The opening ceremony and practice races for the Mirror dinghy World Championships were held in Sligo on Monday.
Sligo Yacht Club hosts the 19th Championships for the Mirror class, a traditional two-handed sailing boat popular among young people.
This marks the second time that Sligo has hosted the Championships, with the first coming in 1987.
Sailors from Japan, South Africa, Australia and the United Kingdom will compete alongside a strong contingent of Sligo and Irish sailors over the course of the week.
At Monday’s opening ceremony, delegates from Sligo County Council, including Caithaoirleach Gerard Mullaney and Mayor Declan Bree. Cllr Mullaney formally opened the event.
Sligo sailors will be buoyed by positive results in last weekend's Mirror Irish National Championships, which were also held at Sligo Yacht Club.
Sligo’s David Evans and Andrew Ryan were the first Irish boat in the event finishing an impressive 4th, closely followed by clubmates Jessica Greer and Myrtle Bamber in 5th. Rounding out the top ten from an Irish and Sligo perspective was Caroline Coulter and crew Lucy Coulter who finished 8th.
With eyes now turning to the World Championships, there is great cause for optimism following the practice race. Jessica Greer and crew and David Evans and crew finished second and 5th, respectively.
Some fifty boats will compete across the Championship, with Volvo Ocean Race race officer Bill O’Hara in charge of race officiating for the week. O’Hara was Race Officer for the GP Worlds in Skerries last year.
2023 Mirror World Championships Official Opening at Sligo Yacht Club Photo Gallery
In his welcome address, Commodore of Sligo Yacht Club Karl Kerins pointed out that this is another milestone for the club fresh off the back of being Irish Sailing Club of the Year in 2022.
He said: “We in Sligo have a long heritage of maritime activity. It is in every fibre of our being. Sligo Yacht Club has played its part in this proud heritage, not only to Sligo and Ireland, but to world sailing, which includes the world’s oldest sailing cup, the ‘Ladies Cup’ was presented in 1821 by the Ladies of Sligo, hence the name, ‘for the encouragement of fast sailing boats on Lough Gill’. This trophy, which predates the Americas Cup, is sailed for by our J24 fleet each year.”
Kerins went on to mention when Sligo last played host to the event. “It is truly an honour and great to see this event back in Sligo. I hope the winds and weather are kind to you all, Sligo Bay is known to provide challenging racing due to strong tides, but although I am biased, there is no bay like it for competitive racing on these shores,” he said.
