Girls Shine at Irish Sailing Youth Nationals in Dun Laoghaire

25th April 2025

Afloat.ie Team

Two solid races of the Irish Sailing Youth Nationals were sailed on the Optimist course in Dublin Bay with quite puffy conditions from the south-east Credit: Tadhg O Braonain

Competition continued on Day Two at the Irish Sailing Youth Nationals in Dun Laoghaire. Shifting conditions led to some classes sitting out today’s racing but there was great determination from competitors with the Donagh sisters dominating the Optimist class.

After monitoring the morning forecast, which promised a breeze in the high teens to mid-20s, the race committee decided to delay racing for a short period.

A window soon opened up to get the Optimist, ILCA 4, ILCA 6 and Topper fleets on the water. Two solid races were sailed on the Optimist course in Dublin Bay with quite puffy conditions from a south-easterly. The trio of the Donagh sisters (Royal St George Yacht Club / Lough Derg Yacht Club) again took charge of the fleet, recording two firsts, a second and a third between them, leaving them in first, second and third place. They are closely followed by Charlotte Crosbie (Royal North of Ireland Yacht Club) and Kate Spain (Royal St George Yacht Club / Howth Yacht Club), leaving an all-female top five in the Optimist Class.

The ILCA 4’s put in three races within Dun Laoghaire harbour, very close, competitive racing, with the whole fleet rounding the windward mark within 20 seconds of each other. This was day one for the ILCA 4s and ended with Emily MacAfee (Ballyholme Yacht Club) in the lead with two wins and a third place. She is followed by Rory Brennan-Hobbs (Royal St George) in second and Irish Sailing Youth Sailor of the Year nominee Leo O’Doherty (Sligo Yacht Club) in third.

The ILCA 6 fleet completed two races in the bay with Bobby Driscoll and Daniel Palmer, both of Ballyholme Yacht Club, scoring a win each, leaving them in first and second, respectively, and Lucy Ives of host club Royal St George sitting in third.

Toppers showed a huge amount of determination to get out on the water. Unfortunately, with prevailing conditions and a restricted race area within the harbour it was decided in the interest of fairness that the opening race of the series for this fleet be declared as abandoned. We look forward to tomorrow’s racing which predicts a more suitable forecast.

Lighter conditions are forecast for the weekend.

Sean Evans, Irish Sailing Development Manager said, “There was some top sailing out there today with competitors’ winter training put to the test with all sailors showing real true grit in testing conditions. We’re delighted to have gotten the races in that we did, for safety reasons, we held back the 420s and 29ers, but we will see all fleets on the water tomorrow.”

Racing continues at the Royal St George Yacht Club until Sunday.

Optimist results are available here

420, 29er, ILCA 4 & ILCA 6 Fleets results are below

Race Results

You may need to scroll vertically and horizontally within the box to view the full results

Published in Irish Sailing, Laser, Optimist, 420, 29er, Youth Sailing

Published in Irish Sailing

Tagged under

Irish Sailing

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Irish Sailing

The Irish Sailing Association, also known as Irish Sailing, is the national governing body for sailing, powerboating and windsurfing in Ireland.

Founded in 1945 as the Irish Dinghy Racing Association, it became the Irish Yachting Association in 1964 and the Irish Sailing Association in 1992.

Irish Sailing is a Member National Authority (MNA) of World Sailing and a member of the Olympic Federation of Ireland.

The Association is governed by a volunteer board, elected by the member clubs. Policy Groups provide the link with members and stakeholders while advising the Board on specialist areas. There is a professional administration and performance staff, based at the headquarters in Dun Laoghaire, Co. Dublin.

Core functions include the regulation of sailing education, administering racing and selection of Irish sailors for international competition. It is the body recognised by the Olympic Federation of Ireland for nominating Irish qualified sailors to be considered for selection to represent Ireland at the Olympic Games. Irish sailors have medalled twice at the Olympics – David Wilkins and Jamie Wikinson at the 1980 games, and Annalise Murphy at the 2016 games.

The Association, through its network of clubs and centres, offers curriculum-based training in the various sailing, windsurfing and powerboating disciplines. Irish Sailing qualifications are recognised by Irish and European Authorities. Most prominent of these are the Yachtmaster and the International Certificate of Competency.

It runs the annual All-Ireland Championships (formerly the Helmsman’s Championship) for senior and junior sailors.

The Association has been led by leading lights in the sailing and business communities. These include Douglas Heard, Clayton Love Junior, John Burke and Robert Dix.

Close to 100 sailors have represented Ireland at the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Membership of Irish Sailing is either by direct application or through membership of an affiliated organisation. The annual membership fee ranges from €75 for families, down to €20 for Seniors and Juniors.