The last weekend of January saw the RYA Celtic Cup hosted by RYA Scotland at Largs Sailing Club, and taking part were RYANI Youth Sailing Squad Members with RYA Wales and RYA Scotland. As well as racing for the Celtic Cup there was coaching for Optimist, Topper and ILCA 6 classes.
The event brought together the best ILCA and Topper sailors from each home country to compete for the overall team prize. It’s the first time the event has run since 2013 and the intention is that this will be an annual fixture alternating between the home countries of Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. The event serves as a combined training session with races included to constitute the Celtic Cup.
Chosen to represent Northern Ireland were two youth members of East Antrim Boat Club at Larne, ten from Ballyholme on Belfast Lough and four from County Antrim YC. The EABC sailors were Tom Coulter and Matthew McClernon in the ILCA division and the four from BYC in the same class were Charlotte Eadie, Joshua McGregor, Lewis Thompson and Lucas Nixon. From County Antrim Yacht Club on Belfast Lough were Ellen Barbour and Daniel Corbett. In the Toppers were Bobby Driscoll, Cormac Byrne, Henry Nelson, Autumn Halliday, Katie Brow and Emily McAfee from Ballyholme but due to unforeseen circumstances Katie and Emily were unable to travel. And the CAYC sailors were Rory Pollard and Luke Simpson.
The RYA Northern Ireland Celtic Cup Laser team
The team was accompanied by coaches, Chris Penny and Barry McCartan along with Andrew Baker, Performance Manager for RYA NI.
Saturday brought heavy winds and unsettled seas with a baseline wind speed at Largs of 38 kts with gusts of 48 kts and the forecast was windy for the rest of the day. So a coaching session was held which comprised an early gym session before breakfast, followed by a packed programme of workshops, talks and teambuilding activities. Athletes were mixed up across countries and teams, to share experiences and learn with different sailors and coaches.
Sunday’s weather to start with was a complete contrast and before the heavy weather which was forecast arrived there was a flurry of activity in the boat parks and marina with race management, mark personnel and coaching staff getting their respective teams launched and the course set. With RYA Scotland’s Performance Manager, Matt Toynbee keeping an eye on the water proceedings accompanied by Kate Pounder, RYA Scotland’s Performance Sailing Officer, a trapezoid course was set and the Race Officer got racing underway in 13 kt winds from the south. As predicted, the wind continued to build quickly over the morning and by 1230 hrs the competitors were racing in 25 knots with a big sea, making for very challenging sailing conditions. Unsurprisingly the high winds produced capsizes in the last race. With no change in sight the decision was taken to finish racing for the day at lunchtime with four races completed in the ILCA 6 Class and three in the Topper and Optimist classes.
The individual results in the ILCA 6 saw Tom Mitchell from Scotland take first place with four bullets, second place went to Finlay Tulett also from Scotland and the best NI results came from Tom Coulter (EABC) at third, and in fourth, Josh McGregor of BYC; Ellen Barbour of County Antrim was sixth and Lucas Nixon (BYC) eighth. In the Topper Class, BYC’s Bobby Driscoll, took the individual win and his clubmate Autumn Halliday was runner up. In third was Finley Briggs from Scotland. Rory Pollard was ninth.
The Celtic Cup was awarded to the RYA Scotland team, with RYA NI coming a close second and RYA Wales, third.
Ballyholme’s Aidan Pounder (Recognised Training Centre Principal) said “It was a great event and experience and thanks to RYA Scotland for hosting and to the RYA NI Team and Coaches for their great preparation and support. We look forward now to 2023, where The Celtic Cup will be contested either in Wales or Northern Ireland”.
Andrew Baker, RYANI Performance Manager said; “it was a very close fight between Scotland and Northern Ireland. With Scotland’s top two in the ILCA and consistently mid-fleet in the Topper they just managed to pip us. Notable results were Bobby Driscoll (BYC) and Autumn Halliday (BYC) in the Topper, and Tom Coulter (EABC) and Josh McGregor (BYC) in the ILCA. A few black flags and breakages may have come into the mix but show’s we can be competitive. I am sure we can bring the cup home next year.”
