Kinsale Yacht Club’s Ian Travers and Keith O’Riordan have won the Mash Direct-sponsored Squib Irish National Championship at Killyleagh Yacht Club on Strangford Lough.
The *Atomic* pairing emerged seven points clear after six races sailed from Friday, 14 August to Sunday, 16 August, in predominantly light conditions.
Travers and O’Riordan counted 1,3,4,4,5 for 17 points after discarding a 14th in Race 4.
Driscoll Takes Second
Royal North of Ireland Yacht Club’s John Driscoll took second overall in *Aficionado* on 24 points.
Driscoll had a difficult opening race with a UFD, which became his discard, but recovered strongly with 9,3,4,6,2 over the remaining five races.
His second place in the final race secured the runner-up position, seven points behind *Atomic*.
Vincent Delany and Joe O’Byrne, representing Royal St George Yacht Club and Lough Derg Yacht Club in *Femme Fatale*, completed the podium on 25 points.
They finished the championship strongly by winning the sixth and final race.
Patterson Loses Podium on Tie-Break
Royal North of Ireland’s Gordon Patterson and Ross Nolan in *Quickstep III* also finished on 25 points but lost out to *Femme Fatale* on tie-break and were fourth.
Killyleagh Yacht Club’s Steven Bridges was fifth in *Firecracker* on 29 points, one point ahead of Royal Irish Yacht Club’s Aidan O’Connell in *RubyBlue* in sixth.
Kinsale’s Sean Murphy was seventh in *Crackers*, with Killyleagh’s Simon Watson eighth in *Volante*.
Stephen Stewart’s *Second Chance* was ninth, while Greg Bell’s *Prodigal* completed the top ten.
Another Killyleagh Success for Atomic
The Irish title continues a strong run at Killyleagh for Travers and O’Riordan.
The Kinsale pair also won the Squib Northern Championship at the Strangford Lough club in May 2025, when they came through a 30-boat fleet to take the title.
Their latest success comes after *Atomic* also finished tenth at the 2026 UK Squib National Championship in South Caernarvonshire in June.
The latest edition of Vincent Delany’s unofficial Irish Squib Ladder also highlights *Atomic*’s consistency. Although Travers and O’Riordan have missed two ranking events during the past year, Delany notes that their results would otherwise put them at the head of the 62-boat ranking.
Delany and O’Byrne remain at the top of the unofficial ladder following their third place at Killyleagh.
Top Ten – Squib Irish National Championship
- *Atomic* — Ian Travers/Keith O’Riordan (Kinsale YC) — 17 pts
- *Aficionado* — John Driscoll (RNIYC) — 24 pts
- *Femme Fatale* — Vincent Delany/Joe O’Byrne (LDYC/RStGYC) — 25 pts
- *Quickstep III* — Gordon Patterson/Ross Nolan (RNIYC/KYC) — 25 pts
- *Firecracker* — Steven Bridges (KYC) — 29 pts
- *RubyBlue* — Aidan O’Connell (RIYC) — 30 pts
- *Crackers* — Sean Murphy (Kinsale YC) — 40 pts
- *Volante* — Simon Watson (KYC) — 41 pts
- *Second Chance* — Stephen Stewart (RNIYC/KYC) — 43 pts
- *Prodigal* — Greg Bell (RNIYC/SLYC) — 45 pts
