Dear Members, What a week it has been at the National Yacht Club! The ILCA World Championships are now at Day Four of racing, and, after a rather damp start to today's racing, the sun has finally decided to join the party! The atmosphere around the club has been...
4 dinghy sailors made the voyage to join our Commodores past and present in beautiful Schull for a few days racing William Walsh, Ben OâShaughnessy, Eoin Byrne and Oisin Pearse with Simon Hanley for the delivery trip sailed from Dun Laoghaire to Cork on the August...
The Club will be busy with the activity of the forthcoming ILCA Worlds Championships being co-hosted by the NYC and RSGYC every day from Tuesday 18th August to Saturday 12th September when competitors will be launching from the Clubâs slipway and coaches will be berthing their ribs on the Club Pontoon. All of this activity should not affect our members normal sailing from the Club and members are encouraged to visit the Club during the championships and enjoy the activity. The competitors ILCAs will be parking on the Carlisle Pier when not sailing and their coaches ribs will berth on the outer pontoons of both Clubs. The link and inner pontoons will be kept free for Club and Members use. The platform in the area between the Clubhouse and the Yardarm will be kept clear for the Opening and Closing ceremonies and for the launching trolleys of those competitors that will launch from the NYC. Members dinghies will be re located to the western side of the platform where they will be accessible for sailing. This year, the event race office will be in an office on the Carlisle Pier, but the morning coaches meetings will take place in the NYC JB room. As there will be enhanced security in the Clubs and surrounding area during the Championship period, please do bring your membership card with you.
The pre-event video for the 2026 ILCA 7 Men's and ILCA 6 Womenâs World Championships has just been released - see it here.
As previously mentioned, Olympic sailing class world championships are generally only held in Europe once every 4 years and as such, this is a once in a generation opportunity for Ireland to host such a prestigious and high calibre event and the two host Clubs - the NYC and RSGYC - look forward to hosting over 400 Olympic class sailors and coaches in our Clubs, including the NYC members Finn Lynch and Annalise Murphy, over the next few weeks.
Thanks,
Con
Events Organising Committee Chair and Principal Race Officer
The 2026 Junior regata is around the corner! Summer has finally reached Ireland and juniors are hitting the water in Dun Laoghaire with great smiles progressing their skills, seamanship and simply having fun afloat.
The NYC Junior regatta is open to any dinghies sailed by sailors under the age of 19 by the end of the year... Wether seasoned racers ready to enjoy the more relaxed atmosphere of our main fleet out in the bay or new comers to racing testing their newly acquired skills in the harbour fleet, there is an opportunity for everyone to take part, enjoy the competition and chase a first finish, a personal best or the top prize. Dont missout and be on the startline on Wednesday, July 15th.
Entry links: https://www.smartclubcloud.com/events/eventlist.aspx?c=6807a1d1-b7a9-44f6-ad35-3d95686c7ff0
Mark Lyttle has been crowned a two-time ILCA Grand Masters World Champion after winning the 2026 ILCA 7 Masters World Championship in Athens.
Representing the National Yacht Club in DĂșn Laoghaire, Lyttle added the title to his first Grand Masters world victory in 2018,
becoming one of Irelandâs most successful masters sailors on the international stage.
Competing against a 33-boat fleet over six days and 12 races, he secured the championship with a dominant final-day performance,
finishing 13 points clear of second place and demonstrating remarkable consistency throughout the event.
Planning for the 2026 ILCA 7 Men's and ILCA 6 Womenâs World Championships being co-hosted by the NYC and RSGYC is well underway.
The ILCA 7 and 6 (previously known as the Laser and Laser Radial) are the classes used for the menâs and womenâs single person dinghy sailing events at the Olympic Games and these two championships will be the first Olympic sailing class world championships to be held in Ireland since the menâs Laser Worlds in Cork in 2001. They were secured by the two Clubs against stiff competition from several other venues in Europe and beyond and their award is recognition of the success of previous World and European Laser Championships and other major events run by the Clubs over last 20 years.
Olympic sailing class world championships are generally only held in Europe once every 4 years and as such, this is a once in a generation opportunity for Ireland to host such a prestigious and high calibre event. The 2024 Championship was hosted in Sydney and 2025 in Qingdao, China. Entry is limited to 160 men and 120 women competitors, all of whom are campaigning for a place at the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles. Itâs an all charter boat event with 160 new ILCAs being shipped from Thailand to Dun Laoghaire by ILCA charter specialist Ziegelmayer Handelgesellschaft. Dun Laoghaire is set to be a hub of activity from April onwards as teams come to prepare and familiarise themselves with the venue.
The notices of race for the two championships were published this week and confirmed the schedule as follows...