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
