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Sailor of the Month
Team Spirit – Pat Kelly's J/109 Storm under sail at Cork Week, where Rob O'Leary helped bring the Baltimore Lifeboat crew together to win the Beaufort Trophy in close-fought racing.
It would be difficult to think of two places in Ireland more different than Baltimore in rocky West Cork, and Rush on the sandy Rogerstown Estuary in Fingal north of Dublin on the East Coast. Yet at Cork Week in…
Champion's Course – El Syd, skippered by Frank Whelan of Greystones Sailing Club, under sail. The Sydney 43 secured the ICRA National Championship at Cork Week, earning Whelan Afloat.ie's July Regatta Sailor of the Month.
The results of the sun-filled Cork Week in July could be analysed in several different directions though a number of systems, but there at the heart of it was the Irish Cruiser-Racing Association IRC National Championship. Frank Whelan of Greystones…
Golden Return – Olympic medallist Annalise Murphy of the National Yacht Club is Afloat.ie's July Dinghy Sailor of the Month after a commanding ILCA 6 performance on Dublin Bay.
The presence of an Olympic Medallist certainly adds to the style of any sailing event, and Annalise Murphy’s convincing victory in the ILCA 6 in the Grant Thornton Nationals on Dublin Bay in July spiced up the show no end,…
Crew's Touch – Stephen Boyle of Sutton Dinghy Club, (left) Afloat.ie’s July Sailor of the Month (Crewing), has excelled across multiple classes, underlining his reputation as one of Ireland’s top racing crews.
GP14 sailor Peter Boyle of Sutton Dinghy Club has a real problem. His father Stephen who regularly crews with him is also one of the most sought-after crews in all Irish sailing. Thus if Boyle Jnr is unable to take…
Offshore Honour — Johnny and Suzie Murphy's J/109 Outrajeous races off Wicklow Head during the 2026 Round Ireland Race, where she finished third overall and won the Corinthian Division and Class 4.
In what was probably the most competitive Round Ireland Race from Wicklow in the event’s 46-year history, Johnny & Suzie Murphy’s immaculately prepared and presented J/109 Outrajeous from Howth lived up to her name by spending an outrageous amount of…
Golden Standard — National Yacht Club sailor Mark Lyttle has been named Afloat.ie Sailor of the Month for June after winning the 2026 ILCA 7 Grand Masters World Championship in Athens.
With the world-beating Laser/ILCA Class’s recent much-celebrated achievement of its Golden Jubilee, there is now very serious competition in the various Masters Divisions, with the main focus on the Grand Masters. Mark Lyttle of the National YC – a sailor…
Regatta Reward — Afloat.ie June Regatta Sailor of the Month Pat Kelly celebrates another successful Bangor Regatta campaign with the Storm crew after securing IRC Class 1 honours aboard the J/109.
It can take a bit of effort to find the intensely local Rush Sailing Club in its secluded location beside the small area of deep water at the entrance to Rogerstown Estuary in the heart of Fingal. And it would…
Leading Light — Irish sailor Tom Dolan aboard his Figaro yacht after taking the overall lead in the 2026 Figaro Solo series, following a decisive opening-leg victory across the Bay of Biscay.
Tom Dolan had what it takes to cope with the difficult and often flukey conditions of the first leg of the Figaro Solo 2026 from Pornichet across the Bay of Biscay to Vigo, finishing first with such a healthy margin…
Atlantic Edge — John Malone and Emmet Sheridan aboard JPK 1030 Loinnir during the 2026 Cantor Fitzgerald Inishtearaght Race from Kinsale, where the Lough Ree YC crew secured overall victory in one of Ireland’s toughest offshore challenges.
It says much about the busily-compressed early season programme of 2026 that we can make a realistic award for Sailors of the Month (Offshore) for racing on the deep seas during May. Yet thanks to Kinsale YC’s biennial Cantor Fitzgerald…
Silver switch — Rob Dickson and Sean Waddilove race at Hyères after a mid-season reset, earning 49er silver and Sailor of the Month honours.
It takes guts to agree that your two-man campaign in a premier Olympic buildup regatta is so far out of sync at mid-event that it’s best to withdraw, and go off with your trainer for a high-powered re-set session at…
Spray drive — Eve McMahon powers through the ILCA 6 fleet at Hyères, securing silver and capping a standout month to earn Sailor of the Month honours.
There are times when the racing in the Olympic classes is at such a developing pace that ordinary sailing folk - accustomed to quirky club courses – cannot readily identify with performances of the Superstars. But the final race for…
“Community
While there may be some way to go before every Irish school pupil is Constitutionally-entitled to an annual week of sailing experience in the way that they are in France, nevertheless the month of March saw impressive turnouts by school…
“Jakub
It’s the first time we have used the sub-category “Global” in the thirty years and more of the Sailor of the Month rankings, but it most appropriately captures the very special mood at Antigua in English Harbour on 9th March,…
“Champions
The use of the sub-category “Leinster Schools Team Racing” is core to this choice, as Dun Laoghaire Harbour in general, and the hosting Royal St George YC in particular, have a long and active history in the development of modern…
“Out
The 360-mile Dubai Muscat race of three weeks ago may have had much of its course through what is now a war zone. Yet it seemed far from the storms of war (or any storms) as the crew of the Ronan…
“Helen
The Irish Cruising Club’s AGM of February 20th saw the distribution of the club’s many seagoing awards, with the premier trophy, the Faulkner Cup, going to Brody Sweeney of Dublin who – having restored his 46-year-old Jeanneau 32 Wodan -…