Gonzaga College was crowned as the Schools National Team Racing Champions 2022 at the event hosted by the Royal St George Yacht Club at Dun Laoghaire Harbour.
Since the event's inception in 2004, it is the first occasion that a Leinster School has taken this much-sought trophy.
Captained by Trevor Bolger, the Gonzaga Team attained a 100% race win victory over their competitors.
The team showed a first-class mastery of team racing tactics as they controlled all their races.
Photo: Andrew Conan
On average, their winning positions were from the pre-start and by mark one were clear with a 1 and 2 position.
The third helm focused on covering their opponents, and from there on, the opposition was playing catch up.
The Gonzaga Team were Trevor Bolger Helm 1, Jacques Murphy Helm 2, Archie Daly Helm 3, and the crew were Ethan Hunt, Cathal O'Reagan and Jules Start.
13 Schools competed in the event, 6 Munster, 1 Connacht and 6 Leinster, which was an excellent turnout as the maximum number of qualifiers were 14.
Irish Schools National Team Racing Champions 2022 Results
There was another event included in the weekend championships, the Munster Provincial event, which did not take place this year for several reasons.
Munster Schools
Rochestown College was crowned the Munster Schools Team Racing Championships for 2022.
Running racing proved to be very challenging for Race Officer David Bolger as, at minimum the event had to complete 80% of the Round Robin, which was a schedule of 85 races, to achieve a result. Congratulations to David on achieving this, as the wind was not playing ball with us over the two days.
Photo: Andrew Conan
Saturday started with the wind at 230 degrees at 6-8knots when racing commenced. The wind died entirely and swung to 130 degrees. Reset the course and swapped positions for start and finish boats. Later in the afternoon, the wind died again and reappeared at 250-270 degrees. This lost a minimum of 40 minutes of racing time. Max wind strength for the day was nine knots.
On Sunday, the course was set close to the Carlisle Pier with 250-260 degrees wind direction. On occasion, there were gusts of up to 12 knots, and the racing started at 9.42.
Photo: Andrew Conan
There was a significant wind shift in the middle of race 53, with the direction being 010. It was allowed to settle at 310-320. The course was repositioned around the committee boats in a new direction.
The wind continued to shift left and organisers continuously shifted the course accordingly.
After race 63, repositioned the course to the centre of the harbour with consistent 6-8 knots from 250 to 270 degrees.
Finally, at Race 73, the event hit the magic number of 80% when the wind died off.
Photo: Andrew Conan
No event takes place without the support and hard work of the volunteers. Organises say thank you to Team Leaders David Bolger Race Officer, Robbie Walker, P.R.O, Keith Start Beach Master/Changeover Coordinator and Lorraine O'Connor Results/Race Office, and their crew of volunteers, club members, and school representatives.
Photo: Andrew Conan
The S.S.A.I. would like to thank the following Royal St. George Yacht Club and Flag Officers for hosting the event, Ronan Adams, Sailing Manager, Karin Ryan, Sailing Secretary, Catering and Boat House staff.
Eunice Kennedy elected as Chairperson Schools Sailing Association of Ireland
The Schools Sailing Association of Ireland held their Annual General Meeting on Saturday evening (30th of April 2022), and Eunice Kennedy was elected as Chairperson.
