There's just over one week to the Irish Sailing All Ireland Sailing Championships, taking place in Lough Ree Yacht Club in Co. Westmeath, 6-7th of October.
The competitors represent sixteen of the thirty-nine Irish Sailing 'eligible' affiliated classes, but all will compete against each other in one type of boat – this year the event is being sailed in SB20 keelboats.
There are two women in this year’s competition: Aisling Keller (Lough Derg Yacht Club / Royal Irish Yacht Club / Trinity Sailing Club) who will team up with Olympian Finn Lynch (National YC), and Jocelyn Hill (Co. Antrim YC) representing the RS200s. Jocelyn will be one of five sailors from Northern Ireland. Past winners Fionn Lyden (Baltimore SC) and Alex Barry (Royal Cork Yacht Club / Monkstown Bay Sailing Club) will compete alongside Liam Glynn (Ballyholme Yacht Club / UCD Sailing Club) fresh from his bronze medal win in the U21 Laser World Championships in Poland this summer.
Each competitor has been nominated as a result of past wins and class rankings. This year they will sail SB20 keelboats, which are designed for a crew of three or four. Each nominee selects one crew member, and they are joined by a third crew member who represents the boat owner.
Racing will consist of two “flights” or heats. The top three from each flight go straight into the final. The remaining competitors who placed 4th, 5th, 6th and 7th compete in a 2-race “repêchage”, and the top two then enter the Final also. The Final race, therefore, has eight teams competing.
The All Ireland Sailing Championships or “Helmsman’s Cup” has run since 1947 and aims to find sailing's “champion of champions”.
Read the current entry list here