When Liam Burke’s interesting Farr 31 Tribal from Galway Bay SC became the new West of Ireland champion in racing the WIORA series with Tralee Bay SC at Fenit recently, it marked the latest successful stage in the Tribal Youth Initiative, which aims to give structure to the transferring of junior dinghy sailing skills to the cruiser-racer fleets. At the same time, the juniors themselves found they had much to learn, none more so than Olivia Cure (GBSC), who was the only female sailor in the junior group taking Tribal to Kerry with Liam.

“Four days of perfect sailing conditions and warm sunny weather in Fenit was a real treat for all those involved” she comments. "Every race was a challenge in itself, but very rewarding all the same”. As bowman Jack Nolan put it: "The feeling of satisfaction I got from a fantastic Spinnaker hoist was immense” he recalls.

"One thing that stuck out for me” continues Olivia, "was how relaxed the atmosphere was on board. From our skipper and tactician at the stern, to the crew at the bow - everyone had their job, and it made for a very laid-back atmosphere and environment".

Tribal leading WIORA on a benign Atlantic at Tralee Bay. She’s a classic vintage Farr which continues to be competitive.

"There are some really big differences between dinghies and cruisers, but also many parallels." said Justin Mitchell Ward when asked about his experience at Wiora. "The teamwork skills that I have learned sailing 420s greatly aided me in operating as an efficient member of a much larger crew. "

"Most of our crew also sail dinghies", concludes Olivia, "and we agreed that all the little skills and techniques we picked up racing 420s really helped us in sailing Tribal. We all had a blast at WIORA this year, and for that I'd like to thank Liam Burke, David Carberry, and all the organisers of WIORA for a great few days of racing".

Olivia Cure on the helm, David Carbery on the main, and Ronan Shepard trimming spinnaker on Tribal.