Irish WASZP youth sailor Charlie Cullen was pipped by an Australian Olympic sailor for first prize in last weekend's climax of the Global GPS Racing Dinghy Series. 

The Dun Laoghaire Harbour skiff sailor was in pole position to win the first prize of two spectator tickets to a Sail GP event and a ride on an F50 catamaran but canny Australian Brad Devine pipped him to the post right on the event deadline.

The first-year Trinity College Dublin Engineering student made a real stab of juggling his studies and the big waves on Dublin Bay to try and win the world challenge and very nearly did.

More here

Dun Laoghaire Harbour WASZP sailor Charlie Cullen is in pole position to win the first prize of two spectator tickets to a Sail GP event and a ride on an F50 catamaran following his own foiling exploits in the class’s global GPS racing series.

WASZP sailors, including Cullen, have been competing over an event window from September 14th – October 12th and the Dublin Bay teenager is currently top of the rankings with just three days left to sail.

The beauty of this initiative by WASZP is that sailors from every corner of the globe can race against each other and continue to compare themselves against the best. This, say the promoters, is using the best aspects from windsurfing and kitesurfing and integrating it into the more traditional racing/event formats. 

Waszp Sailor Charlie Cullen with his top speeds recorded by GPS

Because of the nature of the event, sailors are not scored just on the fastest speed. The sailors are scored on three categories:

• Average top speed
• Best 250m run
• Total distance sailed in 1/2 an hour (calculated off your average 1/2 hour speed.)

Charlie's winning runs clocked the following: 

• Sailed a total distance of 52km
• Max 2sec at 24.53 knots.
• Half hour average speed of 16.01 knots

Will this be the winning time by the deadline?

More details on his rise to the top here

#HowToFoil - Waszp agent John Chambers has launched a survey to gauge public interest in learning to sail foiling dinghies this year.

As previously reported on Afloat.ie, National Yacht Club member Chambers brought the Waszp to Ireland last year after pioneering Moth sailing at Dun Laoghaire’s waterfront.

The Waszp was devised as an answer for dinghy sailors who didn’t quite feel comfortable with the standard International Moth.

Now Chambers is attempting to determine how many people are actually interested getting to grips with a Waszp on the water via a short online survey available HERE.

National Yacht Club Member John Chambers is the Waszp foiling boat agent for Ireland. Chambers, a pioneering Irish Moth sailor at the Dun Laoghaire club is to organise demo and clinic days for  NYC members.

The Waszp project was conceived in 2010 by Andrew McDougall, designer of the world beating Mach 2 foiling Moth.

The Moth is a racing boat with very few rules and therefore has developed into a boat that is beautiful to sail on the water, but not the answer to everyone’s requirements for a sailing dinghy.

The concept was for a foiler similar to a Moth, but answered all the sticking points that stop people buying a Moth.