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Displaying items by tag: IFDS

Competitors battled through fluky winds and torrential rain at the Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy on day three of the RYA run-IFDS World Championships 2011 today writes Claire Bateman.

After 6 races and one discard John Twomey and his crew Anthony Hegarty and Ian Costello, all from Kinsale Yacht Club, are lying in 9th place overall in the 23 boat Sonar Class. John and his crew have just finished competing in Shilleagh at the Sovereign's Cup Kinsale, finishing 5th in Class 3 IRC and the ICRA Championships at Royal Cork Yacht Club where they finished 4th overall in Class 3 IRC finishing behind Tiger, Anchor Challenge and Blackfun in that order, an excellent performance indeed.

The IFDS World Championships, organised in 2011 by the RYA, is the most prestigious event in the disabled sailing calendar outside of the Paralympic Games and is being held at the Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy (WPNSA) that will play host to the sailing competition for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

The event is taking place from July 1st to 8th, 2011, and forms the second qualifying event for the 2012 Paralympic Games sailing competition, with entries exceeding 100 boats across 3 Paralympic Classes. The KYC team is hoping to make the Irish qualification for the Sonar class having just missed the qualification by one point last time around.

All the competitors in the huge entry are keen to gain experience of the Olympic and Paralympic venue in the run-up to 2012, making this event an important fixture in the international calendar.

Racing continues through to Friday 8 July.

shillelagh

A recent shot of John Twomey and crew in Action in Shillelagh. Photo: Robert Bateman

Published in Racing
Page 2 of 2

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.