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Displaying items by tag: French Nationals

#Oppy - Fiachra McDonnell of the National Yacht Club and the IDT France team won the Optimist French Nationals after a fantastic week of sailing against some of the best sailors in Europe.

Fellow NYC and IDT Team France sailor Clementine van Steenberge won best girl at the event in Carcans, Bordeaux that saw some 200 young sailors taking part.

Continuing Ireland’s winning ways, Afloat’s Sailor of the Month for April, Justin Lucas of the Royal Cork Yacht Club placed second, while his club-mate Harry Twomey finished fourth.

In addition there were four more top 20 places for Ireland at the event: James Dwyer Matthews (RCYC; 13th), Michael Crosbie (RCYC; 14th), Johnny Flynn (Howth YC; 18th) and Rocco Wright (HYC; 19th).

Jessica Riordan of the Royal St George and IDT France Team also finished a very strong seventh in the Silver Fleet.

Fifteen Irish sailors travelled to the French Nationals, seven of them as part of the Irish Development Team France (IDT France) and the rest independently.

The International Optimist Dinghy Association Ireland (IODAI) expressed its thanks to Yvonne Durcan for doing a sterling job as team parent for IDT France during the week, and to team coach Dara O’Shea for his efforts over the last few months to help Ireland’s young Oppy sailors to secure Ireland’s best ever results in France.

Published in Optimist

About the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race

The Clipper Round the World Yacht Race is undoubtedly one of the greatest ocean adventures on the planet, also regarded as one of its toughest endurance challenges. Taking almost a year to complete, it consists of eleven teams competing against each other on the world’s largest matched fleet of 70-foot ocean racing yachts.

The Clipper Race was established in 1996 by Sir Robin Knox-Johnston, the first person to sail solo, non-stop, around the world in 1968-69. His aim was to allow anyone, regardless of previous sailing experience, the chance to embrace the thrill of ocean racing; it is the only event of its kind for amateur sailors. Around 40 per cent of crew are novices and have never sailed before starting a comprehensive training programme ahead of their adventure.

This unique challenge brings together everyone from chief executives to train drivers, nurses and firefighters, farmers, airline pilots and students, from age 18 upwards, to take on Mother Nature’s toughest and most remote conditions. There is no upper age limit, the oldest competitor to date is 76.

Now in its twelfth edition, the Clipper 2019-20 Race started from London, UK, on 02 September 2019.