It was a brilliant week of racing for the Northern Irish Sailing Team at the Irish Youth Nationals, with strong performances in both the Youth and Junior fleets.
The event, hosted by the Royal St. George Yacht Club in Dún Laoghaire, showcased some of the best young sailing talent in Ireland and racing was tight in a week which produced a range of conditions.
In the ILCA 6 Class, Bobby Driscoll backed up his victory at last year’s competition with another victory, winning five of the ten races sailed.
Speaking after the win, Bobby said: “It feels surreal. I went into this event way more nervous than I was last year, which is probably because of my training partner, Daniel Palmer, who I give much credit to. We’re such a strong block as we train every Saturday and Sunday throughout the winter.
“It was one of my most stressful weeks in sailing, knowing that he’s right behind me and he’s on the attack and I’m defending. I’m very happy that I got it over and done with and now it’s on to the next one.”
Bobby’s week was also capped off by winning RYA Northern Ireland Youth Sailor of The Year on Friday night.
Elsewhere in the ILCA 6 Class, Daniel Palmer finished in a close second, Cormac Byrne finished 5th, Autumn Halliday finished 2nd girl and 14th overall and Freddie Doig finished 23rd. Full results can be seen here.
In the ILCA 4 Class, Emily McAfee finished 1st girl and 2nd overall, George Doig finished 9th overall and Zoe West-Hurst finished 16th overall. Full results can be seen here
Like in the ILCA 6 Class, in the Topper Class it was a Northern Ireland Sailing Team 1,2.
Ben McCaldin topped the standings, but hot on his heels was fellow Lough Erne Yacht Club sailor Adam Green, who was tied for points with him when racing concluded on Sunday afternoon. Adam also won RYA Northern Ireland Junior Sailor of The Year at the RYA Northern Ireland Annual Awards on Friday night and can certainly take confidence from some excellent sailing over the last 12 months.
The strong performances from NI Sailing Team members continued elsewhere in the Topper Class. Alex Eadie finished 2nd girl and 7th overall, James Eadie finished 9th, Leo West-Hurst finished 12th, Emma West-Hurst finished 3rd girl and 13th overall and Charlie Haslett finished 20th.
Full results can be seen here.
Commenting after the event, RYA Northern Ireland Performance Manager, Andrew Baker, commented: “The Irish Youth Nationals are a significant annual milestone for us. It falls early in the competition season, so it is a good reflection of our winter programmes. It’s also a great eye opener to other classes and types of sailing.
“For all sailors, this is a fairly big event with a good number of races across multiple days so identifying patterns is key. For our sailors, it is a good event to answer questions such as: “What am I doing well? Can I be confident in my abilities and where are the areas to improve? Did I make the same mistake each race? What are my new training goals when I get back on the water at home?”
“Winning in both the Youth and Junior fleets shows we have a good pathway in place with no gaps in age ranges. Emily’s 2nd place and first girl in the ILCA 4 highlights female potential too. I am proud of our sailors and their families for their commitment to attending events such as this and performing against the best in Ireland.
“We did not however, field any sailors in the double-handed fleets, which is an area of focus we are working to address.”
Next up on the NI Sailing Team calendar is the Eric Twiname Championships on the 3rd and 4th of May in Rutland Water Sailing Club in England. A selection of the Topper squad will test themselves against sailors from the rest of the UK and it will act as a great benchmark to gauge improvement following February’s emphatic Celtic Cup win.
