Four of the Northern Ireland Sailing Team’s ILCA sailors were in action at the recent Europa Cup in Warnemünder, Germany.
Bobby Driscoll, Daniel Palmer and Cormac Byrne competed in the ILCA 6 class, with Tom Coulter competing in the ILCA 7 class, at the event between 5-8 July.
In competitive racing, which featured sailors from all over Europe, all Northern Irish sailors finished in the Gold Fleet/top half of their respective classes.
Bobby Driscoll finished as top Irish boat in 16th place, finishing the regatta strongly with a 3rd place in the final race.
Daniel Palmer finished in 46th place. He will leave the event with confidence in his abilities, after three top 15 finishes, but a DNC and a Black Flag on the final two days of racing meant that he slipped down the rankings from earlier in the event.
Cormac Byrne finished closely behind Daniel in 64th place. Finishing in Gold Fleet is a clear indication of some of the learnings he will have gained around international fleet racing following his recent participation in Kiel Week. Regular performance at this level undoubtedly benefits sailors and he will look ahead to the rest of the season with confidence.
Tom Coulter finished in 25th position. Despite a strong start to the regatta, a tricky final two days meant he slipped slightly down the leaderboard, but there were numerous highlights for the East Antrim Boat Club sailor including a 6th place finish in race 1.
To check out the full results, click here.
It is particularly pleasing to see the ILCA 6 sailors produce good results at Warnemünder Woche as a strong performance there is a pre-requisite for Youth Worlds qualification. Now, the next step for those sailors will be to win the ILCA 6 Irish Nationals in August to secure the Irish place at this event.
