Murphy, McDonnell and Spain Crowned ILCA National Champions

26th July 2026

Afloat.ie Team

Weather Wins – The AP over A flag signals no racing as strong westerly winds forced the cancellation of the final day of the Grant Thornton ILCA Irish National Championships on Dublin Bay Credit: Con Murphy

Strong westerly winds forced the cancellation of the final day's racing at the Grant Thornton ILCA Irish National Championships on Dublin Bay on Sunday.

Race officials launched to the race area aboard the committee boat, but average wind speeds of around 24 knots, with gusts exceeding 30 knots, whipped up white horses across the course area. With the forecast showing little prospect of improvement, racing was abandoned for the day.

The cancellation means Saturday's standings become the final championship results after six races and one discard.

Olympic silver medallist Annalise Murphy (National Yacht Club) secures the ILCA 6 title after opening a commanding nine-point lead on Saturday. It marks a successful return to championship ILCA racing ahead of this autumn's ILCA 6 World Championship on Dublin Bay.

Royal Irish Yacht Club's Fiachra McDonnell claims the ILCA 7 national title following a dominant series that included four consecutive race wins.

The closest contest was in the ILCA 4 fleet, where Kate Spain of the Royal St. George Yacht Club holds on to win the championship by just two points from clubmate Amy Kieran.

Competitors completed six races over the opening two days in conditions ranging from moderate, shifty westerlies to winds exceeding 25 knots before Sunday's weather brought the championship to an early conclusion.

The championship also showcased the use of GipsyBuoy GPS-controlled robotic marks, operated from the committee boat by Ciarán Campbell of MarineServices.ie, allowing race officials to adjust the courses quickly as conditions changed throughout the regatta.

A prizegiving is scheduled for 12.45pm at the Royal St. George Yacht Club.

Published in Laser, RStGYC

@ CH Marine website

@ CH Marine Facebook

@ CH Marine NI Facebook

@ CH Marine Twitter

Published in Laser

Tagged under

ILCA

About The Author

Afloat.ie Team

Email The Author

Afloat.ie is Ireland's dedicated marine journalism team.

Have you got a story for our reporters? Email us here.

We've got a favour to ask

More people are reading Afloat.ie than ever thanks to the power of the internet but we're in stormy seas because advertising revenues across the media are falling fast. Unlike many news sites, we haven't put up a paywall because we want to keep our marine journalism open.

Afloat.ie is Ireland's only full-time marine journalism team and it takes time, money and hard work to produce our content.

So you can see why we need to ask for your help.

If everyone chipped in, we can enhance our coverage and our future would be more secure. You can help us through a small donation. Thank you.

You might also want to read...

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

ILCA 2026 Calendar

Apr 04–05 — Munster Championships — Baltimore SC
Apr 09–12 — Irish Sailing Youth Nationals — Ballyholme YC
May 09–10 — Ulster Championships — East Antrim BC
May 23–24 — Masters National Championships — Howth YC
Jun 27–28 — Leinster Championships — Skerries SC
Jul 24–26 — National Championships — Royal St. George YC
Sep 11–12 — End of Season Championships — Waterford Hrbr. YC

2026 ILCA World Championships

Men ILCA 7: Aug 23 – Aug 30
Women ILCA 6: Sep 04 – Sep 12
Royal St. George Yacht Club & National Yacht Club (Dublin Bay)

At A Glance – Laser Dinghy Specifications

Designer Bruce Kirby & Ian Bruce

Year 1969

Crew 1
Draft 0.787 m (2 ft 7.0 in)
Hull weight 58.97 kg (130.0 lb)
LOA 4.2 m (13 ft 9 in)
LWL 3.81 m (12 ft 6 in)
Beam 1.39 m (4 ft 7 in)
Mainsail area 7.06 m2 (76.0 sq ft)

Racing D-PN 91.1 RYA PN 1088 PHRF 217