When Rocco Wright of Howth – then 15 – pulled the All-Ireland Junior Title out of the hat in the final race at Schull, West Cork a year ago, his Houdini skills were widely noted, emphasised by the fact that he seemed to think it was simply a matter of letting others make more mistakes. But then, this Summer in the Youth Worlds 2022 in The Netherlands in the ILCA 6 Division, it was thought that going into the final race, he might just grab the silver. But lo and behold, others went asunder and he snatched the Gold – it was Houdini all over again.

Thus his techniques will be under close scrutiny in Schull this weekend, as he’s defending the junior title, crewed this time round by clubmate and fellow ILCA 6 International Luke Turvey, where last year it was Nathan van Steenberge.

Rocco Wright (left) and crewmate Nathan van Steenberge in Schull after winning the 2021 Junior Championship

For quite some time now the Juniors have been firmly set in using the Schull TR3.6s developed by David Harte of the Fastnet Outdoor & Marine Centre. It makes for a very clearcut organisational challenge in a picturesque setting very popular with parents, as the lack of driving licences among the contenders means they simply have to take a late season weekend break at an attractive destination to ensure their junior superstar can compete.

Perfect late season venue – the All Ireland Junior Championship under way at Schull

And certainly as the entry list indicates, this year’s lineup really is representative of all Ireland, and some folk will have to travel very far indeed. But with Junior Sailing by its very nature being always in a state of flux with rapidly-rising new talent, we’ll leave it to others to be rash enough to make predictions.

ENTRY LIST NATIONAL JUNIOR TITLE 2022

Eve McMahon will join a special ‘Homecoming Party’ to celebrate of Howth Yacht Club’s winning young talent this Friday 12 August.

The North Co Dublin club’s juniors have made a big splash this summer, with McMahon winning gold at the ILCA 6 Youth Worlds in Texas where club mate Rocco Wright also scored a bronze.

Both earned their stripes as our sailors of the month for July (International and Youth respectively), while Luke Turvey also made a strong showing. And more recently, Eve’s older brother Ewan McMahon retained his title at the Irish Moth Nationals this past weekend.

Eve McMahon will be on hand for the celebration at the clubhouse this Friday afternoon from 4pm to answer a few questions about her exceptional summer.

And there will be ice cream, barbecue and dancing for all — plus free treats for HYC junior members who show their club card.

It seems like only yesterday that Rocco Wright (15) of Howth was a World star in the unmistakably junior Optimists. Yet in what seems like less than a year, he has established himself as a force to be reckoned with in the decidedly grown-up ILCA/Laser class at home and abroad. He was still finding his feet at the World Sailing Youth Worlds in the Netherlands in mid-July, and approaching the final race, it seemed just possible that he might be on the podium. Yet with one of the most masterful displays of strategic and tactical sailing likely to be seen this year, the final race saw him getting all his ducks in precisely the right order to win him the Gold.

Despite the gathering record-breaking heatwave over Europe as July progressed, Ireland’s Eve McMahon (17) won Gold at both the ILCA 6 (Laser Radial) European Youth Championship in Greece, and then Gold again at the 2022 World Sailing Youth World Championship in The Netherlands, where her Howth YC clubmate Rocco Wright (15) also collected Gold after a masterful final race.

But as world climate observers never tire of telling us, what is currently regarded as extreme heat in mid-Europe is simply thought of as fairly normal summer in places like southern Texas.

Yet a six-strong Irish ILCA team is now bound for the ILCA 6 (Laser Radial) Youth World Championships at Houston in Texas (starting Monday, July 25th) where the typical forecast for the city this afternoon (Thursday) predicts a temperature of 37C. However, it will feel like 41C owing to an underlying high level of humidity (86% at night) which does admittedly fall to 42% when the afternoon’s 15 kmh southerly breeze sets in.

Double Gold – Eve McMahon & Rocco Wright after total success in The Hague

But whether it’s a case of out of the frying pan into the fire or not remains to be seen. In the stellar Netherlands championship, their coach Vasilij Zbogar commented on how cool the two young stars stayed throughout. And though that was about their general state of mind, it’s a very useful foundation to have in place when you’re dealing with the added challenge of searing heat.

Also racing for Ireland is Sophie Kilmartin. Fiachra McDonnell, Luke Turvey and Oisin Hughes, with Liam Glynn as coach. 

Next week’s hot spot for world youth sailing. The Houston Yacht Club is – meteorologically speaking - the coolest place in town

In Texas, the Irish team will face a wide field of 212 sailors from 35 countries. All sailors are under 18. The regatta is held over a week from Monday 25 July to Saturday 30th July. There are two races scheduled per day, each lasting approximately 50 minutes. Hosting the event is the Houston Yacht Club, based in Shoreacres, Texas, USA and the International Laser Class Association (ILCA).

While it may take a day or two for the full significance of the Gold Medals won in this week's World Youth Sailing Championship in The Netherlands by Eve McMahon and Rocco Wright to sink in among the population at large, at the top level it was quickly recognised, and on Friday the message came loud and clear from President Michael D Higgins in Aras an Uachtarain in the Phoenix Park: "Congratulations to Eve McMahon and Rocco Wright. Both of Ireland's single-handed sailors won Gold Medals at the Youth Sailing World Championships in The Hague yesterday. A fantastic achievement for the two sailors from Howth Yacht Club".

Time was when the Hill of Howth was the only part of Ireland above water. Admittedly that was about 600 millions years ago, and our rare old Howth rocks were down around where Australia is now located before they took off on their wanderings to fetch up in a damp corner of what became the North Atlantic. But now that - as of Thursday afternoon - Howth Yacht Club is home to two World Sailing Youth Gold Medallists, it’s time to take stock of our position. Because it seems that whatever we’ve all been doing on the formerly wandering Peninsula, some of us have been getting it very right indeed, with locally-based branches of the McMahon and Wright families setting a truly remarkable sailing pace.

Looking back over the years, for what seems like aeons we’ve become accustomed to the countdown to the final races at some major international event when all sorts of permutations have to be produced to show how an Irish helm might stay in the top ten, or even the top three. And now and again, there’s even a frisson of excitement that suggests a pattern of complex final race placings – usually frustrated - that could get our sailor a Gold Medal.

A star in the making – young Rocco Wright making an impact in the Optimists three years ago

Zen and the Art of Laser Racing….Rocco Wright, now aged 15, racing to world success in The Netherlands this week Photo: Sailing Energy/World Sailing

But until now, we have never ever been in the position where an event of the status of the Youth Sailing Worlds 2022, staged at The Hague in The Netherlands through this past week, has approached the final day with one of our helms seemingly unbeatable for Gold, while another might just see the chips fall okay to get a Silver.

In fact, somewhere in the recesses of the collective Irish sailing mind, various synapses were already interacting to prepare a viable explanation as to why, in the end, even the Irish Gold failed to materialize, while the Silver was fantasy.

Eve McMahon in the lead. In times past, most Irish observers of this photo would have wondered how many of the following fleet would have rolled over the Irish leader by the finish. But in The Netherlands this week, Eve McMahon forcefully demonstrated that she knew how to get in front and – more importantly – how to stay there. Photo: Sailing Energy/World Sailing

Then the news came through very loud and clear to Howth YC on Thursday’s otherwise extremely somnolent afternoon. Seventeen-year-old Eve McMahon had raced serenely on to get that Gold. And 15-year-old Rocco Wright had sailed a final race of Machiavellian skill to secure the Gold in his division.

Faced with information-absorption of this enormity, the fuses popped. We simply couldn’t properly grasp the full meaning of the news, partly because we were trying to keep the tabs on the successful progress of the Howth contingent in the complexity of a Cork Week which was suddenly finding itself on the fringes of an off-stage international drama concerning much yacht expenditure involving a millionaire French actor and a supposed Irish aristocrat.

You really couldn’t make that one up, and it will doubtless eventually make for a Netflix drama that will go on and on and on. But meanwhile, the sheer perfection of discovering that there will now be additional real gold to add to the very few existing seams on the ancient Hill of Howth is something to be savoured at leisure, and fully appreciated in due course.

A casual observed might think this is Rocco Wright making a great start in his familiar home waters off the Velvet Strand in Portmarnock, but in fact it’s the beach at The Hague in The Netherlands, and he’s on his way to a Gold Medal Photo: Sailing Energy/World Sailing

Please God, though, that we don’t have the usual hoary old clichés about Ireland punching above our weight. After all, we have just emerged from a Wimbledon in which the women’s tennis final was played out between champions from Azerbaijan and Tunisia. Whatever their merits, neither Tunisia nor Azerbaijan would count as world powers, nor even regional powers. Indeed, until they shone at Wimbledon, the vague perception would be of two rather troubled little countries whose problems make Ireland’s various difficulties look like a cakewalk.

A peaceful start, yet fraught with deeper meaning – the two boats nearest the line are from Belgium and Ukraine Photo: Sailing Energy/World Sailing

Yet both little places produced individuals of such talent that they successfully took on the world in the high-profile setting of tennis in its Mecca. And in the end, that is what it is all about in solo sailing. It’s one hyper-talented individual at the pyramid of a strong supportive structure of coaching and training and campaigning and quiet confidence, usually – particularly in the Irish context – based on a vibrant family setup further supported by a circle of friends.

In all this, the role of the coach Vasilij Zbogar cannot be over-estimated. He’s from Slovenia – another of these smallish countries whose healthy reality is often at variance with some popular misconceptions – and in the past year he has already helped Finn Lynch re-discover his mojo, while with the two new junior Gold Medallists, there’s a mutual admiration society.

The “Coach of Coaches” – Vasilij Zbogar of Slovenia is now very beneficially intertwined with top-level Irish sailing

This has seen Vasilij praising, in particular, their remarkable maturity, notably involving Rocco’s calculated mind-set in that crucial final race, in which he seems to have got himself into an almost Zen-like state while physically performing in active genius style.

And for Eve McMahon, there was a particularly Irish twist with which everyone can identify. She has returned to sailing this month after taking total time out to focus on her Leaving Cert exams: “After weeks of revising and study and then doing the exams, it was fun to get back to sailing”. ILCA6 European Youth Champion at Thessaloniki on July 6th? And now World Sailing Female Youth Champion at The Hague on July 14th? We certainly have a new and stimulating definition of fun.

Making his Laser debut – class newbie Rocco Wright successfully racing the Irish Youth Nationals in Cork. Photo: Robert Bateman

Both of Ireland's single-handed sailors have won Gold medals at the Allianz Youth Sailing World Championships in The Hague this afternoon (The Netherlands, Thursday 14th July 2022)

Eve McMahon, the 2021 Irish Sailor of the Year, and Rocco Wright, both from Howth Yacht Club delivered stellar performances over their seven-races series that started on Sunday.

More Gold for Eve

McMahon led her 55-strong field from day one, scoring all top three results for the week including four race wins. Her worst result of the week - a sixth place - only came in the final race today that was beset by light winds.

"It feels amazing - last year's fourth place in Oman was so disappointing," McMahon said shortly before the medal ceremony. "I'm so proud of Ireland to achieve Gold at the worlds and to make it a double in the same year is history-making."

ILCA 6 Girl's Youth Gold - Eve McMahon. After just missing out on the podium last year, McMahon has worked hard at her racecraft and her fitness. The Irish sailor won gold by a big margin ahead of Evie Saunders (AUS) and Roos Wind (NED) who took silver and bronze. "I’m really proud of what our small team has achieved here," said McMahon of Ireland’s all-round performance in The Hague. "Compared with Oman, I think I brought a different mindset this year. There are so many variables in sport so I’m just trying to keep everything consistent and everything in perspective." Photo: Sailing Energy

Female One Person Dinghy ILCA 6

• Gold: Eve McMahon (IRL)
• Silver: Evie Saunders (AUS)
• Bronze: Roos Wind (NED)

Gold for Rocco

ILCA 6 Boy's Youth Gold - Rocco Wright. The 15-year-old only graduated from the Optimist to the ILCA 6 dinghy a few months ago but is clearly a fast learner and one to watch for future years at Youth Worlds. It was a very close battle between multiple sailors in the last-race showdown. Wright took gold by a single point from last year’s winner Sebastian Kempe (BER). Kempe won silver by beating Ole Schweckendiek (GER) on tiebreak, so bronze to Germany.Photo: Sailing Energy

Wright made his mark in the Male single-handed event on his first ever appearance at a Youth Worlds by ending the penultimate day in second overall but only separated by tie-break from the leader.

"I tried not to think about the others around me and just sail my own race," said Wright about keeping focussed at his first Youth Worlds appearance. "I didn't expect to win so it's all a bit mind-blowing really."

A confident start in the final race saw the Dublin sailor beat Ole Schweckendiek by finishing fourth, one place ahead of his German rival which was enough to break the points tie as American Peter Barnard missed the podium with a 14th place.

"I came here hoping for a top 10 but not really knowing if I was good enough," said Wright. "To win here at my first world championships is a dream come true. I’m just amazed and really excited. I can't wait to celebrate with my friends and family and obviously, it's been a pretty good day, a pretty good week actually."

"I was so surprised that Rocco displayed such maturity at such a young age (15) as he remained calm and executed the result," said Vasilij Zbogar, Irish Laser Coach. "Two Irish winning Gold in the ILCA6... I still can't quite believe it; the work is paying off - all of us are on the right track."

In claiming gold, the online tracker here reveals just how close things were. In the closing stages of race 7 on the Tracker, given IRL ended up 1 point only ahead of both BER (finished second in race 7) and GER (finished third). It's incredibly tight, Wright ends up winning gold by half a boat length. It certainly looks like the HYC youth also had to contend with an Israeli who retired just before the finish but could have influenced points too. 

Male One Person Dinghy ILCA 6

• Gold: Rocco Wright (IRL)
• Silver: Sebastian Kempe (BER)
• Bronze: Ole Schweckendiek (GER)

Both McMahon and Wright now switch their attention to Texas later this month where they compete in their ILCA6 class world championships, a stand-alone event that differs from this week's championship where all disciplines are in competition.

McMahon is defending her 2021 world title in the class and this week's result, coming on top of her European title win last week in Greece leaves her in a strong position. Along with Zbogar, she planned a Summer of three major events and a pathway to victory in each.

Meanwhile, Ireland's third boat at the event featuring Emily Conan and Lauren O'Callaghan (Royal St. George YC) finished with their best day of two ninth places and improved to finish 15th overall in their 23-strong 29er female skiff event.

Results here

Howth teen Eve McMahon booked her place to the Youth World Sailing Championships in The Hague in July when she sailed to success at the Irish Youth Sailing Championships on Belfast Lough today. 

The reigning World Youth Champion in the single-handed ILCA6 (formerly the Laser Radial) won her 38-strong event in convincing fashion by winning both final races on Sunday to bring her tally to five race wins on Belfast Lough.

Clubmate Rocco Wright who had been leading the class and a group of six challengers since racing began on Thursday finished second overall.

Rocco Wright Photo: Simon McIlwaine/Wavelength Images

In so doing, both McMahon and Wright reached the standard to be nominated to represent Ireland in The Hague in the girls and boys divisions respectively of the World Sailing event.

Sienna Wright of Howth Yacht Club Photo: Simon McIlwaine/Wavelength Images

There were further celebrations in the Howth YC camp when Sienna Wright, Rocco's younger sister won the ILCA 4 (formerly Laser 4.7) class by a comfortable 13-point margin.

Turning 15 can be a difficult development stage for a young sailor. But Howth's Rocco Wright has been managing it with aplomb as he turned in some impressive race-winning performances at the mega-fleet Optimist Worlds on Lake Garda, shaped up with enthusiasm to a vertical learning curve as the youngest participant in the intense NYYC Invitational raced in the demanding Melges ILC 37s at Newport, Rhode Island, and then in the final weekend of September - crewed by Nathan van Steenberge - he won the 2021 All-Ireland Junior Championship in a cliff-hanger finish at Schull.

Rocco Wrght and crew Nathan van Steenberge with their prizes at Schull.

Fresh back from being the youngest participant in the NYYC Invitationals racing ILC 37s at Newport, Rhode Island, 15-year-old Rocco Wright of Howth reactivated his well-proven dinghy-racing skills in jig time to emerge as the 2021 Junior All-Ireland Sailing Champion at Schull in the weekend's intensive programme of racing organised from the Fastnet Marine Education Centre.

At various stages in the series, leading junior sailors from several top sailing centres were heading the leaderboard.

But even though it went down to the wire in the medals race at the end, the new name on the trophy is Rocco Wright crewed by Nathan van Steenberge.

Second were Jonathan and Ben O’Shaughnessy of Royal Cork, and third Ben Graaf and Alex Leech of Lough Ree YC.