Despite increasing year-round global participation, the structure of the Irish sailing year is such that January and February are the “Months of Assessment” for the previous season’s achievements, and for many years now the Afloat.ie “Sailor of the Year” is chosen in this mid-winter time of reflection.
2025 was a remarkable year by any standards at club level, regionally, within classes, and nationally and internationally, and diversity of success is the central theme of this list of The Stars of ’25 from which our overall winner(s) will be selected.
JANUARY
INTERNATIONAL DINGHIES
Chris Bateman (Cork Harbour) & Lucy Loughton
Monkstown Bay Sailing Club's Chris Bateman and Lucy Loughton on their way to 2025 B14 World Championship victory in Sydney Harbour, Australia
With the B14 skiff a relatively rare boat in Ireland, it was thought that when Chris Bateman of Monkstown Bay SC teamed up with the more class-experienced Lucy Loughton to head for the Worlds in Sydney Australia in January, it was inevitably going to be mainly a learning experience, as they’d had only three days sailing together when this series at the B14 Mecca got under way.
But their learning curve rose so rapidly that they emerged from the series as the new World Champions, and then in October they took silver in the Endeavour Trophy, the British Open Championship of Champions.
OCEAN RACING
Johnny Mordaunt (Howth)
Johnny Mordaunt, champion of the RORC East-West Transatlantic Race, has set his sights on the upcoming RORC Caribbean 600 from Antigua.
Johnny Mordaunt has spent many years building up international expertise in big boat prepping, tuning and racing, with the successful focus now on the Volvo 70 Tschuss 2 which he co-skippers with owner Christian Zugel. They’d notched several major offshore wins in Europe in 2024, but January saw them go deep sea for the first time as a team in the RORC’s East-West Transatlantic Race.
They won this overall to leave Tschuss firmly placed in the Favourites’ Enclosure for the RORC Caribbean 600 from Antigua in three weeks’ time, which they duly won, then in June they won the West-East Transatlantic Race, and in July they won the class in the Centenary Fastnet Race.
INTERNATIONAL OFFSHORE
Frank O’Leary (Kinsale)
Frank O'Leary of Kinsale with the Rolex Sydney-Hobart Race's Tattersall Cup
Many reckon the Rolex Sydney-Hobart Race - with its 628 miles getting south into noticeably colder latitudes with every mile sailed - is the toughest classic of them all. And as one of the Christmas season’s main sporting events in Australia while also attracting much international interest, it is a pressurised challenge in every way.
So although the Sam Haynes team with Kinsale international gun-for-hire Frank O’Leary on the strength won a recent Hobart with the TP52 Celestial, when they started building a late campaign towards the 2024 RSHR with the chartered Volvo 70 re-named Celestial, it was thought to be somewhat quixotic. Not a bit of it. The new Celestial won overall.
OCEAN ROWING
Power of One Transatlantic Team
The Power of One team crossing the finish line in English Harbour in Antigua: Daragh Kelly, John O’Driscoll, Enda McNicholas, Roger McMorrow and Conor McCarthy
Most winters now see an Irish crew in the season’s Transatlantic rowing race by the southern route, but this increasing familiarity does nothing to lessen the challenge of more than 5,000 kms of sometimes very awkward and dangerous ocean. John O’Driscoll of Lucan, Co Dublin organised a five man squad to raise funds for children’s heart research by crossing the ocean in December-January, and the team of John O’Driscoll, Daragh Kelly, Enda McNicholas, Roger McMorrow and Conor McCarthy did it in 39 days and 14 hours to take a podium place at third overall, and raise more than €400,000.
FEBRUARY
CRUISING
Andrew Wilkes of Dungarvan
"Soncey big boat" – Annabel J in Waterford
Andrew Wilkes and his wife Maire Breathnach have a formidable cruising CV which ranges the oceans from Cape Horn to the Arctic Ocean, and has included circuits of the Arctic Circle and both North & South America. Their 54ft hull-length steel-built gaff rigged pilot cutter Annabel J can be a formidable challenge for a small crew to handle, yet in very mixed weather they cruised northern Norway in detail and Andrew’s hugely informative log was awarded the Irish Cruising Club’s premier trophy, the Faulkner Cup
SERVICES TO SAILING
Gerry Jones of the National Yacht Club
Gerry Jones of the National Yacht Club is "Sailor of the Month (Services to Sailing)" for February
Gerry Jones of Dun Laoghaire is one of those active members of the Irish sailing community who does much good work by stealth. He may be best-known as the long-time mentor and encourager of the 2024 “Sailor of the Year” Tom Dolan, but the list of sailing and other maritime activities in which he is supportively involved (including a period with Dublin Bay SC) gives only a hint of the across-the-country yet behind-the-scenes support and leadership roles he has played, and continues to play. He well exemplifies the qualities of a “Services to Sailing” award winner.
OFFSHORE
Cian Guilfoyle of Dun Laoghaire and Simon Johnson of Wicklow
Cian Guilfoyle of Dun Laoghaire and Simon Johnson of Wicklow were members of the winning 2025 RORC Caribbean 600 Race crew on the Volvo 70 Tschuss 2
The Johnny Mordaunt co-skippered Volvo 70 Tschuss 2 continued her winning ways in February 2025 with overall victory in the RORC Caribbean 600, but as Johnny had already been SoM in January for winning the RORC Transatlantic Race, we’d to cast the net wider to find Irish crewmembers on Tschuss 2 in the Caribbean, and immediately the bell rang with Cian Guilfoyle and Simon Johnson.
MARCH
KEELBOATS
John Maybury of Royal Irish YC
John Maybury's J109 Joker II crew from the Royal Irish Yacht Club are presented with the new Spring Chicken Series Trophy by Pat Shannon and DBSC's Brian Matthews
Late winter and early spring is a deceptive time for sailing enthusiasts. For although we may feel encouraged by the days becoming longer, the sea temperature is going to be at its coldest in mid-March, and the dense air of the of the season heightens the power of the already biting wind.
Yet an enthusiastic fleet turns out for the Dublin Bay SC Spring Chicken series, and those who drive the hardest win the prize. John Maybury’s J/109 Joker II was one such, knocking off some course legs in record time and setting an example with her win to inspire others to be out and racing.
DINGHIES
Alex Barry of Cork
Alex Barry's (left) National 18 Howlin Mad, crewed by Richie Harrington and Nin O'Leary, was the overall winner of the 2025 Crosshaven House PY1000 pursuit race hosted by the Royal Cork Yacht Club
There’s something very reassuring for the sailing community throughout Ireland when the approach of the new season is signalled by the senior club, the Royal Cork YC, successfully staging the Crosshaven House Pursuit Race to blow the cobwebs away in gathering sunshine.
The special mix of great skill and pure luck needed to pull off the win gives this slightly crazy event its own very special cachet. Ideally, the winner is either the smallest boat racing, or one of the large and powerful National 18s, and for 2025 Alex Barry did the business in style in one of the latter.
CRUISING
Alan Markey of Howth
Alan Markey, Commodore of the Irish Cruising Club, in a serious mood as he focuses on a pilotage challenge
Alan Markey is the first Commodore of the Irish Cruising Club to be elected with his father – longtime fellow-member Jimmy Markey – present at the AGM. And he was to live up to the high expectations raised by such a special situation, over-seeing the ICC’s celebrations of the Centenary of Conor O’Brien’s pioneering rounding of Cape Horn, and further energising the ICC’s activities and relations with other cruising clubs to such a successful level that it was to emerge from 2025 as the MG Motor “Sailing Club of the Year 2026”.
APRIL
INTERNATIONAL DINGHIES
Sienna Wright of Howth
Sienna Wright of Howth YC took 1st place in the ILCA 6 division at the Ballyholme Yacht Club ILCA Ireland National Championships Photo: Wavelengths
The hundred-plus fleet racing the ILCA Youth Worlds in Portugal in April made for a daunting sight, yet Siena Wright of Howth remained so unfazed in her ILCA 6 that her lineup of final placings never had her out of the top ten in all twelve races. With placings between first and eighth throughout, she took Silver to the Gold of Hermione Ghicas of Greece, whose more uneven performance was offset by including five wins. Then in August, Sienna Wright went on to win the ILCA 6 class in the Laser/ILCA Golden Jubilee Regatta at Ballyholme with a scoreline of 3,3,3,8,2,1,3
JUNIOR
Bobby Driscoll of Ballyholme
Bobby Driscoll of BYC (in yellow leader's bib) taking a clear win off Dun Laoghaire at the 2025 ISA Youth National Championships on Dublin Bay Photo: Afloat
With half a dozen classes racing, late April’s Royal St George Yacht Club-organised Youth Nationals in Dublin Bay provided a number of champions. But few would argue that the ILCA 6 class is the crème de la crème. And it seems they’re really whipping up the cream to adult strength in Ballyholme Bay and Belfast Lough these days, with Bobby Driscoll of BYC taking a clear win off Dun Laoghaire while knowing that, if he slipped at all, clubmate Daniel Palmer was poised to take up the baton.
OFFSHORE
Paul O’Higgins of the Royal Irish YC
Royal Irish's Paul O'Higgins' JPK 10.80 Rockabill VI was the IRC overall winner of the first three ISORA races in April Photo: Afloat
April may have ended with a strong foretaste of high summer, but for much of the month the sense of winter barely past was definitely in evidence. Yet with the increasingly crowded calendar, the Irish Sea Offshore Racing Association gambled on being able to fit in three races before the month was out, and fortune favoured the brave.
That said, not all boats and crews were straight into top form with as much style as Paul O’Higgins and his veteran team on the well-proven JPK 10.80 Rockabill VI (RIYC). This distinctive and well-tuned boat was on top form to win all three ISORA races in April, and provide her enthusiastic owner and crew with a solid points foundation on the leaderboard as they work their way through the 2025 season and more offshores of every type.
OLYMPIC
Finn Lynch of the National YC
Finn Lynch wins bronze at Kieler Woche, marking his second podium finish of the season in the Sailing Grand Slam series. A strong comeback after a challenging start Photo: Just Van Anholt
Sailing Grand Slam at Palma in Mallorca in early April is a crucial indicator for the developing new season, and in the hotly-contested ILCA 7s’ Ireland’s Finn Lynch steadily settled in. His improvement had him well placed for the Medals Race, in which he took the Bronze following a series in which his three best places were a win and two seconds. He then took bronze again at Kiel Week in June.
REGATTA
Rob O’Leary of Baltimore and Rush
Rob O'Leary campaigns the classic 2Farr at the RORC Easter Challenge, showcasing impressive speed and skill on the waters of the Solent, where it clinched the class championship.
Former Baltimore SC officer and scion of the noted Crosshaven sailing dynasty, Rob O’Leary has linked up with the burgeoning cruiser-racer scene in Rush in far Fingal to campaign their 1970s Bruce Farr-designed classic 2Farr (owned by Patrick Boardman), which was sourced from Australia and brought up to speed.
That speed is getting better and better. 2Farr emerged as class champion in the ferociously contested RORC Easter Challenge in the Solent.
MAY
INTERNATIONAL
Eve McMahon of Howth
World Number One - Howth ILCA Sailor Eve McMahon
Eve McMahon of Howth’s Bronze Medal in the ILCA Worlds in the challenging conditions of mid-May at Qingdao in Shandong Province in China presented a new stage for both the hyper-talented 22-year-old, and for international Irish sailing.
For it was the first time that an Irish woman sailor had medalled at this stratospheric level of an Open Worlds Championship in the numerically largest Olympic class. Yet the transition from youth sailing – in which she twice won the U21 worlds, and back-to-back at that – is much tougher than might be thought, as the competition is hugely widened through the fact that some dinghy sailors only reach their racing prime in their late 20s.
But despite her young age, Eve McMahon’s progress as such that in June she was to be ranked No 1 in he global ILCA division.
REGATTA
Brian Hall of the National YC
The Hall family's J/109, Something Else, shines at the Scottish Series, securing the overall title under Brian Hall's leadership with impressive first-place finishes and new sails. Photo: Patrick Conty
The Hall family of the NYC have been making their mark in Irish sailing for at least half a century, with John the Patriarch originally making the headlines as a participant (with a catamaran) in the first Round Ireland Race from Wicklow in 1980.
But for some time now they have found that the distinctively dark-blue J/109 Something Else best suits their needs in both Dublin Bay and elsewhere, and continuing Scottish expeditions to get each season off to a busy start brought home various trophies.
To celebrate their long association in the Scottish Series at Tarbert in Loch Fyne, and with son Brian Hall now in command, this year Something Else was treated to new sails and other go-fast goodies, and all were suitably rewarded. She sailed better than ever, counting only first places to take the overall title and rocket Brian Hall straight into the Afloat.ie “Sailor of the Month (Regattas)” title for May.
SPORTSBOAT
Fionn Lyden of Baltimore
2025 1720 European Champions L-R: Ewan O Keeffe, Fionn Lyden, Amy Harrington, Seafra Guilfoyle, Florence Lyden, Darragh McCormack
The 1720 Sportsboats have in many ways developed into an Event Class, where helms and crews from several boat and sailing backgrounds take on the challenge of the 26ft bowsprit-plus Tony Castro design that originated with the RCYC in 1993. But if the class could be said to have a single stronghold, it’s Baltimore, and though the fleet from all parts of Ireland gathered themselves at hospitable Galway Bay SC in mid-May for the 1720s Euros, it was Baltimore’s Fionn Lyden who emerged three clear ahead at the finish.
JUNE
OFFSHORE
Johnny Murphy of Howth
Overall IRC winner of the Volvo Dun Laoghaire Dingle Race 2025 on day two, Outrajeous (J/109, Johnny Murphy, Howth YC) was achieving extra speed at 8.2 knots off the Old Head of Kinsale. The boat went on to win its class at the Sovereign's Cup and ICRA Nationals Photo: Afloat
Johnny Murphy (co-crewed by wife Suzie and with Neil Spain as ace helm) co-campaigned the beautifully-prepared J/109 Outrajeous to exit the 2024 championship stage holding just about all the titles for which he was eligible. In June 2025, he resumed this approach, winning the Volvo Dun Laoghaire–Dingle Race (one of the best ever staged), and then went on to the Sovereigns in Kinsale and finished with a clean sheet of eight class wins.
REGATTA
Nigel Biggs & Dave Cullen of Howth & RIYC
Nigel Biggs First 50 Checkmate XX recorded five wins in the 2025 Sovereign's Cup's largest class Photo: Bob Bateman
Dave Cullen and Nigel Biggs campaign the latter’s hefty First 50 Checkmate XX with a style that suggest she fulfils the role in Dublin and elsewhere that Denis Doyle’s Moonduster did from Cork. Like Moonduster, Checkmate’s crew demands are such that there’s an element of the sailing training ship in her campaigning. This makes it all the better that she went to the Sovereigns in Kinsale and won the trophy with five clear wins on the big-fleet coastal courses.
JULY
DINGHIES
Atlee Kohl and Cathal O’Regan of Cork Harbour
2025 Champions with Cork Roots - ISV 1015 – Atlee Kohl & Cathal O’Regan (CORK/ISV) Both Atlee and Cathal hail from Cork, with extensive youth sailing success out of Royal Cork YC and Royal St. George YC. The duo are presented with the inaugural trophy by sponsor Tino Hyland of Hyland Shipping
Atlee Kohl and Cathal O’Regan, from Cork Harbour but sailing for the Virgin Islands, were crowned the first Melges 15 European Champions at the conclusion of the Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta on July 13th. This debunked the pre-championships hype that American boats would win the inaugural (virgin?) event, and spoke volumes for the versatility of the dinghy sailing talent that is rising rapidly through the multifarious fleets in the world’s senior sailing centre.
OFFSHORE
Tom Kneen and Mike O’Donnell of the Royal Irish YC
Tom Kneen. The unusual spelling of his name suggests that somewhere in the distant past, an ancestor came from the Isle of Man
The Centenary Rolex Fastnet Race with its 441-strong fleet was a complete eye-opener for most offshore sailors. It indicated that, for now at least, the performance focus has shifted decisively to France and the Western Mediterranean. Thus although it was a baptism of fire for the Royal Irish YC two-boat Admiral’s Cup team, the fact is that apart from half a dozen outstanding boats in other classes, the Admiral’s Cup fleet did very well as a group in the final Fastnet placings.
Thus although Tom Kneen’s JPK 1180 Sunrise IV finished at mid-fleet in AC terms, she was clearly the top-placed Irish-connected boat at 17th overall, while the top Irish boat in the fleet generally was Mike O’Donnell’s J/121 Darkwood.
REGATTA
Chris Johnston Of Dun Laoghaire
The National and Royal Irish Yacht Club's Chris Johnston on the helm of his top-performing Beneteau 31.7, Prospect Photo: Afloat
The name of Johnston has long had strong associations with One Design racing in Dublin Bay, going back through the Dublin Bay 24s, and beyond to the Dublin Bay 21s under their original rig. Chris Johnston is maintaining this fine tradition with his successful One-Design campaigning in the First 31.7 class, which reached a fresh peak in July at the Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta 2025, when his aptly-named Prospect was both class winner and overall top keelboat performer.
SERVICES TO SAILING
Ian Bowring & Jenny Needham of Dun Laoghaire
Ian Bowring and Jenny Needham led a team that produced timely race results for the massive 21-class Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta, Ireland's biggest sailing event
With twenty-one classes, many of them availing of an ongoing Performance Handicap system, the four day Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta could quickly have become a results-posting nightmare. But behind the scenes at command HQ, Ian Bowring and Jenny Needham gave freely of their time and expertise in keeping the number-crunching running smoothly, earning everyone’s profound gratitude and a Sailors of the Month title for July.
AUGUST
INTERNATIONAL DINGHIES
Daniel & Henry Thompson of Wexford & Royal St George YC
World U25 Fireball World Champions, Daniel (left) and Harry Thompson, of Ireland Photo: Frank Miller
With 136 boats from 14 nations, the 2025 Fireball Worlds on Lake Garda in the last week of August was ferociously competitive from the start. Yet the U25 division was consistently led by Daniel & Henry Thompson from the first race, going on to hold the lead throughout. Their home clubs are the intriguing mixture of Wexford Harbour Boat & Tennis Club and the Royal St George YC on Dublin Bay.
A turnout like this in any Irish championship would be notable, but Lake Garda has that powerful ingredient of location, location, location in an attractive setting within conveniently easy reach of a large Continental catchment area, making a division win in a fleet of this size and calibre very praiseworthy indeed.
INTERNATIONAL KEELBOATS
Patrick Boardman of Rush SC
2Farr, skippered by Patrick Boardman, claimed the Half Ton Classics Cup 2025 at the Royal Torbay Yacht Club with consistent podium finishes across the series Photo: Afloat
When an upgraded historic Bruce Farr design of 1976 wins a Classics event in 2025, it’s extraordinary the amount of global attention the success achieves. The Patrick Boardman owner-skippered Half Ton Classic 2Farr from Rush on the Fingal coast went forth to Southwest England in August with the talents of David Kelly of Rush and Rob O’Leary of Crosshaven/Baltimore on the strength, and the result was overall victory in the Half Ton Classic Worlds at the Royal Torbay Yacht Club in early August.
INT. ONE DESIGN KEELBOATS
Michael O’Connor, Davy Taylor and Ben O’Donoghue
SB20 European bronze medalists – The Irish team, TED of the Royal St.George in Dun Laoghaire, Michael O'Connor, Davy Taylor, and Ben O'Donoghue Photo: Anna Zyk
Royal St. George’s Michael O’Connor and his Ted Team crew, Davy Taylor and Ben O’Donoghue, are awarded Sailor of the Month for August for their outstanding performance at the 2025 SB20 European Championship in Ostend. Despite setbacks in the opening race of the final day, the trio held their nerve under immense pressure. With a determined fourth-place finish in the last race, they secured third overall, tied on points with the French Youth Team, in a regatta that went down to a dramatic, tactical showdown to the very end.
INT. SOLO DINGHIES
Fiachra O’Donnell of Royal Irish YC
Fiachra McDonnell of the Royal Irish YC
The Ballyholme YC Golden Jubilee ILCA/Laser Nationals on Belfast Lough was a highlight of mid-August’s sailing, and though there was intense international competition in the premier division of the ILCA7s, Fiachra O’Donnell of the Royal Irish YC put together an exemplary scoreline of 4,1,1,1,2,7,2 in the first seven races in a class of 49 boats, with every expectation of discarding that 7th in the final race.
But he was off form in the final race to be back in 8th while Milan Vujasinovic of Croatia took the first to notch the overall win with 15pts to the 18 of O’Donnell, who nevertheless stayed solidly with the Silver Medal, seven clear points ahead of Narimitsu Toyozumi of Japan.
REGATTA
Rob O’Reilly of Schull
Rob O'Reilly's Dynamo 25 Bon Journo Part Deux from Schull Harbour Sailing Club in action at Calves Week 2025
The annual Calves Week in Schull in August is so popular that we’ve become accustomed to visiting super-star bigger boats winning the top prize. But Rob O’Reilly of the home club was in no way fazed by this tradition, as he brought his Dynamo 25 Bon Journo Part Deux (we’ve no idea either) into three overall wins in Class Four IRC in the four day event, thereby emerging clear above a diverse fleet.
SPORTBOATS
Ross & Aoife McDonald of Howth
The winning Howth Yacht Club crew, skippered by Ross McDonald (second from left), with the Royal Yacht Squadron Commodore’s Invitational Cup
When Ross & Aoife McDonald’s victory in the 1720 Nationals at their home Club of Howth YC in August is added to the clear win they obtained racing J/70s in the Royal Yacht Squadron Team Invitationals in the Solent in June, we have a lineup of success that deserves special praise.
And with a 1720 racing with a crew of five, they’d a gender-equal team of all the talents, as Aoife did the bow while Eve McMahon and Lisa Tait called the shots, as too at various times did Paddy Good and Dylan Gannon.
SEPTEMBER
INTERNATIONAL KEELBOATS
Cilian Dickson of Lough Ree YC & the Headcase crew
Cillian Dickson and the Headcase crew celebrate in Plymouth after becoming the first Irish team to win the J/24 World Championship, sealing victory with a composed finish in gusty conditions.
They won the J/24 Europeans in The Netherlands in July. Then as September was getting into its stride, they won the J/24 Worlds in Plymouth. And finally in the last weekend of that same month of September 2025, this “almost-all-Ireland-crew” have retained the J/24 Irish National title at what is most nearly their home club, Lough Ree YC plumb in the middle of Ireland.
This is a J/24 being used precisely as creator Rod Johnstone envisaged. And their Headcase win at the Worlds was a particularly clearcut performance – no “ifs” and “ands” or “buts” about it. We salute a pure gold team performance by Cillian Dickson (Lough Ree YC), Ryan Glynn (Ballyholme YC), Sam O’Byrne (Howh YC), and Louis Mulloy & Marcus Ryan (Mayo SC).
JUNIOR NATIONAL
Daniel Coplethorne of Schull and Matt Mapplebeck of Crosshaven
Gold medallists (and Sailors of the Month) Daniel Copithorne and Matt Mapplebeck celebrate on the podium with silver winners William Walsh and Eoin Byrne, and bronze pair Cora Naughton and Isha Duggan at the Junior Champions Cup
One of the interesting features of the thriving junior sailing scene is the way that new crew combinations drawn from a wider talent pool can emerge as the season progresses, and young sailors from different centres find they may function better when racing with a shipmate from another club. This often becomes evident at the Junior Championhip in Schull in September raced in the TR 3.6, and 2025 was in line with the tradition, as it was won by Daniel Coplethorne of Schulll with Matt Mapplebeck of Royal Cork as crew.
NATIONAL KEELBOATS
Niall O’Brien & Ronan O Briain of Connemara
National Yacht Club Commodore Peter Sherry (left), a competitor himself, presents the Flying Fifteen Championships of Ireland Trophy to Connemara's Niall O'Brien and Ronan O'Briain
If you were to set out to think of two keelboats in the decidedly varied Irish fleet that are just as different in concept as possible from each other, then no matter how much AI you might apply to the case, you’d invariably end up with the traditional Galway Hooker of Connemara at one end of the continuum, and the Flying Fifteen at the other.
Thus it’s fascinating to see how one of the current growth areas of Flying Fifteen racing is Connemara. And to note that in recent years, wherever they may hold the national championship, the main prize heads west at its conclusion, back to the depths of County Galway.
Niall O’Brien and Ronan O Briain, Men of the West, won the National F/F title last year at Whitehead in County Antrim. In September 2025 they retained it with an extraordinary five wins, racing from the National YC in Dublin Bay.
OFFSHORE
Sam & Andrew Hall of Pwllheli
Pata Negra, raced by Andrew and Sam Hall, becomes a highlight of ISORA with impressive performances Photo: Afloat
The distinctive Lombard 46 Pata Negra, raced by father-and-son team of Andrew & Sam Hall of Pwllheli, took it to the wire in the season-long 36-boat ISORA fleet by closing on the main titles in September's concluding races. A familiar sight racing on both sides of the Atlantic and in the Mediterranean, Pata Negra has come to signify all that is best in Irish Sea racing. Meanwhile, as 2026 gets under way, the Hall family’s other boat, the J/125 Jackknife, has been skippered by Sam Hall to the Class win and Third Overall in January’s RORC east-west Transatlantic race.
OCTOBER
HELMSMAN’S CHAMPIONSHIP
Ger Owens of Wicklow
Ger Owens (right) and Ross Killian of Wicklow Sailing Club and National YC claimed first place at the Irish Dinghy Champions’ Cup in Crosshaven after four races in testing conditions
Ger Owens, who lists Wicklow SC as his home club these days, has proven his exceptional talent in a wide variety of dinghies, and it was 21 years ago when his name first appeared on the All Ireland Salver. These days he may be best known for his current success in the GP 14s, but when the first weekend of October saw the 2025 supreme title being raced in the Ultime National 18s with the Royal Cork YC at Crosshaven, he recruited Ross Killian to be his right-hand man and returned from Cork with the trophy.
REGATTA SERIES
Andy Sargent of Howth
Fingal Autumn League organiser Jill Sommerville of Howth YC with overall winning helm Andy Sargent
With 83 boats competing and the weather in full early Autumn restlessness, the Race Officers for the two-course six weekend Fingal Autumn League at Howth had a gut feeling they should cram in as many contests as possible when the going was good, and get a real result by the halfway stage.
It was a shrewd move, with a splendid September but an “offal October”. Yet those who could stick the pace came through with flying colours, and Andy Sargent at the helm of Nigel Biggs’ optimised Puppeteer 22 Nimon was the man for the job, winning all class races and the overall trophy with it.
OFFSHORE IRC
David & James Dwyer of Royal Cork YC
Swuzzlebubble celebrates its ICRA “Boat of the Year” title, a testament to Bruce Farr's design legacy Photo: Bob Bateman
International designer Bruce Farr was just another rapidly rising talent in the busy New Zealand sailing scene when he created the design for the innovative Half Tonner Swuzzlebubble way back in 1976.
Today, Farr Yacht Design has moved on and is now Annapolis-based on America’s East Coast, a major operator in the international marine industry at a very high level. Yet Swuzzlebubble is still hitting the highspots, doing the business in style by retaining the season-long ICRA “Boat of the Year” IRC title, providing an October SoM for Crosshaven’s David & James Dwyer.
OFFSHORE ECHO
Pat Tanner of Royal Cork YC
ICRA Boat of the Year (ECHO) Bataleur 88, skippered by Pat Tanner of Royal Cork
When the various “Ton” rating classes were at the height of their power back in the 1970s and 1980s, the Three Quarter Tonners, midway between the 37ft One Tonners and the 30ft Half Tonners, might have been regarded as something of a poor relation. The One Tonners had the glamour of the historic One Ton Cup as their main international trophy, while the Half Tonners were sufficiently economical to provide huge turnouts with many potential hull and rig development experiments.
But in 2025, with the Centenary Fastnet Race inevitably dominating international thinking, we remember that it was a Three Quarter Tonner, the Ron Holland-designed Nicholson 33 Golden Delicious sailed by the Bagnall brothers, which won the Golden Jubilee Fastnet Race of 1975 overall.
Subsequently, designers like Tony Castro continued to develop the Three Quarter Ton size, and Bateleur for Scotsman Chris Bonnar in 1988 was particularly highly regarded. She still is, and won the ICRA Boat of the Year (ECHO) for Pat Tanner of Royal Cork YC.
TEAM RACING
Baltimore Sailing Club
Baltimore’s successful team troopers are (left to right) Johnny Durcan, Fionn Lyden, Mark Hassett, Adam Hyland, Amy Harrington and Tara Fleming, alongside ITRA Secretary and event organiser Eimear O’Regan
October’s hyper-variable and often violent weather was in full swing as Baltimore hosted (and defended) the National Team Racing Title in October. Boosted by a Bronze in the Team World Championship in America in June, the cream of West Cork sailing were in fine form in their home waters, and saw off some very highly regarded opposition. Baltimore’s successful team troopers were Johnny Durcan, Fionn Lyden, Mark Hassett, Adam Hyland, Amy Harrington and Tara Fleming.
NOVEMBER
SERVICES TO SAILING
Don O’Dowd of Dun Laoghaire
Don O'Dowd at the Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta. His leadership leaves a lasting legacy
The biennial multi-class Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta is one of the most complex events in international sailing, and its smooth functioning relies on a continuity of administrative experience which takes it for granted that those on the organising committee are in it for the long haul.
But even by the VDLR’s traditions of long service, Don O’Dowd of the Royal St George YC’s contribution of Chairing five editions to indicate a minimum of ten years continuous involvement is exceptional. And though he handed over the Chairmanship to the National YC’s Eddie Totterdell in November, his successors know that they can, if required, call on his fount of wisdom and experience to advise on the best way forward.
SERVICES TO SAILING
Peter Ryan of National YC
Peter Ryan receives the Penmaen Plate - Spirit of ISORA award at the 2025 ISORA Prizegiving Dinner for his leadership and dedication to offshore sailing
The annual awards ceremony of the Irish Sea Offshore Racing Association is so much a part of the Autumn programme at the National Yacht Club in Dun Laoghaire that it is difficult to imagine it being staged anywhere else and in a different format.
Equally, it is now impossible to envisage it happening without former NYC Commodore Peter Ryan in a key role, for his long and active participation in offshore racing with ISORA and further afield is well matched by his decades of visionary contribution to the administration of this branch of our sport.
ISORA’s annually-presented Penmaen Plate is a highly-regarded award for the sailor who best embodies the spirit of Irish Sea offshore racing, and its popular 2025 award to Peter Ryan was right on target.
DECEMBER
SERVICES TO SAILING
Mark Lyttle of Dun Laoghaire
Mark Lyttle of Dún Laoghaire, Afloat.ie “Sailor of the Month (Services to Sailing)” for December, recognised for lifelong service to sailing and elected World President of ILCA in 2025 Photo: Afloat
Mark Lyttle is one of those multi-talented people in sailing who are always in contention for some special recognition for remarkable personal achievements. His Medal and Trophy-bedecked sailing career continues apace at the Masters Level in Ilca sailing, yet at the same time he has quietly worked behind the scenes in order to ensure that several sports are optimised in the benefits they provide for participants.
But being elected as world President of ILCA as 2025 drew to a close marked a career high in personal achievement. This remarkable little boat is pushing towards the quarter million mark globally, and manages the unprecedented feat of being universally popular at all levels of sailing while also successfully performing as the quintessential Olympic sailing class.
Being President of such a class’s world organisation is very far indeed from being a sinecure, but Mark Lyttle is the man for the job.
REGATTA
Andy George & John Beckett of Howth
Winners John Beckett (left) and Andy George (right) with HYC Flag Officer Jill Sommerville
The conclusion of the year offers an unrivalled opportunity for a proper overview of season-long achievement, and the Howth-based Dufour 40 Splashdance (Andy George & John Beckett) came up in lights at the top of her class in all the major regattas on the east and south coasts. Co-owners and joint skippers Andy George and John Beckett put a lot of thought and effort into up-grading their comfortable boat’s performance with preparation, tuning and dedicated crew training, and they were rewarded with major trophies won in top events all the way from May to October. In all, it was a brilliant object lesson in adding that special and very satisfying performance zing to the sailing of a very attractive boat.
FAMILY SAILING
The Goodbody Family of Dun Laoghaire
The Goodbody family of Dun Laoghaire sailing their J/109 White Mischief Photo: Afloat
In the immediate aftermath of Christmas, we all have an increased awareness that the maintenance of family harmony in an ultra-busy time is not something that necessarily or easily happens in all seasonally-extended clans. In fact, this challenge of maintaining goodwill in any busy family setting is increased by added activities and goals, and while we might like to think that family crews are a dominant feature of the Irish sailing scene, such is not always the case.
Thus the continuing succcess of the Goodbody family in racing their J/109 White Mishief has been a source of wonder and increasing admiration over the years, and 2025 has been vintage, rounded out by their winning of the Turkey Shoot series in Dublin Bay in December.
Sailor of the Year: Voting 2025
As in previous years, the boating public and maritime community can have their say to help guide judges in deciding who should be crowned Ireland's Sailor of the Year for 2024 by using our online poll The judges welcome the traditional massive level of public interest in helping them make their decision but firmly retain their right to make the ultimate decision for the final choice while taking voting trends into account.
Please note: One vote per person. Your vote DOES NOT necessarily determine the overall winner.
The national award is specially designed to salute the achievements of Ireland's sailing elite. After more than 25 years, the awards have developed into a premier ceremony for water sports.
The overall national award will be presented to the person who, in the judges' opinion, achieved the most notable results in, or made the most significant contribution to Irish sailing during 2025.
By supporting your favourite nominee, you are creating additional awareness of their nomination and highlighting their success.
CLICK THE LINK ON EACH SAILOR'S NAME TO READ THEIR ACHIEVEMENT FROM 2025 AND VOTE FOR YOUR SAILOR in the right-hand column (on desktop machines) and below on tablet and mobile
Voting
Voting online is open to public view from Monday, February 2nd until Monday, February 16th 2026.
The Award will be announced in March this year.
ABOUT THE IRISH SAILOR OF THE YEAR AWARD
Created in 1996, the Afloat Irish Sailor of the Year Awards represent all that is praiseworthy, innovative and groundbreaking in the Irish sailing and boating scene.
Since it began over 28 years ago, the awards have recognised nearly 900 monthly award winners in the pages of Ireland's sailing magazine Afloat, and these have been made to both amateur and professional sailors.
The first-ever sailor of the year was dinghy sailor Mark Lyttle, a race winner at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics.
The judges' decision is final, and no correspondence will be entered into.
