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MUSTO Optimist Irish Nationals 2008
 Tralee Bay Sailing Club hosted the largest sailing event ever in Kerry Tralee Bay Sailing Club (TBSC) last week hosted the largest sailing event ever held in Kerry. The Musto Irish Optimist Association National Championship was held in Fenit from August 20th to 23rd 2008. Over 200 sailors, aged from eight to fifteen years of age took part in Musto National Optimist Championship. This championship attracted sailors, their families and supporters from all over Ireland, the UK and Northern Ireland. David Buckley ,commodore of Tralee Bay Sailing Club ,commenting on the huge success of the event stated: “Superb racing was enjoyed by all of the competitors. The success of this event was largely as a result of the huge voluntary contribution of many of the TBSC members and out invited guests .It was fabulous site to see over 200 of Irelands top yourh sailors competing in the beautiful Tralee Bay ". 16 of the competitors were local sailors from Tralee Bay Sailing Club where there is a very active and strong fleet of Optimist sailors.Some of these top young sailors will hopefully appear on the national and internationa sailing stage in years to come Overall Results Senior Gold Fleet Best local Senior Gold Fleet sailor in 11th place, Fiona Daly (TBSC) Senior Silver Fleet Best local Senior Silver Fleet sailor in 43rd place, Tadgh O’Loingsigh (TBSC) A total of 68 sailors sailed in the Senior Fleet Junior Gold Fleet Best local Junior Gold Fleet sailor in 21st place, Sophie Browne (TBSC) Junior Silver Fleet Best local Junior Silver Fleet sailor in 34th place, Louise Magowan (TBSC) A total of 90 sailors sailed in the Junior Fleet Regatta Fleet = Total of 41 sailors Best local sailor in 12th place, Peter O’Halloran (TBSC) If anyone is interested in sailing they can get more information from the club or school websites: www.traleebaysailingclub.com or www.traleebaysailingschool.com Further information is available on the TBSC website at: Or contact any of the TBSC members below: Rian Conboy competed in the Regatta Fleet of 40 boats. The regatta fleet combined instruction with 9 races in the vicinity of the sailing club. Jack and Donal Collins, Diarmuid Harvey, Ciaran Jordan and Jack Lee all competed in the Junior Fleet (U-12s). This was the biggest fleet at the event comprising 90 boats on the start line. They sailed 10 races over three days mostly in an area a couple of miles into the open water of Tralee Bay to the west of Samphire Lighthouse. Day 1 was a difficult day for the PRO with light and shifting winds. Two races were completed, but as the wind died towards the end of the second race only 17 boats finished before the time limit. The fleet was towed ashore to an early finish after five hours on the water. Day 2 was a better day for sailing with moderate wind and bright sunshine. Our sailors were beginning to get to grips with the conditions and were sailing well in four tough races each over 1hour long. Ciaran Jordan came away with the best GBSC results of the day with a 5th and a 3rd place in the silver fleet. After nearly 8 hours on the water all the sailors were tired. Good sailing conditions held for Day 3 of the event but by then a long rolling swell had developed. After a couple of general recalls the PRO produced a black-flag and the fleet was quickly tamed into clean starts. Jack Collins sailed four excellent races to deliver the best GBSC results of the day with a 2nd place in race 8 and a 5th in race 9. At the end of another marathon 8 hours the sailors (and their parents) were glad to be ashore. A gale blew in on the final racing day and by mid-morning racing had been abandoned and it came down to the final task of tallying the overall results. Jack Collins finished 8th, Ciaran Jordan 16th, Donal Collins 34th, Dermot Harvey 36th and Jack Lee in 42nd position. Overall a fantastic result for their first national championship in the main optimist fleet. Alongside these results for Junior Silver Rian came away with a creditable 35th in the regatta fleet. This event was a tremendous learning experience for our younger sailors. They learned a lot about how to survive consecutive long days on the water, how to find position on very crowded start lines and how to seek out the favoured side of the course. We have a great foundation to build on. From a parent's perspective it takes a big effort to get a young sailor and all their equipment to an event like this and it was a pleasure to see them cope so well with all aspects of the event. To see six beaming smiles at the end of each tough day and hearing "Thank you for bringing me here" was an unparalleled reward for that effort. I guess we'll be doing it all again next year. |
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