National 18 Class Declare ’25 National Championship Winners
As the National 18 adult dinghy class will host the revised Champions Cup format later in the season ( hosting the Irish Sailing Dinghy Champions Cup) , there was strong interest in their Nationals this year, with a guaranteed place at stake for the winners as the hosting class.
Competing in west Cork , the event did not disappoint with strong competition across two days. A full series of six solid races in varying conditions saw a number of potential winners still in the hunt going into the very last race. In the end , it was the team from ‘Howlin Mad’ who emerged victorious - Alex Barry , Sam Hunt & Paddy Good who delivered two bullets on the first two races on Sunday to give them the edge going into the final race and close out the regatta on top.
Not far behind (2 points adrift) were the very experienced and seasoned campaigners of Nick Walsh , Rob Brownlow and Eddie Rice finishing second onboard ‘peaky blinders’ , while 3rd place on the podium ( just one point adrift) was Colin Barry (brother of Alex Barry) , Paul Cotter and Ronan O Driscoll onboard ‘Herbie’.
Special thanks to Baltimore Sailing Club who hosted a terrific event and thank you also to National Race Officer , Ciaran McSweeney and his wider race management team for delivering top class competition for all competitors.