ICRA Commodore, Richard Colwell has welcomed two new Committee members, Saoirse Reynolds and Daragh Connelly to the ommittee of the national cruiser-racer body.

As Afloat reported previously, stepping down from their ICRA roles are Johanna Murphy who’s term as Commodore of SCORA is over and who is now focussing her energies on being President of Cobh Chamber of Commerce whilst race management expert, Cxema Pico steps down as ICRA Secretary. Cxema is one of Ireland’s foremost racing and rules experts and will remain very much involved in race management both domestically and internationally.

Daragh Connelly

Daragh Connelly began sailing aged 7 in Galway Bay Learning the basics of sailing on a traditional Galway Hooker with his grandfather, a keen sailor. Daragh moved to Cork and entered dinghy programme aged 12 in the Royal Cork Yacht Club moving through the stages and competing in the busy mirror circuit fleet and later moving into the laser fleet. Having been through the youth programme in RCYC and then qualifying as an instructor, Daragh spent his late teens and early 20s instructing and setting up an Adult Sailing programme on Nantucket Island with Nantucket Community Sailing and competing in J24s and International One Designs. Returning to Ireland, Daragh spent 15+ years competing in keelboat events onboard the multiple boats known as Yanks$Ffrancs and more recently has been sailing on Heroes & Villains in the competitive 1720 fleet. Daragh is Rear Admiral for Keelboats and sits on the Executive Committee in Royal Cork Yacht Club where he is also an active member of the Cork Week Committee. Daragh is also is chair of SCORA with the goal of promoting coastal and offshore sailing on the South Coast of Ireland.

Saoirse Reynolds

Saoirse Reynolds provides a hugely important link to the younger sailors and is a most welcome addition to the ICRA Committee. Saoirse started sailing dinghies in Dun Laoghaire when she was about 9 and got into sailing bigger boats through family friends and the Rona Sailing Project in Southampton. She started racing at the age of 16 when an injury forced her to stop playing my other sports. Saoirse started instructing around this time also. She has raced lots of different boats over the past few years including RS200s, A35s, J109s, a J122, SB20s and J80s.

Saoirse Reynolds - important link to younger sailors

She has competed in ICRA Nationals, Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regattas, Cowes Week, many ISORA races, the D2D and the Fastnet Race over the past couple of years. More recently, she is a regular crew on the J97 Windjammer and also sometimes on the J122 Aurelia. Saoirse is a mentee with the Magenta Project, an organisation founded by members of Team SCA from the Volvo Ocean Race. The aim of the programme is to accelerate female sailors to the top of sailing and is also being mentored by successful RORC sailor Deb Fish. Saoirse is hugely involved in the K25 programme having come through its ranks and acts as a link and mentor in conjunction with Brian Raftery who heads this initiative

ICRA Committee member, Denis Byrne has stepped in as ICRA Secretary.