The Irish Ladies Team won the UK Dubarry Women's Open Keelboat Championships on 7 & 8 September 2013. Laura Dillon from Howth YC (skipper and helm), Laura Fitzpatrick also from Howth YC (tactician) and Carol O'Kelly from Dun Laoghaire (main trim) won the championships, held in Hamble River SC and in aid of Breast Cancer Research, raising over £1,300 for this great charity.
Dillon, Fitzpatrick and O'Kelly were racing on JourneyMaker5, a J105, owned by Chris Jones and Louise Makin from Hamble. The crew consisted of 3 Irish ladies – Laura Dillon (skipper and helm), Laura Fitzpatrick (tactician) and Carol O'Kelly (main trim) and 5 UK ladies – Louise Makin (spinnaker trim), Tish Mason (jib trim), Sara Grain (pitt), Noelle Vidal (mast) and Hannah Passells (bow).
The event consisted of an IRC division which included 7 boats and a J80 division including 3 J80s. JourneyMaker 5 had a very consistent regatta with 4 1st places and 2 2nd places in the IRC division, finishing the regatta on 8 points, 10 points ahead of their nearest rival on 18 points (there were no discards in the regatta!). JourneyMaker 5 also went on to take the Overall Women's Open Keelboat Championships title in the IRC and J80 combined regatta.
The provisional date for the regatta in 2014 is 6 & 7 Sept 2014, again to be hosted by Hamble River Sailing Club.
There are plans to organise an Irish Women's Open Keelboat Championship in 2014, to support the Women on the Water Initiative (WOWI), which also supports Action Breast Cancer.
Full results can be found here: http://www.womensopenkeelboatchampionships.co.uk/?page_id=243
Event website: http://www.womensopenkeelboatchampionships.co.uk/
Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/WOKChamp
