Parkstone Sailor Regains Optimist Championship Lead at Royal St. George Yacht Club

13th August 2022

Afloat.ie Team

Racing on day three of the Irish Optimist Dinghy National Championships at the Royal St. George Yacht Club at Dun Laoghaire Credit: Andrew Conan

Dublin Bay turned up the heat again today for the Royal St. George Yacht Club run Irish Optimist National Championships, kindly sponsored by Grant Thornton, Avolon and SeaChange Now.

The sea breeze took a little longer to materialize, but when it did, it was certainly worth the wait.

After a course relocation further out into the Bay to get out to the building breeze, the Main Fleet was rewarded with a 10-13 knot easterly for their three races.

In the Senior Main fleet, GBR sailor Lila Edwards of Parkstone Yacht Club (PYC) showed her class again today with a second and first to add to her tally, leaving her in first overall, with Conor Cronin (MYC/RSGYC) and Harry Dunne (HYC/SDC) in second and third place respectively.

In the Junior Main Fleet, GBR sailors Eliana Edwards (PYS), Jonny Rogers (RLYC) & Harry Draper (PYC) hold first, second and third place respectively, with FRE sailor Lochlainn Hanley (LYC/CVS) just a point behind in fourth place.

The Regatta Racing fleet were raced closer to shore off the back of the East Pier and were challenged with a strong ebb tide in a slightly weaker breeze than Main Fleet, however, race officer David Bolger persevered and managed to get a remarkable five races in, bringing the total race schedule to seven so far. GBR sailor Finn Byrne of Royal Southern leads Oliver Ryan (MYC/RSGYC), with Aurele Dion (NYC) in third.

Following a morning in the harbour doing race practice, the Regatta Coached fleet joined the Regatta Racing fleet outside in the Bay for the afternoon and managed to get three super races in, leaving Zoe O’Hare, Adam Anderson & Jessica Walsh (all RSGYC) in first, second and third place respectively.

After a long day on the water, competitors were treated to hot food and Teddy's ice cream, which went down as a real treat amongst hungry sailors.

This was followed by the daily prize giving and firm event favourite, the ‘in it to win it draw’, which included signed Irish rugby jerseys and phones compliments of Vodafone, as well as lots of lovely Viking Marine, provided loot.

Race Results

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Published in Optimist, RStGYC

Published in Optimist

Tagged under

Optimist

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2026 IODAI Optimist Calendar

Sprint Series – February–March: 3 single-day events. Details to follow. (Suitable for seasoned main fleet sailors in winter programmes only)
Irish Sailing Youth Nationals, Ballyholme Yacht Club – 9–12 April (Invite only)
Junior and Senior Development Squads Training, Lough Ree Yacht Club – 2–4 May Bank Holiday (Squads only)
U12 Training, Lough Ree Yacht Club – 2–4 May (Bank Holiday) (Squad only)
Ulsters, Strangford Lough Yacht Club – 16–17 May (Open)
Munsters, Waterford Harbour Sailing Club – 13–14 June (Open)
Leinsters, Howth Yacht Club – 18–19 July (Open)
=National Team Racing Champs, Royal Cork Yacht Club – 12 August (Open)
National Championships, RCYC – 13–16 August (Open)
Connachts, GBSC – 12–13 September (Open)