Ireland's front runner at the Laser World Championships after six rounds at Hayling Island is James Espey in 47th place from a fleet of 159. Ronan Cull is 148th and Paul McMahon is 154th.

On the strength of two impressive race wins in slightly stronger breezes today off England's Hayling Island Australia's double world champion Tom Slingsby stepped four points clear at the top of the leader-board after six of the eight scheduled Qualifying Races have been sailed.

The gentle, and at times fickle minded sea-breezes of the two opening days of racing gave way to a more consistent, ESE'ly wind which averaged around 11-12 knots and peaked at around 14 to offer both fleets, the Standard Senior Men's championship and the Junior Worlds, a brisker and more physical challenge.

But if the winds proved to be more settled in direction there was still no shortage of challenges and traps, not least managing the changing tidal flow of up to one knot. And the choppy, swell made for some fast, enjoyable downwind sailing.

Slingsby attributed part of his success today to his desire to stay super smooth downwind. After a yellow flag penalty for excessive kinetics on Tuesday he commented later that possibly the jury had done him a favour, the penalty was a key to him sailing very smoothly in the choppy waves, and in both races he was well clear of the pack when he took his second and third winning guns of the regatta.

Chasing hard in third overall Skandia Team GBR's Paul Goodison was forced to press his 'recovery mode' into action again today. Deep in the pack in the second race the Olympic and World Champion pulled back to seventh, keeping his world title defence firmly on target with all six of his scores Top 10 finishes.

Goodison shares the same points tally as New Zealand's second placed Joshua Junior who scored a seventh and a fifth today, retaining a level of consistency which he commented was 'a bit of a surprise.' With Michael Bullot lying fourth, the strong, tightly knit Kiwi squad now have four sailors in the top eight.

Austria's Andreas Geritzer, 2004 Olympic silver medallist had taken the overall championships lead after a second in his Race 5, to go 2,1,2 but he was snared in the thick of a raft of boats at the start of the second race and could not get away off the line.
After jumping from 50th after Day 1, to 5th last night, Geritzer lies ninth.

Giacoma Bottoli of Italy has managed to retain one of the most impressively regular set of scores so far. Lying fifth he is the only sailor other than Goodison to have scored the full half dozen top ten finishes.

In the Junior World Championships Italy's Francesco Marrai retained his overall lead today after a fifth and a third, lying two points ahead of Denmark's Thorbjoern Scheirup.

Quotes
Paul Goodison (GBR): " It was a tricky day all in all. I thought with the breeze in that it was going to be a little easier today but it wasn't. It was still quite shifty and the tide played a big part of it. The second race did not quite go quite to plan and I was in the 20's but I had good speed downwind and played the shifts well up the second beat."
"I think with it being such a long regatta it is all about trying to keep in single figures and I've managed to do that so far. I think for me that has been about not taking too many risks and sailing the fleet, but that is not easy because if you do get caught in the middle and it comes in from one side or the other then you do end up in the teens."

Tom Slingsby (AUS): "It was a really good day. There was a lot of current and everyone was really intimidated to get up on the start line but I had good transits and so I was able to start a boat length or two ahead of the boats around me. So I had really good starts, good speed upwind, but I was really fast downwind which is maybe a little out of the ordinary for me. I am usually an upwind specialist but today I was really quick. I am not too sure why. Yesterday I got a yellow flag and that maybe did me some good, I was trying to stay very still and today was a day about being very smooth and rocking really would not have helped you very much."

Joshua Junior (NZL): "The biggest gains were downwind for sure and so if you got to the top mark quite deep then you could really smoke it downwind and pass heaps of boats which was really fun and awesome. I struggled a little upwind.
It was a bit unexpected to do that well today again and really awesome to be up there and doing so awesome. Every regatta I am improving little by little, getting more consistent. Last year I was able to win races but still score the 30ths. Now I seem to be able to get back up to the top ten which is awesome. Over the winter we had some awesome training with seven of us, a couple of months in Auckland. Everyone is really close in training and works really hard."

Laser Standard Senior Men's Championship 2010
Provisional Results after 6 races including 2 discards.
1 Tom Slingsby (AUS) 1,8,(29), 3,1,1, 14pts
2 Joshua Junior (NZL) 3, (22), 1,2,7,5, 18pts
3 P Goodison (GBR) 3,1,(9),4,3,7,18pts
4 M Bullot (NZL) 1,2,5,(13),9,3, 20pts
5 Giacomo Bottolli (ITA), (9),4,3,6,3,8 24pts
6 N Thompson (GBR) 2,3,(25),6,9,7 27pts
7 A Maloney (NZL) 2, (22),4,10,2,11, 29pts
8 A Murdoch (NZL) 6,4,11,2,8, (22) 31pts
9 A Geritzer (AUT) (33) 6,2,1,2,22 33pts
10 L Radelic (CRO) 2,2,(42),1,18,10,33pts

Junior World Championships
1 Francesco Marrai (ITA) 2,3,(7),5,5,3 18pts
2 Thorbjoern Schierup (DEN) 3,36,(19),6,2 20pts
3 Keerati Bulaong (THA) (19),1,10,6,2,4 23pts
4 A Munos (FRA) (14),2,8,4,8,1, 23pts
5 M Kaeldo (DEN) 2,15,1,2,(16),16, 36pts

The Laser National Championships run by Ballyholme YC on Belfast Lough over the last four days (Thursday 26th - Sunday 29th August) saw a mix of wind conditions with the final day, like the Feva Nationals on Dublin Bay, being blown out for the 120 competitors.

In the Standard Rig, Ronan Wallace (Wexford B & TC) took the title from Robert Espey (Ballyholme YC) and Stpehen Mc Lernon (Cushedall SC).

Annalise Murphy (National YC) won the Radial Championships from Philip Doran (Courtown SC) and Tiffany Brien (Ballyholme YC).

Annalise won 4 of the 8 races sailed including all three in the 16-20 knot breeze on Saturday. The National YC sailor becomes the first female sailor to take the Laser Radial Irish National title.

The 4.7 rig was won by John Flynn (Dungarvan SC) from Colm O Regan (Kinsale YC) and Stephen Duke (Courtown SC). The first girl in the 4.7 was Georgina Corbett (LDYC/NYC).

There was no racing for the Laser Radials in Largs, Scotland, yesterday, and with the centre of a weak low sitting over the northern Irish sea today, racing has already been postponed at the venue for today, which means no action for the 15-strong Irish squad attending the event. 

Two more races for the sole Irish sailor, Chris Penney, at the Youth Standard Rig Worlds in Gdynia, Poland, however. Penney let slip a 39th-place finish in his group, followed up with a 14th. That means he drops to 42nd overall, still a very respectable position in a 124-boat fleet.

More news on both of these events as we have it.

As the Laser Worlds Draw to a close in Largs, bidding has opened for venues the 2014 World Championships. The events come in four bands, the Standard Rig Worlds, then the Radial Worlds (incorporating Youth, Ladies' and Men's) and the Masters Worlds. Those three groups are slated for a European venue in 2014, with the Youth Standard Rig and 4.7 championships slated for Asia.

Ireland has hosted the Worlds and Europeans in the past, with the Standard Rigs visiting Cork in 2001, the Radials hitting Ballyholme in 2004 and Dun Laoghaire hosting the 4.7 Europeans.

But could Ireland host the 2014 event?

The bid site is here, with the various bands anticipating different numbers of competitors. The Standard worlds should draw 160 boats, the Radial band closer to 500, and the Masters Worlds as many as 400 sailors.

Thoughts on a suitable Irish venue? Have your say in our forum.

Irish Laser Radial sailor Rory Lynch missed out on a bronze at Warnemunde Woche on countback yesterday, finishing on equal points with Pole, Tadeusz Kubiak.

The Blessington sailor posted a 5,3,4 scoreline in his final three races, but with Kubiak having posted a win earlier in the week, he got third place on the 'most firsts, most seconds' rule.

Compatriot Philip Doran from Courtown score a win in race five and joined Lynch in the top ten overall, finishing eighth in the 144-boat fleet.

The event will be a good indicator of performance ability going into the World Championships at Largs, Scotland, starting on July 20.

Full results for Warnemunde are HERE.

Ireland's top Laser Radial sailors will head to Scotland starting from today to prepare for the World Championships at Largs. Largs is the home of the RYA's Scottish Sailing Institute, one of the top sailing locations in the British Isles.

The Irish Radial trio of Debbie Hanna, Annalise Murphy and Tiffany Brien will be representing the country at the event, with 119 sailors in the ladies fleet.

An extended youth squad will take part in the Youth World Championships, a 320-boat fleet split into under-19 boys and girls.

The squad consists of: William Byrne, Peter Cameron, Philip Doran, Robbie Gilmore, Ruth Harrington, Luke Hevers, Eoin Keller, Rory Lynch, Henry Mclaughlin, Michael Molloy, Sean Murphy, Matthew O'Dowd, Alan Ruigrok, Saskia Tidey and Ross Vaughan

Ronan Cull, Simon Doran, Aidan McLaverty and Ciaran Hurney will represent Ireland in the men's fleet, with 108 entries. 

McLaverty will also race in the Junior World Championships in the full rig fleet in Hayling Island in August, along with Chris Penney.

 

Details available HERE.

 

 

 

 

Racing in the waters of Red Bay in County Antrim, Ballyholme Yacht Club's Ryan Seaton won this weekend's Ulster Laser sailing championships, which was hosted by Cushendall Sailing and Boating Club. Some 88 boats took part in the two-day provincial sailing championships, with five races taking place over Saturday and Sunday. Sailors from Radial, 4.7 and standard Laser fleets competed.

Tiffany Brien, also from Ballyholme, won the Ladies National championships, with Courtown Sailing Club's Ruth Harrington in second place and Annalise Murphy from Dún Laoghaire's National Yacht Club taking third.

Bangor-based Ballyholme dominated the leaderboard. Seaton's top spot, came on the back of four wins out of five races. Club mate James Espey took second place while Chris Penney from East Antrim Boat Club in Larne, was third.

In the 4.7 fleet, Kinsale's Conor Murphy took the top spot. Emma Cooney from the National Yacht Club was second, while Wicklow's Finn Lynch took third place for Blessington Sailing Club.

Ladies champion Tiffany Brien also topped the Radial class. Robbie Gilmore from Strangford Lough Yacht Club was second with Strangford clubmate Christopher Eames in third place.

Local participants from Cushendall Sailing and Boating Club Stephen McLernon finished 6th in the standard fleet; while Paul McLaughlin finished 12th in the Radial fleet and his cousin Catherine McLaughlin finished 15th.

Amongst the entrants were seven former, current and future Olympian sailors, including: Ryan Seaton (Ballyholme YC); James Espey (Ballyholme YC); Chris Penney (East Antrim BC); Bill O'Hara (Ballyholme YC); Cathy MacAleavey (National YC); Tiffany Brien (Ballyholme YC) and Annalise Murphy (National YC).

Cushendall Commodore Emmet Connon said: "This weekend's event has been a great success for both the Cushendall club and the nearly 100 sailors that took part. We had great sunshine over both days, and a range of wind and sea conditions that would have challenged both new sailors and the veterans amongst the fleets."

"Between the sailors and their supporters and families, hundreds of people travelled to Cushendall over the weekend. This was a great boost to the local economy, and very welcome indeed in these times.

"The success of the event was only possible thanks to the hard work of all of the volunteers and staff. It is a great reflection of our club's professionalism and ability to hold large, enjoyable events. We look forward to hosting more great sailing events over the next year as the club celebrates its 50th anniversary," he added.

Competitors from 23 clubs across the country took part including from: Ballyholme (Bangor, Co Down), Baltimore (Co Cork), Blessington (Co Wicklow), Carlingford Lough (Rostrevor, Co Down), Courtown (Co Wexford), Cushendall (Co Antrim), Donaghadee (Co Down), East Antrim (Larne, Co Antrim), Howth (Co Dublin), Killyleagh (Co Down), Kinsale (Co Cork), Lough Derg (Dromineer, Co Tipperary), Lough Erne (Co Fermanagh), Malahide (Co Dublin), Monkstown Bay (Co Cork), National YC (Dún Laoghaire, Co Dublin), Royal Cork YC (Co Dublin), Royal Irish YC (Dún Laoghaire, Co Dublin), Royal St. George YC (Dún Laoghaire, Co Dublin), Rush (Co Dublin), Skerries (Co Dublin), and Strangford Lough (Killinchy, Co Down).

 

More than 100 sailors are due to travel to Cushendall this weekend for the Laser Ulster Championship and Ladies National Championship. The two-day event will open Cushendall Sailing and Boating Club's summer sailing season.

CSBC Commodore Emmet Connon said: "Cushendall is looking forward to welcoming sailors from across the province and across the island next weekend, and we hope that we will be able to provide them with good wind, good racing and good craic.

"Having successfully hosted provincial, national and international sailing events over the last decade, CSBC hopes that the Laser Ulster Championship will get our summer sailing season off to a good start. Our club turns 50 in 2011 and we plan to mark this important anniversary with a great year including plenty of great sailing and lively events that our visiting guests and the local community can all enjoy." he added.

Facilities for media: A club boat will be made available to broadcast media and photographers on Saturday and Sunday.

Should you wish to arrange interviews or have any special requests, please contact: Damian on +353 87 228 1119. More information can be found at: http://www.csbc.co.uk/blog/index.php/laser-ulsters/

The Laser Ulster Championship was last held in CSBC in 2002, when some 96 boats took part – including 17 local sailors. Seven of these went on to sail in the National Championship that year. Over 70 boats entered last year's provincial championship, which was held in Lough Erne Yacht Club in Enniskillen.
Many of the more competitive entrants will be using the upcoming races to hone their skills ahead of the 2012 Olympics, which will be held in Weymouth and Portland.

The Laser is one of the most popular single-handed dinghies in the world. The 4.23m Olympic Class boat is both robust and simple to rig and sail but also provides competitive racing for both beginners and advanced sailors.

Cushendall Sailing and Boating Club was established in 1961 and today is a busy sailing hub on the North Antrim Coast. It provides competitive sailing facilities, races for both cruising yachts and sailing dinghies and a popular summer sailing school. It also has active rowing, sea angling and motorboating sections.

Since 1998 sailors from the club have competed at provincial and national Topper and Laser class competitions as well as other open events. Cushendall sailors have won the Northern Ireland Youth Championships, the Irish Topper championship and Irish team titles.

CSBC has hosted Optimist and Topper regional championships, the Irish Topper Championships and the Skydome Topper World Championships in 2000. Other classes of boats sailing at the club include: Flying Fifteen, Pico, Buzz, Laser 2000 and RS400.

EVENT DETAILS:

Friday, 7 May 2010
19.00: Registration opens (for sailors with advance bookings)

Saturday, 8 May 2010
09.00: Registration opens
10.30: Briefing for sailors
11.25: First race warning signal
16:00: Racing concludes

Sunday, 9 May 2010
Racing continues [Race times TBC]

Afloat's Graham Smith wrote about the Laser in the March 2009 issue of Afloat:

The Irish Laser Association remains one of the numerically biggest classes in Ireland – over 200 boats on the books – and when you get over 100 boats on average (across the three rig types, of course) at each of the four regionals and Irish Championships, you know you have a very healthy scene. Click here for all the latest up to date Laser Sailing News.

National Champion James Espey of Ballyholme defended his title in Howth to beat clubmate and main rival Ryan Seaton by almost ten points in the 11-race event. It won’t have come as a shock to the rest of the fleet since he wasn’t outside the top four in any of the other Laser events during year and also won the Munsters. Ronan Wallace of Wexford made the most of local knowledge to win the Leinsters while Ryan Seaton and Rory Fitzpatrick took the Ulster and Connaught titles respectively.

In the 4.7 rig division, Diana Kissane of Howth showed she had coped with the transition from the Optimist class she dominated for years by taking the Irish Championship title on home waters. Not a bad feat considering she only sailed in one other major event. The other regionals were won by Howth’s Andrew Tyrrell, Eoghan Cudmore of Kinsale and Philip Doran from Courtown (who also won the Topper Nationals).

Battling for the honours in the Radial rig division were Barry McCartin of Cushendall, Chris Penney of Carrickfergus and Debbie Hanna of East Antrim, with McCartin winning two regionals and the other two taking one each. At the Nationals in Howth, it was UK visitor Alison Young from Stokes Bay who topped the 51-strong fleet with McCartin the best of the Irish in the runner-up spot.

Hanna had the consolation of winning the Ladies’ Nationals at Ballyholme while David Nelson had an impressive win in the Masters event at the same venue.

National Champions (as at March 2009): Standard rig – James Espey, Ballyholme YC; Radial rig – Alison Young, UK, 4.7 rig – Diana Kissane Howth YC.

 

The September/October 2009 issue of Afloat carried the following story:

Spring Promise Turns into Summer Shine

It has been nothing short of an extraordinary summer for Irish sailing, with plenty of silverware shining in club trophy cabinets around the country.

Above: Annaliese Murphy leads the world. Photo: Gareth Craig

Results in the early spring perhaps were an obvious sign that the summer would deliver something special. Within a month, Peter O’Leary and Tim Goodbody won the Star Spring European Championship, Annaliese Murphy won the Dutch Europa Cup and Matty O’Dowd followed this with a victory in the Danish Europa Cup, both sailing Laser Radials. Preparations for the summer were on track.
 
These results were impressive, but they turned out to be just a taste of what was to come.
 
Left and below: More action from the Oppies. Photos: Gareth Craig

The highlight of the summer arrived with Murphy’s eighth place in the World Laser Radial Women’s Championship, which secured her the Under 21 World Title. Murphy is just 19 years of age, and this is her first year on the senior circuit. The current World Champion is 31, putting Murphy’s potential into perspective.
 
Her result was Ireland’s first top ten finish at an Olympic Class World Championships in six years, and was secured in an 87-boat fleet that included the American Olympic gold medallist Anna Tunnicliffe and the Chinese Olympic bronze medallist, Lijia Xu. The title was won by Finland’s Sari Multala who counted five race wins in her scores, allowing her to sit out the final race.

The National Yacht Club sailor improved throughout the 12-race series, where individual scores included a second placing, moving the UCD mathematics student from fifteenth to tenth in the penultimate days sailing in Karatsu.

The following week at the same venue in Japan, the Laser Radial Youth World Championships were held with 100 sailors from 25 countries competing. Philip Doran and Oliver Loughead finished ninth and 12th respectively in the overall standings but more significantly they picked up the Under 17 World Title and Silver Medal between them.

Doran has shown his true grit as a competitor and has made a remarkable transition from the Laser 4.7 class where he won the Under 16 World Title in 2008. How many Irish sportsmen can say they won a world title two years in a row?
 
To top it all off, RCYC Optimist Sailor Cian Byrne did the business on the final day of the UK Optimist Junior Nationals in Largs in August. Cian’s three third places on day 6 of the 12-race series were enough to beat USA sailor Jack Johansson, GBR sailor Freddie Grogono and Cork club mate Peter McCann.

Cian’s achievement is reported as a first for Irish Optimists in a British Championship and was richly deserved. Peter was the other hero; having led for much of the championship, he put up a great fight in the final series and ended his event with a very creditable 4th overall. 

The junior (Under 12) event had 145 competitors and had a truly international flavour with sailors from France, Holland, Spain, USA and UAE competing against the IRL and GBR contingents. The Irish more than held their own with two other top ten results, Sean Donnelly (7th) and Adam Hyland (10th). Indeed, Team Ireland had seven of the top 20 junior spots, with GBR taking just eight.

More encouraging still is the presence of other sailors ready to challenge those on the podium. At the Topper World Championship, 13-year-old Finn Lynch secured second place, which bodes well for his career. At the 420 World Championships, Jane Butler & Jenny Andreasson finished 11th overall. This duo are both eligible to compete in 2010 for the youth title. Their result comes after great use of their transition year, facilitated by the Royal St George Yacht Club’s Youth Sailing Scheme.

Seafra Guilfoyle finished 50th in the European Optimist Championship, our best at this event for at least eight years and Fiona Daly finished 40th in the equivalent event for girls.
 
The results are a significant boost for the ISA’s Performance Pathway, spanning from Junior right through to Olympic campaigning. ISA Youth & Development Manager, Rory Fitzpatrick has managed the ISA Academy since 2005 and deserves great credit for the results achieved to date.

Annaliese Murphy – Profile

Annaliese Murphy is the Irish Independent/Afloat.ie 'Sailor of the Month' for August 2009 after her impressive showing in the Laser Radial Worlds in Japan. Racing in the first week of August, the 19-year-old National Yacht Club sailor was advancing a potential Olympic campaign with competition in an 87-strong fleet which included US Olympic Gold Medallist Anna Tunnicliffe and the Chinese Bronze Medallist Lijia Zu.

In the end, the new champion was Finland’s Sari Multala, but apart from the Finn’s unbeatable scoreline of five wins, one of the most notable achievements was the steadily improving performance into  the top ten by the Irish sailor.

Murphy improved from fifteenth to tenth overall on the second-last day, and then with increasing confidence she finished in a convincing eighth overall. We have only to look at the calibre of the sailors in her wake to realize that this was a serious step towards the London Olympics of 2012, and Annaliese Murphy becomes a worthy representative of Olympic and dinghy sailing in our roll-call of sailing stars in 2009.

 

Irish Laser Association  Chairman Rory Fitzpatrick, email: [email protected] – or Hon. Secretary Ron Hutchieson, email: [email protected]

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