The line-up for the 2026 Irish Sailing Junior Champions’ Cup has been announced, with 16 of Ireland’s leading junior sailors invited to compete at the Fastnet Marine Outdoor Education Centre (FMOEC), Schull, West Cork this weekend.

The two-day competition brings together sailors nominated from dinghy classes around the country, with representatives from the 29er, Topper, RS200, ILCA 4, ILCA 6, International 420, Mirror, Optimist and RS Feva fleets, as well as match and team racing.

Each invited helm will race with their chosen crew in supplied two-person TR6 dinghies.

Among the 16 helms are Juliet Ryan of the Royal St George YC in the 29er, ILCA 6 sailor Marcus Shelley of the Royal St George YC, Optimist sailors Dylan O'Sullivan and Brody Hayes of the Royal Cork YC and Maeve Donagh of the Royal St George YC.

The International 420 fleet is represented by Caoimhe Corkery of KYC/RCYC and Cora McNaughton of Blessington Lakes Sailing Club, while Seán Hanley of Greystones Sailing Club represents the RS200 class.

Other invitees include Kate Spain (RStGYC/HYC) in the ILCA 4, Michael Hanley of the National Yacht Club in the Mirror, Jessica Dadley-Young of Ballyholme Yacht Club in the RS Feva and Topper representatives Ben McCaldin of Lough Erne Yacht Club and Mollie Hooper-Jones of Malahide YC.

Leo West-Hurst (BYC/RUYC) is listed under Topper Worlds, while Daniel Copithorne of Schull Harbour Sailing Club represents match and team racing and Dylan ODriscoll of Schull Community College represents schools team racing.

Strong Demand for 16 Places

Irish Sailing's Stephen O’Shaughnessy said nominations considerably exceeded the places available.

“There was a large number of nominations received into Irish Sailing for this year’s event through the various dinghy classes, well in excess of the sixteen slots available,” O’Shaughnessy said.

“This is testament to the very active summer of junior dinghy sailing right across the entire country and amazing to see such talent emerging at a young age in terms of both girls and boys.”

Qualifiers Before Medal Race

Competition will begin with a qualifier series before the top ten boats progress to a final medal race.

Double points will be awarded in the medal race, which will decide the 2026 Junior Champions’ Cup winners.

National Race Officer John Leech will oversee race management for the competition.

2026 Irish Sailing Junior Champions’ Cup Competitors

Further details, including event information and the full competitor line-up, are available on the Irish Sailing Junior Champions’ Cup event page.