Howth Yacht Club Prepares for Leinster Optimist Dinghy Championships

1st July 2021

Howth Yacht Club is the venue for this weekend's Optimist Leinster Championships

The flags are up for the Provident CRM Optimist Leinsters and the Howth Yacht Club boat park is being cleared of other boats, to make space for the 65 or so Optimists who will compete for the Leinster Championships this weekend. These young sailors are itching to get going with their first regional event of 2021.

In order to make the event happen, Howth YC came up with an innovative plan to split the club premises in two, with sailors, coaches and volunteers having exclusive access to the boat park area of the club. This has ensured the event stays within the 100 persons limit from a Covid perspective, while still enabling the members to enjoy the club too.

The reigning (2019) Senior Fleet champion, HYC's Rocco Wright has bigger prizes on his mind this weekend at the Optimist Worlds in Lake Garda, with the current Junior Fleet champion Cillian Twomey, also of the host club aiming to lift the Senior title this weekend. There will be lots of competition though, with the current Junior Fleet National Champion Caoilinn Geraghty McDonnell from RStGYC and Des Turvey from HYC among the favourites in their first year in the Senior fleet. There are a number of others too who plan to have their say on proceedings.

The scene at Howth with flags flying for the Provident CRM Optimist Leinster Championships

The Junior Fleet (Age 12 & under) is wide open, with a number of newer sailors in the fleet determined to make their mark.

International Race Officer David Lovegrove and his experienced team will oversee the racing, with both fleets sailing together to keep proceedings moving briskly along.

The Leinster Championships is being generously sponsored by Provident CRM.

A really important element of the Optimist scene is the Regatta Fleet, who enjoy coached racing at these events.

An early decision was taken by IODAI to move the Regatta Fleet Leinster Championships to Malahide YC on the weekend of 10/11 July. This allows numbers to be maximised in all fleets, and offers the mainly younger Regatta Fleet sailors the chance to enjoy the excellent and slightly more benign waters of the Broadmeadows in Malahide.

Published in Optimist, Howth YC, Youth Sailing

Published in Optimist

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