National Yacht Club

  The 2015 IODAI Optimist Connacht Championships took place over the weekend of the 11/12 July hosted by Lough Ree Yacht Club. The event attracted 137 entries. The Senior Fleet was won by Clare Gorman of the National Yacht Club. The club was represented by thirteen Junior members and all had a fantastic time with some families choosing to camp and enjoy the wonderful hospitality laid on by the host club. The event was sailed in strong and gusty winds on Saturday with mainly light winds on Sunday. We had four Sailors in the 38 strong Senior fleet with Clare winning the last race by three seconds to win the event. Charlie Cullen, Nicola Ferguson and Natasha Hemeryck also represented the club well in the Senior fleet. Six NYC sailors sailed in the Junior fleet for under 13’s. This was the largest fleet with 64 boats. Conor Gorman ended up sixth overall and there were some great individual race results from Hugh O’Connor, Fiona Ferguson and Leah Rickard. David Corcoran and Georgie McCarthy learnt a lot and the experience will be of great benefit to them. Finally, we had three representatives in the 35 strong Regatta Fleet. Due to the Bad weather on the Saturday the Regatta fleet did not go sailing. Instead they visited the nearby Waterpark at Hodson Bay and had a great time. The ten knot breeze on Sunday allowed for four races in the Regatta fleet all of which were completed by our sailors, Clodagh Malone, Billy McCarthy and Lucia Cullen. Many Club members are currently sailing on Irish teams and we wish them the best of luck. Ella Hemeryck and Luke Rickard are sailing in the French Nationals and both Nicola Ferguson and Charlie Cullen are in Pwllheli Wales for the European Championships. Clare Gorman then travels to Dziwnow Poland for the Optimist World championships at the end of August. In addition we have a strong team travelling to the British Optimist Nationals IN Pwllheli at the end of July including under 12 Irish squad members, Fiona Ferguson, Leah Rickard, Conor Gorman and Hugh O’Connor. Clare Gorman and Natasha Hemeryck will also compete in the UK. The next big event in Ireland is the Nationals in Skerries mid August followed by the Leinsters in Howth at the start of September. There is a full report on the 2015 Connachts www.afloat.ie and results can be found on www.iodai.com