Maeve Cotter will act as the regatta director for Kinsale's staging of the Dragon Gold Cup in 2024.

Cotter is a former Commodore of Glandore Harbour Yacht Club and the current Rear Commodore of Kinsale YC. She takes up the role with an experienced committee acting alongside her.

The event will run from 6th to 13th of September 2024.

Matthias Hellstern, Commodore of Kinsale Yacht Club, welcomed Maeve commenting, “I have worked with Maeve on a Management Committee level for over 4 years, and I have seen first-hand her ability and dedication that I have no doubt she will apply to this role. As an experienced Dragon sailor, Maeve also understands the class and what is required to make this an exceptional event.”

Kinsale Yacht Club is a long way into its planning of the 2024 event with Astra Construction already on board as the headline sponsor. The Gold Cup is the pinnacle event of the dragon season, and excitement is already mounting in Kinsale following the disappointment of having to the cancel the event in 2020 due to covid.

Dragon racing at Kinsale Yacht Club Photo: Bob Bateman

Asked for her thoughts on the role and regatta, Maeve added “I have sailed Dragons since I was a teenager and love the boat and class. My brother Michael campaigned Dragons for many years and my two sons, Daniel and Sean will be racing in the event on our boat “Whisper” so no doubt I will have plenty of suggestions and feedback! We are lucky that Kinsale is such a destination town, with the yacht club located in the heart of it, coupled with the phenomenal race area at the beginning of the wild Atlantic way. It’s really exciting for the Irish class to have such a big event to look forward to ”.

In the time-honoured tradition at Kinsale in West Cork, the end of the season at Kinsale Yacht Club is marked by the Laying Up Dinner. This event allows members to come together to celebrate the season passed and look forward to the upcoming season. This year broke all records with tickets selling out in under three hours, such was the demand from members to attend.

2022 was a very successful year for Kinsale YC, including the inaugural Inishtearaght Race, three boats competing in the Round Ireland Race, two new National Champions this year, and the extremely successful Under 25’s Kinsailor J/24.

The Kinsale initiative is reviewed by Afloat's WM Nixon in an article entitled; Kinsale’s Pace-Setting In Nurturing Ireland’s Young Sailing Talent

Kinsale Yacht Club's inaugural Inishtearaght Race in May Photo: Bob Bateman

Squib Champions

Ian Travers was the Regatta Director for the Squib National Championships, and the event saw 55 Squibs from across the UK and Ireland competing in Kinsale. Ian, along with Keith O Riordan took the Squib Irish National Champion title and now joins Kinsale’s list of National Champions.

Irish Squib National Champion Keith O Riordan (left) and Ian Travers of Kinsale Yacht Club Photo: Bob Bateman

Irish Squib National Champion Ian Travers (left) and KYC Commodore Matthias Hellstern

Dragon Champions

Former Commodore Cameron Good, along with current Commodore Matthias Hellstern and Henry Kingston took the title of Dragon National Champion at the event in Dun Laoghaire, which had eluded Kinsale YC for 32 years.

Cameron Good, along with current Commodore Matthias Hellstern and Henry Kingston on their way to Dragon class victory at Dun Laoghaire Photo: Afloat.ie

Irish Dragon National Champions Cameron Good, Henry Kingston and Matthias Hellstern with KYC Vice Commodore, Tony Scannell

Under 25’s Kinsailor project

The Kinsailor Under 25 crew from Kinsale Yacht Club had a fantastic year afloat Photo: Bob Bateman

The Club Member of the Year was awarded to former Commodore, Dave O’Sullivan. This award is made annually to someone who has gone to exceptional lengths to further the goals of Kinsale YC. This year’s recipient was given a suggestion which he ran with, putting a lot of time and effort into it. He used his power of persuasion to get others involved and very quickly Dave O’Sullivan had the Under 25’s Kinsailor project up and running and he agreed to be the mentor for the developing team.

Kinsale Yacht Club's Dave O’Sullivan - the under 25’s Kinsailor project mentor Photo: Bob Bateman

With an enthusiastic youthful squad, many of whom attended the Laying Up Dinner, Dave set up a training schedule and fundraising events to be carried out by the squad who he said had to take ownership of the project.

A squad of 14 was put together and training began.

The Kinsailors competing at the J24 European Championships in Howth in late August where they took third overall Photo: Christopher Howell

The boat and crew performed well enough in the midweek series but it really took everyone’s attention at the J24 European Championships in Howth in late August. Despite technical difficulties with a broken mast, the boat finished overall third in Europe separated from first by a single point and the best-performing Irish boat. They certainly left their mark, and hopefully, this was the first successful year of many to come.

David Riome’s Valfeya won Saturday’s third race of the McCarthy Insurance October/November White Sails League at Kinsale Yacht Club in Fleet 1, both IRC and ECHO from John Stallard’s Siboney.

Overall, Valfreya is on six points in IRC, one ahead of Siboney on seven. Michael Carroll’s Chancer is third on nine. 

In ECHO handicap, the same trio tops the league - Valfreya on 5 points, Siboney 8 and Chancer 12.

Fleet 2 IRC leader is Patrick Beckett’s Miss Charlie on 5 points from Sallybelle (Albert O’Neill) 6, with Dominic Falvey’s Swift on 10.

In ECHO, Sallybelle (6 points) leads from Swift and Miss Charlie who are both on 10.

Kinsale skipper Conor Doyle is lying third in class four after the first 24 hours of the Rolex Middle Sea Race. 

The Irish XP-50 Freya from Kinsale Yacht Club was 30 minutes behind the Podesta family’s Maltese First 45 Elusive 2 through the Strait of Messina and is ranked third in class.

On board Freya – the sole Irish boat in the race – is a high-powered crew that includes Kelvin Harrap, Rory Harrap, Will Byrne, Barry Hurley, Nick Jones, Malcolm McCormick, Cian Guilfoyle, James Lyons, Conor Doyle and Nin O'Leary.

The Ireland Freya crew skippered by Conor Doyle from Kinsale ready for the start of the 2022 Middle Sea Race this morning in Valetta harbour includes Kelvin Harrap, Rory Harrap, Will Byrne, Barry Hurley, Nick Jones, Malcolm McCormick, Cian Guilfoyle, James Lyons, Conor Doyle and Nin O'Leary

This time last year, the race reporting was struggling to keep up with the pace of the frontrunners. The Maxi Multihulls had scorched 450 nautical miles of the 606nm course. What a difference a year makes: same or similar boats, polar opposite conditions. The story so far of the 43rd Rolex Middle Sea Race is one of determination and true grit, grinding out the miles one by one, sometimes taking more than hour to do so. Accepting pats on the back and slaps on the face from the wind is par for this edition. The fleet is currently spread between the Aeolian Islands north of Sicily, 220nm along the track, back to just north of Syracuse, a mere 83nm into the race. If it makes for hard watching from the shore, imagine life onboard.

The MOD 70s Zoulou skippered by Erik MARIS and to leeward Snowflake skippered by Frank Slootman in the Rolex Middle Sea Race Photo: Kurt Arrigo

Currently, the MOD70 Mana, just north of Filicudi, is doing just over 7 knots, 2nm ahead of Maserati Multi70. Meanwhile, Zoulou, another MOD70, looks to have dived south towards Snowflake, perhaps to stay in or find better pressure. All four are well north of the rhumb line. The leading monohulls are right among them. The monohull maxi Bullitt, sailing parallel with Maserati at a similar speed, leads the larger Leopard 3 by about 3.5nm. According to the tracker, the French Ker 46 Daguet 3 – Corum – at Stromboli - is leading overall in the battle for the Rolex Middle Sea Race Trophy under IRC time correction, but this is really just an indication with so much of the race still to run.

Yesterday’s start from Grand Harbour was a foretaste of the 24 hours that would follow. The wind continually dropped in and out. Some boats were able to make fast progress out through the breakwater into open water. For others it was more miss than hit. The 55nm passage north to Capo Passero, on the southeast corner of Sicily, followed a similar pattern among all classes: head northeast out of the harbour for about 20nm before choosing the right moment to turn north to Sicily. Boat speeds went up and down with the wind strength until about halfway across the channel when the five racing trimarans took off, posting speeds in excess of 20 knots. The Maxi Monohulls did their best to keep pace hitting mid to high teens (at least according to the tracker). Mid-size boats also profited from this welcome respite from the light airs.

The relief did not last. While the multihulls kept in good breeze all the way to the beginning of the Messina Strait, which they reached around midnight, the wind dropped across the rest of the fleet as the leading monohulls reached Etna. In the darkness spotting what wind there was from signs on the water became nigh impossible. Sailing into traps seems to have been frequent and being the lead boat on the water was not always the best position.

Chocolate 3, for example, had sailed exceptionally off the start and Bouwe Bekking reported in during the early evening: “It’s a beautiful sunset, and up to now we’ve been sailing a very good race. François (Bopp) did a very good job at the start, wiggling ourselves through that, the crew work was good and, right now, Bullitt, one of the biggest in the fleet, is only one and a half miles ahead of us, so we can’t complain.” A few hours later at 0300 CEST, after making solid progress up the eastern seaboard of Sicily in line abreast with her IRC 2 class competitors, the Swiss boat looks to have hit a hole and had reason to complain. The boats further offshore just kept on moving, leaving Chocolate 3 behind. It has taken much of the day to get back on terms, and the crew will shortly be rounding Stromboli in a pack of other IRC 2 yachts.

Life onboard the fastest yachts in the fleet was easier until halfway to Stromboli. Having negotiated the narrow Strait in relatively good shape, exiting at 0130 CEST on Sunday morning, Paul Larsen reported in at dawn on the approach to Stromboli: “It’s oily calm conditions. We are holding on by our fingernails to a very tentative lead on the good ship Mana. The sun is just rising and behind us we can see Zoulou, Maserati and Snowflake. We are trying to hang on to every little gust we can get, as we glide along at 3.5 knots which, believe me, is hard fought for and very much appreciated.”

Christopher Sherlock's Leopard 3, a Farr 100 is competing in ORC: X, IRC: Class 1 in the Rolex Middle Sea Race Photo: Kurt Arrigo

For a long time, Leopard 3 looked to have the legs on the slightly shorter Bullitt. Their passage up the coast of Sicily was harder than for the multihulls, but easier than for many yachts behind. Reaching the beginning of the 20nm strait at about 0300 CEST, the two did well to get through it in two hours. Then shortly after exiting the Strait of Messina at around 0500 CEST on Sunday morning, Leopard appears to have got into difficulties, coming to a near standstill and losing 5nm to her Italian rival, a gap which has not changed greatly in the intervening hours.

The fight at the front of IRC 3 has been no less intense, with Lee Satariano and Christian Ripard on Maltese yacht Artie eking out a lead over Tonnerre de Glen from France and sistership Ino XXX from the United Kingdom. Just before midnight, off Syracuse, Artie and Tonnerre appeared to get stuck in glue while Ino XXX further offshore kept moving. Artie made better work of the conundrum than Tonnerre, but lost significant ground to Ino XXX. While these two have stretched away from the rest of their class, Artie has not yet been able to claw back lost ground as they approach Stromboli. Ripard and Satariano have done the race enough to know it is not over and if the forecast wind ahead of them is as tricky as it looks, there will be plenty of opportunities.

Yves Grosjean’s French Neo 430,NeoJivaro, also in IRC 3, gave a flavour of the experience so far for most of the crews: “It’s been a long night, we have been done a lot of sail changes… spinnakers, genoas, really everything. There isn’t a single sail we have not tried.”

The night to come does not look any easier, with a light easterly wind forecast for much of the hours of darkness, patchy throughout and diminishing over time. There will be no respite for any of the crews as they work hard to harness every puff and gain any advantage.

DAY 2 CLASS UPDATE 1700 CEST

IRC 1 AT STROMBOLI TRANSIT (12 YACHTS AROUND)
All but two of IRC 1 have passed the northernmost transit. Hungarian entry, Marton Jozsa’s Wild Joe is ahead of Jean Pierre Barjon’s French Botin 65, Spirit Of Lorina, on corrected by only 22 minutes, with Niklas Zennstrom’s CF520 Rán from Sweden a further five minutes back. On the water, Andrea Recordati’s Wally Yacht Bullitt from Italy holds a 3.5nm lead over the Spanish Farr 100 Leopard 3 led by Chris Sherlock, which in turn is 7nm ahead of Wild Joe. All are now sailing west from Stromboli at between seven and eight knots.

IRC 2 AT STROMBOLI TRANSIT (3 YACHTS AROUND)
The German TP52 Red Bandit skippered by Carl-Peter Forster, Eric de Turckheim’s French NMYD 54 Teasing Machine… and Gerard Logel’s French IRC 52 Arobas2 hold the top three spots separated by an hour on corrected time. Meanwhile Hagar V (ITA), Daguet 3 – Corum (FRA), Maverick (AUS) and Chocolate 3 (SUI) are close behind very near to passing the Stromboli transit.

IRC 3 AT MESSINA TRANSIT (5 YACHTS THROUGH)
Only five yachts have made it past the Messina transit. James Neville’s British HH42 Ino XXX holds the lead from Maltese entry Artie, co-skippered by Lee Satariano and Christian Ripard, by 23 minutes. Gilles Caminade’s Ker 40 Chenapan 4 (FRA) is in third, three hours off the current pace. Tonnerre De Glen (FRA) and Mahana (FRA) are the other two through. Ino XXX and Artie are approximately 22 nautical miles from their next transit at Stromboli.

IRC 4 AT MESSINA TRANSIT (3 YACHTS THROUGH)
The leading boats on the water in IRC 4 were registering over nine knots of boats speed on exiting the Strait of Messina, but slowed as they entered the open water north of Sicily. The Podesta family’s Maltese First 45 Elusive 2 has made it through the narrow strait and is ranked in pole position after time correction. Philippe Frantz’s French NMD 43 Albator was the first in class to exit the Strait of Messina and is ranked second. Conor Doyle’s Irish XP-50 Freya from Kinsale YC, was 30 minutes behind Elusive 2 through the Strait and is ranked third in class.

IRC 5 AT MESSINA TRANSIT (1 YACHT THROUGH)
Gianrocco Catalano’s Italian First 40 Tevere Remo Mon Ile is the first boat in the class to exit the Strait of Messina and is likely leading by a substantial margin after IRC time correction. According to the tracker, second in class and on the water is Ed Bell’s British JPK 1180 Dawn Treader. Johnathan Gambin’s Maltese Dufour 44 Ton Laferla lies in third in class. A special mention for Beppe Bisotto’s Fast 42 Atame racing two-handed with Catherine Jordan, which is currently fourth in class.

IRC 6
It has been slow going in IRC 6 with most of the fleet due east of Etna having raced less than 100 miles in the first 24 hours. However, a leading pack of four boats has made a significant gain after finding good breeze at around midday. Massimo Juris’ Italian JPK 1080 Colombre leads the class on the water, about 10 nm from the exit to the strait. Maltese J/99 Calypso, skippered by Seb Ripard, is about two nm behind Colombre, but according to the tracker is ranked first by about an hour after IRC time correction. The double-handers Ludovic Gérard’s French JPK 1080 Solenn for Pure Ocean and the American Sun Fast 3300 Red Ruby, raced by McKee and Strum-Palerm, are in a close-fought duel. Solenn is just ahead on the water, but appears behind Red Ruby after time correction.

See live tracker below

Kinsale Yacht Club has reminded members to submit their entries for the ‘Boat Log of the Year’ award. The closing date is Friday, October 28

Two races have been sailed in the McCarthy Insurance October White Sails League at Kinsale Yacht Club, with close competition in both IRC and ECHO handicaps.

Michael Carroll’s Chancer leads Class 1 IRC on four points. John Stallard’s Siboney and David Riome’s Valfreya are next on five points each. Five yachts are racing under IRC.

Under the ECHO handicap, Valfreya and Chancer are tied at the top on four points each, with Siboney third on six. Seven boats are racing ECHO handicap.

In Class 2 IRC, Patrick Beckett’s Miss Charlie maintains a lead of two points at the top, on a total of three, from Albert O’Neill’s Sallybelle, which is second on five.  Third is Dominic Falvey’s Swift on seven points.

Sallybelle leads under ECHO, on five points, from Dermot Lanigan’s Privateer and Miss Charlie, which are tied on seven. Eight yachts are entered in ECHO Class 2, four racing under IRC.

Kinsale Yacht Club began its October/November White Sails League on Saturday with John Stallard's Siboney winning Class 1 IRC, Michael McCarthy’s Chancer in second place and David Rione’s Valfreya third.

Class 2 winner was Patrick Beckett’s Miss Charlie; second Sallybelle (Albert O’Neill), third Chameleon (Padraig O’Donovan).

In ECHO 1, Siboney also leads. Privateer (Dermot Lanigan) leads ECHO 2.

Micheal O Suilleabhain may well be the name that goes into the records books.

But he will be the first to point out that not only was it a team effort, in fact, it was an entire Kinsale Yacht Club effort to start putting together an exemplary challenge – initially in times of pandemic and post-pandemic - for the J/24 Europeans 2022 at Howth, when the event itself was still a distant speck on the uncertain future horizon. But a widely-supported campaign on the ICRA K25 model was launched and maintained, gradually building momentum until they reached the big one itself.

There, many proven international stars were so busy keeping tabs on their familiar rivals that the rapidly-improving young Kinsale crew went into the final race with a fighting chance, and they emerged firmly in the podium frame, clearly also the best-placed Irish boat.

Michael Carroll’s Chancer won Kinsale Yacht Club’s ECHO Cruisers Spinnaker Fleet Race in the 'At Home' Regatta on Sunday.

Second was Samuel Cohen’s Gunsmoke II, and third Stephen Lysaght’s Reavra Too. Albert O’Neil’s Sallybelle won Whitesails ECHO with Anthony Scannell’s Hansemer second and Patrick Beckett’s Miss Charlie third.

Mixed Dinghies winners were Sarah Thuillier and Lucy Foster. Second Phelim Hanley and Matthew Keane, third Ollie Lyons & Will Burges.

The Topper fleet was won by Matt Mapplebeck. Second Emma Fitzgerald. Third, Charlotte Collins. The Optimist Class winner was Annabelle Wilson. Second, Oscar Dillon. Third, Ollie Cronin.

The event was sponsored by Victoria's Antiques.

Where other Irish harbours face the sea, Kinsale embraces it. And this generous geographical reality helps to provide a genuine sense of community interaction when any initiative at the hospitable south Cork port is put together to help get young people enthusiastically interested in boats and sailing.

But it’s a complex challenge. At a national level, this mixed though largely successful sailing year of 2022 has been remarkable for the emergence and rise of youthful Irish sailing talent, a situation which is as problematic as it is encouraging. It’s encouraging because in addition to enlivening the current scene, it bodes well for the future of our sport. But it is problematic in being a matter of continual judgment as to when an individual young sailor, or team of young sailors, should be highlighted – and to what level - in their growing achievements and potential.

It’s very easy to say that any publicity, if at all, should be kept very low-key until age 17. The simple ranking of ability, potential and maturity by something as narrowly-focused as the particular individual’s chronological age is now seen as almost embarrassingly unsophisticated, in an era when so many other measurable factors can be taken into account in a meaningful way.

Reports and images of sailing children – however mature they may personally be – has always been problematic, yet this photo of Ireland’s Rocco Wright aged 12 has long since gone global. Photo: North Sails 

Yet those who are trying to grapple with the big picture will inevitably find the number of statistics they deploy needs to get reduced to the basics, and in reporting and applauding junior achievement in Afloat.ie, we try to be restrained until the young star reaches the age of 17, and even then it is hoped to be moderate with publicity until they’re in their early 20s and evidently maturing well. 

STAR SHOWINGS NOWADAYS WILL BURST OUT ON SOCIAL MEDIA, NO MATTER HOW YOUNG THE PERFORMER

But there are some young sailors who manifest their talent at international level at such a young age that the good news keeps bursting out, however much the well-intentioned authorities, managers, coaches, parents and responsible communicators try to keep it under control. In the age of social media, rising stars not even into their teens are widely acknowledged in sailing as in other sports, becoming sources of too much interest before reaching the difficult years between 13 and 17 – and beyond – when so many factors for adult success and fulfilment are being set in place.

The International 420 is internationally significant as a youth class, yet it often presents problems for reporters as the young sailors will be at their most formative and malleable stage

We all know of cases where the bright early light of potential talent has been allowed to burn so strongly that it soon burns itself out. But equally, we can all remember nascent but initially, low-wattage talents which might – just might – have burned increasingly brightly over time to reach their full potential, had there been the right environment of the optimal amounts of publicity, practical encouragement, and tangible support.

But all this is in the assumption that a significant proportion of up-and-coming young sailors – and their parents - aspire to a career ladder which will take them onwards and upwards to the demands of top-level international competition and the concentrated effort of high-performance training, thereby satisfying national sporting authorities, for whom a steady stream of successful international headline-grabbing talent is essential for their added income from public funds.

For in the final analysis, all that decision-making politicos with budgets to spend will really understand in sporting achievement is a gold, silver or bronze medal, and preferably in the Olympics, though a razzmatazz-filled World Championship title will do in the interim. 

CLUB SAILORS THE BACKBONE OF OUR SPORT

Facing this noisy reality, we must remember that, increasingly, people are inclining to life at a more civilised level, with several sporting and recreational interests. And the backbone of Irish sailing is the club sailor who may aim at the occasional regional and national championship, but does not wish to sign up to a total all-consuming commitment on course to the highest level. They aspire instead to have sailing as part of a balanced and sensible lifestyle, ultimately with family at the heart of it.

Squib Class action at Kinsale. The family-friendly Squib successfully lends itself to worthwhile club racing and major championships without straying into the demanding realms of extreme commitment and total dedication

But nevertheless, there is a substantial area of interest and activity between the quietly routine life of club sailing and the all-absorbing demands of Olympian and other high-level life-consuming international ambitions. And we’ve been seeing much of that in Ireland this year with the National, Continental and World championships of classes which have managed to avoid the Olympic stranglehold, yet can still offer their members a complete suite of competition levels, from club racing to quite intense international contests, while keeping publicity and demanding expectations of the national squad’s performance within reasonable limits. 

THE ACTIVE AREA BETWEEN BASIC CLUB SAILING AND TOP-LEVEL COMPETITION

The classic case in point is the J/24, which you realize really is a unique proposition when one of their major championships comes to town. They don’t fit comfortably into any category, and they need a committed crew of five. Yet they have a devoted following worldwide, typified at the recent Euros in Howth by Germany’s Stefan Karsunke, who placed fifth overall with a crew of friends who have been happily sailing together for more than twenty years.

A boat and a sports level for all ages – the first race of the J/24 Euros 2022 at Howth is led by Seattle’s Admiral Denny Vaughan (USN, Retd), aged 83. Photo: Annraoi Blaney

In Ireland, it’s some years now since the then ICRA Commodore Nobby Reilly proposed the establishment of a programme to encourage and support Under 25s into J/24 racing as an identifiable group. At the time, some thought that pitching the upper age limit at 25 was putting it a bit high – surely any real talent would have clearly manifested itself long before that? But as it happens, the peculiarities of economic realities in recent years have put young people at a disadvantage in hoping to mount their own campaigns, and that U25 ceiling seems more appropriate than ever.

J/24 U25 SCHEME HAS HAD VARIED LEVELS OF SUCCESS

The idea has been successful in several clubs, albeit somewhat unevenly, and for the last three years an outstanding product of the scheme has been the Headcase campaigns, where a crew – some now past 25 - from four different clubs in three Provinces have stayed together to campaign in Karsunke style.

It’s a setup which can only work with a high level of commitment from at least five young sailors. But last October a group was inaugurated in Kinsale, with Mikey Carroll as Team Captain, and former KYC Commodore Dave Sullivan as Mentor was inaugurated, though it was February 2022 by the time they’d secured a boat and had it all up and running.

The dream comes true – the “Kids from Kinsale” (right) successfully playing the Big Boys Game in some perfect racing weather at Howth. Photo: Christopher Howell

But they were playing their cards very well indeed. For a start, they’d got themselves a gold standard boat. She may have been 31 years old, but she was the last J24 to be built by the great Jeremy Rogers of Lymington. As those of us who have had one will tell you, there are Jeremy Rogers boats. And there are “others”.

THE NAME “KINSAILOR” IS A STROKE OF GENIUS

A further stroke of genius was the choice of name. Failure is an orphan while success has many fathers, so it’s a moot point whom to praise. But whoever thought of calling the boat Kinsailor was a genius. For sure, if you’re naming a private boat for personal use, you can choose whichever whimsical name takes your fancy. But if you’re campaigning a community and club-supported boat with national and international effects in mind, a simple name which says everything in just one word is a pearl beyond price, and they have it here in spades.

The re-born Jeremy Rogers-built masterpiece is unleashed on the world in February 2022 with a real stroke of genius in the name.

Certainly it hit the spot in Kinsale, and they soon had a strong crew panel in place to get training under way. But while there were some regional contests to start testing their mettle, Headcase was away on a trail of success through regattas in Germany and the UK, and it was the Nationals at Foynes at the end of July before the lines of battle were clearly drawn.

The Kinsailor crew of Mikey Carroll, Leslie Collins. Rachel Akerlind, Michael O’Suilleabhain and Jack O’Sullivan put in a solid performance, winning the U25 section and placing eighth overall in a star-studded fleet. But it still looked as if the Headcase team were in a world of their own.

However, that special Headcase world seemed a little less elevated in the Easterns at Howth in the weekend preceding the Worlds at the end of August. Headcase was right there nearly all the way with 1,1,(8.0),2,1 but Kinsailor dealt deftly with the strong opposition with a 2,(13),4.1,2.

FINDING TURBO POWER

Then they seemed to find an extra gear with additional turbo-charging in the Euros themselves, and it all came right down to the wire last Saturday. Kinsailor’s final scoreline of 21,2,6,(27), 5,11,3,12,4,2 says a lot. With ten races possible though with only one discard even with total completion, a 21st in the first race usefully took the focus off them. It meant some further races with much better scores had to be sailed before they were in the area of being a marked boat.

Nevertheless despite that real upset of a 27th in Race 4, they were still in the hunt for a podium place, but the permutations were so abstruse that we thought it would be tempting fate even to mention any distinct possibility of such a thing in Afloat.ie. For Headcase was right back in the hunt with two bullets on the Friday.

Job done. The Kinnsailor team at Howth after sweeping to success in the final race in the Euros 2022 are (left to right) Mikey Carroll, Jack O’Sullivan, Leslie Collins, Francesca Lewis, Rory Carroll and Micheal O’Suilleabhain

But last weekend was a magic time for Kinsale up in Dublin. Off Howth, Kinsailor rocketed through to take a second and leap into third overall just one point behind the tied first and second boats. And across in Dun Laoghaire, Cameron Good of Kinsale Dragon Class fame finally broke a club drought of many years to win the Dragon Nationals.

TEAM RACING PROGRAMME FOR TOWN’S TEENAGERS

Flushed with success at these double achievements firmly based in healthy club sailing, Kinsale Yacht Club is examining an initiative by Vice Commodore Anthony Scannell, together with Kinsale Outdoor Education Centre and Kinsale Community School, to develop a Team Racing Programme for Teenagers.

It is envisaged that up to six boats will be made available by KOEC who will provide training and safety boat cover. The boats will be stored in the dinghy park of KYC, and all participants will be students of KCS. It is the intention that training sessions would take place on Wednesday afternoons and some Saturdays.

Ultimately the success of such a worthwhile and genuinely community-based sailing project will be dependent on the goodwill and tangible support of ordinary Kinsale YC members. But the remarkable success of the Kinsailor campaign has amply demonstrated that as a group and a community within the Kinsale community, Kinsale’s club sailors really are the backbone of much good work. They’re an example to us all.