The weather in recent weeks has been variable and has curtailed a number of 420 training weekends around the country but three Irish boats travelled to the UK Spring Championships on the 10th and 11th March at Royal Torbay Yacht Club in the hope of some good sailing. Torbay on the south coast of England brands itself as the 'English Riviera' but the Irish boats arrived to sail in testing conditions. On the Saturday after an initial delay to the sailing whilst the race officer waited for the wind to swing round and the visibility to improve, racing kicked off in 20+ knots and rolling waves.

Link to 420 video from Torbay showing the testing conditions here

There were numerous capsizes, some before the start of race one and a number of DNS/DNC’s appearing across the fleet as sailors struggled with the occasional gust of up to 32 knots recorded on the committee boat. Sunday morning was a lot more promising, the wind had dropped slightly to around 15+ knots and swung round to the east. The bad news was there were now some very larger rollers heading into Torbay. For most sailors it was slightly easier, fewer gusts, and a more consistent wind. Of the top 10 boats, 3 were all girl boats and only 2 were all boys. The other 5 boats all being mixed crews of which 4 of the boats had girls helming, interesting statistics for the sailing community in general. Irish boats finished as follows, 10th overall and 3rd girls were Gemma Mc Dowell and Emma Gallagher of Malahide Yacht Club, 15th Michael O’Suilleabhain and Michael Carroll of Kinsale Yacht Club, and 24th Nicola and Fiona Ferguson of the National Yacht Club.

The second spring event scheduled in the UK was to be the Inland Championships at Rutland Sailing Club on the 17th and 18th March, however the Beast from the East II put paid to this event with strong winds and freezing temperatures. The Irish boats made it back across the Irish Sea before the worst of the weather arrived and in good time for the upcoming 420 Class Open training weekend to be held on the 1st and 2nd April at the National Yacht Club.

The training weekend provides an important warm up to the Volvo Irish Sailing Youth Pathway National Championships 2018 being jointly hosted by the National and Royal St. George Yacht Clubs.

There’ll be three race courses, five classes, three evening talks, and 32 counties represented at next month's Volvo Irish Sailing Youth Pathway National Championships taking place 5th – 8th April 2018 in Dun Laoghaire, jointly hosted by the Royal St George Yacht Club and the National Yacht Club.

As well as great racing on the water, and good fun at the club ashore. The evening talks as well as the races are open to all young sailors who sail in the five Irish Sailing Youth Pathway Classes (Laser Radial, Laser 4.7, 420, Topper and Optimist). This is Ireland’s largest Youth regatta and Irish Sailing’s primary talent spotting event of the year for the Academy and Junior classes.

Importantly it’s also one of the few chances in the year when family and friends who are sail in different classes can all sail together at one regatta venue, competing on different courses but on the same waters, giving a brilliant opportunity for shared experiences, learning and fun.

Up to six places on the Irish Sailing Laser 4.7 Squad: Up to six sailors will be chosen at the Irish Sailing Youth Pathway Nationals to join the Irish Sailing Laser 4.7 Squad. The squad will provide training to help young sailors transition in the Laser 4.7 class. It will also aim to prepare and support the squad for the Laser 4.7 World Championship to be held in Gdynia, Poland in July. The squad coach and programme will be announced following the event. Entry to the Laser 4.7 Worlds is independent of Irish Sailing squad selection through the International Laser Class Association.

The four days of racing in Dublin Bay will decide the six places on the 420 European team who will travel to Sisimbra, Portugal in July to compete in the 420 Junior (U18) European Championships. 

Irish Sailing Laser Radial & 420 Academy: The Irish Sailing Youth Pathway Nationals is an indicator event (amongst other factors including domestic and international events) for the Irish Sailing Youth Academy. The Academy undergoes a review biannually following the Youth Pathway Nationals and in the autumn each year.

IODAI Irish Optimist Trials: The Optimist trials fleet will take to the water to compete for coveted team spots at the 2018 international regattas. Places for the World Championships in Cyprus, the European Championships in the Netherlands, and the international development team events in both Poland and France are all up for grabs.

Topper class: The Topper World Championships take place in China this year with a strong Irish team travelling to the regatta this year. The Pathway Nationals will provide a good indicator of form as the sailors test themselves against the best in the country as they head into the spring period of their season.

A lineup of evening speakers – open to all: At 5.30pm each evening there will be a talk and Q&A session at the nominated club with speakers who have a deep knowledge of racing. The talks are open to all sailors and parents.

• Thursday 5th – Saturday 7th April, Ross Killian & Sean Evans. Each evening Ross and Sean, the Irish Sailing Performance Coaches will give video analysis and coaching tips from the day’s racing
• Friday 6th April, James O’Callaghan Irish Sailing High Performance Director will talk through the Olympic and Performance Pathway
• Saturday 7th April, Jessie Barr, Sport psychologist currently working at the Sport Ireland Institute. Jessie is a four-time 400m relay Olympian. She has worked with a number of the Laser and 420 Academy sailors.

For many of the 420 sailors travelling to Schull in West Cork at the start of the school half term the week ahead surely had an ominous look as they passed through heavy snow showers on the M8 at Cashel. But Schull weather is changeable at the best of times and throughout the week the sailors had sun one minute, sleet the next and everything in between with winds ranging from 0 to 30+ knots.

The 420 crews attend a briefing at the Fastnet Marine Centre in Schull

Schull week this year combined a four day training camp with the Munster Regional Championships. The purpose built Fastnet Marine and Outdoor Education Centre provided the perfect venue for the 420 training camp with classroom facilities accommodating theory sessions, a modified 420 (with wheels!) for drills on land and the sheltered sailing waters immediately beside the centre. Dave Harte hosted the 420 sailors at the centre for the week and worked with the experienced coaching team of Graeme Grant, Camden Tougas and Ross Killian.

A 420 Schull Week race start for the 420s

Day one of the Munster Championships on Friday was a victim of the strong winds but the sailors retired for the day and prepared for their Class Association dinner held that evening at the Schull Harbour Hotel. Parents were also hosted by the Class Association for a Wine and canapés evening and a discussion on the upcoming 420 events in Ireland and abroad, plus an introduction from Ross Killian on the Irish Sailing Pathway and the role of the 420 boat in the pathway.

Day two of the Munster Championships provided a day of total contrast. Dawn unveiled a mirror finish of the bay but the wind forecast provided some hope of sailing. The boats launched on schedule and after a short postponement PRO Dave Harte got race one under way only to abandon the race close to the finish as the wind melted away. A game of hide and seek for wind followed and as hope of doing any racing was fading a light breeze settled in and four races were run in order to allow the Championships to be completed with a discard. This year the Munster Championship trophy will head north to Malahide Yacht Club with Gemma Mc Dowell and Emma Gallagher. The results of the Gold and Silver fleets are as follows:

Gold Fleet

1st Gemma McDowell and Emma Gallagher, Malahide Yacht Club

2nd Grace O’Beirne and Kathy Kelly, Royal St. George Yacht Club

3rd Michael O’Suilleabhain and Michael Carroll, Kinsale Yacht Club

The 420 Munster Championships silver fleet winners

Silver Fleet

1st Noah Mc Carthy and Martin Fleming, FMOEC

2nd Ben Graf and Alexander Farrell, Lough Ree Yacht Club

3rd Liam Donnelly and Aidan Donnelly, Howth Yacht Club

A trophy was also awarded for the training week to the crew that showed the most improvement during the week. This award was open to all 22 boats taking part during the weeks sailing and it is judged by the coaching team. The 2018 trophy was awarded to Ben Graf and Alexander Farrell of Lough Ree Yacht Club.

While 420 training continues at various venues around the country through the winter, the first 420 sailing event of 2018 takes place from Monday the 12th to Thursday the 15th Feb at the Fastnet Marine & Outdoor Education Centre in Schull and online entry is now open through the 420 Class Association website here. This training week has been a regular event in the 420 season for many years and it is organised to run in parallel to the Optimist training in nearby Baltimore.

Following immediately on from the Schull training camp will be the Munster regional championships on Friday the 16th and Saturday the 17th February, also hosted by the Fastnet Marine & Outdoor Education Centre. This is the first competitive event of the 420 season, a season that will stretch through to the end of September when the Ulster Championships will be held as part of the RYANI Youth Championships.

The spring will see 420 crews racing in a number of Irish and overseas events to seek qualification for various International Championships during the summer. First up after the Junior and Leaving cert exams are the Junior Europeans which move to Sesimbra in Portugal this year and later in the summer the 420 Wolds return north of the equator to be held in Newport, Rhode Island. In 2017 the 420 class was represented by Geoff Power and James McCann at the 2017 ISAF Youth Worlds in China and next year the event will be held during the summer at Corpus Christi Yacht Club in Texas.

Spain reigned supreme as the 2017 420 World Championships drew to a close today, 3 January 2018, in Fremantle, Australia, having secured gold, silver and bronze in the 420 Open Fleet and gold in the U17 fleet. There was no Irish representation at the event.

The Francis Mouvet Trophy for the top performing nation was presented to Spain for their remarkable domination at the 2017 420 World Championship.

420 Open - Final Top 10
1. Enrique Lujan/Pablo Lujan, Esp, 41 points
2. Albert Torres/Francisco Mulet, Esp, 48
3. Carlos Balaguer/Antoni Massanet, Esp, 50
4. Enzo Balanger/Gaultier Tallieu, Fra, 61
5. Thomas Andre/Justin Baradat, Fra, 62
6. Andrea Spagnolli/Kevin Rio, Ita, 63
7. Edoardo Ferraro/Francesco Orlando, Ita, 64
8. Chris Charlwood/Josh Dawson, Aus, 68
9. Eduard Ferrer/Carlos De Maqua, Esp, 70
10. Elias Aretz/Pablo García, Esp, 74

420 Ladies - Final Top 10
1. Nia Jerwood/Monique De Vries, Aus, 25
2. Laura Harding/Eleanor Grimshaw, Aus, 25
3. Arianna Passamonti/Giulia Fava, Ita, 69
4. Sophie Mcintosh/Orla Mulholland-Patterson, Aus, 71
5. Isabel Davies/Gemma Keers, Gbr, 73
6. Sophie Jackson/Laura Thomson, Aus, 78
7. María Caba/Pilar Caba, Esp, 87
8. Solene Mariani/Maude Schmid, Sui, 93
9. Clara Olive/Solenza Mariani, Fra, 95
10. Olívia Belda/Elisa Von Fritsch, Bra, 100

420 U17 - Final Top 10
1. Martín Wizner/Pedro Ameneiro, Esp, 47
2. Tommaso Cilli/Bruno Mantero, Ita, 50
3. Demetrio Sposato/Gabriele Centrone, Ita, 51
4. Pol Marsans/Alex Marsans, Esp, 60
5. Jack Lewis/Charlie Bacon, Gbr, 65
6. Florian Buscher/Maximilian Buscher, Ger, 69
7. Tommaso Salvetta/Giovanni Sandrini, Ita, 69
8. Ariadni-Paraskevi Spanaki/Myrto Papadopoulou, Gre, 83
9. Rhys Lewis/Drew Wright, Gbr, 105
10. Konstantinos Vardalis/Panagiotis Giorgos Matsades, Gre, 112

Today was the first day of competition for 374 of the world's best youth sailors, from 60 nations, racing across nine classes on Chinese waters at the World Youth Sailing Championshps in which Ireland is contesting three classes and hoping to replicate or better its 2014 silver and 2016 bronze medals. More team details here.

Grey skies and a variable 6–12 knot easterly breeze were present across the four racing areas and sailors were looking to get off to a steady start. See video below.

Best of the Irish after two races – with a long way to go in this competition – is Rush Sailing Club's Conor Quinn in the boys Laser radial class who scored an 11th in the second race of the day to be in the top 40% of his fleet, now lying 21st overall out of 51 starters. 

A boys 420 start in Sanya

In the boys 420 class, Geoff Power and James McCann are 22 from 26 and will be hoping for better in the following races this week. In June, the Dunmore East pair scored an impressive seventh overall at Kiel Week in Germany. 

Belfast Lough's Sally Bell, the RYA NI youth sailor of the year, is lying 26th from 40. 

Click this link for the official results sheet here.

? | Check out the highlights from Day 1️⃣ of racing at the 2017 Youth Worlds in #Sanya ??

For full results head to ➡️ https://t.co/3uG36YRjJQ#youthworlds #yswcsanya pic.twitter.com/Bl08mHH6pC

— Youth Sailing Worlds (@youthworlds) December 11, 2017

USA's Charlotte Rose put out a strong signal of intent by dominating the day in the Girl's Laser Radial.
 
Racing in the 40-boat fleet, Rose won both races, sending out a message to the defending champion Dolores Moreira Fraschini (URU) and 2017 Youth Radial World Champion, Hannah Anderssohn (GER).

Rose did more than this, she controlled the fleet sealing two convincing victories. The American finished third to Moreira Fraschini and Anderssohn at the 2017 Youth Radial World Championships in Medemblik, the Netherlands in August and although she was anxious about the scale of the event, she remains calmly focused and competitive.

"The Youth Worlds is the top sailors in every country from around the world so that gets me a little nervous,” commented Rose. "These sailors qualified to be here and deserve to be here as much as I am. Just knowing that puts a little of pressure on.

"But I'm also not scared of them. They're still a threat to me but I deserve to win as much as they do. As long as I work harder and smarter than them, I can beat them.”

Moreira Fraschini, a Rio 2016 Olympian and defending champion, kept in sight of Rose and posted a 3-2 to sit within three points. Annabelle Rennie-Younger (NZL) and Luciana Cardozo (ARG) are tied on 15 points in third.

Germany's Anderssohn received a scoring penalty in the opening race and followed with a 12th. She is currently 30th overall but the discard comes into after the third race so she will have opportunities to spring up the leaderboard.

Italy's Guido Gallinaro holds the early lead in the 51-boat Boy's Laser Radial fleet after a second and a seventh from two races.

New Zealand's Josh Armit won the opening race and after racing said, "It's a tough competition and great to be sailing against all these great guys. The second race I didn't have that great of a start and struggled from there to work back through the pack.”

Armit finished 12th in the second race and occupies fifth overall. Yoshihiro Suzuki (JPN) also took a race win and is in fourth.

Norway's Mathias Berthet and Alexander Franks-Penty stole the show in the 30-boat Boy's 29er fleet.

They won two races and finished third in the other and were full of smiles ashore after racing, "We were very nervous at the start because we didn't have a good feeling in the practice day. I think we managed this pretty well today,” explained a modest Franks-Penty.

"We hit the good shifts and that was pretty important. Our starts were very clean and good.

"All in all, it's been a perfect day for us, it couldn't have gone any better.”

Sweden's Kasper Nordenram and Linus Berglund and France's Théo Revil and Gautier Guevel follow in second and third.

Margherita Porro and Sofia Leoni (ITA) were more impressive in the 20-boat Girl's 29er fleet, winning every single race. Zoya Novikova and Diana Sabirova (RUS) followed behind in the first two races but dropped to 12th in the final race of the day. They discard the 12th and are two points off the Italians.

Maiwenn Jacquin and Enora Percheron (FRA) complete the podium but it is still the early stage of the regatta.

There was plenty for the Chinese fans to cheer about in the Boy's and Girl's RS:X with Chinese sailors firmly placed within the leading bunch after three races.

Ting Yu (CHN) leads defending champion Emma Wilson (GBR) by one point in the Girl's RS:X fleet following two race wins and a third. Giorgia Speciale (ITA) and Yarden Isaak (ISR) are in contention in third and fourth.

Hao Chen (CHN) is one point off leading Israeli sailor Yoav Cohen following three races in the Boy's RS:X. Alongside a third, Cohen picked up two race wins. Chen took the final race win of the day.

Fernando Gonzalez de la Madrid Trueba (ESP) occupies the final podium position.

In the Boy's 420, Ido Bil and Noam Homri (ISR) lead the pack after a race win and a second. Australia's Otto Henry and Rome Featherstone follow in second and USA's Thomas Rice and Trevor Bornarth are third. In the Girl's division, Israel's Linoy Korn and Yael Steigman lead Carmen Cowles and Emma Cowles by two points.

Belgium's Lucas Claeyssens and Anne Vandenberghe (BEL) were in firm control in the Nacra 15 winning two races and picking up a second in the other. The Youth Worlds is open to competitors under 19 which makes the young teams form even more impressive as Claeyssens is just 13-years-old.

Belgium holds the record for the youngest competitor at the Youth Worlds. At just 11-years-old, Henri Demesmaeker sailed at the 2012 edition in the multihull. He went on to make three further appearances and won bronze in 2016.

If Claeyssens and Vandenberghe continue their form, the young helm could become the youngest medallist at the event.

Racing is scheduled to resume at 11:00 local time on Tuesday 12 December.

Irish youth sailors will join a fleet from 62 nations set to compete in the 2017 edition of the Youth Sailing World Championships from 9-16 December 2017 in Sanya, China.

As Afloat.ie reported prevously, Ireland will be represented by three boats and four sailors: Sally Bell in Laser Radial Girls, Conor Quinn in Laser Radial Boys, and Geoff Power and James McCann in 420s.

The team will be joined by coach Russell McGovern.

On the eve of her departure for China, Bell was boosted with the 2016 RYA NI Youth Sailor of the Year Award. 

More than 380 competitors will race across nine youth events over five days of racing in a bid to follow in the footsteps of some of the greatest names in sailing who have competed at the event.

Some of the famous faces include Ben Ainslie (GBR), five-time Olympic medallist, Russell Coutts (NZL), America's Cup winner, Santiago Lange (ARG), Rio 2016 legend and Alessandra Sensini (ITA), one of the most successful Olympic sailors of all time.

The names collected on the nine perpetual trophies, since the events inception in 1971, reads like a who's who in sailing.

The world's best youth sailors will all be heading to Sanya aiming to write their names in the history book to emulate the stars of the sport.

Laser Radial

The Girl's Laser Radial fleet will welcome 40 talented competitors. Sailors with experience at the Youth Olympic games and World Championships will all be at the start line. The one name that shines in the fleet is Uruguay's Dolores Moreira Fraschini.

At just 18-years-old, Fraschini has achieved a lot in her short career so far. In 2016, she qualified Uruguay for a spot at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games in the Laser Radial and was selected to compete for her nation. Not only was she selected but she was chosen to carry the Uruguayan flag in the opening ceremony.

Just a few months later at the 2016 Youth Worlds in Auckland, New Zealand, she claimed gold for herself and nation in the Laser Radial fleet, capping off a tremendous year of competitive sailing.

Fraschini is the only returnee of the medallists from 2016 and will be looking to defend her crown against a very strong line up of sailors.

In the entrants is Hannah Anderssohn of Germany. Anderssohn beat Fraschini to gold earlier this year at the Laser Radial Youth World Championships in Medemblik, the Netherlands and knows what it takes to win.

Charlotte Rose (USA) finished third behind Anderssohn and Fraschini at the Radial Youth Worlds. She will also be in Sanya, aiming for the podium once again.

It's not just Youth Worlds experience within the Laser Radial fleet. Australia's Elyse Ainsworth sailed at the 2014 Youth Olympic Games in Nanjing, China. Racing in the Byte CII, Ainsworth finished 24th but since she stepped into the Laser Radial, she has finished amongst the frontrunners at Sailing's World Cup Series Final in Melbourne in 2016 and is improving in the senior ranks.

In the Boy's Laser Radial, there will be 51 skilled sailors competing in Sanya.

Amongst that fleet, the winner of the 2017 Youth Laser Radial World Championship, Dimitris Papadimitriou (GRE), will be attending and seeking to claim the top spot.

Papadimitriou dominated the Laser Radial Worlds, winning by a considerable margin over Matias Dietrich from Argentina.

Dietrich will be in Sanya and has been training to improve on his Radial Youth Worlds performance to take gold home for Argentina.

Josh Armit (NZL) missed out on Bronze at Radial Youth Worlds via a countback. Armit will be attending the Youth Worlds hoping to make amends.

Only two returnees from the top ten of the 2016 Youth Worlds will return for 2017.

Dominik Perkovic (CRO) and Clemente Sequel (CHI) finished ninth and tenth respectively and will be aiming to improve on their performance on Chinese waters.

Racing will also take place in the Boy's and Girl's 420, Boy's and Girl's 29er and the Open Mulithull, the Nacra 15 and the RSX.

Sailors will be officially welcomed to Sanya on Sunday 10 December with the opening ceremony. Racing is scheduled to commence at 11:00 local time on Monday 11 December and will conclude on Friday 15 December.

Whilst 420 dinghy training continues at various venues around the country through the winter the first 420 sailing event of 2018 will be the annual Open Spring training in Schull, County Cork. The Schull training takes place from Monday the 12th to Thursday the 15th Feb at the Fastnet Marine & Outdoor Education Centre in Schull.

This purpose built training centre provides the perfect base to hold a training camp and it has has been a regular event in the 420 season for many years.

The training week is set up to run in parallel to the Optimist event in nearby Baltimore, so families with sailors in both fleets can avail of training at the same time.

Regional 420 Championship dates:

· The Munsters to be held on Friday the 16th and Saturday the 17th Feb in Schull at the Fastnet Marine & Outdoor Education Centre.
· The Connaughts to be held at Lough Ree Yacht Club on the 21st and 22nd of July as part of a Junior double handed weekend.
· The 420 Nationals will be held at Howth Yacht Club on the 4th to the 6th of August.
· The Ulsters will be held on the 22nd and 23rd September in association with the RYANI Youth Championships. Venue TBC

The Open 420 Training weekend hosted by the National Yacht Club over the weekend provided the sailors with the maximum range of sailing conditions possible for 420 sailing, from 3-30 knots. Saturday started with winds of 15–knots and gusts up to 30–knots with the wind speeds gradually reducing to close to zero by Monday afternoon.

This was the first Open Training session heading into the winter months and 22 boats registered from 13 separate clubs, Ballyhome in the north, Spiddal and Galway Bay in the west, Royal Cork in the south, Lough Ree and Mullingar in the midlands, and Malahide, Howth, Wexford Harbour, Greystones, Clontarf, The National Yacht Club and the Royal St. George on the east coast.

The training was led by Graham Grant and he was supported by a number of ex 420 Youth Academy sailors with European and World Championships experience, Adam Hyland, Cara Mc Dowell, Dougie Elmes and Sean Waddilove.

Although two of the 420 Academy boats were away in France for a regatta in La Rochelle the open training provided an opportunity for the many new 420 crews to experience training in a larger group and to meet some of the more experienced 420 crews in Ireland.

Sunshine on Saturday greeted the groups of sailors taking part in the first of the 420 sailing introduction days. Groups of six sailors used the class association training boats to get their first taste of sailing in these Irish Sailing Performance Pathway boats. Sailors had the option of two hour sessions in either the morning or afternoon, both sessions coached by experienced 420 sailors who took sailors through the basics of boat set up and handling.

Sailors from Malahide Yacht Club, Howth Yacht Club, Greystones Sailing Club and the National Yacht Club took part in this first introductory day. The next introductory day will also be held at Malahide Yacht Club on Saturday the 14th October, a small number of places are still available for this second day and any sailors wishing to attend should email [email protected] to make enquires on availability.