying to simulate what the courses will be for the main event starting later this week.

The current leader is Feodor Zoubovski from Cyprus. Results can be found here

Published in Laser
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Howth teen Eve McMahon booked her place to the Youth World Sailing Championships in The Hague in July when she sailed to success at the Irish Youth Sailing Championships on Belfast Lough today. 

The reigning World Youth Champion in the single-handed ILCA6 (formerly the Laser Radial) won her 38-strong event in convincing fashion by winning both final races on Sunday to bring her tally to five race wins on Belfast Lough.

Clubmate Rocco Wright who had been leading the class and a group of six challengers since racing began on Thursday finished second overall.

Rocco WrightRocco Wright Photo: Simon McIlwaine/Wavelength Images

In so doing, both McMahon and Wright reached the standard to be nominated to represent Ireland in The Hague in the girls and boys divisions respectively of the World Sailing event.

Sienna Wright of Howth Yacht Club Photo: Simon McIlwaine/Wavelength ImagesSienna Wright of Howth Yacht Club Photo: Simon McIlwaine/Wavelength Images

There were further celebrations in the Howth YC camp when Sienna Wright, Rocco's younger sister won the ILCA 4 (formerly Laser 4.7) class by a comfortable 13-point margin.

Published in Eve McMahon

Ireland's offshore islands

Around 30 of Ireland's offshore islands are inhabited and hold a wealth of cultural heritage.

A central Government objective is to ensure that sustainable vibrant communities continue to live on the islands.

Irish offshore islands FAQs

Technically, it is Ireland itself, as the third largest island in Europe.

Ireland is surrounded by approximately 80 islands of significant size, of which only about 20 are inhabited.

Achill island is the largest of the Irish isles with a coastline of almost 80 miles and has a population of 2,569.

The smallest inhabited offshore island is Inishfree, off Donegal.

The total voting population in the Republic's inhabited islands is just over 2,600 people, according to the Department of Housing.

Starting with west Cork, and giving voting register numbers as of 2020, here you go - Bere island (177), Cape Clear island (131),Dursey island (6), Hare island (29), Whiddy island (26), Long island, Schull (16), Sherkin island (95). The Galway islands are Inis Mór (675), Inis Meáin (148), Inis Oírr (210), Inishbofin (183). The Donegal islands are Arranmore (513), Gola (30), Inishboffin (63), Inishfree (4), Tory (140). The Mayo islands, apart from Achill which is connected by a bridge, are Clare island (116), Inishbiggle (25) and Inishturk (52).

No, the Gaeltacht islands are the Donegal islands, three of the four Galway islands (Inishbofin, like Clifden, is English-speaking primarily), and Cape Clear or Oileán Chléire in west Cork.

Lack of a pier was one of the main factors in the evacuation of a number of islands, the best known being the Blasket islands off Kerry, which were evacuated in November 1953. There are now three cottages available to rent on the Great Blasket island.

In the early 20th century, scholars visited the Great Blasket to learn Irish and to collect folklore and they encouraged the islanders to record their life stories in their native tongue. The three best known island books are An tOileánach (The Islandman) by Tomás Ó Criomhthain, Peig by Peig Sayers, and Fiche Blian ag Fás (Twenty Years A-Growing) by Muiris Ó Súilleabháin. Former taoiseach Charles J Haughey also kept a residence on his island, Inishvickillaune, which is one of the smaller and less accessible Blasket islands.

Charles J Haughey, as above, or late Beatle musician, John Lennon. Lennon bought Dorinish island in Clew Bay, south Mayo, in 1967 for a reported £1,700 sterling. Vendor was Westport Harbour Board which had used it for marine pilots. Lennon reportedly planned to spend his retirement there, and The Guardian newspaper quoted local estate agent Andrew Crowley as saying he was "besotted with the place by all accounts". He did lodge a planning application for a house, but never built on the 19 acres. He offered it to Sid Rawle, founder of the Digger Action Movement and known as the "King of the Hippies". Rawle and 30 others lived there until 1972 when their tents were burned by an oil lamp. Lennon and Yoko Ono visited it once more before his death in 1980. Ono sold the island for £30,000 in 1984, and it is widely reported that she donated the proceeds of the sale to an Irish orphanage

 

Yes, Rathlin island, off Co Antrim's Causeway Coast, is Ireland's most northerly inhabited island. As a special area of conservation, it is home to tens of thousands of sea birds, including puffins, kittiwakes, razorbills and guillemots. It is known for its Rathlin golden hare. It is almost famous for the fact that Robert the Bruce, King of Scots, retreated after being defeated by the English at Perth and hid in a sea cave where he was so inspired by a spider's tenacity that he returned to defeat his enemy.

No. The Aran islands have a regular ferry and plane service, with ferries from Ros-a-Mhíl, south Connemara all year round and from Doolin, Co Clare in the tourist season. The plane service flies from Indreabhán to all three islands. Inishbofin is connected by ferry from Cleggan, Co Galway, while Clare island and Inishturk are connected from Roonagh pier, outside Louisburgh. The Donegal islands of Arranmore and Tory island also have ferry services, as has Bere island, Cape Clear and Sherkin off Cork. How are the island transport services financed? The Government subsidises transport services to and from the islands. The Irish Coast Guard carries out medical evacuations, as to the RNLI lifeboats. Former Fianna Fáíl minister Éamon Ó Cuív is widely credited with improving transport services to and from offshore islands, earning his department the nickname "Craggy island".

Craggy Island is an bleak, isolated community located of the west coast, inhabited by Irish, a Chinese community and one Maori. Three priests and housekeeper Mrs Doyle live in a parochial house There is a pub, a very small golf course, a McDonald's fast food restaurant and a Chinatown... Actually, that is all fiction. Craggy island is a figment of the imagination of the Father Ted series writers Graham Linehan and Arthur Mathews, for the highly successful Channel 4 television series, and the Georgian style parochial house on the "island" is actually Glenquin House in Co Clare.

Yes, that is of the Plassey, a freighter which was washed up on Inis Oírr in bad weather in 1960.

There are some small privately owned islands,and islands like Inishlyre in Co Mayo with only a small number of residents providing their own transport. Several Connemara islands such as Turbot and Inishturk South have a growing summer population, with some residents extending their stay during Covid-19. Turbot island off Eyrephort is one such example – the island, which was first spotted by Alcock and Brown as they approached Ireland during their epic transatlantic flight in 1919, was evacuated in 1978, four years after three of its fishermen drowned on the way home from watching an All Ireland final in Clifden. However, it is slowly being repopulated

Responsibility for the islands was taking over by the Department of Rural and Community Development . It was previously with the Gaeltacht section in the Department of Media, Tourism, Arts, Culture, Sport and the Gaeltacht.

It is a periodic bone of contention, as Ireland does not have the same approach to its islands as Norway, which believes in right of access. However, many improvements were made during Fianna Fáíl Galway West TD Éamon Ó Cuív's time as minister. The Irish Island Federation, Comdháil Oileáin na hÉireann, represents island issues at national and international level.

The 12 offshore islands with registered voters have long argued that having to cast their vote early puts them at a disadvantage – especially as improved transport links mean that ballot boxes can be transported to the mainland in most weather conditions, bar the winter months. Legislation allowing them to vote on the same day as the rest of the State wasn't passed in time for the February 2020 general election.

Yes, but check tide tables ! Omey island off north Connemara is accessible at low tide and also runs a summer race meeting on the strand. In Sligo, 14 pillars mark the way to Coney island – one of several islands bearing this name off the Irish coast.

Cape Clear or Oileán Chléire is the country's most southerly inhabited island, eight miles off the west Cork coast, and within sight of the Fastnet Rock lighthouse, also known as the "teardrop of Ireland".
Skellig Michael off the Kerry coast, which has a monastic site dating from the 6th century. It is accessible by boat – prebooking essential – from Portmagee, Co Kerry. However, due to Covid-19 restrictions, it was not open to visitors in 2020.
All islands have bird life, but puffins and gannets and kittiwakes are synonymous with Skellig Michael and Little Skellig. Rathlin island off Antrim and Cape Clear off west Cork have bird observatories. The Saltee islands off the Wexford coast are privately owned by the O'Neill family, but day visitors are permitted access to the Great Saltee during certain hours. The Saltees have gannets, gulls, puffins and Manx shearwaters.
Vikings used Dublin as a European slaving capital, and one of their bases was on Dalkey island, which can be viewed from Killiney's Vico road. Boat trips available from Coliemore harbour in Dalkey. Birdwatch Ireland has set up nestboxes here for roseate terns. Keep an eye out also for feral goats.
Plenty! There are regular boat trips in summer to Inchagoill island on Lough Corrib, while the best known Irish inshore island might be the lake isle of Innisfree on Sligo's Lough Gill, immortalised by WB Yeats in his poem of the same name. Roscommon's Lough Key has several islands, the most prominent being the privately-owned Castle Island. Trinity island is more accessible to the public - it was once occupied by Cistercian monks from Boyle Abbey.

©Afloat 2020