Royal St. George Yacht Club trio Tom, Henry and Jack Higgins were crowned 2024 Irish Match Racing Champions after eight teams competed over two days in the National Yacht Club's Elliott 6m sportsboat fleet in Dun Laoghaire Harbour.
Waterford Harbour match racer Ruairi Finnegan, Dylan Whitcraft and Max Goodbody took second overall after a two-nil final match victory by Higgins, according to overall results published by organisers. Kinsale's Sam Hunt, Paddy Blackley and Peter Bayly were third overall.
Umpires (in orange RIB) keep a close eye on a two-boat match in the Irish Match Racing Championships at Dun Laoghaire Harbour Photo: Afloat
Noted ILCA sailor Tom Higgins came into match racing after extensive experience in team racing, having won the varsity championships twice, the Busa finals, ITRAs, and the Oxford Top Gun. Higgins' first international match racing event was the Governor's Cup in Los Angeles last summer. Since then, the UCD Ad Astra student has served as a mainsail trimmer on the World Match Racing Tour (WMRT) and recently finished sixth at the Youth Worlds and fifth at the Harken International in Sydney in December.
Approaching a windward mark in Dun Laoghaire Harbour at the 2024 Irish Match Racing Championships Photo: Afloat
The World Sailing Grade 3 Match Racing event was supported by some of Ireland's top umpires, Bill O'Hara, Cxema Pico, and Michael O’Connor. After sailing on Saturday, an umpire debrief with all teams was held to review some of the decisive calls made throughout the day. This was an opportunity for competitors to query decisions, which will help raise the knowledge and skill level across the fleet. A takeaway from this was for skippers to not create 50/50 situations, which leaves it in the umpire's hands!
The eight competing teams at the 2024 championships were:
- Jamie McMahon, Ewan O'Keeffe, Rob Keal
- Diana Kissane, Ellen Cahill, Cliodhna Connolly, Ally Moorehead
- Sam Hunt, Paddy Blackley, Peter Bayly
- Ruairi Finnegan, Dylan Whitcraft, Max Goodbody
- Oisin Cullen, Evan Smith, Ben Lumley
- Dan Little, Hana Blandford, Fiona Ferguson
- Tom Higgins, Henry Higgins, Jack Higgins
- Mícheál Ó'Súilleabháin, Michael Carroll, Rory Carroll
Promoted by the NYC's Oisin Cullen, the Irish Match Racing Association was formed in January and aims to develop the discipline across Ireland.
The Irish Match Racing Association have been working hard behind the scenes to achieve a number of their goals, one of which was to organise a national championship. Another is to empower clubs to host match racing events as well as to create and foster a community of match racers across the country. After an intense day of racing on Saturday, which saw three teams tied on win percentages after the round-robin, the Irish Match Racing Association discussed with competitors and umpires alike what its goals are for the future. The Association hopes to host four qualifying events per year which will serve as qualification for nationals.
Match Racing is extremely accessible for many clubs. IMRA aims to help clubs engage in match racing training, leading to hosting graded match racing events. All that is needed is two equalised boats. IMRA is in the process of creating a ‘Host club Event Pack,’ which will include information on everything needed to host a match racing event in Ireland.
More on match racing on the NYC page here
