Lorcan Tighe of Dun Laoghaire makes such a broadly-based contribution to Irish sailing as a sailor, an instructor and a race officer, that you’d assume he was somebody with many years of experience under his belt. But he’s only 17 – a Sixth Form schoolboy, to be precise. Yet his sailing CV is already formidable.
He was the bowman when only 16 on the demanding Reflex 38 Lynx, which Kenneth Rumball of the Irish National Sailing School raced to tenth overall, and winner of the Sailing Schools Division, in the Volvo Round Ireland Race 2016.
And this year, young Lorcan was to be found in all roles – including helming – when the INSS’s J/109 Jedi won Class IRC 3B outright, and the Roger Justice Trophy for Sailing Schools, in the Rolex Fastnet Race 2017.
All this was only revealed during September, when the Roger Justice Trophy finally found its rightful home for 2017. But by that time, Lorcan Tighe was back at school, while instructing at the INSS during his free hours. And when the highly individual RS600 class were experiencing difficulties in finding a club and a race officer to run their Irish Open Nationals in September, it was Lorcan Tighe and the Irish National Sailing Club who willingly stepped up to the plate.
Seldom have we had a junior award winner whose contribution to our sport manifests itself in so many positive ways. Lorcan Tighe, the Afloat.ie Junior Sailor of the Month for September, is an inspiration for us all.
