Kinsale’s James Dwyer Matthews Wins British Optimist Spring Opens from 155 Boats, While Howth’s Luke Turvey is third

1st April 2019

James Dwyer-Matthews pictured in his home waters of Kinsale at the 2018 Irish Nationals Credit: Robert Bateman

James Dwyer Matthews (15) of Kinsale and Luke Turvey (13) of Howth have led the charge for Ireland in the 155-boat International Optimist British Spring Opens at Lymington, with both on the podium at the finish yesterday evening – Matthews taking first and Turvey taking third.

The Irish Optimist class is certainly on a roll these days with a particularly strong travelling contingent – no less than 28 Irish helms made the long trek to the Solent, but it was well worth the effort, as in addition to the two podia places, they’d four in the top ten with Sam Ledoux of the National placing 6th while Johnny Flynn of Howth/RStGYC was 7th.

The final results make for sweet reading here

Published in Optimist

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Optimist

About The Author

WM Nixon

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William M Nixon has been writing about sailing in Ireland for many years in print and online, and his work has appeared internationally in magazines and books. His own experience ranges from club sailing to international offshore events, and he has cruised extensively under sail, often in his own boats which have ranged in size from an 11ft dinghy to a 35ft cruiser-racer. He has also been involved in the administration of several sailing organisations.

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