The Royal St George Yacht Club, Dun Laoghaire

WEDNESDAY 19TH - SATURDAY 22ND AUGUST

A huge fleet of almost 250 sailors, 52 of them from the George, 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 the performance at the UK Nationals where Irish boats finished 1st, 5th, 7th, and 10th in the Junior Fleet all the talk was about who might 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 for the senior and Junior Fleets and inside the harbour for the Regatta Fleet.

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, Sean Donnelly from NYC and Adam Hyland from the George 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. Dan O'Beirne began to feature in the top 10 around the windward mark only to have places slip away when nose-diving on the run but still managed to remain top Senior home club boat.

Meanwhile, our own Adam Hyland was making a serious bid for a Junior podium place, counting 6, 5, 6, 14 & 17 in the first six races. Conor O'Beirne who lifted his game at the British Nationals was slow out of the blocks posting two results that would finally prove to be his discards. Niamh Henry, another veteran of the Brits started to find form as did Mark Bolger in the Gold fleet. Sandy Aplin posted some of his best and some of his worst results of the regatta but eventually over the next few days he began to find the a level of consistency we're used to despite the big. Stephen Craig put in a solid set of results, posting his best result of the regatta in Race Four.

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) and three GBR sailors making their mark. A bad day at the office saw Sean Donnelly relinquish his overall lead. Adam Hyland of the home club continued to feature prominently at the three quarter way point. In the Silver Fleet Conor O'Beirne, Niamh Henry, Chloe Eggers, Stephen Craig & Nathaniel Gillett 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. Dan O'Beirne finished as the best Senior George boat. Sarah Hyland posted her best result of the regatta, rounding the top mark in race 6 in contention and maintaining this to finish a fantastic 13th in a highly competitive Senior fleet.

The prize for spirit must surely be shared between Blathnaid O'Connell and Lucy McCutcheon, who despite the heavy going, never gave up. Even when they accepted a tow back to shore they had enough energy to take over the support rib and captured on this picture!

Aa we all know, The George along with ‘The Nash' 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 Worlds & Olympic podiums. How many of the talented sailors at this year's Mitsubishi Optimist National & Open Championships will we see representing the George and their country at ISAF's and Olympics in years to come? Quite a few methinks.

Meanwhile back in the harbour, the Regatta Fleet had been having a mixed time of it. While the harbour was seen as a safe haven to race the younger sailors, the topography ensures gusty conditions. The first day or two provided Jim Devlin and Michael MacDiarmada who were running the fleet with a few headaches as the newer sailors struggled in the conditions. In the end, it was decided to split the fleet in two; Gold and Silver and put them on separate courses. This proved a winning formula with 9 races for each. The future looks bright for the George as Elizabeth Fogarty, Gavin Roche-Griffin Grace O'Beirne, Helen O'Beirne and Julia Donovan emerging from the Silver fleet. Remember, these sailors are an average of nine years of age!

In the Regatta Gold Fleet Sam Hyland emerged 2nd, followed closely by Sarah Miller and Harry Craig. We had 21 sailors in this and in various races, Kate Lyttle, James O'Connor, Rachel Eggers, John Guilfoyle, Rory Simington and Sean ‘Jenko' Jenkins made an impression. We have a great bunch of Regatta Fleet sailors on which to build Team George into the future.

Finally, great regattas like this don't just happen. A fantastic organising group, lead by Michael McNamara brought a degree of professionalism and colour to the George not seen anywhere else. The launching, parking, catering and entertainment ran like clockwork and was a real credit to all those involved.