The Royal Northern Yacht Club situated in the beautiful Co. Down, was host last weekend
to the first optimist regional event of 2012 and what a weekend it turned out to be.
The sun shone consistently for the two days of sailing and coupled with a warm breeze, our twenty
five sailors from the RCYC had no reason not to enjoy and all did us proud at every level. In the
end it was Harry Durcan who clinched the senior title by sailing very consistently over six races and
full credit to him for holding off Douglas Elmes who was a close second. Harry Whitaker took third
to make it a one, two, three for RCYC; Very impressive.
Next home was Sophie Browne followed by Ronan Cournane , Johnny Durcan, Adam Darcy and
Rebecca O Shaughnessy , all who battled well in the sometimes tricky conditions.
Some of our less experienced sailors (only for the moment) at this level also did well and credit to
Lucy Donworth, Eoghan O Regan and Kelly Williams for competing amongst a top class fleet
of optimist sailors.
Turning to the Junior section (for sailors aged twelve and under) , eleven of our up and coming sailors
took to the start line and again for many it was their first regional event. While we had no RCYC winner
in this category, we did have James McCann on the Podium when finishing fifth overall.
Luke McGrath was next in line with a solid performance leaving him just outside the top ten of the forty
seven boat fleet. Next up, Tom Keal, James Spillane and Ronan Walsh all finished the series in the right half
of the fleet.
Patrick Daly, Cathal O Regan , Chris Bateman , Caoimhe Foster, Jen O Shaughnessy and Juliet Nyhan
made up our full eleven junior sailors and to be fair, confirmed that the future is bright for the RCYC optimist class
by way of showing great stamina in completing four races on the final day.
Finally , we must mention three special RCYC sailors who made the journey to sail in the regatta fleet ( a fleet which
caters for very young sailors who are destined to make an appearance in the Junior and senior fleets over the coming years).
Robert Keal , Conor Walsh and Killian O Regan; Well done for keeping the flag flying.
Special mention also to optimist parents, Mick Spillane and Tony Donworth who respectively trailed a club support RIB
the length of the Country and back down again, to ensure all our sailors were looked after on the water. Thank you.
Next regional event is to be hosted by skerries sailing club in mid June and we look forward to a another very strong
representation from the RCYC optimist fleet which remains firmly the largest such fleet in the country.
Well done Harry!