#29er – More than making amends for a disappointing second appearance at the ISAF Youth worlds a fortnight ago, the National Yacht Club Donnelly Brothers are through to the Gold fleet of the 29er 29er Skiff Worlds in Denmark today. Sean and Tadhg lie 26th this morning in a massive 216–boat fleet thus making the gold fleet cut.

Thunderstorms have interrupted racing, but the sole Irish team ,with coaching from London 2012s Matt McGovern, has put together a great series so far.

Results here

#ISAF – A couple of top ten individual race results scored at yesterday's ISAF World Youth Sailing Championships has boosted an Irish team in the closing stages of the competition in Cyprus.

The Irish youth sailing team of five boys and three girls are competing in a massive fleet of 351 sailors across three different classes, sailing 2-3 races per day until tomorrow's final races.

In the Laser Radial dinghy, Robbie Gilmore (Strangford Lough Yacht Club) lies 23rd from 56 after eight races sailed and in the Girls division Sarah Eames (Ballyholme Yacht Club) scored the Irish highlight of the week with a third to put her in 22nd place from a fleet of 40.

In the 420 dinghy, Robert Dickson and Sean Waddilove (Howth Yacht Club) scored an eighth in race seven yesterday and are 14th from 31 after eight and in the Girls 420 Cliodhna Ni Shuilleabhain (Kinsale Yacht Club) and Jill McGinley (Royal Cork Yacht Club) are 20th from 27.

In the 29er Skiff, Sean and Tadgh Donnelly (National Yacht Club), racing in their second youth worlds event, lie 26th from 28.

#youthworlds – Ireland will be seeking to improve its scores after day one if the eight boat youth sailing team in Cyprus is to match last year's medal success at the ISAF Youth Worlds this week. 

In the Laser Radial, Robbie Gilmore (Strangford Lough Yacht Club) lies 25th from 56 after the first two races and in the Girls division Sarah Eames (Ballyholme Yacht Club) is 26th from 40. 

The Olympics of youth sailing, as world body ISAF likes to coin it, got under way in Limassol yesterday.

The team of five boys and three girls will compete against 351 sailors from 61 nations across three different classes, sailing 2-3 races per day until the final race on Friday.

In the 420 dinghy, Robert Dickson and Sean Waddilove (Howth Yacht Club) are 14th from 31  after two and in the Girls 420 
Cliodhna Ni Shuilleabhain (Kinsale Yacht Club) and Jill McGinley (Royal Cork Yacht Club) are16 from 27. 

In the 29er Skiff, Sean and Tadgh Donnelly (National Yacht Club), racing in their second youth worlds event, lie 26th from 28. 

Temperatures of between 33-34 degrees along with high humidity at 70-85% greeted the eight Irish youth sailors as they prepared for racing in a south-easterly breeze of 4-6 knots, picking up to 10 knots in the afternoon with gusts up to 16 knots.

Last year, Ireland's Finn Lynch won silver on Dublin Bay when the Royal St. George and National Yacht Club's hosted the event. It was Ireland's best ever performance and first medal since 1996. 

Results here

ISAF press release: 

Ukraine's Oleksandr Tugaryev earned himself a birthday treat at the Sail First ISAF Youth Worlds by recording two race victories and a eighth in the RS:X Boys.

The Ukrainian revelled in a steady 16 knot afternoon breeze but taking the lead is Great Britain's Kieran Martin who demonstrated great consistency posting a bullet, a second and a third.

Over 350 from 61 nations took to the water on the opening day of the Sail First ISAF Youth Worlds as a full complement of racing across eight events in five classes was completed.

Tugaryev sailed at the ISAF Youth Worlds last year finishing 27th and has come on leaps and bounds to trail Martin by four points.

"It was a good day, today is my birthday," said a happy Tugaryev after racing. "In the beginning of the day it was not good conditions for me so I finished seventh but in the second race it was planing conditions and I finished first and the third race was the same with 16 knots so I finished first again.

"It's a perfect present for my birthday and I hope that the wind for this regatta will be strong as I'm quite light weight, I'm heavy. I hope I will continue the same."

Sitting in third overall on 15 points is Mexico's Ignacio Berenguer.

Defending RS:X Girls Champion Saskia Sills (GBR) faced some stiff competition on the opening day with America's Marion Lepert keeping her at bay after three opening races.

The American sailed well and leads Sills by four points and was understandably happy with her day, "It went well for me today, I struggled a little bit in the first race as the conditions were really light but once it's started getting windy I got into the groove and it really worked for me."

On the competition with Sills, Lepert added, "She definitely has a lot of talent and there's more to see towards the end of the week. There's still a long way from now so I'm just going to stay focused."

Coming into the opening day of racing Sills was not at 100% but recorded a bullet in the third race, highlighting her resiliency,"I'm happy with the racing today considering I haven't been feeling that well over the past few days," said Sills who was nominated for the 2012 ISAF Rolex World Sailor of the Year.

"We had three good races, the first was fairly light, the second was the windiest and third was fairly on and off with the wind. It's a good fleet and there are quite a few of us who are changing places and positions, but probably only two or three who are really consistent.

"I'm looking forward to heading back out tomorrow, I think it will be a case of it's not finished until it's finished here in Cyprus"

Spain's Joel Rodriguez holds the advantage in the Laser Radial Boys with a consistent day of sailing that saw him record a fifth and a sixth. The opening race of the series held early in the afternoon brought light conditions that saw some of the favourites struggle but once the breeze kicked in some of the more experienced sailors came to the forefront.

Belgium's William de Smet took the opening race win but Puerto Rico's Juan Perdomo, who is sailing at his second ISAF Youth Worlds, stepped it up in the bigger breeze to take the second race victory, "We were waiting in the morning for the wind to pick up and in our first race the wind was stabilising and the first race I did okay finishing 11th," said the Puerto Rican. "In the second race the wind picked up a little bit so it was much better as I got a first.

"It's good to start off in front but it's only the first day so there's lots of racing to go and I definitely want to finish at the top."

Commenting on the event Perdomo added, "I think the ISAF Youth Worlds is a really special event because all of the sailors stay together and it's like a mini Olympics and the atmosphere here is very special and fun."

The Laser Radial Girls commenced racing late in the day and eventually hit the shore at 19:45 after two races.

Dominating the day with two race wins was Norway's Line Flem Host and she was thrilled with how the racing went despite the late finish, "My goal was top three but I did not expect to start this well. It's really an advantage and I'm so happy."

Following Host is Agata Barwinska (POL) on four points and Pia Kuhlmann (GER) on ten points.

The 420 Boys fleet finished their day in the early afternoon and showing the most consistency in the day was the Portuguese team of Diogo Pereira and Pedro Cruz and Japan's Ibuki Koizumi and Tsubasa Arioka. Both teams recorded a second and a fourth to hold the advantage whilst the race wins went to Brazil's Tiago Brito and Andrei Knepp and Spain's Pedro Martinez and Luis Bugallo who are third and fourth respectively.

Australia's Carrie Smith and Ella Clark showed the fleet that they are here to win the 420 Girls title having recorded a 2-1-5 scoreline. They lead Kimberly Lim and Savannah Siew (SIN) by two points. Defending champions Ilaria Paternoster and Benedetta Di Salle (ITA) secured two race wins but a black flag in Race 2 subsequently puts them down in 11th. With the discard coming in after five races they will work their way back up with steady results but will now sail cautiously.

There were strong starts for the 2012 ISAF Youth Worlds silver and bronze medallists France and Argentina in the 29er fleet. Lucas Rual and Emile Amoros (FRA) and Argentina's Klaus Lange and Ignacio Varisco sailed consistently with the French taking top spot on seven points. The Argentineans follow on nine points with America's Quinn Wilson and Dane Wilson on 11 points in third.

New Zealand's Isaac McHardie and Micah Wilkinson lead the way on four points in the 15 boat SL16 fleet after posting two bullets and a second place finish. Trailing them by three points is Spain's Jordi Booth and Lucia Brugman with Australia's Paul Darmanin and Lucy Copeland further back in third.

#youthsailing – Ireland's silver medallist from last year's ISAF Youth Worlds on Dublin Bay has not been selected to sail for Ireland at this year's championships in Cyprus.

An eight-sailor squad will represent Ireland at the ISAF Youth Sailing World Championships in Cyprus this summer after an intense battle for places saw selection go down to the last race of the trials at the Youth National Championships on Lough Derg.

The team was announced this afternoon by the Irish Sailing Association.

In the Laser Radial class Robbie Gilmore (Strangford Lough Yacht Club) will sail in the boys division and in the Girls cartegory Sarah Eames of (Ballyholme Yacht Club) will sail.

In the 420 double habded class Robert Dickson and Sean Waddilove of Howth Yacht Club have been selected and girls pairing of Cliodhna Ni Shuilleabhain (Kinsale Yacht Club) and Jill McGinley (Royal Cork Yacht Club)are also named.

In the open 29er Skiff last year's representatives Sean and Tadgh Donnelly (National Yacht Club) will race again.

The team of five boys and three girls will compete across three different classes at the most prestigious international youth sailing event which will take place in Limassol, Cyprus from the 13 – 20 July.

Only one male and one female place was offered in each class and the contenders had to meet both international standards as well as win their category at the Youth National Championships in April in order to be selected.

In the Laser Radial class Ireland will have male and female representatives, both hailing from Northern Ireland. Robbie Gilmore from Belfast had met the international standard along with eight other male sailors prior to the Youth Nationals on Lough Derg.

That provided an equally nerve-wracking and exciting four day, 11 race deciding regatta as the top sailors battled it out for the coveted spot. Robbie took the lead in the early stages but was pursued  by last year's ISAF Youth Worlds silver medallist Finn Lynch who was determined to return to the championship for a second year. Ultimately it came down to the final day of racing but Lynch was unable to surpass Gilmore's impressive results.

In the girl's category Sarah Eames from Lisburn was triumphant beating her nearest female rival Sorcha Ni Shuilleabhain by eight points and thus earning her a place on the Youth Worlds team.

Ireland will also have both male and female representatives in the two-person 420 class. Robert Dickson and Sean Waddilove from Dublin were among three male teams already at international standard and hoping for a win at the Youth Nationals.

Competition was fierce as the top four teams continuously swapped positions on the leader board. It came down to the final race where the duo took the bullet and deservedly the overall win. In the girl's category a young Cork pairing, Cliodhna Ni Shuilleabhain and Jill McGinley were the somewhat surprise winners.

The girls, although incredibly talented sailors, were much younger than their opponents and had set their sights on 2014. However they dominated throughout the regatta and ultimately beat the Dublin McDowell cousins who had been tipped for the place. With the Youth Nationals win under their belt they travelled to Wales at the end of April for the qualification event and successfully finished 6th overall where only the top eight would meet the international standard.

The final team to earn their place for the second year in a row are brothers Sean and Tadgh Donnelly from Dublin. They will be competing in the 29er class where they will hope to improve on their 10th overall finish at last year's event which was held on Dublin Bay.

Ireland Squad for the ISAF Youth Sailing World Championships 2013

Laser Radial
Boy: Robbie Gilmore (Strangford Lough Yacht Club)
Girl: Sarah Eames (Ballyholme Yacht Club)

420
Boys: Robert Dickson and Sean Waddilove (Howth Yacht Club)
Girls: Cliodhna Ni Shuilleabhain (Kinsale Yacht Club) and Jill McGinley (Royal Cork Yacht Club)

29er
Open: Sean and Tadgh Donnelly (National Yacht Club)

#sywoc – University of Limerick, with Rob O'Leary as helm, have continued their winning ways into keelboats, emerging as clear winners of the trials to select Ireland's national representatives for the Student Yachting Worlds 2013 to be staged in France in late October writes WM Nixon.

UL have been on a run of success this year, as their team racers – captained by Ross Murray – won the national intervarsity opens from 26 teams in Fireflies at Tralee Bay five weeks ago. But the selection for the squad to go to the Worlds takes a different path, as it's fleet-raced in the ISA SailFleet J/80s, which will also be boat used this year at the Worlds.

The Irish selection trials were notably comprehensive, as they have been sailed in Howth over three Saturdays – April 6th, 13th and 20th. Despite April's unseasonably wintry weather, as the university racing was incorporated with the Howth YC Spring Warmer series, each day's racing got under way early. So though on two of the days conditions were to deteriorate to a gale before nightfall, the full programme was successfully completed.

Rob O'Leary and his crew started well, and were remarkably consistent. In a six race series with no discards, they notched a 1st and 2nd on all three days. As the final day's racing came up with a bit of Spring belatedly in the air, the UL team knew they had it in the bag provided they did better than a last place in either race. But for good measure, for the third time they gave it the old one two.

Irish representation will be strong at the Worlds, as defending champions UCD already have a place as of right. The series at Howth saw UCD2 shine on the scoreboard with second place, while DCU with Ryan Scott as captain placed third.

And it was a mighty busy weekend for the SailFleet J/80s, as Sunday April 21st saw all eight in full use for the ICRA Training Day, with more than a hundred participants from all over Ireland getting afloat for much expert advice, tuition and training on another welcome day of Spring.

#youthsailing – Robbie Gilmore showed the depth of his talent to win Gold at the Laser Radial Youth National Championships on Lough Derg this afternoon. It was one of five Irish youth sailing titles decided at the inland venue.

Gilmore from Strangford Lough reigned supreme in Tipperary throughout the four day, 11 race regatta to beat last year's champion Finn Lynch in the 44 boat fleet.

Leading from start to finish the Ulster man deservedly won the single-handed title even though with two races to sail today and only five points separating Gilmore and ISAF silver medallist Finn Lynch nerves were running high.

The fleet launched for the 11am start and immediately the two sailors entered in to a duel.

It was overall bronze medallist Fionn Lyden who won the first race but Gilmore came in second followed by Lynch in third which only served to widen the points buffer between them. 12 months of preparation and all that stood in Gilmore's way was one final race. If he could remain close to Lynch on the water he'd win but he did better than that. Robbie Gilmore took the gold medal with style winning the 11th and final race, giving him his fourth bullet of the regatta and a seven point overall lead on Finn Lynch.

And it was another Northern Irish sailor, Sarah Eames from Ballyholme, who took home the gold in the girl's category.

The 420 double-handed class had proved to be highly competitive over the course of the championship. Four teams, two from Dublin and two from Cork, were clear leaders from the outset but which pair would take the overall title was unclear. 11 intense races and plenty of drama only added to the suspense. But ultimately a fourth and a first in today's races secured the win for Robert Dickson and Sean Waddilove from Howth. The pair finished 12 points clear of Peter McCann and Arran Walsh and 13 points ahead of bronze medallists Adam Hyland and Bill Staunton from Dun Laoghaire. First in the girl's category were Cork duo Cliodhna Ni Shuilleabhain and Jill McGinley.

Nicole Hemeryck cemented her success in the Topper class today during two final races. The Dun Laoghaire sailor continued on her streak of posting only top results and never slipping from pole position on the leader board. After eight races, Hemeryck was crowned overall champion with a grand total of 10 points. Both silver and bronze were won by male competitors from Northern Ireland; Liam Glynn with 22 points and Tom Purdon with 28 points.

In the Laser 4.7 class Conor O'Beirne easily maintained his lead by winning both scheduled races. He secured gold with a healthy 12 point lead on Ciaran Finnegan from Waterford. Cliodhna O'Regan began the regatta with a win but couldn't quite manage to repeat the feat. Although she did position herself consistently near the top of the fleet and with a total of 32 points she takes overall bronze and also gold in the girl's category.

There was a dramatic turn of events within the Optimist Championship fleet on their third and final day of racing. Corkonian Emily Whitaker, who had been in first place for the duration, had a tenth in the penultimate race and did not complete her final race. This meant she lost her lead and took home bronze. The overall winner was Tom Higgins from Dublin while Sarah Fogarty, also from Dublin, finished second overall and won gold in the girl's category.

#YouthSailing - The International Sailing Federation (ISAF) is now inviting applications to its Athlete Participation Programme for the 2013 ISAF Youth Sailing World Championship in Limassol this summer.

The ISAF Athlete Participation Programme (APP) was created in 2002 and assists athletes with attending the ISAF Youth Sailing World Championship by offering coaching support and financial subsidies towards the entry fee and travel costs. The World Youth Sailing Trust also provides a championship coach. 

The APP is targeted at sailors from nations in subscription categories 1 and 2. Priority will be given to new countries and for countries that have not participated in the ISAF Youth Worlds in the last two years.

Thanks to APP funding, sailors from the Cook Islands, Cuba, El Salvador, Serbia, Botswana and Paraguay have been able to compete at the ISAF Youth Sailing World Championship.

The APP allows athletes, via their member national authority, to apply for support in the following three ways:

Event Coaching and Support: Athletes who are not able to travel with a team leader or coach are able to apply for coaching support. The on-site Championship coach will be available for pre and post race briefings and other essential event support.

Entry Fee Subsidy: Athletes may apply for a subsidy towards the event entry fee.

Travel Subsidy: Athletes may apply for a subsidy towards their travel expenses in order to attend the Championship.

All ISAF member national authorities have been sent the ISAF APP Application Form. The form must be returned to the ISAF Secretariat by 5pm on 25 February 2013.

The 2013 ISAF Youth Sailing World Championship will take place in Limassol, Cyprus from 13-20 July 2013. The event is open to competitors aged under 19 in the year of the championship (ie for Ireland, under 19 on 31 December 2013) in the events and equipment listed here:

• Boy's One Person Dinghy - To be confirmed
• Girl's One Person Dinghy - To be confirmed
• Boy's Two Person Dinghy - 420
• Girl's Two Person Dinghy - 420
• Boy's Windsurfer - RS:X with 8.5m2 sail
• Girl's Windsurfer - RS:X with 8.5m2 sail
• Open Multihull - Sirena SL16
• Open Skiff - 29er

Simply getting to the championship is a major achievement for most as entry is limited to one boat per nation, per event, meaning sailors first having to win through their national qualification series.

Entry details have been sent to all ISAF MNAs who are reminded that the deadline for submitting the Boat Reservation Form is 31 January 2013.

#YouthSailing - The ISA has announced that the 2013 Youth Nationals and Junior Pathway Championship will be held in Lough Derg Yacht Club from 2-5 April.

This will be the event's first visit to Lough Derg and looks set to be an exciting championship, and includes the Irish team trials for the ISAF Youth Worlds as well as various ISA squads.

Places will surely be hotly contested at the event, with many of the top performers from last year's championships in Dun Laoghaire such as Youth Worlds silver medallist Finn Lynch and All Ireland senior silver medallist Fionn Lyden in the running among a top-class field.

The event is also the ISA's prime showcase for its Performance Pathway scheme, with the 420, Laser Radial, Laser 4.7, Topper, Optimist and Feva all represented.

According to the IDA, 2012's championship "saw a remarkable fleet of over 250 boats in Dun Laoghaire, and Lough Derg is hoping to attract a similar number to Ireland's premier youth regatta."

#YouthSailing - The Notice of Race (NOR) for the 2013 EUROSAF Youth Sailing has now been released.

This marks the second occasion on which the combined classes continental championship of Europe has been organised – the first being in Aarhus, Denmark in August this year, hot on the heels of the successful ISAF Youth Worlds in Dublin Bay this summer.

Up to 200 sailors under the age of 19 from as many as 20 European countries will be competing for the accolade of European Youth Champion in Tavira, Portugal from 3-9 August 2013.

Medals will be available in each of eight different disciplines, including an open multihull event using the Sirena SL16 catamaran. Other designs of boats to be used are the Laser Radial, International 420 and 29er skiff. Windsurfing will be represented by the RS:X sailboard, as used at the Olympic Games. Each country is permitted to enter two crews in each of the disciplines.

Uniquely in terms of multi-event youth championships, the EUROSAF Youth Sailing European Championship includes medals races for the top sailors in each discipline.

In a development of the championship since Aarhus, there will also be a final race for competitors who do not qualify for the medal races. The results of these races will count towards the Nations Cup Team Trophy - currently held by Italy - which is awarded to the country with best overall results from the entire series across all disciplines.

Another new feature for 2013 will be an increase in the number of races for each class. This is being introduced as a direct result of recommendations from many of the coaches who were present in 2012.

The tendency these days is to have shorter races, so the athletes were often ashore and finished racing by early to mid-afternoon. In the 2013 event the windsurfers, multihull and skiffs will each have four races scheduled per day, while the single and double-handed classes will have three races scheduled. Racing starts on Monday 5 August and concludes on Friday 9 August.

The EUROSAF Youth Sailing European Championship will be hosted by Clube Náutico de Tavira, in association with the Federação Portuguesa de Vela and the European Sailing Federation. The host club previously organised the Portugal Youth Championship and the 420 Open European Championship, and will be the host of the ISAF Youth Sailing World Championship in 2014.

Tavira is located on the east side of Algarve, some 30km from the International Airport in Faro, and is one of the oldest towns of Algarve.

Marco Predieri, president of EUROSAF, said: "We are delighted to be taking this prestigious event to Portugal and Tavira, after the very successful championship in Denmark in 2012.

"EUROSAF are committed to building this championship into the foremost youth sailing championship in Europe each year, and we are confident that the 2013 hosts will help us move closer to achieving this objective."

The NOR is available to read or download HERE.

#HYC - The K25 team at Howth Yacht Club is planning for 2013, including the considerable challenge of competing in the BMW J/24 World Championships next August.

If you are interested in applying for the youth keelboat team, please attend the open evening on Tuesday 27 November at 8pm in Howth Yacht Club.

Candidates need to be under 25 on 30 August 2013 and become a cadet member of HYC for the 2013 season. Applications received on the night will be given a free drink from the bar.

See the HYC website for more details.