Tralee Bay Sailing Club Women at the Helm 2025
Tralee Bay Sailing club have recently hosted their second Women at the Helm Sailing Weekend with great success. They have shared with us the events of their weekend and are a great example of success that can come of such club regattas in encouraging participation and commraderie in sailing.
On 26 July 2025, Tralee Bay Sailing Club (TBSC) hosted its second annual Women at the Helm regatta — an event entirely led, organised, and raced by women. With a female Race Officer, 15 female helms across 10 boats, and handcrafted prizes by Riona McMorrow Moriarty, the day celebrated female leadership in sailing. Three races were held in Tralee Bay in winds ranging from 13 to 19 knots.
The event continues to grow in both scale and reach. This year welcomed the first visiting entry, Jasper, the U25 J24 from Foynes Yacht Club, skippered by Amélie Brogan Ryan. Fellow Foynes helm Mary McCormack also took part, helming local boat Blues Xtra.
Standout competitors included Elysium, helmed by 17-year-old Riona McMorrow Moriarty, fresh from a Coastal Class win at the Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta and Liz Lynch. Another rising star was 15-year-old Sadhbh Murphy, who helmed Santoku after her recent WIORA victory.
Sarah Barter took the helm of Cariad, continuing the boat’s strong form in recent TBSC club racing. On Growler, helming duties were shared between Fiona Frawley and Sim Clifford, while Maeve O’Sullivan impressed on Smile. Though new to helming, Maeve was backed by an experienced crew still riding high after their Class 2 win at WIORA.
Mary O’Sullivan, TBSC’s only regular female helm, returned on Samphire, aiming to build on last year’s results. Eimer McMorrow Moriarty, just back from transporting a boat across the globe, finally helmed Treyona in the very event she helped create.
Jaguar, winner of the 2024 regatta, featured a new team of young helms this year. Ruth Kelleher (18) led the charge, supported by Juliette Pierse (13), Caoimhe Hynes (15), and Rachel Deasy.
The three races were highly competitive, featuring windward-leeward and triangular courses, some run close to shore for spectator viewing. Race Officer Jane Deasy delivered a flawlessly executed day on the water.
With 48 sailors participating, nearly 20 of them women, the regatta was a clear success, reinforcing its place as one of the most exciting and well-run keelboat events of the season. The day concluded with a Mid-Summer Party and Fundraiser, drawing over 70 attendees, the club’s largest social gathering in recent memory.
During the celebrations, Rachel Deasy highlighted standout achievements by club members:
- Eimer McMorrow Moriarty’s global sailing journey
- Ellie Cunnane’s role as Head Optimist Coach at Nantucket Yacht Club
- Liz Lynch and Riona McMorrow Moriarty placing third in Class 1 ECHO at WIORA
- Riona’s Coastal Fleet win at the Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta on Checkmate
- Ruth Kelleher’s race win at the same event on Scéal Eile (Ruffian class)
Special recognition was given to 14-year-old Sadhbh Murphy, who won the Overall WIORA 2025 prize — an extraordinary achievement shared with her father, TBSC Commodore Cormac Murphy, and Rachel Deasy.
Final Results;
- 10th Cariad Sarah Barter
- 9th Samphire Mary O’Sullivan
- 8th Growler Fiona Frawley and Sim Clifford
- 7th Treyona Eimer McMorrow Moriarty
- 6th Jasper Amélie Brogan Ryan
- 5th Jaguar Ruth Kelleher, Juliette Pierse, Caoimhe [ ], and Rachel Deasy
- 4th Smile Maeve O’Sullivan
- 3rd Blues Xtra Mary McCormack
- 2nd Santoku Sadhbh Murphy
- 1st Elysium Riona McMorrow Moriarty and Liz Lynch
The event was an excellent demonstration of the incredible, high-quality, women and girl sailors from TBSC, and there could not have been a more deserving helm to win it in Riona. As with last year, Women in Sailing was the true winner of the event, or perhaps even more aptly, Young Women in Sailing was the true winner of the event with seven of the fifteen helms being under twenty-five years of age. The continued success of this event will only push TBSC to continue to have it grow and improve.