The Irish Sailing Youth Nationals were held at the club on April 25th to 28th last.
Unfortunately, with a Status Red (Storm Hannah) weather warning in place for a large part of the event – it looked like it would be a big struggle to ensure that all the fleets would get a series in over the duration of the event, but this was a challenge that Royal Cork would step up to in spades!
The Optimists, Laser Radial and 420 fleets managed to get in scheduled racing on Thursday but the Laser 4.7 and Toppers were unable to get out Friday and Saturday to complete their scheduled racing.
Sunday dawned, storm Hannah having departed but leaving somewhat of a void behind, the fleets struggled with light and very shifty breeze to get racing in before the no-race-after 1400hrs deadline. The Optimists got two races in, the Laser Radial and 420’s managing three races. The Toppers and 4.7 setup on the Curlane bank and managed, in really difficult conditions, to get three races (and a series) completed.
Laser Report – Clayton Kohl, Laser Class Captain
It was an amazing 4 days for the Laser Class at the Irish Sailing Youth National Championships hosted by the Royal Cork last weekend. Cillian Foster won the Laser 4.7 Class Pathway National Championship. He skillfully managed shifty light to medium winds to prove top of the pack. Other notable Laser 4.7 Class results were earned by Jonathan O’Shaughnessy (6th), Rob Keal (7th), Rory O’Sullivan (8th), and Michael Crosbie (10th).
In the highly competitive Laser Radial Class, Micheal O’Suilleabhain and Chris Bateman finished an impressive 2nd and 3rd, respectively. Other notable Laser Radial Class results were earned by Atlee Kohl (4th) and Paddy Cunnane (8th).
Several of the laser sailors will have the opportunity to represent Ireland on the Laser National squad. We are proud of their accomplishment and them, representing the Royal Cork Laser team.
Toppers Report – Diarmuid Lynch, Topper Class Captain
Due to the inclement weather caused by storm Hannah we were unable to sail for the first 2 days so the Topper fleet of 45 dinghies were very anxious to get some sailing in on the Curlane Bank on the 3rd and final day .
Under Race Officer Ciaran McSweeney the pressure was on to get in the 3 races required to make an event series
There were some great performances by our Topper sailors with Cian McDonagh and Neil O’Leary getting bullets in the first 2 races however consistently good sailing won the day with the following being the overall winners
Topper 5.3 Fleet
Ist Darragh Collins
2nd Oisin MacSweeney
3rd Lola Kohl ( Also First Girl )
It was also great to see the 4.2 sailors putting in a good performance.
420 Results
1st Nicola Ferguson & Fiona Ferguson NYC
2nd Lucy Kane & Emma Gallagher EABC/MYC
3rd Morgan Lyttle & Patrick White RStGYC/LRYC
Irish Sailing’s President Jack Roy & Royal Cork’s Admiral Pat Farnan handed out the awards under the supervision of MC Rear Admiral Dinghies, Brian Jones, Sunday evening on the lawn outside the clubhouse.
These events take so much organizing, preparation and actual day to day work to make them run smoothly, and this event was no different. Many thanks to all the event volunteers whom assisted in making this event such a success considering the weather.
Royal Cork Junior Sailing Committee
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