It’s been a very busy week for the Northern Ireland Sailing Team with training in Larne and competitions in Vilamoura and Lanzarote.
The team have been working hard all winter, so competitions at this time of the year are a nice opportunity for them to showcase the improvements they have made over the last few months.
Lanzarote International Regatta
At the Lanzarote International Regatta, Dan McGaughey finished 21st after an intense four days of racing in the ILCA 7 class.
Ten races were sailed in various conditions meaning sailors had to demonstrate their ‘all court game’. Some of the world’s best ILCA 7 sailors were competing at this regatta, so it will have been a great experience for Dan as he looks to build into an intense summer of racing.
Dan finished the regatta strongly, with three top 16 results. This is especially impressive considering that this regatta follows an intense two-week training camp where Dan was pushed to his physical limits. Dan has worked very hard on his fitness over the last year, including rehab on an ankle injury last summer.
You can read the full results here.
Vilamoura Grand Prix
Meanwhile, six of the Northern Ireland Sailing Team were competing in the Vilamoura Grand Prix in Portugal which was hosted between 18 to 22 of February.
Cormac Byrne and Bobby Driscoll were competing in the ILCA 6 class, Tom Coulter was competing in the ILCA 7 class and Erin McIlwaine, Ellen Barbour and Charlotte Eadie were competing in the 49er FX class.
In the ILCA 6 class Cormac Byrne finished 55th and Bobby Driscoll finished 25th. Cormac and Bobby sailed well throughout the regatta, producing strong results at various points, but unfortunately for both sailors they received Black Flags in the final race which affected their scores.
In the ILCA 7 class, Tom Coulter finished 63rd overall, but like Cormac and Bobby, he produced strong results at different points in the regatta including a 14th place in race 3 and an 8th place in the final race of the regatta.
In the 49er FX class, racing was close across the 9 race series.
Erin McIlwaine and Ellen Barbour were top Irish female boat in 23rd place but they were closely followed by Charlotte Eadie and her helm Lauren O’Callaghan in 25th place.
A strong squad of 49er FX girls which can train together in Dún Laoghaire is hugely beneficial for the overall development of the sailors as healthy competition is crucial to maximising athlete potential.
To read the full results in detail, click here.
NI Sailing Team
Back in Northern Ireland, the rest of the ILCA Squad were training in East Antrim Boat Club.
Conditions were challenging, but the sailors were able to train hard and build on the learnings from the Celtic Cup.
