Eight young National Yacht Club sailors from Dun Laoghaire Harbour on Dublin Bay participated in an intensive training programme in Riva Del Garda, Italy recently. Theo Madigan, Daniel McDaid, Felix Dion, Lucas Browne, Louise Hanley, Hannah Walsh, Gemma Brady and Grace Keating are at the leading front of the new generation of 29er sailors, dreaming of following in the footsteps of World and European champions 2023.
Under the guidance of Olympic Development Squad Lauren O'Callaghan and Head Coach Thomas Chaix, the group spent two full weeks training in "boot camp style" in the extraordinary Lake Garda settings, clocking incredible hours afloat and getting a strong introduction to various cross-training options to develop their agility, cardiovascular fitness, and strength.
The full National Yacht Club 29er team at the Santa Barbara chapel (first day trail) include Theo Madigan, Daniel McDaid, Felix Dion, Lucas Browne, Louise Hanley, Hannah Walsh, Gemma Brady and Grace Keating
The tone was set on arrival with a quick session afloat followed by the unmissable climb to the chapel on the West side of Riva. The chapel climb is a tough trail of approximately 8 km return with the opportunity to overlook the sailing area from a great vantage point. The second day focused on some work afloat in order to prepare for 4 days of racing.
The Eurocup finals gathered 140 boats from all around Europe and delivered 13 races in various conditions ranging from drifter to 25 kts Northerlies. William Walsh and Eoin Byrne joined the team for the event and NYC sailors Lisa Flynn, Jules Start and Riona McMorrow Moriarty competed under the support of Irish Sailing.
The National Yacht Club 29er team of Theo Madigan and Daniel McDaid on Lake Garda
The Irish fleet certainly has a lot to learn and the event was the perfect eye opener of what the international standard is at and the work they have to do to get up to the required competitive level. Best finishers were William and Eoin who completed their challenge at the front of the Bronze fleet despite slipping shrouds issues (only noticed after the event unfortunately). The remaining of the Irish partnerships battled in Emerald fleet with some promising individual races and more importantly daily progress.
Once the event was over, the weather improved to a perfect clear sky delivering a typical "November Garda" with solid morning northerly breeze and balmy light air afternoons. It made our routine for the remaining 6 days of the camp simple enough with a 3-to-4-hour session afloat in the morning followed by a fitness-related activity in the afternoon, leaving the evenings for debriefs and informal chats with the sailors.
Video footage of the training sessions was at the core of delivering effective training afloat. Focus has been on the basic handling of the 29er with acceleration practice, tacks and gybes and a lot of straight line working on the 3 essentials of sailing a skiff effectively ( Balance, steering, trimming).
The afternoon training delivered session on bikes and running trails. The first cycling session followed the valley up Cavedine lake for a reasonably flat terrain session to introduce effective use of road bikes ( gear shifting, cadence management...). We then upped the difficulty with two sessions up the "Tenno climb", a 5.5% 9 km climb towards lake Tenno. These sessions delivered a more intense effort for 30-40 minutes followed by a recovery on the descent. Finally, 3 courageous sailors accepted the challenge of climbing "Monte Velo", an iconic cycling route up the Santa Barbara pass. 13 km at an average of 9% slope delivered over an hour of pain for Felix, Daniel and Lucas but with the satisfaction of completing the challenging cycle once back to the apartment. The remaining sailors opted for a run instead.
The National Yacht Club 29er team of cyclists are (right to left): Grace Keating, Hanah Walsh, Gemma Brady, Daniel McDaid, Felix Dion and Lucas Browne
And the time to pack eventually came drawing a close to an incredible two weeks of training, sailing, racing, cycling and gaining life skills.
The National Yacht Club 29er team launching on the final day of training on Lake Garda
