The Irish Team Racing Association’s 75th National Championships concluded Saturday in the Royal St George Yacht Club at Dun Laoghaire Harbour. The round-robin event was truncated to a day’s racing as the forecast showed winds gusting to 30 knots Sunday morning.

Eighteen teams competed in the event, and after sixty races in two round-robin leagues, the top four teams progressed to a semifinal knockout.

Tight racing at the ITRA 75th Anniversary team racing at Dun Laoghaire Harbour

Baltimore, comprising UCC alumni, was the top team in League A, with Georges Street clear second. George Jesters, the UCD alumni team, topped League B but with Lunsters edging Bunkers on % wins.

The league toppers progressed from the semis to the final, although Lunsters took a race off Baltimore, having suffered a capsize in the first race.

The best of three finals started in the fading light of dusk with a brisk breeze with intermittent strong squalls.

Control off the startline was to be critical. Baltimore emerged into a winning combination to take the first race. Jesters struck back to even the score and forced a decider in failing light.

An ITRA Finals race at dusk in Dun Laoghaire Harbour

Jesters controlled well off the start line in the final race and sailed into a one-two combination which they didn’t yield, taking the 75th anniversary event and adding it to their BUSA crown.

ITRA Silver Medalists Baltimore Sailing Club= Johnny Durcan, Fionn Lyden & Mark Hassett. Crews: Trudy O'Hare, Rosa Lyden & Adam Hyland

The Petit Final was won by Georges Street, defeating Lunster's sudden death. Prestige Worldwide won the youth event, and Holy Child Killiney were awarded the all-girl team prize.

ITRA Bronze Medalists Georges Street, Peter Fagan, Toby Fowler & Noah McCarthy Crews - Emma Gallagher, Fiona Ferguson, & Rosemary Tyrrell

At the event dinner in George, John Sheehy presented ITRA outgoing Chairman Ailbe Millerick & outgoing ITRA Secretary Eunice Kennedy jacket awards for their long service to Team Racing in Ireland.

John Sheehy (centre) presents ITRA outgoing Chairman Ailbe Millerick & outgoing ITRA Secretary Eunice Kennedy with ITRA jacket awards

2023 ITRA Champions George Jesters

Jack Fahy, Liam Glynn, Tom Higgins
Crews: Kathy Kelly, Emilly Hill & Cian Lynch

Silver Medalists Baltimore Sailing Club
Johnny Durcan, Fionn Lyden & Mark Hassett.
Crews: Trudy O'Hare, Rosa Lyden & Adam Hyland.

Bronze Medalists Georges Street
Peter Fagan, Toby Fowler & Noah McCarthy
Crews - Emma Gallagher, Fiona Ferguson, & Rosemary Tyrrell.

First Youth - Prestige Worldwide
Russell Bolger, Max Cantwell, and Peter Williams
Crews - Lilley Dwyer, Patrick Foley and Ella Dempsey

All-girl team prize  

Olivia Ryan, Zita Tempany, Nora Jane Sexton, Orla Casey, Molly O'Flaherty, Ameline Hennessy, Lily Donagh, Lucia Cullen and H.C.K. Principal Caroline O'Brien

A team racing party piece at the Royal St. George Yacht Club ITRA dinner 

Eighteen teams are lined up to contest the 75th Team Racing National Championships in the Royal St George YC in Fireflies this weekend, supported by a team of 35 volunteers on and off the water under the watchful eyes of Eunice Kennedy, ITRA Secretary Ronan Adams, Sailing Manager RStGYC and Event Director Ailbe MiIlerick.

Entries closed Monday, with Holy Child Killiney (HKC) taking the last youth spot. Demand from School teams was very strong, and three teams remained on the waiting list at closure.

Four places are reserved for invited youth champion teams as they are at or close to the standard of the ‘senior teams’ and will enjoy the experience rather than simply being cannon fodder. A few scalps will be taken by this talented group.

Teams from Queens Belfast in the north to Baltimore SC in the south will be taking part, including the Colleges and College alumni teams from both UCD, UCC and Trinity under various guises.

Favourites are Live Action (George) with Liam Glynn & Jack Fahey, who won the British University Sailing Championships for UCD earlier this year (a feat last completed by Johnny Ross Murphy and the Craig brothers Brian & Peter for Trinity 50 years earlier).

Also top-seeded is Johnny Durcan’s Baltimore SC team (UCC Alumni) who won the Irish Universities Championships in Carlingford, defeating UCD in light airs reinforced by Mark Hassett and Fionn Lyden. Deep6 represents DUSC. The George is well represented by the formidable ‘No Show’ (Toby Fowler, Peter Fagan and Noel McCarthy), ‘Live-Action’ Jack Higgins et al and Georges St. (Jacques Murphy, Finn Walker & Tim Norwood). Top schools’ teams comprise St Conleths (Daniel O’Connor ISTRA Champs), St Andrews College represented in two teams, SAC4Cup and Shake the Boaty.

Russel Bolger Junior Helmsman’s Champion is leading Prestige Worldwide. St. Michaels and HCK will compete for their rankings and have a tilt at the more experienced racers. Missing are former Elmo winners ‘Nauti Buoys’ Rocco, Turvey and Daley, who unfortunately couldn’t muster their team due to study pressure. The weather forecast is being watched by the organisers with interest but have confidence that Race Officer Michael Conway & his team will complete the event!

Teams: Live Action, Bunkers, Baltimore SC, Lunster, Deep 6, QUB, Georges St., George Jesters, George No Show, UCC1, UCC2, Tech Univ. Dublin, SAC4Cup, Shake-the-Boaty, Prestige Worldwide, St Conleths, St Michaels & Holy Child Killiney.

The Shanahan team racing Cup returns for the 2023/24 season in a new format at Dun Laoghaire Harbour.

Hosted by the Irish National Sailing & Powerboat School in conjunction with Gonzaga College SJ, the event will be run over three Wednesdays, November 29th 2023, January 17th and February 7th 2024.

The winner will be the school with the best results over the three events, however, schools do not need to enter all three events in order to participate.

The organisers hope that the format change will give schools more race time before regional and national championships. It will also give less experienced sailors a greater opportunity to represent their school, and if the weather doesn’t co-operate, the format avoids the need to try and find suitable dates to reschedule.

RS Feva sailing

Fiachra Etchingham of Gonzaga College has been the driver of this competition since its inception. “The competition, supported by the Shanahan family, aims to promote friendly competition between schools and be as inclusive as possible, catering for sailors of all abilities”.

A team can enter by contacting the Irish National Sailing & Powerboat School’s office on 01 2844195 or by email to [email protected].

Schools will initially be limited in sending up to two teams per school to facilitate as many schools as possible in entering teams up to capacity constraints. Should additional spaces for schools be available as the entry closing date approaches, more than two teams per school will be accepted.

The 2022/2023 academic year Shanahan Cup eventually took place last February, after poor weather delayed earlier attempts. The Cup was won by St Michael’s College holding off tough competition from 9 other teams.

A short video from the last event gives an idea of some of the fun for school students:

In 1947 a group of sailors from Dun Laoghaire Harbour and West Kirby Sailing Club sat down in the bar in the RStGYC and devised rules to make inter-club racing more interesting.

You could engage in ungentlemanly conduct to win the match, such as ‘mislead & baulk’ your opponent, cover opposition boats to allow your teammates to advance; scores were cumulative and winning the race wasn’t all.

Thus, the first Team Racing rules were formulated. West Kirby had been invited to Dun Laoghaire for ‘open’ water racing, which was not then available on the west coast of England as the minefields protecting Liverpool Port had not yet been cleared.

The following year, Dun Laoghaire clubs got together to run the inaugural IDRA National Team Racing Championships in Fireflies a World first. 75 years later the event repeats under the auspices of ITRA (Irish Team Racing Assoc.) and the RStGYC on 18th/19th November in the ‘George’ and entries open next Tuesday (on rsgyc.ie).

Four youth teams will receive invitations. These comprise the Irish winners and runners-up from the Elmo and Schools Nationals '23 events, which were truly amazing events rallying 32 representative teams.

Demand for entries is expected to be brisk as this is the ultimate event of 2023.

The RYA Eric Twiname Junior & Youth Team Racing Championships took place 7-8 October 2023 at Oxford Sailing Club on Farmoor Reservoir.

Possibly the world’s biggest event for youth team racing, this renowned regatta saw a huge 348 sailors turning up to participate. Racing started promptly on Saturday with a good strong breeze of 15-17 knots, and the race committee got in as many races as possible.

Unlike traditional fleet racing regattas, this event features kids aged 8 to 18 sharing RS Feva and Firefly dinghies. Teams do on-water changeovers and compete in short-burst races.

“What is brilliant about the event is that it's team racing, not fleet racing. This gives the sailors a better opportunity to learn and experience the racing rules of sailing. It starts to sew the seeds of team racing skills; sailing as slow as possible rather than as fast as possible to win” Jake Elsbury, Training & Fleet Co-Ordinator at RS Sailing. “It is unique to most other sailing events as the teams experience short, sharp, intense periods on the water. Races are just 6 minutes long but voracious compared to fleet racing in various ways.”

The 2023 Championships is the first time the event was run on three courses. Usually, it is just split into two; Youth (Under 19s) and Junior (Under 17s) and teams race 3 v 3. However, this year the committee wanted to make it more inclusive, so the Junior category was split into two classes; the Under 17s and the Under 15s.

wClassed as ‘pre-Junior’, the Under 15s competed in 2 v 2 races to make it more accessible for those who have never team raced before. “It’s very straight forward; don’t be last!” Jake explains. This decision was also taken considering the huge demand for the Junior event – there was an excess of 50 applicants this year.

The Junior categories raced in the RS Feva. “They’re sporty, fast, agile and robust.” Jake continues, “It is proper racing pedigree great for stop/start, tactical team racing. And it will bounce off others like bumper cars if there is a collision. They’re the perfect boat for youth sailors to showcase their skills and engage in friendly competition.”

The Championships are also known for their social side. When sailors are not racing, they are either on a rib together, engaging with the tactics on the water, or they are back on land. Families come with gazebos, BBQs and picnic and make a proper day of it. Between racing, sailors get to know competitors off the water too and have plenty of opportunities to make new friends.

On Day 2 there was slight delay as there was no wind to start with. Everyone got on the water as soon as possible and rafted up with fun and games. Racing started at 11am with a super light breeze that went on to build to 10 knots.

Event Director, Jake Fennick, ran the regatta on behalf of the RYA. “It was an unforgettable championship. A monster in size, we had 348 sailors at the venue! With 73 teams across the three courses, we did almost 300 races on the Saturday. That wouldn’t have been possible without the support from RS. We couldn’t have got those extra flights of boats in without them.”

There was a huge array of volunteers from straight-forward event support, administrators, juries, umpires and race officers. All-in-all it was a superb mix of fast and furious racing blended with some well-timed breaks for social time ashore. Click here for the Youth (Under 19s) results, Junior (Under 17s) results and the Pre-Junior (Under 15s) results.

The Eric Twiname Trust wants to see more people taking part in team racing and building confidence in youth sailors. As Jack put it: “This is your call to arms! If you experienced team racing, loved it and want to do more, contact the RYA for help and guidance to make it happen at your own club.”

Team Racers Rian Geraghty McDonnell, Emily Arrowsmith, Isabelle Kearney, Kitty Flanagan, Finn Walker and Max Goodbody were the overall winners of St Andrew’s College Alumni inaugural Team Racing Championship that took place in Dun Laoghaire harbour on October 21st. 

There were lots of thrills and spills but thankfully no rain for the St Andrew’s College Alumni Team Racing Championship at the Royal St. George Yacht Club

As Afloat reported earlier, the South Dublin college's event was hosted by the Royal St. George Yacht Club. Nine teams (54 SAC participants) and 30 volunteers were led by Principal Race Officer Robbie Walker and his team.

The St Andrew’s College Alumni Team Racing Championship at the Royal St. George Yacht Club was held in club Firefly dinghies and raced inside Dun Laoghaire harbour 

Thankfully, the breeze dropped from this week's recent Storm Babet conditions to provide ideal nine- 12 knot winds to the extent that the regatta had sunny spells and no rain!

There was an impressive turnout of 54 sailors for the St Andrew’s College Alumni inaugural Team Racing Championship at the Royal St. George Yacht Club

St Andrew’s College Alumni inaugural Team Racing Championship Second place: Amy O’Halloran, Sam Ledoux, Caoilinn Geraghty-McDonnell, Oisin Hughes, Kei Walker and Matvey Sorgassi

Second place (pictured above) was won by Amy O’Halloran, Sam Ledoux, Caoilinn Geraghty-McDonnell, Oisin Hughes, Kei Walker and Matvey Sorgassi.

Third overall at the St Andrew’s College Alumni inaugural Team Racing Championship went to Peter Williams, Oscar Legge, Rachel Flood, Eva Spain, Georgia Goodbody and Ruby Slye O’Connell

Third place (some of the team pictured above) went to Peter Williams, Oscar Legge, Rachel Flood, Eva Spain, Georgia Goodbody and Ruby Slye O’Connell.

Next year, the college's sailing administrator, Mary Justine Geraghty, told Afloat, 'We hope to build on the team numbers as our current SAC sailors progress to University level (become SAC Alumni Sailors) and our junior school sailors join SAC secondary school. It can only get bigger and better!'

County Dublin's St Andrew's College (SAC) will stage its inaugural Alumni Team Racing Championships at the Royal St. George Yacht Club in Dun Laoghaire Harbour on Saturday. 

Nine teams comprising 54 sailors will compete for a specially made half-model Firefly trophy.

A leather-bound book has also been produced to hold a list of the winning team names, the competitors and a brief summary of the annual event along with some photos. 

The Booterstown school currently has 150 active sailors with 90 training every Wednesday afternoon from the RSTGYC and the RIYC in both keelboat and team racing programmes for SAC primary and secondary schools.

After a staggering 190 races, UK visitors the Rutland Raiders emerged victorious with a comprehensive 2-0 victory in the final against last year’s winners, the Nautibuoys, at the weekend's eighth edition of team racing's Elmo Trophy at the Royal St. George Yacht Club.

In what was the biggest team race event ever staged in Ireland, 196 sailors from across the country competed in the 32 supplied Firefly dinghies lighting up a sometimes-gloomy Dun Laoghaire Harbour over the weekend.

After a challenging Saturday, Race Officer David Bolger and his team started race 97 at 9 am on Sunday morning. No lie in for the sailors who had enjoyed themselves at the Elmo dinner the night before. This year, a very detailed computer programme on loan from West Kirby Sailing Club matched up teams round by round based on who was winning and who was losing. It led to incredibly close racing all weekend as the program quickly established the pecking order for racing.

An Elmo Trophy semi-final start - what a start! 

As the morning continued, the wind held firm, allowing for races to fire off every three minutes as the six fleets of firefly dinghies raced teams off sequentially. Typically, this allowed for three different races to be on the race course at the same time, thankfully on different parts of the Starboard S course used for the event. By 2 pm, Round 11 was complete, meaning 176 races had been sailed, and teams anxiously watched to see who had made the final 8 for the quarter-final showdown.

Aquaholics (N) vs Nautibuoys (D) in the quarter-finals of the Elmo Trophy at Dun Laoghaire

So close was the racing that teams ranked 8th to 16th all had the same amount of wins, with only 1 getting the coveted 8th spot and a chance at the knockouts. Thankfully, race organisers could rely on the algorithm that determines how special each win is based on who it was against, thus enabling ties to be broken fairly and quickly.

The ‘knot too shabby' team from the Royal St. George Yacht Club

In 9th place and just missing out were the ‘Forget Me knots, ’ an all-female crew from the host club. They at least had the consolation of winning the Elmo Plate, a new perpetual trophy kindly donated by the Elmes family, which is awarded to the top-ranked team to miss out on the knockout stages. Spare a thought too, for the Glandore Harbour Dangers, who had run in the top 8 all weekend only to hit the round-robin rocks and miss out on quarters by losing their last race.

With a solid breeze of 10 knots and full sails, quarter-finals commenced. This year, in a first for the event, live commentary of the quarter-finals was provided over VHF, which enabled the many watching knocked-out teams to enjoy the action and cheer on their favourites in watching RIBS. It helps too, when one of the commentators, Steve Tylecote, was the very first Team Race World winner and an author of the only printed book on Team Racing.

Schull Sharks competing at the Elmo team racing Trophy at Dun Laoghaire

The quarter-finals eventually went to form after some contested races with Aquaholics, Berth Ctrl, Anchor management and Motorsailors getting knocked out. It seems as much thought goes into team name strategy as anything else for the Elmo trophy!

Anchor management competing at the Elmo team racing Trophy at Dun Laoghaire

The semis saw Round Robin winners ‘Prestige Worldwide' face off against ‘Nautibouys’. Would there be a changing of the guard? Two frantic races determined the result, and the Round Robin winners were out. A young team, they will surely come again next year.

The Second Semi matched off SAC4CUP, a team packed with academy sailors and schoolmates, against the UK raiders from Rutland. It was at this stage in the event that Rutland moved up a gear and comprehensively won 2-0 despite some excellent starting from the St. Andrews team.

Star Martinis watching the knockouts at the Elmo Team Racing Trophy at Dun Laoghaire Harbour

Pier pressure changing from Storm to Full sails at the Elmo team racing trophy

So, after a staggering 188 races, it had come down to the final. With spectators and commentators getting excited and the time past 4 pm, Rutland Raiders and Nautibuoys lined up in the RSGYC Green and Yellow fireflies to battle it out. This was a match-up of team racing experts versus super fast sailors. Who would win out? Well, yet again, Rutland moved up another gear with the team racing experts suddenly showing they were super fast as well and started race one like a tornado as they blew last year's winners off the start line with a coveted 1-2-3 combination. Despite some gallant sailing, the Nautibuoys were quickly down 1-0 in the first to two finals.

The Elmo Trophy Final - Rutland In green, Nautibuoys in yellow

Race 2 was do-or-die stuff, but despite raising their game, the Nautibuoys were powerless to stop Rutland from taking control of the race down the run and easing to 1-3-4 win and, thus, the title.

So the 8th Elmo trophy, Ireland’s top youth team racing event, goes to the UK this year, as the Rutland captain Jamie Tylecote dryly observed it was a sweet revenge after Irish universities took the UK crown earlier this year.

The Rutland Raiders winning team was Jamie Tylecote, Harry Burges, Tom Coates, Harry Rowlands, William Fearn and Dylan Beatty.

Elmo Trophy 2023 results

Challenging winds kept sailors and race management on their toes on day one of the Elmo team racing Trophy at the Royal St. George Yacht Club, Dun Laoghaire Harbour.

Some of the early racing at the Elmo team racing Trophy at the Royal St. George Yacht Club, Dun Laoghaire Harbour

In conditions that ranged from zero to 20 knots, heavy rain to sunshine and storm sails to full sails, Race Officer David Bolger and his team delivered 96 races, completing six rounds of sailing for the 32 teams racing.

Prestige Worldwide have merged as overnight leaders at the Elmo team racing Trophy at the Royal St. George Yacht Club, Dun Laoghaire Harbour

Two teams are undefeated on six wins, with home side, Prestige Worldwide narrowly ahead of the Rutland Raiders from the UK. With a further five rounds expected before moving to the quarter-finals, many teams are ready to leap from the pack and seal their place in the final eight.

As Afloat reported earlier, this year's event sees 192 sailors from around the country representing various classes and clubs compete equally in the 36 supplied firefly dinghies. In races that typically last eight minutes around a starboard S-shaped course, two teams face off each race as they try to grab a precious win and move up the overall ranking.

Schull Dolphins looking sharp at the Elmo team racing trophy event dinner at the Royal St. George Yacht Club, Dun Laoghaire Harbour

Racing starts on Sunday at 08:45, with quarter-finals expected to start at 14:00.

The eighth Elmo Trophy is set to take place this weekend in Dun Laoghaire Harbour. This exciting youth team racing competition has grown significantly since its inception in 2015, with 32 teams set to participate this year, compared to the original eight teams.

The event is expected to be the largest team racing competition ever held in Irish waters, with 192 sailors aged 19 and under set to compete in 36 supplied Firefly dinghies. The races will determine the winner, with approximately 200 races expected to take place.

A special computer programme, on loan from West Kirby Sailing Club, will dynamically create team match-ups. In each round, teams with equal wins will race off, leading to close and fun racing. Sailors will compete on a ‘Starboard S’ shaped course, with a separate start and finish line, facilitating up to 3 races on the track and allowing for quick changeovers after racing to enable new teams to race.

"The event is expected to be the largest team racing competition ever held in Irish waters"

On the water umpires, led by Chief Umpire Ailbe Millerick, will provide on-the-water judging, enabling quick protest decisions and results being determined on the water. This year, the umpire panel is supported by many former Elmo sailors who will add their valued input to the rapid decision process.

192 sailors aged 19 and under set to compete in 36 supplied Firefly dinghies in the Elmo Trophy Team Racing event at Dun Laoghaire Harbour

Teams from around the country will compete, with each team consisting of six sailors, all 19 or under, 2 of whom must be under 16, and none attending university. New entries this year include teams from Malahide, Lough Ree, and from the UK, Rutland Raiders. Seasoned Irish team racers will recognise the name Tylecote, which appears on the Rutland Raider lineup.

The Elmo Trophy has become quite a logistical exercise, with races taking place every three minutes from 10:45 on Saturday until 18:00 on Saturday evening. This gives the teams a short break to ‘glam’ up for the Elmo Trophy Dinner in the Dining Room and Balcony in the RStGYC. The sailing will re-commence early on Sunday morning, moving to quarter-finals in the afternoon, with a new innovation this year, commentary supplied over VHF.

The Elmo Trophy - the eighth staging of the event this weekend at the Royal St. George will be its biggest so far. The trophy is named after the late Graham Elmes, the founder of the Irish Team Racing Association

With 32 teams participating, predicting a winner is difficult, but teams from the home club, Howth, and the UK Raiders, are expected to make it to the quarter-finals. Glandore, with two teams and a growing team race community, could also be in the shake-up. The competition promises to be an exciting event, with close and fun racing expected throughout the weekend.