Rian Geraghty-McDonnell has won the Irish Optimist National and Open Senior Championship and Luke Turvey the Junior Optimist National and Open Championship at the IODAI championships hosted by the Royal Irish Yacht Club.

With a full series of 10 races sailed over the four–day event on Dublin Bay, everything came down to the last race to decide who was going to win the titles. Geraghty-McDonnell got a black flag in the second last race but showed real depth of character to come back in the last race and take the title with Justin Lucan of Royal Cork Yacht Club finishing one point behind.

The following results concluded the top ten senior sailors, Leah Rickard 3rd, Rory O’Sullivan 4th, Harry Twomey 5th, Emily Riordan 6th, Harry Prtichard 7th, Hugh Turvey 8th, Moss Simington 9th and Conor Gorman 10th.

Luke Turvey of HYC/NYC won the Irish Optimist National and Open Junior Championship. The Junior series mirrored the seniors and also came down to the wire with the last race deciding the title. Luke Turvey beat HYC club mate Johnny Flynn by one point to take the Junior title.

Oisin Kelly won the title in Regatta fleet, followed by Tristan Farrer from GBR in second place and in third place was Harvey Matthews from KYC.

The IODAI say it was one of the most competitive Irish Nationals ever with an amazing display of sailing talent by Ireland's young and up and coming sailors. 

Next year's National Championships are heading for Kinsale in County Cork.

Howth Yacht Club's Hugh Turvey has taken an early lead at the Optimist National Championships on Dublin Bay.

The fourteen–year–old has worked out a decent margin in light winds after only two races sailed at the Royal Irish Yacht Club. Turvey counts a first and a second to be six points clear of two Royal Cork Yacht Club entries tied on nine points where Michael Crosbie leads Harry Pritchard. Another RCYC sailor, Harry Twomey, lies fourth on 11–points. The National Yacht Club's Conor Gorman on 14 points rounds out the top five of the 65–boat main fleet.

74 sailors are competing in the Junior fleet and just under 50 sailors in the regatta fleet. Full results are here. 

Racing continues tomorrow. 

The Irish Optimist Sailing team are on their way to Burgas, Bulgaria to take part in the European Championships.

Two hundred and fifty sailors will participate in the week-long event with ten races expected from 30th July to 5th August.

The Irish team members pictured above are (from left to right) Ruth McSweeney, team Manager, Cillian Foster (RCYC) Johnny Flynn (HYC and RstGYC) Conor Gorman (NYC), Luke Turvey (HYC and NYC)) Emily Riordan (RstGYC) Kitty Flanagan(RstGYC) and Iseult Hogan(RstGYC).

After a fine display of Team Racing by the Irish Optimist Team in Thailand, Ireland had a spectacular win over France to finish ninth overall in the Team Racing World Championships 2017.

Things were looking good for Team Ireland when they got into final 16 of the World Championships from 62 countries.

Following three days of fleet racing Ireland was seeded 40th out of 48 teams that qualified for the Team Racing World Championships.

The Irish team comprised  Justin Lucas, Harry Twomey, Leah Rickard, Alana Coakley and Charlie Cullen.

After a long day on the water at Royal Varuna Yacht Club, Team Ireland, under Captain Harry Twomey secured a place in the final 16. An amazing achievement, for an Irish Team to qualify for the second round in the Team Racing World Championships.

Thailand has been selected to host the Optimist World Championship 2017, and the event has now confirmed the participation of a total of 62 sailing nations – including Ireland – with 280 sailors, a record-breaking landmark for this world stage event. Each country will send their most skilled Optimist sailors to race as national representatives to compete in the waters off Pattaya Beach. The event will take place from 11-21 July, 2017 at the Royal Varuna Yacht Club (RVYC) in Pattaya.

Ireland will be reprsented by Harry Twomey of RCYC & CHSC, Justin Lucas of RCYC & TBSC, Alana Coakley, RStGYC and Leah Rickard, NYC and Charlie Cullen of the RStGYC & NYC.

Thomas Whitcraft, President of the Optimist World Championship 2017, said, "This is a record-breaker in terms of the number of sailors competing here and the number of countries represented. This year is notable also for the number of Asian countries taking place after several years of absence. They include China, Macau, Taiwan (officially called Chinese Taipei), Myanmar, Indonesia, India and the UAE. Several teams will also travel from the South American continent, including Argentina, Brazil, Peru, Ecuador, Uruguay and Chile”

The Optimist World Championship comprises two ‘championships’, the OPTIMIST INDIVIDUAL WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP (IWC) and the OPTIMIST TEAM RACING WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP (TRWC).

The Championship will be held at the Royal Varuna Yacht Club, located just outside the city of Pattaya in the residential area of Pratamnak Hill. The racing area is located immediately offshore from the Yacht Club in the Gulf of Thailand, between the mainland and Koh Larn. With large facilities, strong infrastructure and fantastic sailing conditions, the RVYC will welcome all sailors with warm Thai hospitality. Racers, support teams and spectators can expect sunshine, warm water and good sailing breezes during the event.

The Optimist Dinghy has proven to be the ideal boat for introducing young children to the sport of sailing. The objective of the class is to provide an affordable racing boat for young people. Optimist

Dinghy sailors typically start at the age of 7 or 8 and continue to 15 years of age. More than 85% of all sailors who participated in the Rio Olympics sailed in Optimist dinghies when they were young.

The Optimist World Championship 2017 Thailand has been supported by strategic partners including Sport Authority of Thailand (SAT), Thailand Convention and Exhibition Bureau (TCEB) and Pattaya City, Co-Sponsors include The Pizza Company, Apollo (Thailand), Thai Airways and True Corporation. For more information, please visit www.optimistworlds2017.com

Howth Yacht Club hosted the Optimist Team racing Vice President's Cup last weekend. On the water there were lots of smiles, buckets of team spirit and great selfless tactical moves.

The races were so effectively run (well done Richard Kissane & team), there was a review to the schedule to avoid finishing too early adding a Gold and Silver round robin so by the end of the event there were 57 races in total.

On the racing side, two teams were surely showing effective team racing tactics and it was no surprise to see them battling it in the final. After a great day of racing, RCYC-1 captained by Rory O'Sullivan came out on top against the RstGYC-1 captained by Trevor Bolger.

Clubs represented were the RstGYC (3 teams), RCYC (2 teams), HYC (2 teams), MYC (2 teams), NYC and TBSC

Unseasonal weather provided very challenging conditions for the 145 entrants in The Davy Munster Optimist Championships at Kinsale Yacht Club. Sailors travelled from as far away as Dublin and Galway for the event. Six races were planned over Saturday and Sunday.

Day 1 saw the Regatta Fleet grounded as the winds were just too strong but they had a full morning of shore based activities which included learning about wind, tides and the RRS. The AP flag was flown for the Senior and Junior fleets while the Principal Race Officer, John Stallard, waited for conditions to abate. The decision was made to remain in the outer harbour and after a 2 hour delay racing got under way. With torrential rain and gusting winds the conditions were testing for all on the water – sailors and committee/support boats alike– this combined with the delayed start meant that two races were completed.

Day 2 and both fleets got afloat on time. With 10-12 knots out of the southwest the Senior and Junior fleets got under way with minimal delay. There was quite a swell outside the harbour which provided a testing beat for the fleets and caused some to retire from the race. However both the Senior and Junior fleets completed the race in under 50 mins. The wind had shifted more southerly so after readjusting the course Race 2 got off with minimal delay. By now the swell was building somewhat and winds were 12 – 14 knots but the fleets were really enjoying sailing in the open waters outside Kinsale Harbour. As the wind had settled into the SSW the course stayed true and the 3rd race got underway within minutes of the final boat finishing. Competitors were quite happy to head ashore after Race 3 as the swell had proved to be quite tiring for all on the water.

The Regatta Fleet got afloat on Day 2 but under very testing conditions. The Regatta Fleet Race Officer, Siobhan Keane Hopcraft, decided to keep them in the inner harbour. Even in there the winds too strong for some however the fleet got 4 races sailed which was an achievement for all given the conditions.

Results:
Senior Fleet
Gold 
1st Rory O’Sullivan RCYC 
2nd Leah Richard NYC 
3rd Hugh Turvey HYC/NYC 

Silver

1st Kei Walker RStGYC

2nd Adam Doyle TBSC

3rd Ciara O’Regan RStGYC

Junior Fleet

Gold
1st Johnny Flynn HYC/RStGYC 
2nd Luke Turvey HYC/NYC 
3rd Fiachra McDonnell RBYC 
4th Sam Ledoux NYC 4th Killian Reidy FYC
5th Adam Walsh LRYC/HYC 5th Jessica Riordan RStGYC

Silver

1st Lucy Bateman RCYC

2nd Fiachra Farrelly HYC

3rd Rocco Wright HYC

Fair Sailing Award Aoibhin Farrelly HYC

Best Local Sailor Regatta Fleet Harvey Matthews
Best Local Sailor Junior Fleet Alejandra Peleteiro
Best Local Sailor Senior Fleet James Dwyer Matthews

142 boats across the 3 fleets are confirmed for this weekend's Munster Optimist Championships at Kinsale Yacht Club this weekend.

Six races are scheduled over the two days. The Senior and Junior fleets will race outside the harbour, weather permitting, with Principal Race Officer John Stallard at the helm while the Regatta Fleet will race in the outer harbour with Race Officer Siobhan Keane Hopcraft in charge of them.

As with all junior sailing events an enormous amount of support is required both on and off the water. A flotilla of Committee Boats, Mother Ships and support RIB’s plus the Dinghy Park will be manned by the many volunteers who are helping to make the event happen.

Kinsale Yacht Club has a very strong and active Optimist Class. The ever popular Christmas Regatta in December attracted an entry of 35 boats from a wide variety of clubs.

Ballyholme Yacht Club has released a video of all the weekend action from Bangor Bay, the largest entry ever for the ISA youth national championships.

Read our full report here and see the latest video moments below: 

One of the most notable aspects of the ISA Youth Pathway National Championship 2017, which has concluded this afternoon at Ballyholme on Belfast Lough with a good programme sailed, is the healthy way in which the new champions come from a wide range of clubs and sailing locations writes W M Nixon.

Admittedly, as the rising stars become more established as front runners, we find that bigger clubs at the main centres will make every effort to recruit this fresh talent onto their strength. Nevertheless with crews from as far away as Crookhaven Harbour, Dingle and Tralee Bay making their way up the long road to Ballyholme (and if you’re coming from Dingle, it is one very long road), there’s no escaping the feeling that the Annalise Effect is working. Irish junior sailing is not just undergoing a renaissance. It is putting out energetic new shoots in places where it was relatively dormant before, and the future looks rosy.

Prospects for today’s last races weren’t looking too good on some forecasts, with the lack of wind that bedevilled some of Saturday’s racing looking like persisting. But bang on cue a nice southwest to west breeze settled in on most of the sailing areas, and the fleets went at it as if they’d had no sailing at all until then, with the Optimist class particularly requesting that if at all possible they’d like three races.

"The bringer of sunshine”. After a championship of mostly grey weather, the sun came out when ISA star coach Rory Fitzpatrick took ISA President Jack Roy out for a spin around the three course areas.

That was a tall order with the last starting sequence required to be no later than 1300hrs. But with very efficient turn-rounds after each race, the thing was done and the series was completed with that wonderful feeling of a good regatta accomplished, which is a whole world away from the default position of “Well, we got a result....”

As for the final results, in the end there were no surprises from the overnight positions. But while some leaders may now look to have been securely in place for some time, in most classes they had to keep working at it until the very end.

In terms of sheer scale of win, the star of the show has to be Justin Lucas (13), who gives his clubs as both Royal Cork and Tralee Bay, so you can guess his career trajectory. In a fleet of 62, after thirteen races he was discarding a 12th and an 11th, leaving a scoreline of 1,1,4,5,1,2,3,5,1,1,4 and a total only 28 points against the 72 of next-in-line Conor Gorman of the National YC.

Third place kept up the pace for remote clubs, as it was won by Harry Twomey of Crookhaven Harbur, then the next two slots were filled by the leading 12-year-old juniors, Johnny Flynn and Luke Turvey, who are both members of Howth, but they also give allegiance to Royal St George and National respectively.

Top girl sailor was Emily Riordan of Royal St George, she was 8th overall on 98 points, second girl was clubmate Alana Coakley at 11th while the National’s Leah Rickard was third at 12th overall.

ISA President Jack Roy speaking at the awards ceremony at Ballyholme after the biggest ISA Youth Pathway Championship ever staged, with 208 registered sailors all under the age of 19 (and many very much younger) taking part.

The little ’uns in the Optimists may have served up the numbers and an overall winner with a stratospheric lead, but inevitably the glamour class was the Laser Radials which had gone into Saturday night with Silver Medallist Ewan McMahon’s lead somehow looking vulnerable as he closed with an 11th while Cork’s Johnny Durcan, after a winter spent Laser racing in Australia, was coming on by leaps and bounds.

However, any evidence of super-kangaroo abilities were in short supply for the Durcan camp today, for although McMahon still looked off the pace with a 14th in the first race, Durcan was DNF, and when that was added to a BFD in Saturdays first race, his challenge was effectively over, and in the end he was 9th overall.

So McMahon’s 9th in the final race was enough to retain his lead with a final points total of 41. But all the excitement in the Laser Radials was elsewhere, as the talk today has been of the huge rush of Rush. Aaron Rogers of Rush Sailing Club was in fact the initial overall leader, but today it was clubmate Conor Quinn (who also lists Carlingford Lough YC as his affiliation) who set the pace, with an 8th and then a first to move into second overall, while Rogers took third overall by round the series with a 7th and a 13th.

For quite a few years, the population of Fingal aka North County Dublin was the fastest growing in Ireland, so it was only a matter of time before the new demographic began to show in the national junior sailing results. However, the smart money might have been on Skerries Sailing Club to lead the way, and for a while they did so. But now Rush Sailing Club is showing itself the pace-setter inshore at junior level as seen at Ballyholme, and offshore with the Kelly family in their all-conquering J/109 Storm.

But if you looked solely at club affiliation as an indicator of what’s going on where, the 33-strong Laser 4.7 fleet at Ballyholme would only have lead to confusion, as 2017’s overall winner Jack Fahy lists his clubs as Royal St George, Royal Cork, and Lough Derg. Presumably he has club subscriptions at the top of his preferred Christmas gift list.......

Be that as it may, his scoreline of 6,1,2,1,2,5 discarding his final 8th provides something for everyone. That said, Caoimhe Foster of Royal Cork came on very well at the end, starting with a discarded 11th but recording three straight wins on the trot in the final trio of races, to share 22 points with Clare Gorman of the National with Fahy five points ahead of them at 17, Foster edging ahead into second on the countback to make her first girl.

It came within an ace of being first girls every which way in the 420s, as Malahide’s Gemma McDowell and Emma Gallagher took second in the first race astern of Nicola and Fiona Ferguson of the national, but with overnight leaders Geoff Power and James McCann of Dunmore East losing places back in fourth. The final race might have changed things overall, but Power & McCann did the business by being fourth with McDowell and Gallagher in fifth. So Dunmore East had it over Malahide by two points in the end at 18 to 20, while Royal St George’s Kate Lyttle and Niamh Henry were third on 21.

The competition is clearly close in the 420s, but in the Topper fleet of 32, much had been expected beforehand of northern star Jenna McCarlile of County Antrim Yacht Club at Whitehead, which is straight across the lough from Ballyholme.

But Jenna had a sporting quandary, as the first day’s racing clashed with her trial for the Ulster Under-16 Hockey Squad. She went for the hockey, and qualified. And then she threw herself into the sailing at Ballyholme. But even with three firsts, a 3rd and a 7th, the fact that the Toppers only had enough races for one discard made the mathematics impossible.

Nevertheless a sixth overall when short of a whole day’s racing is quite some achievement. But Heaven only knows what they’ll make of it all at Irish Topper HQ, as we read somewhere that only the first five places in the fleet at the Youth Nationals were eligible for positions in the Pathway programme......

Meanwhile among those who did the complete fixture, Rob Keale of Royal Cork continued his excellent progress with a scoreline of 1,1,4,3,2,4 with a discarded 10th to put him at 15, four points clear of Dan McCaughey of Ballyholme and Donaghadee, with Conor Horgan of Royal Cork third on 20 and Sarah Jennings of East Down fourth and also first girl. As for the Topper 4.2s, Lewis Thompson of Donagadee maintained his overnight dominance, in fact at the end he was discarding a second, but Adam Irvin of Irish National Sailing School in Dun Laoghaire came through on this final day to move into second overall with two seconds, while Hannah Dadley-Young of Ballyholme was third overall with two fourths today.

This is the sort of crowd that soon overfills the marquee after the Youth Championship which beats all others. Meanwhile, all parents absent from this pic are loading up the boats for the long haul home…

Even as we post this on Afloat.ie, there are some little people with their tiny boats and long-suffering parents who still have a very long way to get home to many distant corners of Ireland after this cracker of a regatta. We wish them a safe journey. And for many of them, it’s back to school tomorrow after the Easter holidays. Gosh, what fun....

Full results are here. Optimist trials results may be found here.

Ballyholme YC adds:

Ewan McMahon won the ISA Youth Pathways despite another difficult day in a light shifting south westerly on Belfast Lough. His earlier form in the championships allowed him to discard the higher of his two results today and comfortably win overall. The two Rush sailors Conor Quinn and Aaron Rodgers had better results with a win in the last race for Conor to lift him to second overall from Aaron by one point. Royal North of Ireland's Sally Bell won 1st lady.

Geoff Power and James McCann wrapped up the 420 fleet even with the worst scores of the top four. The best results went to the Ferguson sisters - Nicola and Fiona - with two 1sts although not enough to break into the tight top three places. Only 3 net points over 9 races split the winners from Gemma McDowell in second place overall and 1st lady crew, and Kate Lyttle and Niamh Henry in third.

In the Laser 4.7 fleet on Course 2, Caoimhe Foster won both races on the final day to lift her to second overall and first lady. Jack Fahy had seen victory stolen from him before last summer at the Topper Worlds when he had been outgunned on the final windy day by the English squad sailors. This time his lead was large enough to maintain first place overall while Clare Gorman was third.

In the Topper fleet Rob Keal scored consistently to wrap up the championship. Local sailor from Ballyholme and Donaghadee - Dan McCaughey - won the final race to jump up to second overall while Conor Horgan was third. Sarah Jennings was first lady.

Another Ballyholme/Donaghadee sailor Lewis Thompson won the final two races and was the overall winner in the Topper 4.2 fleet with a net score of just 6 points from 7 races. Adam Irvin rose above Hannah Dadley Young for second place with Hannah first lady and third overall

The Optimist fleet on Course 3 managed to complete three races today with Race Officer Harry Gallagher determined to complete the full schedule. Justin Lucas continued his grip on the fleet with another 2 wins to add to his 3 earlier in the championship. Not only did he win overall but his net points were almost 50 points better than Conor Gorman in second and Harry Twomey in third. Emily Riordan was first girl.

ISA President Jack Roy thanked Ballyholme Yacht Club for successfully hosting the championships for the first time with the strong hint that it would return to the North again in future years.

Ballyholme Commodore Mark Mackey thanked all of the competitors and their families for travelling up to Bangor and making the event such a success - the largest entry ever. Thanks were also given to the Mayor Deborah Girvan and Ards & North Down Borough Council and Quay Marinas who supported the event, and CH Marine and McCready Sailboats who helped sponsor the prizes.

Thanks were also given by Jack and Mark to all of the Race Management team - the Principal Race Officer Robin Gray supported by Angela Gilmour, Harry Gallagher and Ruan O'Tiarnaigh, the Jury under Chris Lindsay and Gordon Davies, the 100 plus volunteers on the water and ashore helping at the event along with Eurosaf visitors and Andy Millington from the RYA marklaying team, and finally the event organiser Richard Glynn - more famous as the travelling father and sponsor of previous Topper World Champion Liam Glynn who is now campaigning in the Laser and just back from training in Croatia. Special thanks also went to the volunteers from local clubs in Belfast Lough and across Northern Ireland who took time off work this week and without who's help it would have been impossible to run three courses so successfully.

After the Prize Giving the teams for the various Irish Optimist squads travelling to the World Championships, Europeans, the ICT Poland and ICT France squads were read out - with particular special significance for Leah Rickard from the National Yacht Club who was born in Thailand and has qualified to travel to the World Championships which will be held there later this summer.