Seven sailors from East Antrim Boat Club and Strangford Lough Yacht Club travelled to the Optimist Leinster Championships on the 17th and 18th of May, competing against fellow junior sailors from across Ireland.
The event, hosted at The National Yacht Club in Dún Laoghaire, featured 140 young sailors, competing in four fleets which are split based on age and ability to encourage maximum development of young sailors.
The Junior Fleet is for those aged 12 and below and the Senior Fleet is for those aged up to 15. There is also a Regatta Fleet which is divided into a coached and uncoached/racing section.
Across all four fleets, there were some impressive performances from Northern Irish sailors. These Optimist sailors have trained hard throughout the winter at Strangford Lough Yacht Club and the results reflect the work of coaches and volunteers at the club, as well as commitment to training from the sailors.
Strangford Lough Yacht Club is a RYA Northern Ireland Pathway Club, meaning it has received funding to run racing programmes and if you are interested in your club becoming a Pathway Club, contact hannah.wilcox@rya.org.uk
Optimist Leinster’s results
In the Regatta Coached Fleet, Hugh Williams (SLYC) won four of the eight races to finish second overall. This fleet blends coaching sessions with short and fun races, creating a similar experience to what sailors in the RYA Northern Ireland Youth Championships Regatta Fleet can expect.
In the Regatta Racing Fleet, Ollie Cooke (SLYC) finished 1st overall, counting seven top three results in a fleet with over 30 boats. Elsewhere in the Racing Regatta Fleet, Scarlett Cooke (SLYC) finished 8th girl (12th overall) and Livia Westhead (SLYC) finished 11th girl (21st overall).
In the Junior Main Fleet, Strangford Lough Yacht Club’s Ollie Gunderson finished 13th overall in a 42 boat fleet.
In the Senior Main Fleet (52 entries), Anna Williams (SLYC) finished 10th girl (15th overall and runner-up in bronze fleet), and Penny Doig (EABC) finished 23rd girl (43rd overall).
If you would like to read the full results, click here.
The Optimist Class has certainly seen a resurgence across Northern Ireland in the last few years, with local clubs carrying out winter training sessions to develop their young sailors.
In addition, more sailors from Northern Ireland are travelling to regional events, which are great learning opportunities outside of your home club. The next major Optimist event in Ireland is the Ulster Championships which will be held at East Antrim Boat Club on the 14th and 15th of June.
If you would like to learn more about future events about different classes in Northern Ireland, check out the events section of the NI Sailing Team website.
