FINAL DAY UPDATE AND RESULTS, SUNDAY 31 OCTOBER 2021
Stormy conclusion to Investwise Irish Sailing Youth National Championships on Cork Harbour
To the surprise of few, the final day of the Investwise Irish Sailing Youth National Championships was cancelled as gale force winds swept across Cork Harbour.
However, final results from Saturday’s long day afloat weren’t initially confirmed as two protests on Sunday morning might have affected the standings.
On Saturday evening, a protest by ILCA6 (Laser Radial) overall leader Eve McMahon saw the Howth Yacht Club sailor extend her lead over Michael Crosbie of the Royal Cork YC when he was disqualified from Race 10 due to a port and starboard incident.
However, the Crosshaven sailor returned to the protest room on Sunday morning to have his result reinstated as McMahon had not informed the race committee of her protest on Saturday.
McMahon still emerged as ILCA6 Youth National Champion after the tie-break with Crosbie.
Meanwhile, the host club’s James Dwyer with Ben O’Shaughnessy (Royal Cork YC) won the 29er skiff national title by a single point after a close contest with Timothy Norwood and Nathan Van Steenberge from the Royal Irish YC and National YC respectively in their eleven strong class.
The runners-up were also in the protest room on Sunday morning seeking redress for equipment failure in their second race of the series on Friday but their submission was ruled out of time.
Crosshaven’s Rian Collins handsomely won the 38-boat Topper class with a 12-point lead over his clubmate Dan O’Leary taking the runner-up place in their seven race series. Collins will now be considering whether to move into single or double-handed classes within the Irish Sailing Academy structure.
The Topper fleet shared the same course as the ILCA4 (Laser 4.7) class, the second largest of the event with 31 boats where newcomer to the class Sam Ledoux of the National YC emerged youth national champion.
The Malahide and Wexford Harbour pairing of Jack McDowell and Henry Thompson continued their three-day lead of the 420 class to win comfortable over Eoghan Duffy with Conor Paul of Lough Ree YC in their two-way battle in the nine boat class.
"We have seen incredible racing over the past three days and great sailing by all 144 young sailors," said the David O'Brien, President of Irish Sailing. "To achieve three out of four days in mid-Autumn and only lose one race from the schedule is a mark of the dedication of the 100-plus volunteers led by organiser Maurice Collins."
"From the standard of competition that we have seen over the series, these sailors have clearly managed to keep up their training during the Covid pandemic," said Sean Evans, Irish Sailing's Youth Academy manager. "Our prospects for 2022 are very good thanks to this resilience and positive attitude."
Irish Sailing's Olympic Steering Group (OSG) will now review the results of the championships and decide the line-up for Ireland's squad at the Youth World Championships in Oman scheduled for mid-December.
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DAY 3 UPDATE, SATURDAY 30 OCTOBER 2021
Final outcome to Investwise Irish Sailing Youth National Championships rests with Sunday's weather
After a long and challenging day for the 136 sailors competing in the Investwise Irish Sailing Youth National Championships today on Cork Harbour, the final outcome of the series on Sunday now hinges on the weather.
Most of the fleet spent at least six hours on the water with racing delayed across the classes waiting for breeze to arrive plus an extra race was added to the daily schedule.
"As things stand, we have a championship across all five classes so depending on Sunday's weather, the results may stand," said Sean Evans, Irish Sailing's Youth Academy Manager. "Thanks to the very efficient race management teams from the RCYC, extra races were sailed leaving most classes with just one scheduled race remaining”.
After losing her overnight lead due to a race disqualification on Friday, Youth World Champion Eve McMahon from Howth Yacht Club fought back throughout the day to regain the overall lead of the ILCA6 (Laser Radial) event but only on tiebreak from Michael Crosbie of the Royal Cork YC.
However, after a protest hearing after racing, Crosbie was disqualified from the last race of the day giving McMahon a comfortable ten-point lead over her Crosshaven rival who retains second overall.
Meanwhile, James Dwyer with Ben O'Shaughnessy of the RCYC leads the 29er skiff overall after nine races while clubmate Rian Collins holds a commanding lead over the Topper fleet, the largest in the event with 38 boats.
The ILCA4 (Laser 4.7) fleet with 31 boats is led by Sam Ledoux of the National YC while the Malahide and Wexford Harbour duo of Jack McDowell and Henry Thompson continue their overall lead of the 420 class.
"The young sailors showed great character and perseverance to compete to the end of the last race," said Evans. Ashore, the combined classes returned just before dusk in time to hear Olympic Silver medallist Annalise Murphy recall her experiences including her first youth event in the Laser Radial that was sailed in the RCYC.
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UPDATE, FRIDAY 29 OCTOBER 2021
Host club leads in two of five classes at the Investwise Irish Sailing Youth National Championships on Cork Harbour
After a challenging second day of racing at the Investwise Irish Sailing Youth National Championships, all five classes have now started racing with the Royal Cork Yacht Club boats leading in two out of five events.
Wind and tide proved tricky for the 136 young sailors competing on two different course areas on Cork Harbour.
Sam Ledoux of the National YC leads the ICA4 (Laser 4.7) class while Rian Collins of the RCYC tops the overnight leaderboard in the Topper fleet. Both classes were racing on the Curlane Bank area close to Crosshaven where shifting winds eventually permitted three races to be completed.
It was a different story across the harbour at Cuskinny where an extra race was managed for the ILCA6 (Laser Radial) and 420 classes on their second day of racing. These established Pathway classes were joined by the 29er skiffs who had three races.
Continuing her form from Thursday, Howth Yacht Club's Eve McMahon held her overall lead though growing form from the chasing pack in this 30-boat means Sunday's final outcome is far from certain. McMahon's clubmate Rocco Wright counted a race win as did Michael Crosbie of the RCYC who are level on points.
Straight wins for the Malahide and Wexford Harbour pairing of Jack McDowell and Henry Thompson rocketed them into the overall lead of the 420 class with plenty of fast sailing opportunities on the trapezoid course type used off the Whitegate refinery.
Amongst the 29er skiffs, James Dwyer and Ben O'Shaughnessy of the RCYC hold a slim lead over Clementine van Steenberge with Chiara Carra of the Royal St. George YC in a highly competitive field.
"The fight for the lead of the 29er fleet was very impressive with the level of competition and standard of racing they were showing," Sean Evans, Irish Sailing's Youth Academy Manager. "The hard work and training is paying off and rewards the effort that the sailors have put in."
"We saw tight results in all the fleets and Eve McMahon again proved consistent even in the tricky conditions but we’re now seeing more challenges from the chasing pack, notably Rocco Wright and Michael Crosbie. I’m pleased to see good fleet awareness from the pack leaders whilst not hitting the corners of the course in the such variable conditions and keeping their options open."
Saturday will be the penultimate day of the championship with all five classes competing in forecast medium strength winds before Sunday's finale that will conclude by 2pm.
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Day 1 Update, Thursday 28 October 2021
McMahon establishes early form at Investwise Irish Sailing Youth National Championships on Cork Harbour
True to her pre-event billing as favourite, Howth’s Eve McMahon established an early overall lead in her event at the Investwise Irish Sailing Youth National Championships on Cork Harbour today (Thursday 28th October 2021).
The ILCA 6 (Laser Radial) Youth World Champion delivered two first places and a second in winds ranging from light to medium on the Curlane Bank race course.
Howth Yacht Club’s Rocco Wright took the other race win though had a mixed set of results to lie seventh overall. Michael Crosbie of the hosting Royal Cork YC leads the chasing pack in seventh but still some ten points behind McMahon.
Meanwhile, in another strong showing for north Dublin clubs, Malahide’s Imogen Hauer with Hugo Micka have a narrow overnight lead in the 420 class as a tight top three battle is already emerging. Lough Ree’s Eoghan Duffy with Conor Paul are a point behind the Dublin crew but only on tie-break from Jack McDowell with Henry Thompson, a Malahide and Wexford Harbour combination.
"It was a tricky opening day with a switch in conditions after the first race," said Sean Evans, Irish Sailing's Youth Academy Manager. "We had a tidal effect as well which made laylines interesting.
"There were quite a few very strong performances with plenty of battles at the front of the fleet although the outstanding result of the day came from Eve McMahon in the ILCA 6 class."
The four day event steps up a gear on Friday when the remaining classes start racing for the 29er, ILCA 4 (Laser 4.7) and Topper fleets that will bring the turnout up to 130 sailors.
The championship is normally sailed over the Easter school holidays but was postponed to the Autumn mid-term break due to the Covid 19 pandemic.