Sometimes its not all about the racing.
This past week the Irish ILCA 4 squad have been competing at their world championships in Volos, Greece. Joined By Coaches Liam Glynn and Nicole Hemeryck. However, amidst their regatta far out on the water some villages around had been suffering from intense wildfires due to extreme heat.
One of the Irish Sailing Coaches commented that throughout the week planes would come right through their racecourse to refill on water to put out the fires. However, this all came to a head on Monday 31st of July when as racing concluded, they joined a beach rescue operation across the bay in Nea Anchialos to evacuate 130 residents and wildlife.
Sailing Coaches from all different country’s raced across the bay to join the rescue efforts, around 60 boats helping to take people back to Volos.
"The selfless and quick reaction of the coaches was inspiring to see," said ILCA field operations officer Andrus Poksi.
“Their contribution to help the local people shows that sailing is a sport where teamwork and camaraderie shines through in even the most challenging circumstances.
David Graham the CEO of World Sailing, has praised the efforts, saying “this is a truly outstanding example of the best qualities of our sport – resourcefulness, courage and a strong sense of responsibility for our wider coastal communities.”
“Sailing is a Global Family, and we are proud to be able to help those in need. All of the coaches deserve the highest praise and – on behalf of world sailing – I commend them for their actions.”
Liam and Nicole have been remarked as a credit to Irish Sailing this week and to the sailing community as a whole, by those around the event.