A fleet of more than 70 Lasers (ILCA class) from 20 clubs around the country will be arriving in Dunmore East this weekend to compete in the two-day Port of Waterford Laser Connaught Championships, which is taking place on May 7 and 8.

Expected to compete are a number of the Dun Laoghaire sailors that featured recently at the Masters' Championships in Spain. 

Racing starts at 12 midday on Saturday and 10 am on Sunday, with three races planned per day.

Waterford Harbour Sailing Club itself is home to a growing Laser fleet at all levels, and sailors at the club recently had a highly successful training weekend with Tokyo campaigner Aisling Keller.

Seven local sailors will be taking part this weekend.

There are historical links between the popular single-handed dinghy and Waterford, as the city was one of the global manufacturing bases for the boat. The Laser was manufactured at the Performance Sailcraft plant in the industrial estate for a period during the 1970s and early 1980s.

WHSC Commodore Roy Power said he was delighted to welcome the ILCA event back to Dunmore East. “We’re always thrilled to host visiting sailors at Dunmore East and show off the spectacular sailing this part of the country has to offer. We’d like to thank Port of Waterford for their generosity in sponsoring the Championships.”

Twelve Dun Laoghaire Harbour Laser/ILCA sailors competed last weekend at the XIV edition of the Spanish ILCA Masters, at picturesque Calella de Palafrugell on the Costa Brava coast.

Racing in nine ILCA 6’s (Radials) and three ILCA 7’s (Full rigs), the sailors came from RStGYC, NYC and the Coal Harbour.

Ireland was also represented on the water by our International Judge/Umpire Michael O’Connor, from Kinsale.

This is one of the most popular regattas on the popular EuroMasters circuit which attracts over 700 ILCA sailors to various wonderful venues each year. For this regatta, hosted by the hospitable Club Vela Calella, there were 64 ILCA 6s and 34 ILCA 7s.

(Above and below) The Spanish ILCA Masters at picturesque Calella de Palafrugell on the Costa Brava coast

Sailed in glorious sunshine throughout and very pleasant temperatures, the regatta began on Thursday, April 28 with an epic practice race in 15-20 knots, followed by Day 1 proper with 3 races in 10-14 knots but, by the weekend, competing weather systems left the venue windless and only one more race was possible on the Sunday. So Friday was key and, despite a very one-sided first beat, results were very up and down as starts were congested (especially with the 6’s) and finding lanes on the favoured port lay line was absolutely treacherous.

The Irish squad proved that the vibrant local Masters' scene means our sailors are very competitive and all acquitted themselves well. Off the water too, where the team represented the second-largest contingent after the hosts, among the 13 countries represented!

In the ILCA 6’s, Monica Azon claimed first overall for Spain, proving her pedigree as a dual Olympian from 2004 and 2008. She was pushed hard by Max Hunt (GBR), very well known for his specialist ILCA parts business. Next were Dutch and Mexican competitors (the latter preparing for the Master Worlds in Mexico in June) and the top 5 was rounded off by Sean Craig (RStGYC), a result which also gave him a podium 2nd in the 28-boat Grand Master category. The next best of the Irish was Judy O’Beirne in 28th overall (and 6th lady overall), followed by Sean Flanagan in 32nd, Shirley Gilmore in 34th and Michael Norman in 37th.

In the ILCA 7’s, the Spanish dominated, taking the top 6 overall and the great Jose Luis Doreste (470 Gold in 1984 Games and Flying Dutchman Gold in 1996 Games) didn’t actually make top three. Best of the Irish was Theo Lyttle in 17th overall who had the satisfaction of a win in the Practice race.

The Irish competitors were ; Alison Pigot (NYC), Ali Robinson (RStGYC), Judy O’Beirne (RStGYC), Shirley Gilmore (RStGYC), Michael Norman (Coal Harbour/Wicklow SC), Hugh Cahill (Coal Harbour/DBSC), Sean Flanagan (RStGYC), David Cahill (NYC), Sean Craig (RStGYC), Theo Lyttle (RStGYC), Conor O’Leary (RStGYC), Chris Arrowsmith (RStGYC)

The 2022 ILCA Master European Championships will take place not far up the coast from Calella de Palafrugell, in October, at L’Escala. A strong Irish team is expected to compete.

Results of the 2022 Spanish Masters are downloadable below

The transition from junior to senior sailing is difficult at the best of times, and the Irish “Sailor of the Year 2021” Eve McMahon of Howth has found that the arbitrary dictates of personal birth dates means that she has been dealing with the demands of the Leaving Cert in her education, while at the same time taking her departure from the junior scene to move towards the challenges of the bigger world.

Yet she did it in considerable style in April’s Youth Nationals at Ballyholme, where the 38-strong ILCA 6/Radial fleet from all over Ireland may not have been the most numerous class, but there’s no doubting that it was the sharp end of the entire regatta. And even with some days providing strong onshore winds with waves of such size that they had to be handled individually rather than as a sequence, she finished in style with two wins on the final day, and the title with it.

Baltimore Sailing Club welcomed over 80 ILCA/Lasers for the Munster Championship this Easter bank holiday weekend.

The magnificent West Cork setting that is Baltimore delivered superb sailing conditions with South/South Westerly winds averaging between 15-18 knots over the course of the weekend. Expert Race Officer, Kieran McSweeney and his team, set a trapezoid course format for the six-race event series with three races on a Saturday and three on the Sunday.

True to form in the ultra-competitive ILCA 7 (Standard Fleet), Paris 2024 campaigner Ewan McMahon of HYC took first place overall with a flawless six first place results. 

A startline view of the Laser Munster Championships at Baltimore in West Cork

Hot on his heels in second place overall was Micheal O’Suilleabhain of KYC. Darragh Kelleher of SSC took third overall and was first placed Master.

Second placed Master in fourth overall was Dan O’Connell, while Nick Walsh of RCYC was third-placed Master and fifth overall. The ILCA 7 fleet has seen huge growth this season thanks to the Irish ILCA Association promotional offer of free annual membership and event entry to the 18-30-year-old age group. This has proven to be a great initiative in attracting this cohort back to the association and taking part in regional events once again.

In the considerably sized and super-competitive ILCA 6 (Radial) fleet, Rocco Wright and Eve McMahon (both of HYC) shared equal net points with the former taking first place overall on count-back.

Chris Bateman of PWWC took third overall and just one nett point behind first and second, showing there was little or nothing between the top three. Sean Craig, Marco Sorgassi and Brendan Hughes (all RSGYC) took first, second and third-placed Masters in eighth, tenth and fifteenth place overall.

In the ILCA 4 (4.7 fleet) Daniel O’Connor of RSGYC took first place overall, very close behind was Sienna Wright of HYC while Daniel Palmer of BYC was third overall. A large cohort of this group used the event as practice for the upcoming Irish Youth Sailing Nationals in Ballyholme this coming weekend as did their friends in the ILCA 6 fleet.

The first female Master in the ILCA 6 was Judy O’Beirne of RSGYC

Full results can be found here

Next up is the ILCA/Laser Connaught Championship in Waterford Harbour Sailing Club, Dunmore East from 07 – 08 May.

The magnificent setting that is Baltimore delivered superb sailing conditions

The Laser (ILCA) Munster Championship at Baltimore Sailing Club in West Cork, ever a class favorite event, has not failed again this season with 80 boats currently entered including Olympians and top youth sailors. 

Entries continue to pour in from all four corners of the country, with 26 individual clubs now represented.

Amongst those entering are brothers and fellow Olympic campaigners, Ewan and Jamie McMahon and sister Eve, 2021 Irish Sailor of the Year and 2021 Youth World Champion.

Ewan McMahon

They will be joined by top youth sailors Jonathan O’Shaughnessy, Oisin Hughes, Luke Turvey, Sophie Kilmartin, Fiachra McDonnell and hot off his Sprint Series Regatta win in Dun Laoghaire last week in the ILCA 6, Rocco Wright. Rocco and Co will undoubtedly be using the five-race Sprint Series which attracted 65 ILCAs to Dublin Bay last weekend to get a jump on their closest competitors.

Olympian Finn Lynch who had success at the Princess Sofia Regatta last week with a fourth place finish was understood to be heading for Baltimore but will not now be travelling.

Investing in training

As announced at the recent Irish ILCA AGM, the class is investing heavily in training, development, events and social, the four pillars which make the ILCA class the most successful and arguably, most fun, dinghy class in Ireland today.

The fruits of this effort can be seen in the sheer number of entries from Rush Sailing Club, where, Tokyo campaigner Aisling Keller, has been recently spending time with members there to hone their racing skills.

Tokyo campaigner Aisling Keller

Aisling is actively engaged with several other Clubs throughout the country to help develop their youth squads. Another initiative the class are investing in is the concept of chartering, where boats that aren’t being used by local club members for an event can be rented to competitors. This may help those that don’t want the hassle of towing/roof-racking to events or simply don’t have the means to do so.

Racing is just part of what makes the ILCA such a fun, competitive class. The Munster’s and all ILCA events are also heavily focused on the social side, with entertainment and activities for all ages.

This can be seen in the large contingent of families that travel to events and the resulting slagging that inevitably arises both on and off the water between competing mums, dads, sons and daughters….invariably youth wins out in the end!

Remaining ILCA 2022 Event Calendar

• Connaught Championships – WHSC, Dunmore East, Co. Waterford - 07/08 May
• Master Championships – NYC, Dun Laoghaire, Co. Dublin – 28/29 May
• Leinster Championships – RStGYC, Dun Laoghaire, Co. Dublin – 23/24 July
• Ulster Championships – SLYC, Newtownards, Co. Down – 02/03 July
• National Championships – TBSC, Fenit, Co. Kerry – 18/21 Aug

This article was updated on April 13 to reflect the fact Finn Lynch is not competing in Baltimore

On painkillers and sailing with a swollen arm, Ireland's Finn Lynch secured his medal race place when he moved up to fifth place overall at the end of Gold fleet racing in the ILCA7/Laser single-handed fleet today at the Princesa Sofia regatta.

After another breezy day on the Bay of Palma The National Yacht Club sailor had a fifth place in the opening race of the day and followed with his worst result of the week, a 22nd which then became his discard.

The result marks the end of 10 races for the 163-boat class with the top ten placed boats going forward for a brief race on Saturday to decide the podium places.

The best place that Lynch can achieve is fourth to match his previous best at this regatta in 2019.

"Finn has put together a really solid event this week," said Lynch's coach Vasilij Zbogar. "He's had an issue with a swollen arm so it’s hard to sail but all credit to him, he didn't want to give up even on painkillers for two days."

"The upside is that we'll get some medal race practice after a long gap but the downside is that a medal isn't an option so fourth is the target."

British sailor Michael Beckett is  guaranteed a medal and hilled about carrying an 11 points lead into his medal race, ahead of Germany’s 2020 world champion Philipp Buhl and Australia’s Tokyo gold medallist Matt Wearn:

Beckett said, “I love the medal races. It is good to have a points gap. Last time I did this regatta I was 21^st and this is a great regatta and everyone is back after the Games. I have done a lot of work with the squad and this week I have been fast and it has just felt as good as I have felt in training.”

Ireland's other sailor in the ILCA7 event is Ewan McMahon Howth YC) who placed 32nd overall after the ten race fleet series ended and who is going to work on executing the upwind legs better.

McMahon's younger brother Jamie placed 25th in the Silver fleet after a promising start to the series on Monday when he scored top 20 results in his qualification flight.

The medal race final for the ILCA7 class takes place at 10 30 (Irish Summer time) on Saturday 9th April.

Full results here

Some clever sailing through minimising race course errors has put Finn Lynch into sixth place overall in the Laser/ILCA 7 class at the Princess Sofia Regatta in Mallorca today.

The National Yacht Club ace scored eighth and 14th in fresh winds today on the Bay of Palma, scores that give him a highly prized sixth place with just two races remaining in the Gold fleet series.

With the possibility of further improvement tomorrow, Lynch has the prospect of a medal race finish in his first event towards Paris 2024. 

Howth's Ewan McMahon slipped to 30th overall after placing 39th and 21st, his brother Jamie lies in  80th place in the 160-boat fleet.

Best of the Laser Men today was Olympic Champion Matt Wearn who continues his comeback from 32nd overall on the opening day of the competition. 

The Australian was third in the first race when it paid to go left and struggled a bit more in the next when it paid to go right, still scoring a reasonable 12th. Michael Beckett (GBR) was only a point less consistent than Wearn with 14th in the first race and narrowly missing out on a race win against Filip Jurišić (CRO) to finish second. “I got the day half right,” said Beckett, “which was probably about all that anyone managed today. It was hard to read the pattern of the breeze so that was a pretty good day out, really.”

A race win for Philipp Buhl (GER) puts the 2020 World Champion just two points behind Beckett’s lead, with Wearn now 15 points off the top. France’s Jean-Baptiste Bernaz, the overnight leader did not race today.

Results here

A most consistent performance from Irish Laser sailor Finn Lynch on the Bay of Palma shows the depth of the Rio Olympian's ambition for Paris 2024 as the National Yacht Club ace broke into the top ten overall of the 162-boat fleet.

Gold fleet racing started for the ILCA7 class today with Lynch taking an eighth place that matches his top ten scores of the qualification series.

A 15th place in the next race is his discard so far with four races remaining in the Gold fleet to decide the top ten boats that will sail Saturday's medal race final.

"I feel good after a tricky day with lots of shifty winds," said Lynch after racing. "I'm happy with my position after four days of racing to have not used my discard - 15th is still a good result in Gold fleet."

Ireland's other ILCA7 Gold fleet sailor Ewan McMahon had a mixed day, discarding a weighty 49th place but staying calm to deliver a third place straight after. The Howth sailor lies 23rd overnight.

Younger brother Jamie McMahon lies eleventh overall in the Silver fleet after a 14th and a discarded 47th place.

Racing continues for all fleets on Thursday and Friday to decide the top ten in each event for Saturday's medal race final.

French veteran campaigner Jean Baptiste Bernaz, who is setting out on his fifth consecutive Olympic journey looking to represent France at their home games holds the overall lead in the ILCA 7 class just one point ahead of his German training partner Philipp Buhl who won the second race for gold fleet.

“The first race was not easy there was one big wind shift and if you were not there you were finished. I lost about ten boats and finished 18th but the second race was better. It was that kind of day.” Said Buhl, the 2020 world champion who is looking to get to his third Olympics “This feels different this time because it is a much shorter lead in. It is not always enjoyable. When you are sitting around in the rain waiting it is not so nice but when you are leading a gold fleet race in the sunshine in good conditions this evening, that is good fun and keeps you motivated.”

Results here

The Royal Malta Yacht Club hosted the first-ever Malta ILCA/Laser Masters regatta, part of the extremely popular EuroMasters Circuit. The regatta took place from March 18-20.

As a first-ever edition, slightly off the beaten track, the very small turnout of 12 ILCA 6/Laser Radials and just three ILCA 7/Laser Standards was to be expected. However, it is expected that word will quickly spread for next year following the show of hospitality and organisation by the hosts.

Owing to something of a storm for the three days and the worst weather in Malta since 2019, racing was confined to Valetta Harbour, with the middle day cancelled due to 40-knot winds and enormous waves at the harbour-mouth. Competitors and their supporters enjoyed a regatta reception, a closing night dinner and excellent shoreside support, featuring Irish transition-year students on a TY sailing programme. These guys risked life and limb to get the Master sailors launched out and back again, in a very tricky onshore wind and swell!

The small fleet of twelve ILCA 6’s from seven nations had really good racing, as the race-course had an amphitheatre feel in the close confines and there was plenty of place changing, with massive wind shifts. Gusts of 25-30 knots were swooping in on both the Friday and Sunday too, and absolutely every single boat in the fleet had a capsize (or a few) on Friday! The enforced rest-day was announced at the reception on Friday night, to enthusiastic applause.

Despite the size, the ILCA 6 fleet had good depth with 4th, 5th and 8th from the recent 60-boat GrandMaster Worlds in Barcelona present; Sean Craig (IRL), Myrin (Swe) and Hunt (GBR), respectively. Myrin sailed best, virtually error-free, and comfortably took the win from Craig in 2nd and Walt Spevak (USA) from San Francisco in 3rd. Three seasoned GBR Master competitors may have been surprised to be all outside the top three, though all had some very good races and moments. In the Ladies, Ireland’s Shirley Gilmore, seen in the attached photo heading upwind under the fabulous Basilica of Our lady, defied her smallish stature and competed really strongly in all 5 races to edge out her Lady rival from Sweden, Ann Loren, who has been competing at the Master Worlds on a regular basis for the last 10 years.

This event, to include the training clinic in the days beforehand is on the calendar again for 2023. Generally, racing will take place outside Valetta Harbour, in superb, rolling waves.

Download results below

Royal St. George's Tom Higgins might be focused on his preparations for the upcoming ILCA/Laser U21 Europeans, but local rivalries are still on his mind as he looks forward to the first Grant Thornton Sprint Regatta of 2022.

The Dún Laoghaire Harbour ILCA/Laser fleet in conjunction with the Royal St. George Yacht Club piloted a one-day sprint regatta format in 2021. The first sprint regatta in July which consisted of five short trapezoid races back to back proved so popular that the organisers hosted a second event in October which was sold out within days.

The organisers, buoyed by the success of the format in 2021, have announced that there will be five sprint regattas throughout 2022 once again supported by Grant Thornton Ireland.

As Afloat reported previously, the first event takes place on Saturday, April 02 marking the official end of the winter season following the end of the local DMYC Frostbite series.

At the first Grant Thornton Sprint Regatta held in July last year, local favourite and Ireland team member Tom Higgins took home the gold medal in the Standard fleet. The October event, titled the Race of Champions saw Higgins pipped on the line on three out of five races by fellow RStGYC sailor Peter Fagan.

The Royal St. George Yacht Club piloted a one-day sprint regatta format in 2021 that is expanded in 2022

With the standings at one all to the pair, both Higgins and Fagan have announced that the first sprint of 2022 is in their sights and both seem out to prove a point. Higgins, who will be representing Ireland at the 2022 EurILCA Under 21 European Championships from April 14-21 2022 in France, is looking to demonstrate who is the more consistent performer. Meanwhile, Fagan is looking to serve another Verstappen-like upset on the dominant Higgins.

The one-day regatta is open to Laser sailors both junior and adult and in all rigs; 4.7, Radial and Standard. There is particular emphasis from Race Officer, Richard Kissane of Howth Yacht Club on ensuring a fast-paced and fun event for competitors of all ages and abilities. Novice sailors are welcome as this provides a unique format to be involved in racing at the highest level across the local fleet.

Commencing at 2 pm, there will be a minimum of 5 races in quick succession for each fleet, with each race lasting between 20-30 minutes. Prizes are awarded for the top three positions in each fleet with separate prize categories for male/female, under 30s and Masters. The entry fee for the event is €20 with entry limited to 80 boats.

The event is open to all ILCA Lasers based in Dún Laoghaire. Travelling boats are welcome to enter, however, due to the ongoing space pressures across the local clubs, visiting boats are invited to launch from the public slip in the Coal Harbour.

Speaking at the launch of the 2022 series, Mick Shelley, Audit Partner at Grant Thornton Ireland and himself a local ILCA sailor said that; “We're delighted to put our name to this format once again in 2022. The ILCA Laser is the largest fleet locally and is accessible to the widest range of sailors. We're happy to support such a fleet that makes the sport of sailing more accessible to a wider group of people.”

Full details of the event and registration is open on rsgyc.ie.