23rd September 2012
Race Day 2

Cork sailor Fionn Lyden has won the prestigious ISA Junior All Ireland Sailing Championship with style. The Laser Radial sailor stormed in to the lead yesterday winning all five of the day’s fleet races putting him four points clear of Finn Lynch, the current U17 European Radial champion. With a further three fleet races followed by a double points medal today, it was all still to play for as the twenty one boat fleet of TR3.6 dinghies took to the beautiful waters of Schull Harbour.

Conditions remained ideal with a steady easterly breeze of between 10 and 12 knots on the windward leeward course. Under the management of David Harte, racing got off to a good start at 10.30am and Fionn and his crew of Anna O’Regan were quick to take the lead yet again. Continuing their domination of the fleet, the duo from Schull Community College Sailing Club were unbeatable as they won all three of the remaining fleet races putting them on 7 points entering the medal race followed by Finn Lynch and his crew Sean Donnelly on 24 points and Eoin Lyden and Darragh McCormack on 28 points in third place.

At 1.25pm the top 10 sailors, consisting of eight boys and two girls, crossed the start line for the last time. Fionn got off to a bad start but echoing his skill from the previous races, he sailed hard and rounded the first mark in first place. The wind dropped off to only 3 knots at the windward mark but Fionn extended his lead while his cousin Eoin Lyden chased him in vain from second place. Never wavering from his leading position, Fionn crossed the finish line in first place to take the ISA Junior All Ireland Championship title with an astonishing nine race wins from a total of nine races sailed and a grand total of 9 points.

Meanwhile Finn Lynch from the National Yacht Club and Eoin Lyden from Royal Cork Yacht Club had been fighting it out for the silver. Finn had a four point lead going in to the medal race but the 2012 ISAF Youth Worlds silver medallist had a disastrous final race finishing in 10th place. The additional 20 points meant he dropped to third overall to take the bronze. Eoin however sailed a great race finishing in second place moving him up to second overall to take the silver. 

Competing for the title of First Girl were Aisling Keller from Lough Derg and Laura Gilmore from Northern Ireland. Both girls had sailed a strong regatta with a total of nine top 10 finishes between them but ultimately a 4th in the medal race for Aisling saw her finish the regatta in 7th overall taking the prize for Frist Girl with Laura finishing in 9th overall.

Top Three Overall

Boat	Helm	Crew	Club	Points
7	Fionn Lyden	Anna O'Regan	Schull Community College Sailing Club	9
14	Eoin Lyden	Darragh McCormack	Royal Cork Yacht Club	34
21	Finn Lynch	Sean Donnelly	National Yacht Club	44

Click here for full results  

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22nd September 2012
Race Day 1

The ISA Junior All Ireland Sailing Championship got under way today in Schull, Co. Cork. The invitational regatta saw 21 of Ireland’s top young sailors take to the water in TR3.6 dinghies for the initial five races. A further three more races may be sailed tomorrow (Sunday) followed by a double points medal race decider for the top 10 sailors. 

Conditions were perfect in Schull Harbour for the windward leeward course with an easterly breeze of between 10 and 12 knots. The first race got off to a clean start at 11.40am which set the tone for a smooth day of fair sailing expertly managed by David Harte and his race team. 

Storming in to the lead was Fionn Lyden and his crew Anna O’Regan from Schull Community College Sailing Club. The ISA Academy sailor finished the fifth race on 4 points , including the discard, having won all five races. Hot on his heels was fellow ISA Academy sailor and current European U17 Laser Radial champion Finn Lynch from the National Yacht Club. Finn and his crew of Sean Donnelly kept the pressure on Fionn finishing second in four of the races and the day on 8 points overall. In third place and on 16 points is Eoin Lyden and Darragh McCormack from Royal Cork Yacht Club.

At the end of 2011 the ISA appointed a Review Group to look at aspects of the ISA All Ireland Sailing Championships including both the Senior and the Junior events. One of the changes to the Junior event meant that the nomination process no longer included an obligatory proportion of spaces allocated to girls, which had been done so in the past. Girls are now invited to compete on their own merit. A total of eight female helms and a further eight female crew are competing at the event, a figure which is a credit to the talent and dedication of Ireland’s up and coming female sailors.  

Among those are Aisling Keller, a Laser sailor from Lough Derg and Laura Gilmore, a Toper sailor from Strangford Lough who both had very successful races. Aisling had four top 10 results and now lies 6th overall on 25 points while Laura had three top 10 results and sits in 8th place on the leader board on 32 points.

Top Three (After Race 5 incl. discard)

Boat	Helm	Crew	Club	Points
7	Fionn Lyden	Anna O'Regan	Schull Community College Sailing Club	4
14	Finn Lynch	Sean Donnelly	National Yacht Club	8
21	Eoin Lyden	Darragh McCormack	Royal Cork Yacht Club	16

Click here for full results. 

Follow the racing live on Twitter @Irish_Sailing   #ISAJnrChamps

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Ireland’s most prestigious junior sailing event, the ISA Junior All Ireland Sailing Championship, will take place on the 22nd and 23rd of September at the Fastnet Marine OEC in Schull, Co. Cork in a fleet of TR3.6 dinghies. The invitational championship, which began under a different name in the 1940’s, will see 24 of Ireland’s leading junior sailors compete over the two days for the title of 2012 Champion.   

Each competitor will sail with one crew member of their choice in one of the TR3.6 dinghies. Following an optional practice day on Friday, all sailors will compete in up to five fleet races on Saturday. Up to a further three races will be sailed on Sunday with one additional final double points medal. Upon the completion of five fleet races, one discard will come in to play.

Many of Ireland’s top up and coming sailors will be competing at the regatta. Among them will be Laser Radial sailor Finn Lynch who is the reigning U17 Laser Radial European Champion and only this summer took home the silver medal at the ISAF Youth Sailing World Championships. He will be joined by fellow ISA Academy sailors Robbie Gilmore, Fionn Lyden and Seafra Guilfoyle as well as numerous other youth sailors, across seven classes, with vast national and international experience.

Class	Boat	Helm	Crew	Club
Wild Card	1	Sophie Browne	Daniel Browne	Tralee Bay Sailing Club
Laser 4-7	2	Conor O'Beirne	Dan O'Beirne	Royal St George Yacht Club
RS Feva	3	Blathnaid O'Connell	Conor Maguire	Royal St George Yacht Club
Laser 4-7	4	Mark Hasset	Florence Lyden	Schull Community College Sailing Club
Mirror	5	Cian Hickey	Megan Boylan	Skerries Sailing Club
Laser Radial	6	Séafra Guilfoyle	Criofan Guilfoyle	Royal Cork Yacht Club
Wild Card	7	Fionn Lyden	Anna O'Regan	Schull Community College Sailing Club
Topper	8	Niamh Doran	Grainne Young	Courtown Sailing Club
Topper	9	Laura Gilmore	Molly Wheeler	Strangford Lough Yacht Club
Laser Radial	10	Darragh O'Sullivan	Liam Manning	Kinsale Yacht Club
Topaz	11	Gregory Fay	James Quealy	Dungarvan Harbour Sailing Club
Laser 4-7	12	Sorcha Ni Suilleabhain	Cliodhna O'Regan	Kinsale Yacht Club
Laser 4-7	13	Aisling Keller	Sorcha Donnelly	Lough Derg Yacht Club
Laser Radial	14	Finn Lynch	Sean Donnelly	National Yacht Club
Laser Radial	15	Robbie Gilmore	Peter Gilmore	Strangford Lough Yacht Club
Mirror	16	Peter Regan	Caolan Croasdell	Lough Ree Yacht Club
Mirror	17	Kerrie Ann Boylan	Ross Morgan	Skerries Sailing Club
Optimist	18	Megan Parker	Alacoque Daly	Skerries Sailing Club
Topper	19	Conor O'Farrell	Kevin Harrington	Carlingford Lough Yacht Club
Topper	20	Dougie Power	Andrew Levie	Waterford Harbour Sailing Club
RS Feva	21	Eoin Lyden	Darragh McCormack	Royal Cork Yacht Club