Royal St. George's Tom Higgins is fighting for a semi-final place at the 2023 International Youth Match Racing Championship in Australia.

The Harken-sponsored Championship is hosting some of the World’s best youth match racing talent, with competitors travelling from across the world, including the UK and Ireland, New Zealand, Canada and Brazil, as well as a strong representation from across Australia.

Racing commenced Tuesday and is running through until Friday, 8 December, in Pittwater, NSW.

It has been an action-packed season for Higgins, an Irish ILCA ace from UCD that saw him compete at the USA's Governor's Cup in July, as well as a historic team race win at BUSA in April and the 75th ITRA title on home waters.

At the end of the first day of racing, with nine flights completed, RPAYC’s team of Daniel Kemp (skipper), Isabella Holdsworth, William Hough, Lachlan Wallace and Charlie Verity were top of the leaderboard.

2023 International Youth Match Racing Championship Leaderboard

The teams from Rutland Sailing Club (Great Britain) and Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron (AUS) were in joint 2nd place with the rest of the competition spread out among the remaining places.

Experienced Race Officer Ted Anderson commended sailors for their conduct during the first day of competition, “The Crews have excelled and are really well behaved, both on and off the water, which made Race Management that much easier for our team”.

Flags of the competing nations fly at the Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club for the 2023 International Youth Match Racing Championship

Leading into day 2, the course was set at the top of Morning Bay, and the afternoon continued to pump a Southerly down Pittwater, which had the start of racing in 14knts before dropping slightly by midday, averaging 9-11knots.

The southerly tested boat handling skills, especially with kites hoisted when screaming in to round the gate marks, with some teams using their spinnakers as sea drogues.

Established in 1992, the HARKEN International Youth Match Racing Championship has grown into a world-renowned international youth event.

Round Robin 1 finished with 4 teams on 7 wins heading into Round Robin 2. At the close of racing, Ben Tylecote from Rutland Sailing Club, UK, was the stand-out leader. Tylecote and his crew achieved 12 wins from 14 matches.

Round Robin 2 will be wrapped up tomorrow, with the top four Skippers hoping to qualify for the Stage 3 Semi Finals.

Royal St. George's Tom Higgins will compete this December at the 2023 International Youth Match Racing Championship in Australia.

It has been an action-packed season for the ILCA ace from UCD that saw him compete at the USA's Governor's Cup in July as well as a historic team race win at BUSA in April and last weekend's 75th ITRA title on home waters,

The Harken-sponsored Championship will once again host some of the World’s best youth match racing talent, with competitors travelling from across the world, including UK and Ireland, New Zealand, Canada and Brazil, as well as a strong representation from across Australia.

After receiving over 20 applications from teams to compete, the Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club in Newport, NSW, had a tough decision to select the final 10 teams. The 2023 lineup sees an exciting mix of developing and experienced Match Racing teams, looking to have their name etched on the Rockin’ Robin Perpetual Trophy.

The 2023 International Youth Match Racing Championship Rockin’ Robin Perpetual Trophy

The 2023 edition sees five skippers taking part in their first event at RPAYC. International entrants include Nicolas Bernal from Santo Amaro Yacht Club in Brazil, Ben Tylecote from Rutland Sailing Club in Great Britain, Jack Frewin from Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron, Tom Higgins from Royal Saint George Yacht Club in Ireland, and Richard Rychlik Jr from Oakville Yacht Squadron in Canada.

RPAYC’s Senior Head Instructor commented on the lineup of teams for this year's Championship. 'The excitement is building as we look forward to welcoming emerging youth match teams from all over the world to Pittwater. To have 6 different nations, and nine clubs represented is a testament to the global recognition of this world-class event'.

The 2023 lineup sees an exciting mix of developing and experienced Match Racing teams compete int he RPAYC’s fleet of Elliott 7 yachts

Leading the local talent competing this year are two teams from the Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club. Daniel Kemp finished in 5th position in the 2022 edition of the Youth Match Racing Championship. 'After competing last year, it is awesome for myself and the team to have the opportunity once again to represent our home club RPAYC at this prestigious event – we can not wait for the racing to begin!'.

Hugo Butterworth, also from Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club, was a crew member in last year's event, but is now stepping up to lead a team. 'This year’s will be my first Grade 3 event as a Skipper, and the suspense is very intense! As a team, we are super excited about the fierce competition and experience that lies ahead of us'.

Not only will the 2023 Championship attract sailors from across the world, but RPAYC is also thrilled to once again welcome an experienced Race Management and an international cast of Umpires, with club stalwart Ted Anderson returning as Race Officer, and Richard Slater heading up the Umpire team.

The regatta commences with official proceedings on Monday 4th, December, with four days of Match Racing on the RPAYC’s fleet of Elliott 7 yachts from Tuesday 5th to Friday 8th December.

The Irish Team Racing Association’s 75th National Championships concluded Saturday in the Royal St George Yacht Club at Dun Laoghaire Harbour. The round-robin event was truncated to a day’s racing as the forecast showed winds gusting to 30 knots Sunday morning.

Eighteen teams competed in the event, and after sixty races in two round-robin leagues, the top four teams progressed to a semifinal knockout.

Tight racing at the ITRA 75th Anniversary team racing at Dun Laoghaire Harbour

Baltimore, comprising UCC alumni, was the top team in League A, with Georges Street clear second. George Jesters, the UCD alumni team, topped League B but with Lunsters edging Bunkers on % wins.

The league toppers progressed from the semis to the final, although Lunsters took a race off Baltimore, having suffered a capsize in the first race.

The best of three finals started in the fading light of dusk with a brisk breeze with intermittent strong squalls.

Control off the startline was to be critical. Baltimore emerged into a winning combination to take the first race. Jesters struck back to even the score and forced a decider in failing light.

An ITRA Finals race at dusk in Dun Laoghaire Harbour

Jesters controlled well off the start line in the final race and sailed into a one-two combination which they didn’t yield, taking the 75th anniversary event and adding it to their BUSA crown.

ITRA Silver Medalists Baltimore Sailing Club= Johnny Durcan, Fionn Lyden & Mark Hassett. Crews: Trudy O'Hare, Rosa Lyden & Adam Hyland

The Petit Final was won by Georges Street, defeating Lunster's sudden death. Prestige Worldwide won the youth event, and Holy Child Killiney were awarded the all-girl team prize.

ITRA Bronze Medalists Georges Street, Peter Fagan, Toby Fowler & Noah McCarthy Crews - Emma Gallagher, Fiona Ferguson, & Rosemary Tyrrell

At the event dinner in George, John Sheehy presented ITRA outgoing Chairman Ailbe Millerick & outgoing ITRA Secretary Eunice Kennedy jacket awards for their long service to Team Racing in Ireland.

John Sheehy (centre) presents ITRA outgoing Chairman Ailbe Millerick & outgoing ITRA Secretary Eunice Kennedy with ITRA jacket awards

2023 ITRA Champions George Jesters

Jack Fahy, Liam Glynn, Tom Higgins
Crews: Kathy Kelly, Emilly Hill & Cian Lynch

Silver Medalists Baltimore Sailing Club
Johnny Durcan, Fionn Lyden & Mark Hassett.
Crews: Trudy O'Hare, Rosa Lyden & Adam Hyland.

Bronze Medalists Georges Street
Peter Fagan, Toby Fowler & Noah McCarthy
Crews - Emma Gallagher, Fiona Ferguson, & Rosemary Tyrrell.

First Youth - Prestige Worldwide
Russell Bolger, Max Cantwell, and Peter Williams
Crews - Lilley Dwyer, Patrick Foley and Ella Dempsey

All-girl team prize  

Olivia Ryan, Zita Tempany, Nora Jane Sexton, Orla Casey, Molly O'Flaherty, Ameline Hennessy, Lily Donagh, Lucia Cullen and H.C.K. Principal Caroline O'Brien

A team racing party piece at the Royal St. George Yacht Club ITRA dinner 

Almost 90 junior and youth Royal St. George sailors came together on Friday evening in Dun Laoghaire Harbour on Dublin Bay to celebrate a season of sailing successes.

Despite the formal dress and elegant surroundings of the RStGYC dining room, there was raucous laughter and fun as stories were shared of a great summer of sailing. With large fleets of Optimist and ILCA, a thriving Team Racing programme, and growing participation in Waszp, Feva, Toppers and 29ers, there was much to celebrate.

Much of the camaraderie amongst this group has been forged by the annual Elmo Team Racing trophy, which attracts almost 200 sailors, and the numerous national and international events the junior sailors travel to.

Irish Junior Champions Cup, currently underway in Schull in West Cork, and many of the RSGYC top performers were unfortunately unable to attend the dinner. Congratulations to Max O’Hare, Russel Bolger, Lucy Ives, Lily Donagh, Lucia Cullen and Patrick Foley who represented the RSGYC at the event, previously called the “Junior Helmsmans”.

This table of (mostly) TY sailors were particularly vocal at the RSGYC Junior dinner!

Mark Hennessy (Commodore), Robbie Walker (Junior Organiser) and Cian Lynch (Senior Instructor) managed proceedings on the evening with the participation of an enthusiastic group of 13 instructors who worked with the junior section over the summer.

The evening culminated with impromptu karaoke, led by the instructors, to the great amusement of all!

Almost 90 junior sailors congregated in the dining hall of the RSGYC to celebrate their annual Junior Dinner on Friday, 28th October.

PERFORMANCE AWARDS:

Manna Cup – Best Asset to Junior Sailing: awarded to Max O’Hare, for both his excellent performance in Optimist and Team Racing this season and his infectious smile and endearing attitude. Team Racing has grown exponentially at the RSGYC in recent years and special mention was made of the contribution of 3 teams who did particularly well in the recent Elmo Trophy: Prestige Worldwide, SAC 4 Cup and Forget Me Knots. In particular, Trevor Bolger was thanked for his contributions to driving the development of team racing at the club.

Cox Trophy – Best international Result: awarded to Lucia Cullen and Alana Twomey for winning the 29er European Championships. This is the second year that this amazing crew have been awarded for their performance in the 29er skiff. Special mention was made of sisters, Emily and Jessica Riordan, who finished second in the 29er world championships, and of Fiachra McDonnell for his excellent international performance in ILCA 6.

Reggie Lee Trophy - Best Laser at European or Worlds: Awarded to Ava Ennis, for the second year in a row. The RSGYC has a particularly strong ILCA fleet, and special mention was made of Seth Walker, Emily Cantwell, Kate Flood, Sam Ledoux, Daniel O’Connor, Krzysztof Ciborowski, and Brian Carroll, who all participated at world championships in 2023. Further congratulations were given to Patrick Foley and crew Marcus Shelly, who was selected to represent the ILCA fleet at the Irish Junior Champs Cup.

Junior Organisers Cup / Clare McKenna Cup - Best Intern: awarded to Sadbhb Sheehy for her tireless and enthusiastic work over the summer. In her acceptance speech, Sadbh highlighted the great TY program that is offered by the Dun Laoghaire waterfront clubs and outlined the pathway that sailors can take to achieve their instructor certification.

Sadbhb Sheehy (left), receiving the Clare McKenna Cup for her role as intern on the RSGYC summer programme; awarded by Robbie Walker (middle), and Mark Hennessy (right)

Millennium Trophy - Best Optimist at Worlds or Europeans – awarded to Jules Start. In his acceptance speech, Jules spoke of the pathway he has followed from Optimists, to Feva, to Team Racing and ,most recently, to ILCA 4. He highlighted the importance of sailing in both single handed and double handed boats and how much he enjoys the social element to sailing and in particular, the fun of the Feva fleet.
Special Mention was made of Caoilinn Geraghty-McDonnell who has over the recent years dominated the podium with her winning results Optimist.

SUMMER SAILING AWARDS

Basic Skills - Toby Cup: awarded to David and Jack Williams

Improving Skills - McCarthy Cup: awarded to Finn Foley

Advanced Boat Handling - Arthur Chadwick Cup: awarded to Holly Cantwell

Summer course award winners pictured with Senior instructor, Cian Lynch (Centre).  From left:  David and Jack Williams,  Cian Lynch, Finn Foley, and Holly Cantwell

The Royal St. George Yacht Club is running an inaugural Melges 15 'Sprint' championship this Saturday with ILCA/Laser dinghies invited to the Dun Laoghaire Harbour event.

The Grant Thornton sponsored Melges 15 & ILCA ‘8-Race Championship’ is open to Laser Standard (ILCA 7), Laser Radial (ILCA 6) and Laser 4.7 (ILCA 4) and the new Melges 15 fleet.

Up to nine of the Melges 15 dinghies are entered, and up to 40 plus ILCAs are excepted to compete with the biggest fleet expected to be the ILCA 6 or Radial.

To live up to its event billing, Race Officer Barry O'Neill is aiming to run eight races on the day, even though the weekend forecast shows light winds.

A 19-boat entry will contest the Waszp and Moth Irish National Championships at Dun Laoghaire Harbour's Royal St. George Yacht Club this weekend (August 19th and 20th).

For the first time in the burgeoning class, the entry list includes a strong Northern Ireland entry as the foiling fleet builds at Ballyholme on Belfast Lough, as Afloat reported here.

At least 30 Waszps are in Ireland this season, with a number of boats competing in Europe.

As both boat types need approximately ten knots to fully foil, all eyes are on the weekend weather forecast that looks promising for the Dublin Bay race track with plenty of strong southwesterly winds for Saturday at least.

The championship will consist of a maximum of eight races but up to a maximum of six races may be scheduled on any one day.

The target time for each of the Waszp National Championship races is approx. 20 minutes. For the Moth National Championship, the target time is approx 25 minutes.

After success at the Portuguese Grand Slam earlier this month, Michael O’Connor was already up to speed in the SB20 class, but with only two wins from seven races, the Royal St. George Yacht Club ace did not have it all his own way in a tightly fought 14-boat Eastern Championships at Dun Laoghaire Harbour on Sunday afternoon.

The entire championships were reduced to one afternoon after losing Saturday and Sunday morning to no wind on Dublin Bay.  

Despite the time constraint, Race Officer Barry O'Neill ushered in a new championship format of short sharp racing in five to 10-knot conditions. The longest race was 23 minutes, and the shortest 19. All the boats finished within one and a half minutes of the winner in all races. 

A start at the 14-boat Royal St. George Yacht Club SB20 Eastern Championships on Dublin Bay Photo: Orla Finnegan

O'Neil told Afloat there had been a 'superb' response to the new format from the fleet superb but was unsure how it might work in 20 knots. 

Seven races from a possible 12 were completed, with one discard applied.

Sailing with Davy Taylor and Keith Staunton, O'Connor ended up on top with 13 points, but just a point adrift in second were Stefan Hyde, Jerry Dowling and Jimmy Dowling on Bàd/Kilcullen. 

Third, again by a single-point margin, was Royal Cork Yacht Club trio Mel Collins, Aidan Mac Sweeny and Kieran Dorgan in Gold Digger.

The new SB20 course format deployed for the 2023 Eastern Championships on Dublin Bay includes the option of stopping a race after one round with 'no drama'.

Race Officer Barry O'Neill will try and get the first races of the 16-boat SB20 Easterns underway this Sunday lunchtime after cancelling Saturday's programme due to lack of wind on Dublin Bay.

O'Neill says there is no point in planning an earlier start as the forecast for the morning is poor. 

O'Neill and his race committee went to sea on Saturday at 9.30 hours but kept the fleet ashore using a rolling AP. 

Even though a gentle five-knot breeze filled around the Bay's East Mark at noon and the fleet came out, it was to no avail as, by the time they got to the race track, the breeze had turned off.

The fleet returned to shore without racing at 2.30 pm as per the Sailing Instructions.

Royal St George Yacht Club event organisers had planned to run more short races in a new format Championships, but this looks likely to be curtailed by the light winds.

A change to the sailing instructions has been made to extend racing until 4 pm on Sunday to give some chance of completing a series.

Royal St. George Yacht Club youth ILCA ace Fiachra McDonnell has finished seventh in Italy's Eurilca Europa Cup.

The Irish champion, who has had a busy start to 2023, earned the ILCA 6 male division result after seven races in a 75-boat fleet at the Fraglia Vela Riva regatta on Lake Garda.

A consistent scoreline saw McDonnell count six results in the top ten, but it was the host nation's Antonio Pascali who stole the show by winning six out of seven races. The Fraglia Vela Riva athlete lined up with his teammate Mattia Cesana and the Swede Erik Norlen on the podium.

The Next round of the Europa Cup Trophy will be the 2023 EurILCA Europa Cup FRA in Canet en Roussillon, France, from May 26 at Club Nautique Canet Perpignan.

Results are downloadable below

Michael O’Connor, David Taylor and Ed Cook sailing Ted from the Royal St George Yacht Club, finished second overall in last weekend’s SB20 Grand Slam held in Cascais, Portugal.

The local team of Vasco Serpa, Diogo Pinto and Pedro Alemão led the event from the first race and won convincingly in the end with a total of 16 points.

Ted ended the 9 race, 1 discard series in second on 24 points, 4 points ahead of reigning World Champion Jose Paulo Ramada (sailing with Henrique Brites, Luis Pinheiro and Miguel Leal Faria) on 28 points in third.

After racing concluded on Monday, the team on Ted were all smiles and thoroughly delighted with the event. “We had three days of champagne sailing conditions, 20-24 degrees Celsius and 10-24 knots of wind. Some of the best racing that we’ve had in years.” according to crew member Edward Cook.

“The first two days were held on the inner course in Cascais, close to the shore in an offshore breeze. The wind there is very shifty, swinging through 40 degrees over the course of the day, and the gusts are twice the average wind strength. In a planing boat like the SB20, massive gains can be made by hooking into the extra pressure and getting on the right side of a shift, so it really keeps you on your toes. The race is not over until it's over.” added Davy Taylor. “The third and final day looked like it was going to be lighter than the first two days, so the Race Committee brought us out to the offshore course, where the wind tends to be that bit stronger and steadier in direction. In the end, we were treated to gusts of over 20 knots and were hitting speeds of over 17 knots on the downwind legs,” beamed Taylor.

RStGYC trio Michael O’Connor, David Taylor and Ed Cook at the SB20 Cascais Grand Slam in Portugal Photo: Joao Saraiva Mendes/SB20 Grand Slam

Next up for the RStGYC trio will be the pre-worlds event in May 2023 followed by the worlds in June 2023, to be held in Sheveningen, The Netherlands.

Meanwhile, The local Irish SB20 fleet looks to build on the success of the recent Northern Championships with their Eastern Championships on 20/21 May 2023, hosted by the RStGYC.