Dingle Sailing Club sailors Adam Byrne and Paddy Cunnane are the Topaz Irish National Champions 2014.

The Topaz National Championships were hosted by Dingle Sailing Club for the first time on the 23-24 August 2014. The event included entries from Lough Derg Sailing Club, Dungarvan Sailing Club, Tralee Bay Sailing Club, Foynes Yacht Club, Malahide, Cork and Dingle. The Topaz sailboat is a recognised class by the Irish Sailing Association (ISA) who provided a fleet of 24 boats for the competing sailors.  Full results sheet downloadable below.

Saturday saw very little breeze which tested the sailors' with light-air conditions. The first gun was at 11.30am and sailing continued until 3.30pm with a total of 4 races completed.

Several sailors reported Fungie joining Race 3 but could not be confirmed by the Race committee. Race 4 brought a stronger breeze which saw local sailor Fionn O'Regan consolidate his strong lead of at 2, 1, 1 and 1 for the 4 races. Force 6 winds were forecast for Sunday which duly arrived providing very fresh but excellent sailing conditions. The wind was blowing from the Harbour mouth (SE) which is somewhat unusual for Dingle.

These strong conditions provided some thrilling sailing especially on the broad-reach leg of the race. Race leader Fionn O'Regan from Saturday was pipped at the post by a single point which saw the National Champion title go to Dingle sailors Adam Byrne and Paddy Cunnane.

Category winners saw Dungarvan Sailing club sailor Jack Kiely take the U16 title who also finished 4th overall. Ellie Cunnane and Stephen Cunnane (DINGLESC) won the U12 title.

The U14 title went to Tralee Bay Sailing club sailors John Kelliher and Tadgh Hurley who also had a strong 5th place overall finish.

The event was managed by Race organiser Aileen O'Carroll and Race officer Colm O'Shea. Dingle Sailing Club made preparations for the event, working with the ISA and
arranging race training the week prior to the event. The club recognise that hosting events of this calibre contribute to the skills and development of our sailors and provide an opportunity for our sailors to compete and win, at the National level. Dingle Sailing Club is a community club with an ethos to make sailing accessible to all. None of this is possible without the support and help from our volunteers and sponsors.

RESULTS

FIRST PLACE, "TOPAZ IRISH NATIONAL CHAMPIONS 2014"

ADAM BYRNE (CREW) DINGLE SAILING CLUB

PADDY CUNNANE (HELM) DINGLE SAILING CLUB

SECOND PLACE

FIONN O'REGAN, DINGLE SAILING CLUB

THIRD PLACE

LIA MCCANN (HELM) DINGLE SAILING CLUB

RUAIRI GALWEY (CREW) DINGLE SAILING CLUB

CATEGORY WINNERS:

UNDER 16

JACK KIELY, DUNGARVAN SAILING CLUB

UNDER 14

JOHN KELLIHER (HELM) TRALEE BAY SAILING CLUB

TADGH HURLEY (CREW) TRALEE BAY SAILING CLUB

UNDER 12

ELLIE CUNNANE (HELM) DINGLE SAILING CLUB

STEPHEN CUNNANE (CREW) DINGLE SAILING CLUB

Below: Union Chandlery Topaz Nationals 2009, Malahide YC

The Topaz Class Association of Ireland has been formed to promote the Topaz Uno and Uno Plus as the one design Sailing dinghy of choice for the modern generation.

Please note: 2009 Events – New Rules This year it has been decided by the Class Association Committee that all of the Class Association events for Unos and Uno Pluses will be scored as one fleet, with NO handicap system.
Changing fleets during an event will only be allowed with the prior approval of the race committee. Boats that are allowed to change fleet during an event will be scored as a new entrant to the event.
Changing of crew during an event will only be allowed with the prior approval of the race committee. Permission will only be given to change crew during an event if they are of similar weight. 

Afloat's Graham Smith wrote, in the February/March 2009 issue: "One of the newcomers on the Irish sailing scene, the double-handed Topaz has certainly captured the imagination of members of six clubs. In a relatively short period of time, the class has grown to almost 100 boats, putting it into the top 10 of classes by numbers.

Getting a third of the national fleet to compete at the Irish Championships at Wexford Harbour represents a singular success for the class administrators and young Richard Arthurs from Malahide (which boasts one of the biggest club fleets) will have been happy to take the title ahead of 32 rivals.

Another Malahide helm, Conor Costelloe, won the Easterns on home waters and Wexford’s Ronan Jones took the Western title (curiously held in Dungarvan in the South-East!), both with fleets in the high teens. The biggest event of the Topaz year in numerical terms was the Southerns in Baltimore where local helm Fionn Lyden was the best of 46 entries. National Champion 2009: Richard Arthurs, Malahide YC" 

Topaz Class Association of Ireland  c/o Peter Harrington, President, Kilnahue Lane, Gorey, Co. Wexford. Email: [email protected]

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