Sam Hall of Pata Negra has won the inaugural ISORA Under 25 Sailor Prize after a first season that attracted 35 young sailors across eight boats in the Irish Sea offshore racing fleet.
Thirteen sailors qualified for the season-long prize, which was introduced by the Irish Sea Offshore Racing Association (ISORA) to encourage greater youth participation in its Irish and Welsh fleets.
Hall topped the standings with 78 points from eight races aboard Pata Negra, recording seven class wins during the campaign.
Iago Tudor, also sailing on Pata Negra, finished second with 50 points from five races. At just 18 years old, Tudor recorded five class wins.
Hannah Entwhistle of Finally was third, also on 50 points, having competed in seven races and recorded three class wins. Eoin Mckeon of Aurelia was fourth on 44 points, with Tobin Bowers of Finally fifth on 41.
Offshore and Coastal Racing Count
The Under-25 competition covered ISORA's 19-race calendar, with offshore and coastal races counting equally.
The format was intended to give young crew sailing on boats with different racing programmes opportunities to qualify and accumulate points throughout the season.
Sailors were also permitted to compete aboard more than one boat, an element ISORA says was designed to encourage participation across the wider fleet.
The results underline the scale of the initiative's first season: 35 Under-25 sailors were registered, 13 qualified and eight boats participated.
ISORA Targets Further Growth in 2027
Following Hall's victory, ISORA's Barry O'Connor pointed to the participation figures and said: “Let’s see if we can grow that number next year.”
Hall himself highlighted the level of participation, noting there had been “35 Under 25s across eight boats”.
The competition will return in 2027, when skippers will be required to declare qualifying Under-25 crew through ISORA's Crew Manager system. Crew members will need to be registered with their date of birth on their profile before the opening race.
