The U25s from Kinsale that took the J24 fleet by storm!

Back in the summer of 2021 a group of instructors came together in Kinsale Yacht Club when they heard about the opportunity to avail of a grant for under 25s from ICRA (Irish Cruising Racing Association). As an avid group of young sailors wanting to get more action on the water they approached their club who were all up for supporting the program, alongside the grant and a few saturday car washes to fundraise in the club car park!

With the help of club member Dave Sullivan (now team mentor) they sourced a J24 from the UK and got straight to work, and named the boat Kinsailer. 

Training began swiftly and their first event was in Foynes at the J24 Nationals. They started off well taking home best U25 boat with many lessons learnt. All the crew commented that this was an immediately welcoming class, as people were straight over to welcome this new boat on their first day in the boat park and give them a few tips.  

Team member Micheal O'Suilleabhain comments “we owe a lot of our success to the class from those first meetings”. 

By the time the Eastern Championships came around they had taken their competitors’ advice on board and had made a few upgrades to the boat. Despite experiencing a snapped mast at this event they still managed to place 3rd with the generous lend of a mast from Brian McDowell for the remainder of the event.  

They then headed to their final week-long event of the season, the J24 Europeans hosted by Howth Yacht Club. Lying in 6th on their final day of racing, Kinsailor set themselves the goal of beating the Italian team in the last race to try and place 5th overall. To their amazement they performed so well in their final day, coming 2nd in the final race that they came out of the event in 3rd place ! 

This U25 squad has a rotation of 15 sailors and growing; all keen to get involved whenever they can. They plan to host more fundraisers this year to help them with their goals of heading to the Europeans in Greece this summer and the Worlds if they can. They are also aiming to enter an all-female crew to the Sovereign’s Cup hosted by their very own Kinsale Yacht Club this June. 

Congratulations to all involved and fair winds for another year on the water!