In 2023, the All-Ireland Junior Helm Championship was thoroughly blown out of its scheduled September weekend in Schull by what the gloomsters relished as "Inevitable Equinoctial Gales". The event finally touched base in West Cork in November, with Russell Bolger of the Royal St George YC winning, crewed by Louis McGovern.
They were racing those pit-ponies of sailing in Irelad, the TR 3.6 dinghies developed by David Harte of Schull, and this week the Fastnet Marine & Outdoor Centre is again preparing a fleet for the cream of Ireland's junior sailors. But as juniors move in and out of the category so rapidly, Bolger is not defending his title, yet there's any amount of freshly rising talent looking to get their names inscribed into our sailing history.
2024 Irish Sailing Junior Champions Cup Invitees
2024 Irish Sailing Junior Champions Cup Invitees Source: Irish Sailing
It's interesting to note that Ballyholme is providing four entries, as the BYC complex on Belfast Lough is earmarked for further development as Northern Ireland's primary location for sailing's teaching and development. Along with one Sligo entry, the Ballyholme squad are the furthest travelled, and it will be intriguing to see how the growing focus of Ballyholme on this important aspect of the sport plays out in open competition.
Today (Tuesday) it looks as if some of our September Summmer may still be lingering on in Schull at the weekend, though the south coast of West Cork may be the first to feel any deterioration as it comes in from the southeast. But in any case, within Schull Harbour it has been demonstrated that sailing can continue even if conditions have become marginal in open water along the Fastnet shore.
The "Pit Pony" of sailing in Ireland - the TR 3.6 developed by David Harte of Schull
