Nearly 200 Optimist sailors took to Rutland Water last weekend for the final IOCA UK ranking event of 2016, the Volvo Gill Optimist End of Season Championship at Rutland Sailing Club.

Members of the British Sailing Team, having just returned from Rio, were on hand to inspire the youth sailors. Team Volvo's Alain Sign and Alexandra Rickham shared their grassroots to glory journeys in a bid to inspire the next generation of sailors.

For many of the young competitors, this event signified an important moment in their sailing careers with the results forming part of the selection process for the IOCA UK Squads. Training in the squads develops their skills and knowledge to enable them to excel in Optimist sailing and progress successfully towards youth and Olympic class sailing.

49er sailor Alain Sign joined the sailors on the water on Saturday to offer some hints and tips. After racing, the Optimist sailors had the opportunity to hear about Alain's sailing journey from youth to Olympic class sailing. Speaking after the event Alain said: "For many here, the dream became a possible reality when they heard how sailing greats such as Team Volvo's Hannah Mills, double Olympic medallist, had once sat exactly where they were. In total, 10 of the 15 sailors who represented Great Britain at this year's Olympics, started out their sailing careers in the Optimist Class."

After a wet start on day one, the sun shone down on the regatta and transition fleets as they hit the water for day two of racing on Sunday. With a steady northeasterly breeze blowing across the Rutland reservoir, the sailors completed three closely fought races. Double Paralympic medallist, Alexandra Rickham, attended the prize giving ceremony and said: "It has been a fantastic weekend of sailing and I have thoroughly enjoyed meeting with the next generation of sailors. I hope Alain and I have inspired them and helped to realise that with hard-work and support you can achieve anything."

Last weekend Sutton Dinghy Club ran their Inter-Schools Sailing event. The event in its 41st year attracted 32 schools with 107 boats and 144 youth sailors making the start line last Saturday morning. Well 2 start lines actually with 38 boats in the Optimist Fleet and 69 boats in the Mixed Fleet racing under PY. For each Fleet there is an Individual and Team prize sailed for. The event has been graced by many of Irelands rising stars over the years including Dan O'Grady, Ger Owens, David Burrows, Scott Flanigan, Dougie Elmes and Robert Dickson. Indeed last year's Mixed Fleet winner was none other than Blackrock College's Ewan McMahon World Radial Silver medallist in 2016 and the Optimist winner in 2015 was Tom Higgins who went on to win both the British and Irish Optimist Nationals in 206. A unique event that enables Club sailors team up with future rising stars of Irish sailing.
Day 1 - Optimist – With poor weather forecast for Sunday, PRO Paul ‘PK’ Kavanagh was considering 3 races for the day. Was there even enough wind to get 2 races in? Racing commenced on time at 12.00 in a generally southerly breeze. In the light shifty wind the left side of the beat on an ebb tide was favoured with the fleet favoring a pin-end start. The leading group of 4 or 5 boats took control of the race and put clear air between them and the chasing pack. The race was shortened to two rounds with lightening winds and increasing tides. To ensure interest in the Team event is maintained boats outside the 15 minutes time limit were given a count back based on there position on the water rather than a DNF.
Race 2 was abandoned due to a major wind shift on the first beat and a postponement flag was hoisted while the course was re-configured. Again the conditions were not ideal but the PRO managed to get the fleet away on a shorter course with lightening winds and a strong ebb tide. The race was completed only just following a major wind shift which did not effect the leaders who rounded final leeward mark in a tight bunch with a following wind.
After 2 races St Fintans NS were making the running from Belvedere College and Schoil Mhuire teams with Johnny Flynn, Hugh & Luke Turvey, Luke Groarke Donagh and Leah Rickard all well placed in the Individual event. Young Abby Kinsella was best of the Sutton Dinghy Club sailors in 14th.

Inter Schools Sailing Regatta at Sutton – As the wind lightened there was a little concern that the fleets may struggle to get round the last lap
Mixed Fleet – PRO Jim Lambkin got Race 1 for both Flight A and Flight B away first time. Flight A included both Laser Radial & 4.7's, GP14, 420 and RS Fevas and started on the same course 5 mins in front of Flight B which included Mirrors, Topper and Topaz. The 30+ boats in either fleet made for a very busy line. However the well behaved sailors ensured a single individual recall in each fleet was as bad as it got .The event is run on Portsmouth Yardstick with each boat timed and recorded for each lap of the course completed. The PY handicap system enables the Schools have teams race each other despite the teams being made up of mixed Classes. Race 1 saw the fleets well spaced along the line. In the light shifty wind the 420's looked like the early pace setters with McDowell/Dix (Loretto College) combination along with a with a few Radials including Olympic Laser aspirant Aoife Hopkins (Santa Sabina). The GP14 of Boyle/Coyne (Belvedere) after a slow start began to make an impression. A number of boats infringed by not coming through their start-finish time for time recording and paid the penalty. Meanwhile a number of the top Mirrors were travelling well and had opened considerable gap on the Topper and other Mirrors. As the wind lightened there was a little concern that the fleets may struggle to get round the last lap. But just when it was needed a short puff of breeze helped many home with some unfortunately time-out.
Race 2 saw a general recall for Flight A while Flight B showed them the way by getting away first time. Under Black flag Flight A got underway with pin end favored this time and an ebb tide adding its own challenge. For most of the first lap the wind was steady with the GP14 well up with the Radials and 420 from the start. As the race progressed the GP14 eked out an on the water lead but the Radials, 4.7 including Rickard (Gonzaga), Hopkins (Santa Sabina), Higgins (Gonzaga) and Hopkins (Mount Temple) and the Mirrors of Croasdel/Harrington (St Alyosius, Athlone) & Graf/Croasdel (Athlone Community College) in Flight B were also going well. However on the start of the second lap the wind became decidedly light. The PRO made a call to shorten the course for the Radials, 420’s and GP14 which meant everybody was finishing on end of lap 2. It was a good job the Committee boat was well stocked with sail number callers and recorders as Flight A and Flight B converged on the finish together. Race 2 was concluded again with a few boats timed out. The PRO went into sequence for a 3rd race, but quickly went to AP as the wind lightened. However with tide now an issue for getting ribs, committee boat and indeed some of the fleet back the PRO abandoned racing for the day to the delighted cheers of the by now tired crews. The fleet of 69 boats sailing back to the Club made for a spectacular sight.
After 2 races, Gonzaga hold a short lead over Belvedere College and Sligo Grammar with the furthest travelers the McCallister brothers from Bandon Grammar holding a small lead over the Athlone boats of Ben Graf and Caolann Croasdel with 4.7 of Tom Higgins and Dan Hopkins next followed by Aoife Hopkins and then Sutton Dinghy Club sailors Peter Boyle & Tim Coyne in the GP14.

Day 2 - Optimist Fleet – Day 2 arrived with great expectations of a little more breeze for the fleet than Saturday. The Fleets took to the water about 10:30 in 10-12 knots but that was really as good as it got. The clouds arrived with persistent mist rain and with it the wind dropped also.
PRO Paul ‘PK’ Kavanagh’s first start was abandoned due to a wind shift and then rain and then no wind. An AP was hoisted and after a lengthy delay the PRO and his team managed to get the Race underway in a light wind. 2 boats were over at the start with both boats returning to start line following individual recall. However in a dying wind PRO made the decision to shorten the race at the leeward mark following round 2. A number of boats did not make the finish due to the time limit, however they were all placed following a count-back to end of Lap 1.
The Opi sailors showed great patience having been on the water a long time with the light wind resulting in a single race for the day. The results were delayed as a Protest was heard that could have had a profound impact on the overall results. In the end the overnight leader Johnny Flynn retained his top position following consistent sailing with the Turvey brothers left to share the 2nd and 3rd spot. With 2 sailors in the top 3 the Team event was retained by St Fintan NS from Belvedere College A with Schoil Mhuire A taking 3rd.
Mixed Fleet – The PRO on the outer fleet, our Commodore Jim Lambkin struggled to get a steady breeze for race 1. Eventually after about 40 minutes both Flights were away but very quickly it became obvious that lightening breeze allied to a flood tide meant half the fleet had difficulties making the weather mark. Race abandoned and the Fleet waited patiently. Eventually around 1:45pm breeze picked having swung to the west and now from the Pigeon House direction. With marks relaid both flights were underway and with a Black Flag in operation 2 boats fell foul. The Radial of Aoife Hopkins and GP14 of local sailors Boyle/Coyne and 420 of McDowell/Dix lead from the front but again with a lightening breeze the PRO had no options but to utilize the times at end of the first lap to ensure a race results for as many of the fleet.
While many had hoped for a bit more breeze, the event had 3 races which of course meant there could be no discards in the Individual event meaning consistency was going to be the key to making the podium. The Individual event saw overnight leaders McAllisters (Rory & Oisin) slip to second place with Ben Graf & Lugaidh Croasdel take 1st. Caolann Croasdell and Dermot Harrington took 3rd a clean sweep for the Mirror. Well handicapped on PY they still need to be sailed well in these difficult conditions to stay ahead of some well sailed Lasers, GP14 and 420. In the Team event the Gonzaga team of Loghlen Rickard and Tom Higgins, both incidentally former winners of the Optimist event here, took 1st place ahead of Sligo Grammar's Mirror team (White/Wray, Wray/VanderGrijn, White/Bamber) with in 3rd Belvedere A (Peter Boyle/Tim Coyne, S Crawford, D O’Grady).

Ben Graf & Luagaidh Croasdel the Individual Mixed Fleet winners with Jim Lambkin Club Commodore and event PRO.With sailors and parents well fed and watered, the packed Clubhouse watched the Croke Park Football final as they waited for the Prize-giving. Club Commodore and main-fleet PRO Jim Lambkin thanked the sailors, their parents and all the volunteers and Club members for making it another superb event. With 107 boats and over 140 sailors from 32 schools it was a tremendous effort. He particularly thanked the help from local Clubs around the bay for providing Ribs and crews to facilitate rescue and mark laying. Here is to next year!

Tomorrow's All Ireland Junior sailing championships looks like it will get off to a wet and windy start for the 16–nominated junior sailing stars drawn from seven yacht clubs from around the country.

The Under–18 championships is scheduled to race over two days in West Cork's own TR3.6 two handed dinghies but the weather forecast for the Schull venue shows winds topping 40–knots for Saturday and the same again on Sunday.  

XC weather forecaster shows big winds in Schull, West Cork tomorrow

In a show of strength for Dublin's Royal St. George Yacht Club more than a third of the participants are drawn from the Dun Laoghaire club. RStGYC juniors are representing the RS200 (Toby Hudson Fowler), the RS Feva (Henry Start), Laser 4.7 (Peter Fagan), Optimist (Tom Higgins), Topper (Jack Fahy) and Kate Lyttle from the 420 class.

Multi–champion in the Optimist class, Tom Higgins from the Royal St. George, is nominated for this weekend's All Ireland Juniors  in Schull

Royal Cork Yacht Club is the next biggest club on the water in Schull with four sailors involved. 29er skipper Harry Durcan and twin Johnny representing 29er and Laser Radials respectively. Harry Twomey represents the Optimist class and Sophie Crosby sails for the Toppers. 

The National Yacht Club's Clare Gorman represents the Laser 4.7 and will defend the girls title and the NYC's Leah Rickard sails for the Optimists.

Schull's own TR3.6 dinghies ready for the junior all Ireland sailors. Photo: Fastnet Marine

The West coast is represented by three clubs.Topaz sailors Adam Byrne and Dylan Reidy representing Dingle SC and Foynes YC respectively and Sligo Yacht Club sends Mirror ace Sarah White.

The 420 class is represented by Geoff Power of Waterford Harbour Sailing Club. 

Full nominee list below

In an exciting new initiative for youth sailors, the Irish Sailing Association has announced provisional details on a series of Performance Pathway Seminars.

The seminars are replacing the ISA Optimist Squads and ISA Topper Squad which have traditionally run from October to March. The change of tack does not affect summer activities which start after the ISA Pathway Nationals.

The seminars are primarily targeted at junior sailors from the Topper and Optimist classes and their coaches. There will also be sessions available to parents of sailors. Other applications may be considered.

There will be a minimum of three seminars over the winter and the topics will include but not be limited to Fitness, Psychology, Programme Design, Nutrition, Boat Transition, Olympic pathways.

The very clear switch to focussing on the education of young athletes means ISA Performance can widen the scope of how many athletes and coaches it can engage with over the course of the year. The ISA says 'the Pathway has often been criticised for not being inclusive enough so this initiative will tackle that concern head on'.

The ISA say 'Given our limited resources we feel this approach will give a better return on investment while at the same time giving the pathway much more visibility across a wider base. ISA Performance will NOT be running the ISA Optimist Squad or the ISA Topper squad this winter'.

There is additional investment going into the ISA coaching programme and it is hoped this programme will help facilitate the clubs and classes take on the role of training over the winter period.

As always the ISA Pathway Nationals will be the key event in the domestic programme. The ISA plan to invest more into the event and ISA Performance will continue to use this event to determine squads for the summer events.

Provisional Dates

OCT 29th & 30th

DEC TBC

JAN TBC

More Details and Application Process will be posted October 7th. In the meantime save the dates. It is envisaged we would have between 20 and 30 places per class association

Royal St. George Yacht Club Optimist sailor Tom Higgins continued his successful season at last weekend's Munster Championships at Royal Cork Yacht Club. The Dublin Bay youth sailor finished the six race series on 14 points, three–points clear of the National Yacht Club's Charlie Cullen.Third in the 35-boat senior fleet was Royal Cork's Rory O'Sullivan. In the junior fleet, Higgins's clubmate Moss Simmington was the overall winner. IODAI Results below.

Counting four race wins in a ten race series, recently crowned British open Optimist Champion Tom Higgins of the Royal St. George Yacht Club in Dun Laoghaire added the Irish title in Lough Derg YC on Friday. With a scoreline of  1, 1, (33), 1, 5, (23,) 3 and 1, Higgins beat Royal Cork's Harry Twomey by a single point. The full results are here.

Senior Division, Gold Fleet

1st- Tom Higgins, Royal St.George YC (27 pts)
2nd- Harry Twomey, Royal Cork YC and Crookhaven Harbour SC (28 pts)
3rd- William Pank, Norfolk Broads YC, GBR (42 pts)

Best Irish Sailor at the European Championships- Leah Rickard, National Yacht Club
Overall Best U13 Irish- Harry Twomey, RCYC
Best Overseas Boy- William Pank, Norfolk Broads YC, GBR
Best Overseas Girl- Emily Mudler, RLym YC, GBR

Senior Gold Fleet, 1st Girl- Leah Rickard, NYC
Team Prize, Senior Fleet- Royal Cork Yacht Club: Harry Twomey, Rory O'Sullivan, Cillian Foster

National Senior Champion- Tom Higgins, RStGYC
Open Senior Champion- Tom Higgins, RStGYC

Irish Sailing Association Medals- Senior Fleet
1st placed Irish Sailor- Tom Higgins, RStGYC
2nd placed Irish Sailor- Harry Twomey, RCYC
3rd placed Irish Sailor- Harry Bell, HYC

North Sail Prize- Eoin Horgan, RCYC
Thomas Chaix Prize- Iseult Hogan, RStGYC
Best Irish Boat without a race win- Moss Symington, RStGYC
Best Mid-fleet Boat- Emily Riordan, RStGYC
Craft Insure Prize- Ella May, Sutton Dinghy Club
Craft Insure Prize- Grace Fahy, RStGYC and LDYC

Senior Division, Silver Fleet

1st place and Champion of the Senior Silver Fleet- Kitty Flanagan, RStGYC (239 pts)
2nd- Eoghan Turner, National YC (288 pts)
3rd- Kate Horgan, Royal Cork YC (364 pts)

1st Girl, Senior Silver Fleet- Kitty Flanagan, RStGYC
Best Local Sailor, Senior Silver Fleet- Eva Barrington, Lough Derg Yacht Club

Junior Division
Sailed:10, Discards:2, To Count:8, Entries:107

Junior Division, Gold Fleet

1st-Henry Heathcote, Royal Lymington YC, GBR (35 pts)
2nd-Ella Lance, Hayling Island SC, GBR (40 pts)
3rd- Hector Bennett, Royal Lymington YC, GBR (47 pts)

Junior Gold 1st Girl- Alejandra Peleteiro, Kinsale YC
Team Prize, Junior Fleet- Royal Cork Yacht Club: Justin Lucas, Jonathan O'Shaughnessy and Jamie Venner
Best U12 at the British Nationals- Justin Lucas, RCYC
Irish National Junior Champion- Justin Lucas, RCYC
Open Junior Champion- Henry Heathcote, RLymYC, GBR

Irish Sailing Association Medals- Junior Fleet
1st placed Irish sailor- Justin Lucas, RCYC
2nd placed Irish sailor- Luke Turvey, HYC
3rd placed Irish sailor- Johnny Flynn, HYC

Junior Division, Silver Fleet

1st Sailor in Junior Silver Fleet and winner of perpetual trophy- Johnny Flynn, Howth YC (95 pts)
2nd-Thomas O'Neill, Howth YC (258 pts)
3rd- Eimer McMurrow-Moriarty, Tralee Bay SC (259 pts)

Junior Silver First Girl Perpetual Trophy- Eimer McMorrow-Moriarty, TBSC
Best Local Sailor in the Junior Fleet- Neil O'Leary, LDYC
Best U11- Luke Turvey, HYC
Best U10-Peter Williams, RStGYC
Best Overseas Boy- Henry Heathcote, RLymYC
Best Overseas Girl- Ella Lance, HISC

Regatta Fleet

1st and Overall Champion in Regatta Fleet, Russell Bolger, RStGYC (19 pts)
2nd-Jessica Riordan, RStGYC (22 pts)
3rd- Hugo Anderson, Royal Lymington YC, GBR (34 pts)

#Optimist - Results from Day 2 of the 2016 Optimist National and Open Championships on Lough Derg on Tuesday 16 August:

Senior Division, Gold Fleet
1st: Harry Twomey (RCYC and Crookhaven YC) – 21 pts; 2nd: Tom Higgins (RStGYC) – 23 pts; 3rd: Blake Wilson (AUS) – 28 pts

Senior Division, Silver Fleet
1st: Eoghan Turner (NYC) – 203 pts; 2nd: Kitty Flanagan (RStGYC) – 214 pts; 3rd: Kate Horgan (RCYC) – 278 pts

Junior Division, Gold Fleet
1st: Henry Heathcote (GBR) – 17 pts; 2nd: Freddie Lonsdale (GBR) – 29 pts; 3rd: Ella Lance (GBR) – 34 pts

Junior Division, Silver Fleet
1st: Johnny Flynn (HYC) – 72 pts; 2nd: Thomas O'Neill (HYC) – 192 pts; 3rd: Eimer McMorrow-Moriarty (Tralee Bay SC) – 217 pts.

(Main Fleet Sailed: 7, Discards: 1, To count: 6, Entries – Senior Fleet: 66, Junior Fleet: 91)

Regatta Fleet
1st: Russell Bolger (RStGYC) – 7 pts; 2nd: Jessica Riordan (RStGYC) – 13 pts; 3rd: Eibhe Lubliner (RStGYC) – 15 pts

(Sailed:6, Discards: 1, To count: 5, Entries: 53)

#Optimist - Results from Day 1 of the 2016 Optimist National and Open Championships on Lough Derg, comprising Races 1, 2 and 3 on Monday 15 August:

Senior Division, Gold Fleet
1st: Harry Twomey (Royal Cork Yacht Club and Crookhaven YC) – 6 pts; 2nd: Tom Higgins (Royal St George YC) – 16 pts; 3rd: Blake Wilson (Australia) – 21 pts

Senior Division, Silver Fleet
1st: Eoghan Turner (National YC) – 95 pts; 2nd: Kitty Flanagan (RStGYC) – 111 pts; 3rd: Kate Horgan (Royal Cork YC) – 144 pts

Junior Division, Gold Fleet
1st: Henry Means (Great Britain) – 13 pts; 2nd: Hector Bennett (Great Britain) – 18 pts; 3rd: Ella Lance (Great Britain) – 21 pts

Junior Division, Silver Fleet
1st: Johnny Flynn (Howth YC) – 28 pts; 2nd: Adam Walsh (Howth YC) – 124 pts; 3rd: Thomas O'Neill (Howth YC) – 131 pts.

Regatta Fleet
1st: Russell Bolger (Royal St George YC) – 5 pts; 2nd: Rocco Wright (Howth YC) – 11 pts; 3rd: Jessica Riordan (Royal St George YC) – 11 pts

Lough Derg Yacht Club in County Tipperary plays host to two hundred and eight sailors from ten countries in this week's five-day, ten-race Optimist National and Open Championships.

Today's opening ceremony took place at Dromineer. Led by pipers from the Thomas McDonagh Pipe Band, sailors, their families and event volunteers marched from the square in Dromineer to the clubhouse under their national banners. They were greeted there by Niamh McCutcheon, event organiser, and David Meredith, Commodore of LDYC. Cllr. Dr. Phill Bugler, Cathaoirleach of Nenagh Municipal District formally opened the Championship.

In her opening remarks, Dr. Bugler recalled that LDYC was founded in 1835 and is one of the oldest yacht clubs in the world. It has a proud record of having produced the Irish Optimist, Laser and Topper champions and the Mirror World Champions. "The contribution of this event to the local community and economy is immense", she added, " this is a major event for our district and we thank LDYC and its volunteers for all the hard work that made it possible". 

Aidan Staunton, Chairperson of IODAI, made a special presentation to Optimist sailor Tom Higgins from the Royal St. George Yacht Club in Dublin who was the first ever Irish sailor to win the British Optimist Championships in Scotland last week.

A presentation was also made to Jill Somerville who has given several years service to the Optimist Class, most recently as Chairperson, and whose contribution epitomises the best of volunteerism, without which amateur sailing in Ireland would be unable to function

Tom Higgins of the Royal St. George Yacht Club was the winner of the British Optimist Open Championships with a huge margin of 24–points in a fleet of 89 boats at Largs in Scotland at the weekend.

The Dun Laoghaire helmsman topped an International flewet with Australian Blake Wilson second, Hong Kong's Duncan Gregor third. It wasn't the only Irish success either with junior winners too. The focus of the Optimist season now moves to Lough Derg next week for the Irish championships at Lough Derg Yacht Club.

Senior results are downloadable below.