The Irish nationals 2009 Reports by Thomas Chaix, Aoife Hopkins (age 10) and Frank O'Beirne (Just added)
The Irish nationals 2009 delivered great racing to conclude an excellent season for the Irish optimist class. The RstG YC and it's team of volunteers made it an event to remember with a full series of 12 races for the juniors and only one race short in the seniors in mainly big breeze and great entertainement ashore for the kids (and parents). It was great for me to have a larger overview of the fleet instead of actively coaching a few sailors. It was also a excellent opportunity to assess the overall progress of the fleet! And I saw a lot of promisses for the future in both the senior and the junior fleet. The overall quality of the fleet is surely progressing and the usual leaders did not have it their way all the time and had to battle to remain on top of the leaderboard showing the increasing depth we have in the fleet. With 178 main fleet sailors entered and visitors from India, Australia, the UK and the USA, it is showing the increasing attraction for the class in Ireland. So well done to all involved, ISA, IODAI, clubs, parents and of course the sailors themselves. The nationals was also the last indicator event for selection into the ISA squad. Now in its 3rd year the ISA Optimist Squad is looking forward to another exciting programme with great coaching and advice for the sailors. Details about the squad and the programme can be downloaded here. If you are interested in applying for the squad please complete the application form by September 2nd. Click here. Please note application does not guarantee selection. In the case of a sailor not being selected a full refund will be given. Thomas
Optimist Nationals 2009 A report by Aoife Hopkins (age 10)
The Mitsubishi Optimist National Championships 2009, hosted by the Royal St. George Yacht Club, had a fantastic turnout of over 240 sailors .The juniors successfully completed the 12 race series allocated for the main fleet. The senior fleet, however, only managed 11. The Regatta fleet, designed for younger and beginner sailors had 69 sailors this year. There were lots of international sailors and some came from the UK, Australia, India and America. The Indians were freezing as they didn’t have any wetsuits but parents in the George kindly lent them some. Day 1: The event kicked off to a windy start as forecasted, leaving many sailors struggling in the heavy winds. The main fleet got three races in on the first day. Due to heavy winds the regatta fleet only got one race in that day and they had lots of capsizes ! Day 2: Again the second day was just as windy as the first day and had a 10:55 warning signal, so the launching was quite early and some people had their coaches rig their boats while they changed as they were to late down at the club! Later on in the day when we all came in and were de-rigged and changed there were really cool street performances. Day 3: Windy, as usual! Juniors and seniors each got 3 races in. Regatta fleet got out both morning and afternoon. After sailing we all had a go on the bucking bronco, bungee and football games it was great fun. Day 4: Last day, everyone was tired but kept going. Again juniors got three races but sadly seniors only got two. Prize giving was delayed until about half seven which meant a lot of people had to travel home in the dark but the prizes were really great. Thanks so much to everyone in the Royal St. George.
Aoife
A report by Frank O’Beirne A huge fleet of almost 250 sailors competed for the Irish Mitsubishi Optimist Open and National Championships at the Royal St George YC in Dun Laoghaire. Running over the four days of 19-22 August, the event saw top teams from UK, US, India, Canada, Australia and of course Ireland. Fleets were arranged by age into Senior (13-15 years) and Junior (up to 12 years) plus a Regatta Fleet for less experienced sailors of any age. On the back of last week’s UK Nationals where Irish boats finished 1st, 5th, 7th, and 10th in the Junior Fleet all the talk is about who will win and the home team had much to be confident about. However with a strong team from the UK, bent on revenge and top sailors from US and India every place would be hard-won. A series of 12 races over the four days were sailed in generally sunny but breezy conditions on Dublin Bay. Day 1 saw the lightest winds at F2-3 but big seas made the going tough. The Indian team lead by Praveen Prabhakar showed early promise scoring 1, 5 and 7 in the first race, but eventually conditions colder than they are used to began to take their toll. Roger Dorr of the US showed why he is on the US team, posting a 2nd and 1st. However some names began to emerge throughout the day that would stay near the top of the leader board through the event. In the Junior Fleet the successful sailors from the Brit Nationals began to emerge. Peter McCann and Cian Byrne from Cork, Sophie Browne from Tralee and Sean Donnelly from NYC and Adam Hyland from the home club all featured in the first day. Close behind, Jack Parkin, Ollie Sellers and Georgia Booth from GBR were making their presence felt. On Day 2 wind built to a steady F4 gusting F5. Donnelly, McCann, Byrne and now Holman (GBR) slugged it out at the top of the Junior Fleet. In the Senior Fleet, Seafra Guilfoyle was beginning to look like the one to beat, posting two wins, two seconds and a fourth out of six races. Tara Flood from HYC was also laying claim to the Girl’s title with a bunch of single figure results. The initial clock calm early on Day 3 belied what was to come; blowing F4-5 most of the day. A fascinating battle at the top of the Senior fleet between Guilfoyle, Aodh Kennedy and Colm O’Regan continued with one side and then the other side of the beat paying. Off-wind was where the squad coaching really paid off in the heavy winds, sailors with superior boat-handling opening leads. Keeping the mast pointing at the sky was paramount and an ability to hike hard all day saw the fitter sailors emerge. Tara Flood and Amy Harrington were locked in a battle to lift the Girl’s title and were a continued threat to the lead three as any slip on their part would see the girls bid for the title. The UK challenge began to fall away in the Senior Fleet but was very much a feature of the Junior Fleet. Half of the top ten were now foreign boats with Adele Whitmyer (US) Joseph Burns, James Taylor William Wilson (all UK) making their mark. A bad day at the office saw Sean Donnelly relinquish his overall lead. Adam Hyland of the home club began to feature prominently at the three quarter way point. In the Silver Fleet Aoife Hopkins (HYC), Conor O’Beirne and Niamh Henry (both RStGYC) were emerging as the ones to watch. What a day Day 4 was to become with sun and a steady F5+ and occasional 30kt gusts. That the majority of the fleet completed all three races is a credit to their determination, competitiveness and seamanship. In the Junior Fleet, any one of the top three were in with a chance but a 14th in the last race for Arran Holman (GBR) and a 15th for Cian Byrne handed the title to Pater McCann who kept his nerve to post a 6,9,5 on the final day. This was a reversal of places from the Brit Nationals for McCann and Byrne which brought a strange symmetry to their battle. An unfortunate protest loss saw Adam Hyland drop out of the top 5 but still remain as the top home club boat. Over the final three races in the Senior Fleet only one point separated the day’s results of the top three sailors. Close, but not close enough as Seafra Guilfoyle added the Senior title to the Junior title he picked up last year. Tara Food emerged as the top Girl and there was a healthy sprinkling of foreign boats in the top 10 to keep the home fleet on its toes. Lizzy McDowell took the Senior Silver Fleet with Dan O’Beirne the best Senior home club boat The Royal St George YC along with its neighbour the National Yacht Club will host the ISAF Youth World Championships in 2012. Regarded as the Olympics for youth sailing, it is the premier youth regatta in the ISAF calendar with many of its competitors later appearing on Olympic podiums. How many of the talented sailors at the Mitsubishi Optimist National & Open Championships will we see representing their country at ISAF’s and Olympics in years to come? Quite a few methinks. Read home the home sailors of the Royal St. George got on at the Nationals on their website.
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