William Walsh and Eoin Byrne Secure Second Regional Win of the Year at 29er Westerns

25th July 2024

William Walsh and Eoin Byrne were on form on Lough Ree to win the 29er Western Championships Credit: William Walsh and Eoin Byrne on form on Lough Ree to win the 29er Western Championships

Double Ree saw the return of the 29er Westerns and the trophy presented by Tralee Bay Sailing Club a few years ago. Whilst two partnerships were on the deck in Lake Garda to represent Ireland at the Youth Worlds, the races at home proved challenging and competitive and delivered some fast fun. Academy sailors and National YC sailors William Walsh and Eoin Byrne definitely shined, displaying great skills on a windy Saturday, but not without having to fend off former Youth Worlds Irish team member Emily Conan and her crew Hannah Dadley from Ballyholme.

Tight sailing at the 29er Western Championships on Lough Ree

Saturday offered a wet and windy lake with short, steep waves. If the front runners enjoyed the high speed and high adrenaline downwind, it proved a strong challenge for the rookies (sailors with less than a year in the boat) and the name of the game was to stay upright and complete the course within the time limits set by the leaders.

Three races were completed with the same top three: William and Eoin led Emily and Hannah to the finish, with Hugh Meagher and Oisin Alexander in hot pursuit.

Hugh Meahger and Oisin Alexander of the National YC at the 29er Western Championships on Lough Ree

Further back the fight for survival was on! Theo Madigan and Daniel McDaid managed to complete all 3 races, battling with Louise Hanley and Hannah Walsh. They took the lead in the rookies' section. The 29er, as any skiff, puts sailors on a steep learning curve when taking their initial steps in the class. The rookies section has been created to reward to best partnerships having spent less than a year in the class or completing their first couple of events.

All welcomed Sunday's lighter winds, and the four races scheduled were completed. The day's first race saw Emily and Hannah taking and holding the lead until the finish line. William and Eoin were in close pursuit but could not find an opportunity to overtake. Hugh and Oisin remained a bit behind to secure another 3rd.

A new pair of rookies picked 4th, with newcomers and lightweight juniors Juliet Ryan and Ella Rock from the George squeezing their yellow spinnaker ahead of Louise and Hannah. Juliet and Ella are freshly out of the Optimist but their experience as a partnership in the Mirror shows dividends. Once More, the girls managed to edge the boys at the top in the day's second race. The race had gone very light, and the championship was right open again, with Emily and Hannah now just a point adrift on the provisional results with two races to go. Theo and Daniel 4th got them back on track for the rookies prize with Louise and Hannah chasing two points behind.

Louise Hanley and Hannah Walsh at the 29er Western Championships on Lough Ree

With the breeze coming back for the remaining two races, the boys responded with two races win over the Ballyholme girls to take the championship Tralee Bay Sailing Club cup home.

Theo and Daniel remained strong in the rookies' section to keep Louise and Hannah in their wake. With a second win in the rookies in two events, the boys earned themselves promotion out of the section.

1st Rookies - Theo Madigan and Daniel McDaid of the National YC at the 29er Western Championships on Lough Ree

The bi-annual Double Ree event is such a great concept. With each junior Double-handed class racing in the same venue, it shows the depth of Irish Double-handed sailing, from Juniors to Youth and dinghies to skiffs.

Next meeting for the class will be in RCYC for the nationals mid August, yet another event where the 29ers will share the waters with fellow double handed sailors in the Fireball and 420 classes.

Prizes

William Walsh & Eoin Byrne, National YC
Emily Conan & Hannah Dadley, Ballyholme YC ( also top ladies)
Hugh Meahger & Oisin Alexander, National YC

1st rookie. Theo Madigan & Daniel McDaid, National YC
1st mixed. Siofra O'Donnel & Cathal O'Regan, National YC

Published in 29er

Tagged under

29er

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The 29er is a one-design double-handed, single trapeze skiff for youth sailors.

There is an active class in Ireland, just one of the 38-countries from across all continents now racing the high-performance skiff.

The 29er is one of the latest dinghy classes to arrive in Ireland and has a 50/50 split between boys and girls.

The class like to describe the boat as "The most popular skiff for sailors who want to go fast!".

Derived from the Olympic class 49er class and designed by Julian Bethwaite the 29er was first produced in 1998.

Two sailors sail the 29er, one on trapeze.

The 6.25-metre high rig features a fractional asymmetrical spinnaker; a self-tacking jib decreases the workload of the crew, making manoeuvres more efficient and freeing the crew to take the mainsheet upwind and on two-sail reaches.

The 15.00 m2 spinnaker rigging set-up challenges crews to be fit and coordinated, and manoeuvres in the boat require athleticism due to its lack of inherent stability and the high speed with which the fully battened mainsail and jib power up.

The 74kg weight hull is constructed of fibreglass-reinforced polyester in a foam sandwich layout.

The fully battened mainsail and jib are made from a transparent Mylar laminate with orange or red Dacron trimming, while the spinnaker is manufactured from ripstop Nylon.

The mast is in three parts - an aluminium bottom and middle section, with a polyester-fibreglass composite tip to increase mast bend and decrease both overall weights, and the capsizing moment a heavy mast tip can generate. Foils are aluminium or fibreglass.

About the ILCA/Laser Dinghy

The ILCA, formerly known as the Laser, is the most produced boat in the world, with 220,000 units built since 1971.

It's easy to see why the single-handed dinghy has won the title of the most widely distributed boat of all time.

The Laser is a one-design dinghy, the hulls being identical but three rigs that can be used according to the size and weight of the sailor.

The class is international, with sailors from 120 countries. The boat has also been an Olympic class since 1996, being both the men's and women's singlehanded dinghy.

Three rigs are recognised by the International Laser Class Association (ILCA):

ILCA 4: sail of 4.70m2

ILCA 6: sail of 5.76 m2

ILCA 7: sail of 7.06 m2

About Moonduster

The queen of all fleets. Denis Doyle's legendary Moonduster was the flagship of Irish offshore racing for twenty years. Doyle's enthusiastic support moved the Round Ireland Race into the international league, and his regular participation set performance standards which greatly enhanced the event.

Doyle owned four different Moondusters in his long career. His last boat, arguably the best known, the varnished Frers, was sold to Norway around 2005 where she is still sailing but not in the same state of repair as she had been in Crosshaven.