French International Cup 2009

French summer international cup 2009. Report from the Irish team

The initial words are from team member Conor Murphy, who secured a gold fleet finish in the strong 176 boat fleet from 9 different countries.

"I thought it was good, and I learnt a lot. My starts improved over the week. On the first day of Gold finals, I knew I could match the best sailors out there. The opening ceremony was great fun and we made sure the whole town of Loctudy knew Team Ireland was there. the team worked well together and we all enjoyed the last night when we set the beach on fire with bangers. Breton crepes are nice!"

And a report from Thomas Chaix

So it was a week of excellent fun for the sailors but also an opportunity to learn and improve their skills. Coaches Thomas Chaix and Suzanne Burke were kept busy by the 11 sailors group making sure the experience would be a positive one.

Day 1 On the racing side, Cian Byrne was the fastest to get in gear to secure an excellent first day culminating with a 7th as his best race which also was the best race of the week for the team.

Day 2 saw two races to put the qualifying series at 5 races. Conor Murphy, Peter McCann and Philip Brownlow worked well and there consistency put them well into the gold fleet positions.

Day 3 was a little special with the long offshore race which was also the final qualifying race. Cian picked an undeserved OCS (he actually came back but could not prove it in the jury room and unfortunately Coaches could not be used as witnesses). Aodh missed the two initial tactical move and failed to catch up enough places to squeeze into Gold.

So the camp was not the happiest at the end of racing. However, with a great afternoon of fun team racing and the 4th place of the mixed Dublin Bay team (Alex, Xander, Katherin, Tadgh) out of the 40 teams entry, the dispointment faded and the group was well fired up for the finals.

On Day 4, Aodh kennedy was able to overcome his disapointment and sailed very consistently to secure 4 top 10 (8th, 2nd, 10th and 6th) to take the lead in the silver fleet (which utimately was an overall win).

In gold, Peter had a consistent day and Conor showed great fighting spirit on the start line. Philip kept his consistency.

The last day only Gold went out in 20-30kts. Philip had a superb initial race taking 14th and Conor concluded a good event by a 42nd.

Overall Alex was best finisher in 46th and the team wished him the best of luck at the worlds in early August. he was followed by Peter (55th), Philip (59th) and Conor (61st). Cian fought well despite having pretty unlucky after his initial day to take 83rd. Aodh Kennedy won silver. Brendan Lyden was next in line in 21st. Tadgh Donnelly (46th), Amy Clarke, Cliodhna O'Regan and Katherine Geoghegan were up and down but took some great learning home.