The RYA Northern Ireland 29er Youth Nationals were raced in mixed conditions September 29-30, 2018 on Belfast Lough hosted by the Royal North of Ireland Yacht Club. This event also represented the third and final leg of the 29er Irish Triple Crown. The 29er is one of the fastest growing fleets in Ireland.

The windy conditions resulted in a display of high speed capsizes and tight battles with four different race winners over the five races. In the end, Leah Rickard and Luke Rickard with two bullets on the final day emerged as the 29er RYA NI National Champions.

NYC’s Sam Ledoux wins Munster Optimist Championship

Last weekend, around 15 NYC sailors across Senior, Junior and Regatta fleets headed West to Tralee Bay sailing club in Fenit to compete in the Munsters Championship - the last Irish optimist event of 2018. Six races took place over two excellent days of sailing. The first day was marked by choppy waves, heavy cloud, wind and rain but all groups managed well showing great determination and competitive spirit. Although the sun came out on day two, shifty winds and a westerly breeze was a challenge for the sailors. Senior fleet racing was extremely close and sailors battled for points until the end. Sam Ledoux managed to hold onto his place at the top of the table throughout the event, finishing in 1st place, beating NYC-HYC sailor Luke Turvey, who was hot on his heels, on countback. Fiachra McDonnell finished 4th and Hugh Turvey came 6th. Lauren O’Callaghan was second girl and came 13th overall. Ella Dempsey came 21st, Rachel Flood 25th and Clodagh Malone was 3rd in silver fleet and 29th overall.

Hugh O'Connor Wins the Topper Ireland Championship Series 2018

Hugh O'Connor of the National Yacht Club was presented with the Topper Challenge Cup for the series on 9th September at Rush Sailing Club. Over the year Hugh has won the Traveller 2 Traveller 3, the Southern Championships,the O'Tiarnaigh Topper Challenge and came second in the Irish Nationals and the Winter Championships to enable him to rise to the number one position as the best Topper Sailor in Ireland. Hugh's superb sailing meant that he could not be caught on the last event.  

Topper Traveller Number 5 Rush Sailing Club

The National Yacht Club was represented by Adam Irvin, Eoghan Turner, Deirdre Turner, Caoimhe Seymour, Mathew O'Brien Holohan and Hugh O'Connor at the Topper Traveller in Rush on Sunday 9th September . Conditions were challenging, windy and gusty. Sixty two competitors signed up for the event which was a fantastic number for the final Topper Traveller in the series. 

Rian Geraghty McDonnell of the NYC Dunlaoighre, Dublin along with 4 other talented sailors (James Dwyer Matthews, Justin Lucas, Harry Twoomey and Michael Crosbie all from Cork represented Ireland at the World Optimist Championships in Cyprus.  Rian came away in 16th place in Gold Fleet and top Irish Sailor at the event.  

This weekend Rian will move into his next challenge “ the 29er “ and he hopes to continue to learn and improve on his Sailing skills in this class.  

He has had a wonderful 9 years of Sailing and competing internationally in his opti and he is very grateful to the class and all his coaches throughout this wonderful journey.  

Optimist Worlds

We wish the best of luck  NYC sailor Rian Geraghty Mc Donnell who is a member of the Irish Optimist Worlds team competing in the Optimist Worlds which start today in Famagusta Nautical Club in Cyprus until the 6 th of September.

Best of luck to all the team.

Go team Ireland!