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West Kirby Sailing Club narrowly beat the RSGYC Green of the home club 2-1 in the final to win the first Elmo team racing Trophy.

8 teams of under 18 sailors took part, quickly getting to grips with the equally matched fleet of firefly dinghies. Blue skies and fresh breezes on Saturday saw Storm sails fitted as the teams got into their strides.

The experienced and fast team from Schull set the early pace and dominated the first round robin where each team sailed 7 races.

Joining Schull in the Top four and thus into the Gold League were West Kirby and RSGYC GREEN and RSGYC RED. Just missing out and into Silver were Sutton Dinghy Club who were new to Fireflies and to team racing – more to come from them in the Future.

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Elmo Trophy Winners

Sunday morning saw gentle breezes and a chance for the young flyers from Bray to post wins on the scoreboard. The weather co-operated all day and allowed the completion of a second round of Gold and Silver racing to be completed.

RSGYC Green won a three way tie to finish as top seeds for the Semi Final knock-outs. RSGYC RED and RSGYC Blue battled it out for the fourth seed with RSGYC RED emerging victorious.

The first Semi Finals saw West Kirby eliminate Schull 2-0 and RSGYC Green knocking out RSGYC RED by the same score. The final was closely fought with WKSC taking the first race only for RSGYC Green to stack the favoured pin in Race 2 and use their speed to sail off with a 1-2 victory. West Kirby showed their experience in the deciding race by dominating the pre-start and establishing a 1-2 combination at the first mark which they would never relinquish. Schull went back to West Cork with the consolation of third place after winning the petit final 2-0.

Special thanks go to the Race Team and Umpires whose efficiency saw each team sail at least 13 races over the weekend.

Final Results

1st West Kirby Sailing Club
Hollie Marston Tom James Ella Marston Henry Hughes Hannah Owen Alex Colquit
2nd RSGYC Green
Conor O'Beirne Molly Boyne Sean Donnelly Sarah Fogarty Patrick Cahill Emily Arrowsmith
3rd Schull
Isaac Mccarthy-Fisher Rosa Lyden Noah Mccarthy-Fisher Harry Durcan Florence Lyden Anna O'Regan
4th RSGYC Red
5th RSGYC Blue
6th Sutton Dinghy Club
7th Bray Sailing Club
8th National Yacht Club

Published in Team Racing

#elmo – The Royal St. George Yacht Club will name a club launch after after top dinghy racing member Graham Elmes who died tragically last May. 'Elmo' will be launched for the first time tomorrow following a short naming ceremony. 

Graham, a popular member of Dun Laoghaire's waterfront, was a champion in a number of Irish dinghy classes and also a driving force in the development of Irish sailing, where he is sorely missed.

According to the RstGYC, Graham's friends from any walk of life are most welcome to attend tomorrow's launching. Tea and Coffee will be served on the balcony at the clubhouse from noon and Elmo will be christened and then launched at 12:30.

 

Published in RStGYC

#rsgyc – What was expected to be a bumper entry of 180–boats for the Frank Keane BMW Royal St.George Yacht Club Regatta on Saturday ended up breaking the 200 boats mark, leading club officers to declare it the biggest entry in the club's 176–year history. What's more, the event also took in a dedicated White Sails Challenge, a new novice try boating initiative plus some exotic new sportsboats and dinghies within its fleets.

In total, there were 28 classes racing producing a combined fleet of 202 boats. Full results for each fleet are downloadable below as html files.

The Royal St. George Yacht Club's own Boomerang, a Beneteau First 36.7 sailed by the Kirwan Family, were winners in both IRC and ECHO handicap of Cruisers one, one of the biggest IRC classes with 11 boats.

In the dinghy classes, a brand new Irish Moth design sailed by John Chambers finished joint third in the foiling class that was won by Rory Fitzpatrick.

 

Published in RStGYC

#irishmoth – In another first for Irish sailing, a Bray, County Wicklow design and build of one of the world's leading edge dinghy types will make its debut on Saturday at the BMW Frank Keane Royal St. George Yacht Club regatta on Dublin Bay. Pioneering International Moth Sailor John Chambers will compete in the new foiling hull, from the design board of Chris Allen, against a burgeoning 12–boat Irish fleet that has attracted a range of top Irish dinghy sailors to its ranks.

In recent years, the International Moth, a development class, has literally take flight with the advent of lifting hydrofoils on daggerboard and rudder, which lift the entire hull and skipper above the water surface, dramatically reducing drag and increasing speed. Now Ireland is set to play its role in future development.

'It's a displacement hull, so not designed to foil in anything under six knots', says Allen of the new craft, that took its maiden sail at the National Yacht Club on Wednesday. 

Top speeds of Moths can be above 30 knots. Last month, a former American Fireball dinghy sailor  became the fastest dinghy sailor in the world, clocking up a time 36.5 knots This high speed is reflected in the International Moth's RYA Portsmouth Yardstick of 600, the fastest of any sailing dinghy or multihull.

The key features of the Irish design is that when the breeze is above six knots it will reach its foiling speed more easily than some existing designs. According to Chris, the Irish hull is a progression of existing designs and the hope is that its 'lift speed' will be quicker so the boat 'flies' sooner.

The design also features a new look at foil control systems with a smoother and more direct automatic adjustment. 

The new hull is also 'more boat shaped than boxed shape' says Chris, who claims it is is stiffer than rivals because it has more shape, more rocker and rounded in the sides.

Constructed entirely in carbon fibre and weighing under eight kilograms, the boat will compete at the 2014 World Championships at Hayling Island in the UK in a fortnight in a fleet of 140 boats.

Depending on its world championship performance, Chris hopes the new hull called 'Voodoo' will be the first of many international orders.

The cost of the boat is comparable to other production Moths at approximately €12,000, depending on choice of rig and equipment.

Published in Moth

#teamracing – The Irish Team Racing Association National Team Racing Championships will be sailed out of the Royal St. George Yacht Club on 9th - 10th November.

As the Royal St George Yacht Club celebrates 175 years of existence it is appropriate that the Irish National Championships returns to a club that pioneered team racing. Indeed, according to the accepted version of the birth of the sport, the idea of team racing in identical one-design dinghies took form in the bar of the club, as sailors from West Kirby SC relaxed after a days sailing against sailors from the "George". Two Irish teams, including one from the Royal St George YC, then travelled to West Kirby to compete in the inaugural Wilson Trophy in 1949. Teams from the club then went on to win this prestigious trophy in 1956, 1972and 1974. Many of the 1970's generation of team racers are still active in the club, indeed we hope that at least one of them will be umpiring this year.

Last year's winning team, Wessex Exempt, will return to defend their title, whilst the local team George Knights hope to continue a long winning streak, broken only once in recent year by a team of upstarts - the Gladiators, also from the Royal St George YC. On the other hand the Youth Championship in recent years has been dominated by teams from Schull.

Entries are invited from teams of six sailors from Ireland or elsewhere.

The entry fee is €360, which includes dinner on Saturday night in the club. Teams wishing to enter should contact the Irish Team Racing Association. A pre-entry deposit should be sent to arrive on or before Monday 21st October.

This is the major event on the Irish team racing calendar, both for the sailors and for the umpires. As usual for this event local umpires will be joined by umpires from the UK, and, this year, from Germany.
Associating colleagues from the UK ensures consistency in the application of the rules and in umpire technique. This is essential for teams who hope to compete in the UK and elsewhere. As team racing develops in Europe (albeit in a slightly different form) the prospects for Iirsih team racing have never been better.

To enter, or for further details: [email protected]

 

Published in Team Racing

Irish Olympic Sailing Team

Ireland has a proud representation in sailing at the Olympics dating back to 1948. Today there is a modern governing structure surrounding the selection of sailors the Olympic Regatta

Irish Olympic Sailing FAQs

Ireland’s representation in sailing at the Olympics dates back to 1948, when a team consisting of Jimmy Mooney (Firefly), Alf Delany and Hugh Allen (Swallow) competed in that year’s Summer Games in London (sailing off Torquay). Except for the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City, Ireland has sent at least one sailor to every Summer Games since then.

  • 1948 – London (Torquay) — Firefly: Jimmy Mooney; Swallow: Alf Delany, Hugh Allen
  • 1952 – Helsinki — Finn: Alf Delany * 1956 – Melbourne — Finn: J Somers Payne
  • 1960 – Rome — Flying Dutchman: Johnny Hooper, Peter Gray; Dragon: Jimmy Mooney, David Ryder, Robin Benson; Finn: J Somers Payne
  • 1964 – Tokyo — Dragon: Eddie Kelliher, Harry Maguire, Rob Dalton; Finn: Johnny Hooper 
  • 1972 – Munich (Kiel) — Tempest: David Wilkins, Sean Whitaker; Dragon: Robin Hennessy, Harry Byrne, Owen Delany; Finn: Kevin McLaverty; Flying Dutchman: Harold Cudmore, Richard O’Shea
  • 1976 – Montreal (Kingston) — 470: Robert Dix, Peter Dix; Flying Dutchman: Barry O’Neill, Jamie Wilkinson; Tempest: David Wilkins, Derek Jago
  • 1980 – Moscow (Tallinn) — Flying Dutchman: David Wilkins, Jamie Wilkinson (Silver medalists) * 1984 – Los Angeles — Finn: Bill O’Hara
  • 1988 – Seoul (Pusan) — Finn: Bill O’Hara; Flying Dutchman: David Wilkins, Peter Kennedy; 470 (Women): Cathy MacAleavy, Aisling Byrne
  • 1992 – Barcelona — Europe: Denise Lyttle; Flying Dutchman: David Wilkins, Peter Kennedy; Star: Mark Mansfield, Tom McWilliam
  • 1996 – Atlanta (Savannah) — Laser: Mark Lyttle; Europe: Aisling Bowman (Byrne); Finn: John Driscoll; Star: Mark Mansfield, David Burrows; 470 (Women): Denise Lyttle, Louise Cole; Soling: Marshall King, Dan O’Grady, Garrett Connolly
  • 2000 – Sydney — Europe: Maria Coleman; Finn: David Burrows; Star: Mark Mansfield, David O'Brien
  • 2004 – Athens — Europe: Maria Coleman; Finn: David Burrows; Star: Mark Mansfield, Killian Collins; 49er: Tom Fitzpatrick, Fraser Brown; 470: Gerald Owens, Ross Killian; Laser: Rory Fitzpatrick
  • 2008 – Beijing (Qingdao) — Star: Peter O’Leary, Stephen Milne; Finn: Tim Goodbody; Laser Radial: Ciara Peelo; 470: Gerald Owens, Phil Lawton
  • 2012 – London (Weymouth) — Star: Peter O’Leary, David Burrows; 49er: Ryan Seaton, Matt McGovern; Laser Radial: Annalise Murphy; Laser: James Espey; 470: Gerald Owens, Scott Flanigan
  • 2016 – Rio — Laser Radial (Women): Annalise Murphy (Silver medalist); 49er: Ryan Seaton, Matt McGovern; 49erFX: Andrea Brewster, Saskia Tidey; Laser: Finn Lynch; Paralympic Sonar: John Twomey, Ian Costello & Austin O’Carroll

Ireland has won two Olympics medals in sailing events, both silver: David Wilkins, Jamie Wilkinson in the Flying Dutchman at Moscow 1980, and Annalise Murphy in the Laser Radial at Rio 2016.

The current team, as of December 2020, consists of Laser sailors Finn Lynch, Liam Glynn and Ewan McMahon, 49er pairs Ryan Seaton and Seafra Guilfoyle, and Sean Waddilove and Robert Dickson, as well as Laser Radial sailors Annalise Murphy and Aoife Hopkins.

Irish Sailing is the National Governing Body for sailing in Ireland.

Irish Sailing’s Performance division is responsible for selecting and nurturing Olympic contenders as part of its Performance Pathway.

The Performance Pathway is Irish Sailing’s Olympic talent pipeline. The Performance Pathway counts over 70 sailors from 11 years up in its programme.The Performance Pathway is made up of Junior, Youth, Academy, Development and Olympic squads. It provides young, talented and ambitious Irish sailors with opportunities to move up through the ranks from an early age. With up to 100 young athletes training with the Irish Sailing Performance Pathway, every aspect of their performance is planned and closely monitored while strong relationships are simultaneously built with the sailors and their families

Rory Fitzpatrick is the head coach of Irish Sailing Performance. He is a graduate of University College Dublin and was an Athens 2004 Olympian in the Laser class.

The Performance Director of Irish Sailing is James O’Callaghan. Since 2006 James has been responsible for the development and delivery of athlete-focused, coach-led, performance-measured programmes across the Irish Sailing Performance Pathway. A Business & Economics graduate of Trinity College Dublin, he is a Level 3 Qualified Coach and Level 2 Coach Tutor. He has coached at five Olympic Games and numerous European and World Championship events across multiple Olympic classes. He is also a member of the Irish Sailing Foundation board.

Annalise Murphy is by far and away the biggest Irish sailing star. Her fourth in London 2012 when she came so agonisingly close to a bronze medal followed by her superb silver medal performance four years later at Rio won the hearts of Ireland. Murphy is aiming to go one better in Tokyo 2021. 

Under head coach Rory Fitzpatrick, the coaching staff consists of Laser Radial Academy coach Sean Evans, Olympic Laser coach Vasilij Zbogar and 49er team coach Matt McGovern.

The Irish Government provides funding to Irish Sailing. These funds are exclusively for the benefit of the Performance Pathway. However, this falls short of the amount required to fund the Performance Pathway in order to allow Ireland compete at the highest level. As a result the Performance Pathway programme currently receives around €850,000 per annum from Sport Ireland and €150,000 from sponsorship. A further €2 million per annum is needed to have a major impact at the highest level. The Irish Sailing Foundation was established to bridge the financial gap through securing philanthropic donations, corporate giving and sponsorship.

The vision of the Irish Sailing Foundation is to generate the required financial resources for Ireland to scale-up and execute its world-class sailing programme. Irish Sailing works tirelessly to promote sailing in Ireland and abroad and has been successful in securing funding of 1 million euro from Sport Ireland. However, to compete on a par with other nations, a further €2 million is required annually to realise the ambitions of our talented sailors. For this reason, the Irish Sailing Foundation was formed to seek philanthropic donations. Led by a Board of Directors and Head of Development Kathryn Grace, the foundation lads a campaign to bridge the financial gap to provide the Performance Pathway with the funds necessary to increase coaching hours, upgrade equipment and provide world class sport science support to a greater number of high-potential Irish sailors.

The Senior and Academy teams of the Performance Pathway are supported with the provision of a coach, vehicle, coach boat and boats. Even with this level of subsidy there is still a large financial burden on individual families due to travel costs, entry fees and accommodation. There are often compromises made on the amount of days a coach can be hired for and on many occasions it is necessary to opt out of major competitions outside Europe due to cost. Money raised by the Irish Sailing Foundation will go towards increased quality coaching time, world-class equipment, and subsiding entry fees and travel-related costs. It also goes towards broadening the base of talented sailors that can consider campaigning by removing financial hurdles, and the Performance HQ in Dublin to increase efficiency and reduce logistical issues.

The ethos of the Performance Pathway is progression. At each stage international performance benchmarks are utilised to ensure the sailors are meeting expectations set. The size of a sailor will generally dictate which boat they sail. The classes selected on the pathway have been identified as the best feeder classes for progression. Currently the Irish Sailing Performance Pathway consists of the following groups: * Pathway (U15) Optimist and Topper * Youth Academy (U19) Laser 4.7, Laser Radial and 420 * Development Academy (U23) Laser, Laser Radial, 49er, 49erFX * Team IRL (direct-funded athletes) Laser, Laser Radial, 49er, 49erFX

The Irish Sailing performance director produces a detailed annual budget for the programme which is presented to Sport Ireland, Irish Sailing and the Foundation for detailed discussion and analysis of the programme, where each item of expenditure is reviewed and approved. Each year, the performance director drafts a Performance Plan and Budget designed to meet the objectives of Irish Performance Sailing based on an annual review of the Pathway Programmes from Junior to Olympic level. The plan is then presented to the Olympic Steering Group (OSG) where it is independently assessed and the budget is agreed. The OSG closely monitors the delivery of the plan ensuring it meets the agreed strategy, is within budget and in line with operational plans. The performance director communicates on an ongoing basis with the OSG throughout the year, reporting formally on a quarterly basis.

Due to the specialised nature of Performance Sport, Irish Sailing established an expert sub-committee which is referred to as the Olympic Steering Group (OSG). The OSG is chaired by Patrick Coveney and its objective is centred around winning Olympic medals so it oversees the delivery of the Irish Sailing’s Performance plan.

At Junior level (U15) sailors learn not only to be a sailor but also an athlete. They develop the discipline required to keep a training log while undertaking fitness programmes, attending coaching sessions and travelling to competitions. During the winter Regional Squads take place and then in spring the National Squads are selected for Summer Competitions. As sailors move into Youth level (U19) there is an exhaustive selection matrix used when considering a sailor for entry into the Performance Academy. Completion of club training programmes, attendance at the performance seminars, physical suitability and also progress at Junior and Youth competitions are assessed and reviewed. Once invited in to the Performance Academy, sailors are given a six-month trial before a final decision is made on their selection. Sailors in the Academy are very closely monitored and engage in a very well planned out sailing, training and competition programme. There are also defined international benchmarks which these sailors are required to meet by a certain age. Biannual reviews are conducted transparently with the sailors so they know exactly where they are performing well and they are made aware of where they may need to improve before the next review.

©Afloat 2020