Thursday night’s presentation by Sue Concannon (Killaloe Sailing Club and President, Irish Sailing) of the Afloat.ie/Irish Sailing “Sailors of the Year 2025” award to Cillian Dickson of Lough Ree Yacht Club, together with his World Champion shipmates on the J/24 Headcase, was a major event that ticked very positive boxes in every direction.
Thus it was appropriate that it took place in the historic setting of the National Maritime Museum in Dun Laoghaire – formerly the Mariner’s Church – for this was an historic acknowledgement of the very essence of Irish sailing at its best, a celebration of club sailing and grass roots talent developed to its ultimate level.
Victory Moment — The Irish J/24 crew of Headcase celebrate on deck after securing the World Championship title in Plymouth, with helmsman Cillian Dickson and teammates Ryan Glynn, Marcus Ryan, Louis Mulloy and Sam O’Byrne
For although Dickson gets primary listing through being the helm, in this tight-knit group of many talents, he is very much the First Among Equals - the Primus Inter Pares – joined at the hip with Ryan Glynn of Ballyholme YC, Marcus Ryan & Louis Mulloy of Mayo SC, and Sam O’Byrne of Howth YC.
MANY SAILING CENTRES INVOLVED
Yet there are very many other sailing centres and clubs involved, as this special group usefully spreads its talents across our sport, the most recent being Mayo’s Louis Mulloy’s involvement with the Galway Bay SC overall win in last month’s 360-mile Dubai-Oman Race.
But as Lough Ree Yacht Club is almost exactly at the geographical centre of Ireland, and is our second-oldest club with a founding date of 1770, the appropriateness of listing it as Headcase’s ultimate home base is right and proper.
As for how this super-team from so many different parts of the country came to be together, it is a fact that in a continuous sailing programme across many classes, talent attracts talent. You quickly become aware - in observing various manoeuvres and sail-setting exercises in other boats - that there must be someone aboard who knows what they’d doing, even if the cockpit crew is letting them down.
INADEQUATE AFTERGUARDS
It seems that in this particular case, half a dozen and more years ago, the still-to-be-formed Headcase squad were all sailing as individuals, crewing in boats of various levels of performance in Cork Week. They were drawn to each other in the increasingly exuberant après sailing chat by the shared feeling that – if given the chance – they could put in a better performance than the inadequate afterguards with which they were all saddled.
They won’t be the first disgruntled group of sailors to think such things, nor will they be the last. But the difference is that they did something very positive about it. Having agreed that the globally spread J/24 class of 1977-78 offered the best scope and value (5,500 have been built), the challenge was to find a boat with potential that had not deteriorated to being little better than an old tore-out.
THE STAN HONEY MOTTO
The great and legendary Californian sailor Stan Honey says that the greatest mistake he and his wife Sally made was in buying a truly mangled old Cal 40. Those who know the high quality race-winning boat they transformed Illusion into will be surprised by this. Yet they let their hearts rule their heads by feeling sorry for an abandoned Cal 40 in a shambolic yard beside the freeway. But once they’d taken it on they discovered that one of the boats more distinctive features was bullet holes in the grime-encrusted hull, for she was abandoned in one of the rougher sides of town.
It speaks volumes for their strength of character that they persisted in what became a magnificent race-winning restoration, despite that complex project using up energy which - at their stage in life - would have been much better deployed in sailing their own boat, even though Stan was already spending time afloat as an America’s Cup and Volvo Ocean Race navigator.
Power Run — Headcase drives downwind in strong breeze during the 2024 Cork Week Regatta Photo: Bob Bateman
“YOU DON’T WANT TO BUY OTHER PEOPLE’S PROBLEMS”
So the golden rule in buying a pre-used boat is selecting with care, because as Illusion’s owners ruefully concluded, “You don’t want to buy other people’s problems”. The skill is in selecting a used boat which is capable of being brought up to good 95% standard without huge effort, for then the energy is still available to achieve some of the final 5% that provides real race-winning potential.
Yet even at that, we’re still only halfway there, as a little J/24 in particular, heavily crewed with five on board, poses the challenge of five very distinctive minds learning how to think as one, and communicate and act accordingly. Thus you need a high level of brain power, but that upper echelon IQ has to be found in the rare combination with high EI (Emotional Intelligence) allied to physical ability of balletic standard, and all combined with a preparation to submerge personalities in a team, ultimately based on a hidden but real desire to win.
With the basics in place, the Headcase Project began to spread outwards from Ireland until, after a couple of years, it was felt that a major J/24 championship was missing something if they weren’t taking part.
Dockside Team — The Headcase crew celebrate beside their J/24 after international competition, with sailors from Lough Ree YC, Ballyholme YC, Mayo SC and Howth YC forming the Irish world championship team
UPWARD GRAPH
There were of course some notable mis-steps along the way, but the longterm underlyng achievement graph was in one direction, and their performance at the 2025 Worlds at Plymouth in September was a textbook case of staying cool under increasing pressure, resulting in a win which immediately revealed just how popular this Band of Brothers have made themselves in J/24 and global sailing, and was notable for being a success through private personal effort, rather then being another notch of achievement in the totem pole of highly organised national performance squads.
Trophy Trail — A display of major J/24 championship trophies reflecting Headcase’s 2025 season success, culminating in the World Championship victory honoured by the Afloat.ie/Irish Sailing Sailors of the Year award
Cillian Dickson, Ryan Glynn, Marc Ryan, Louis Mulloy and Sam O’Byrne are almost perfectly representative of the best of modern Irish sailing. Through their own efforts, they have brought their well-used boat up to an exceptionally high standard of maintenance, race tuning and performance potential, while at the same time training themselves up to crewing at a professional level.
Club Pride — J/24 world champion Sam O’Byrne presents Headcase medals to Howth Yacht Club Commodore Kevin Monks and Rear Commodore Jill Sommerville following the crew’s 2025 world title success.
AN HONOUR FOR US ALL
With careful planning and harbouring of resources, they have conducted impressive international campaigns within manageable budgets, culminating in the World Championship won in exemplary style in September 2025. With a crew drawn from many parts and clubs of Ireland, they have been very worthy ambassadors for all sailing everywhere in Ireland, and a realistic example and inspiration for sailors of all ages. It is an honour for us all to be represented by them.
