Five boats from Kinsale Yacht Club’s growing Squib fleet travelled to Killyleagh Yacht Club on Strangford Lough for the Irish Squib National Championships, where Ian Travers and Keith O’Riordan reclaimed the national title in Atomic.
As Afloat reported, the six-race championship produced six different race winners as light and testing conditions kept the fleet closely matched throughout the weekend.
Kinsale Wins Both Friday Races
Kinsale crews made an immediate impact in Friday evening’s opening two races.
Travers and O’Riordan won the first race in Atomic, while Sean and Paul Murphy followed with victory in Crackers, fresh from their success at the Squib Eastern Regional Championship.
Light airs and difficult conditions continued into Saturday, with Richard Callanan and Frank McGowan in The Beesknees and Pat Salter and Padraig McGillicuddy in Pot Black among the Kinsale crews enjoying the close competition.
Bobby Nash and Una Leader also recorded a top-ten result aboard Flora in Race Five.
Atomic Adds Second National Crown
After six races, Travers and O’Riordan emerged as Irish National Champions aboard Atomic, reclaiming the title they previously won in 2022.
Kinsale Yacht Club Squib Fleet Class Captain John Sullivan hailed the victory and the performance of all five travelling crews.
“Winning a national title is a massive achievement. A huge congratulations to Ian and Keith and to all four other travelling crews who did Kinsale proud,” Sullivan said.
Kinsale Yacht Club Commodore Anthony O’Neill said the results reflected the growing strength of Squib sailing at the club.
“A massive congratulations to Ian and Keith on bringing the National Championship home to Kinsale once again,” O’Neill said. “Congratulations to our entire Squib fleet for such a superb performance at Killyleagh. Having five boats travel and compete so strongly at the very top level is a fantastic testament to the depth and spirit of Squib sailing at the club.”
Squib Southerns Next for Kinsale
Attention now turns to the Frank Clark Ltd Squib Southern Championships, which Kinsale Yacht Club will host on September 5th and 6th. The event will give the Kinsale fleet another chance to race on home waters after its strong showing at the Irish Nationals.
