1720 Season set to kick off in the West
The first event of the 1720 Sportsboat season takes place Friday 9th to Sunday 11th May with the fleet travelling to Galway Bay Sailing Club for their European Championships. The class is heading west for the first time in it’s history to the Galway club however the club has had strong representation in the fleet over the last number of years with the host club putting on a spread both on and off the water for the 3 days.
Following on from their success in 2024 with European, National and Southern Championships, RopeDock Atara of Ross & Aoife McDonald and Robbie English will aim to continue where they left off however will have to fend off strong competition from the 19 boat fleet which includes seasoned campaigners in Fionn Lyden’s Spiced Beef, Robert Dix’s Elder Lemon and Julian Hughes’ Root1. Mia Murphy’s Probably Legal crew are hoping to top RopeDock Atara of their perch following their 2nd in the 2024 Nationals. Late entry from O’Leary/ Murphy’s Midnight Antix will also be ones to watch.
The fleet is nicely spread across Royal Cork Yacht Club, Waterford Harbour Sailing Club, Royal Irish Yacht Club, Kinsale Yacht Club, Royal St George Yacht Club, Wexford Harbour Boat & Tennis Club, Lough Ree Yacht Club, Howth Yacht Club, Baltimore Sailing Club and Lough Derg Yacht Club.
The host club of Galway Bay Sailing Club are well represented 3 boats including the club’s own U21 programme skippered by Aly O’Sullivan & Ronan Sheppard. The fleet will be in safe hands under the race management of Ruairc O’Tuairisc and Aine Nolan for the 3 day event.
The 27ft sportsboat offers plenty for all sailors regardless of age, fitness, gender, shape & sizes with crews ranging from 5-6 sailors. In addition to this, the boat offers good value with co-ownerships common throughout the fleet with children and parents racing with and against each other.
Following the Europeans, the class will be travelling to;
- Kinsale Yacht Club for Southerns - 26/27 July
- Nationals in Howth Yacht Club, 21-23 August
- Easterns in Bangor at the Royal Ulster Yacht Club 27/28 September
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