Irish Optimist National Championship at Kinsale Yacht Club

Irish Optimist Nationals at Kinsale © Michele Kennelly

Irish Optimist Nationals at Kinsale © Michele Kennelly

The Davy Optimist Irish National Championships took place in Kinsale 16 – 19 Aug. The weather decided to throw everything at the competitors and Race Committee with cloudy skies, gusts over 23 knots, fog and finally sunshine.

178 competitors took to the water spread across 3 fleets. The Regatta Fleet, with RO Denis Kieran, sailed in the waters off Charles Fort. 29 competitors sailed over the four days and enjoyed some competitive racing. 12 races were sailed and it was local member Tadgh Cronin, KYC, who prevailed and came first. Oliver Means, HSC was 2nd with Lucy Pitman, ESC, in third.

PRO Peter Crowley took the Junior and Senior Fleets out of the harbour to race in the the area around the Bulman Buoy with the wind all weekend coming from the W and SW. There were 81 in the Junior Fleet and Rocco Wright, HYC/NYC, dominated from Race 1. He took a total of 7 line honours in the 11 races and ended 26 points clear ahead of the field. Oscar Morgan-Harris, RSYC, started Day 4 in 2nd place with Ben O'Shaughnessy, RCYC, in 3rd. However solid racing by Ben on Day 4 secured him an 8th and 3rd which was enough for him to take 2nd with Oscar 3rd.

The 68 strong Senior Fleet enjoyed very competitive racing with the overall leader changing daily. Both Luke Turvery, HYC/NYC and James Dwyer Matthews RCYC/KYC performed very strongly on Day 3 scoring a 3, 1, 1 & 1, 3, 4 respectively. Race 10 saw a total of 11 boats BFD. Justin Lucas took line honours in Race 11 in which Guentin Borghijs, KLYC, scored a 6th for a total of 47 which was enough to secure him the National title. 2nd to 4th places were decided on countback as all 3 finished on 49 points.

At the Prize Giving, Jack Roy, President of Irish Sailing congratulated all the sailors on their participation and wished them many more years of fun on the water. Kinsale Yacht Club would like to thank the 50 plus volunteers, adults and teenagers alike, who made this event possible - with special thanks to Regatta director John Stallard.

Overall Results: