Cora McNaughton and Isha Duggan Win 2024 Irish Sailing Junior Champions’ Cup
Cora McNaughton of Blessington Sailing Club along with Royal Cork Yacht Club’s Isha Duggan are 2024’s Junior Champion of Champions’. Nominated from the 420 class, they took home the honours today at Fastnet Marine Outdoor & Education Centre in Schull. This was after a solid performance from the pair throughout the weekend who had the podium in their sights from the very first race.
Close behind, with just one point in the difference, were Daniel Copithorne (Schull Harbour Sailing Club/Schull Community College Sailing Club) and Killian Power (Schull Community College Sailing Club) with third place secured by David and Sinead Evans of Sligo Yacht Club.
The weekend started on Saturday with a good breeze allowing for racing to get underway promptly after the first warning signal at around 11.00 but remained a little shifty throughout the day. Daniel and Killian had a promising start taking first in the first race of the day, with Cora and Isha in second. Helms Riona McMorrow Moriarty (Tralee Bay SC) and Andrew Kingston (RCYC) also put in solid performances throughout the weekend taking a first place each in races six and three respectively. The Race Committee had to deal with the constant shifts in the wind, adjusting the course where it was needed to create the best racing possible and managed to get six races through.
Day two began quietly as all competitors waited patiently for the wind to fill in. With the wind dropping off and, after eight fantastic races, it is credit to a fantastic committee that two races were sailed on Sunday, but after a two hour wait, it was decided that there was not enough wind for a medal race and standings were left as they were for the podium. This left Irish Sailing Youth National Champion Cora McNaughton along with her crew Isha Duggan on top.
You can find the full results from the series HERE
Irish Sailing would like to extend a big thank you to Sinead Scully and her team from Fastnet Marine & Outdoor Education Centre for all of their efforts and hard work over the weekend, both on and off the water. Thank you also to the Principal Race officer Nigel Biggs and his team along with Umpires Ian Venner, Carla Miles and Tim O Connor and their team and finally also to Safety Leader Ronan Duggan and his team and all the volunteers who gave of their time over the weekend.
The Irish Sailing Senior Champions’ Cup is next on the calendar, taking place at the Royal North of Ireland Yacht Club on the 4th to 6th of October.