The Royal St George Yacht Club, Dun Laoghaire

The Youth Scholarship Scheme, which was founded by the Club in 2006, has two principal objectives. The first is to provide World Class Coaching with the aim of giving those Members who qualify for the ISAF Youth Worlds a better chance of medalling at the Championships. The second is to ensure that the Club has continued success in having youth members of the Club qualify for the ISA Youth Academy. Initial seed capital for the scheme came from a sponsored (53 Degree North) fund raising dinner at the Club for youth sailing which was generously supported by the Membership in November 2005.

Youth Sailing is for those under 19 years of age on the 1st January of the competing year. The ISAF Youth Worlds are held annually and normally feature Laser Radial and 420 classes in separate boys and girls championships along with Boards and Multihulls and, from time to time, 29ers. Ireland has only once before won a medal at the Youth Worlds when Laura Dillon and Ciara Peelo won bronze in 1996. The YSS from the outset has focused on the Laser Radial and 420 classes. Qualification for the Worlds involves winning the ISA trials AND achieving certain high performance results internationally, usually in UK Championships.
There can be only one qualifying team in each of boys and girls per nation per class.

The YSS has been singularly successful in meeting its core objectives. Since being set up in 2006, the YSS at the RSGYC has achieved by far the largest youth representation of any Irish club at successive ISAF Worlds .The qualification record is of providing two of the Irish qualifiers for Weymouth UK in 2006, two for Kingston in 2007, four out of the six person team that went to Denmark in 2008 and three of the four person team which qualified and competed in Brazil in 2009.

In 2009, a coaching module for transition year YSS sailors was put in place whereby the YSS members travelled to New Zealand in January/February to train in warmer weather and with renowned coach Ian Neely. Ian has previously coached teams to the summit of 420 sailing with world championships won by both girls and boys under his tutelage. He has also coached Australian and New Zealand teams at Olympic Games. Excellent results have followed for the George teams in 2009 with Jane Butler and Jenny Andreasson achieving 11th place in the 420 class worlds and 7th in the Europeans, while Mattie O Dowd, who recently won the Irish Laser Radial Nationals and the ISA All Ireland Sailing Junior Championship in his first year, had some excellent individual International race results. These teams are young enough to contend again in 2010. Ian Neely will continue to coach them. It is also hoped to send new YSS teams to New Zealand in January/ February 2010.

In 2008, the RSGYC was awarded the hosting of the 2012 ISAF Youth Worlds. This is a singular honour for the Club and a great achievement by the special committee set up to seek the event. It is also a huge boost to youth sailing at the Club and indeed the Nation. It also complements the work of YSS at the George and adds impetus to the scheme. This youth event is second only to the Olympics on the sailing calendar. As it happens, the RSGYC event will be staged in July of 2012 immediately before the London Olympics at Weymouth. The 2012 Youth Worlds are consequently expected to be amongst the most competitive staged to date. It is a YSS objective that the RSGYC would be represented by a home club presence at the event.

All in all, this twin track approach makes for a most impressive youth support program developed by the Royal St George Yacht Club. The YSS program is led from the outset by Johnny Ross-Murphy and supported by Brian Craig who also led the campaign to host the 2012 ISAF Youth Worlds. Next year's Worlds are in Istanbul with the 2011 event in Zadar, Croatia followed by the Royal St George Yacht Club in Dublin 2012.
Club Members who won't have been familiar with the YSS, hitherto, can expect to hear a lot more about it in the lead up to 2012.