Ross McDonald and his Howth Yacht Club crew on Atara have won the 2026 1720 European Championship at Lough Derg Yacht Club, finishing nine points clear after a ten-race series.
McDonald, sailing with Julian Hughes, Robbie English, Paddy Good and Rory O’Sullivan, emerged on top after a ten-race championship to finish nine points clear of Robert Dix’s LemonCello.
Atara finished the series on 26 nett points, with LemonCello second on 35 and defending European champion Fionn Lyden’s Spiced Beef third on 43.
Kites Up: The 1720 fleet charges downwind across a dark and breezy Lough Derg during a European Championship that produced gusts of up to 37 knots and eight different race winners. Photo: Reggie Goodbody
37-Knot Gusts Test 1720 Fleet
The championship produced three very different days of racing, including two days of heavy-weather sailing when gusts reached 37 knots.
Race Officer Michael Tyrrell responded to the conditions by mandating smaller jibs and spinnakers as required, with the powered-up 1720s reportedly reaching 18 knots downwind.
The conditions produced some spectacular sailing, with boats planing at speed and several crews putting their masts in the water in the stronger gusts.
The contrasting medium-air racing brought its own challenges. Lough Derg's notoriously shifting breeze produced what competitors described as a series of "snakes and ladders", with substantial gains and losses possible as pressure moved across the course.
That unpredictability was reflected across the championship, with eight different race winners over the ten-race series.
Atara’s Consistency Delivers European Crown
Atara’s ten-race scoreline was 4, 3, 1, 2, 3, 6, 3, 1, 3, (DNF)., with the final-race DNF discarded.
The Howth boat scored victories in races three and eight and counted nine finishes of sixth or better on the way to the European title.
McDonald Returns to European Top Spot
The victory returns McDonald to the top of the 1720 European fleet after Fionn Lyden’s Spiced Beef won the 2025 championship on Galway Bay.
Atara had finished second to Robert O’Leary’s Swiftie at the 2026 1720 National Championship in Baltimore in June, where Swiftie won by two points.
There was further championship pedigree aboard Atara this weekend through Julian Hughes. The Waterford Harbour sailor won the 1720 Eastern Championship at Royal Ulster Yacht Club in 2025 aboard Root 1, when McDonald’s Atara finished third.
LemonCello and Spiced Beef Complete Podium
Lemon Squeezy: Robert Dix’s Lemon Cello powers downwind under its distinctive yellow spinnaker during the 1720 European Championship on Lough Derg, where Dix finished second overall. Photo: Reggie Goodbody
Robert Dix kept LemonCello in contention throughout the ten races, finishing second overall on 35 points.
Lyden’s Spiced Beef, which arrived at Lough Derg as defending European champion following its 2025 Galway Bay victory, took third on 43 points.
The championship attracted 17 boats, with ten races completed over the series at Lough Derg.
Olympic Talent Adds to Lough Derg Fleet
Full Power: A 1720 powers downwind under blue spinnaker as the European Championship fleet revels in the heavy-weather conditions on Lough Derg. Photo: Reggie Goodbody
The championship fleet included a number of Olympic sailors alongside established 1720 champions.
Among them was National Yacht Club's Finn Lynch, sailing Mo to fourth overall just a week after finishing eighth at the ILCA 7 World Championship in Dún Laoghaire.
Behind the racing was a substantial effort by Lough Derg Yacht Club, with demanding courses and race management across the changing conditions complemented by the class's traditional shoreside social programme.
The championship also demonstrated the depth of the 1720 fleet, combining experienced campaigners with younger sailors and mixed male and female crews.
2026 1720 European Championship — Top Three
- Rope Dock Atara — Ross McDonald (HYC) — 26 pts
- LemonCello — Robert Dix — 35 pts
- Spiced Beef — Fionn Lyden (BSC) — 43 pts
