NYC sailors take titles at Optimist National Championships
In one of the most exciting Irish National championships, NYC sailors did the club proud demonstrating great talent and skill over the 4-day event at the RIYC in Dun-Laoghaire, 17 – 20 August.
Mixed conditions and particularly windy weather tested all sailors to the full. The excellent results reflect the hard work carried out over the winter and past months.
The overall title in Senior fleet was decided in the 10
th and last nail-biting race with new NYC member Rian Geraghty-McDonnell taking 1
st place. Leah Rickard followed closely in overall 3
rd place and 1
st girl, Hugh Turvey in 8
th place, Conor Gorman in 10
th and Nathan Vansteenberge 15
th. Senior fleet sailors Hugh O’Connor, Louis-Marie Jullo, Zoe Hall, Clodagh Malone and Lauren O’Callaghan also did extremely well, particularly on Saturday where wind hit 30 knots during racing.
The Junior fleet delivered a gripping finish with Luke Turvey winning the Junior title in the last race. Sam Ledoux followed in 5
th overall and 3
rd Irish, Fiachra Geraghty-McDonnell came 7
th overall and 4
th Irish. Other Junior sailors Clementine Vansteenberge, Ella Dempsey, Rachel Flood, Edward Dempsey, Conor Staunton and Billy McCarthy gave a stellar performance.
In Regatta fleet, the young upcoming NYC sailors did very well, including Caoilinn Geraghty-Mc Donnell, Ronan Blake-Hickey, James Hall, Adelaide Jullo, Lizzie Hall, Kate Flood, Pierce Malone and Oscar Malone.
For full results, please see
http://iodai.com/results/
A hearty thanks to RIYC who organised an excellent event and to all the coaches who supported the sailors throughout the competition. Next year’s National Championships is planned to take place in Kinsale.
