Royal St. George's top Irish match racer, Tom Higgins, will confront March's Student Match Racing National Championships winner, Jamie McMahon of Howth Yacht Club, among others, when the National Yacht Club (NYC) hosts the Irish Match Racing National Championships (IMRA) at Dun Laoghaire on May 11th and 12th.
A lineup of skilled helms from across the country are already signed up for the event, which is billed as an important step towards growing match racing in Ireland.
Kinsale's Sam Hunt from Gladiators returns to Dun Laoghaire following his win in the inaugural Irish Sailing League a fortnight ago.
As well as the locally based Higgins Racing team, there will be Dan Little of No Clew, Diana Kissane representing WMR, Oisin Cullen from Red Flag Racing, and Ruairi Finnegan of Craic'n Racing who competed in China in December at the World Match racing finals.
As regular Afloat readers will know, UCD ace Higgins has been on the match racing global circuit competing in the USA at the Governor's Cup last July and more recently in Australia at the International Youth Match Racing Championship.
Oisin Cullen, the recently elected IMRA Chairperson, expressed his excitement about the upcoming event, which will be sailed in NYC's Elliott 6m one-design keelboats: "This championship is not just a race; it's a significant step towards growing match racing in Ireland".
