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Displaying items by tag: Sienna Wright

Although Sienna Wright of Howth is just 15, she approaches sailing in particular and life generally with remarkable sophistication and style. Thus her mid-January winning of the Silver Medal in the ILCA 6 Youth Women’s Worlds in Argentina, coupled with her total victory in the U17 Championship in the same series seemed to flow on seamlessly from a podium place in the Youth Worlds in December.

Published in Sailor of the Month
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Celebrations in Argentina on Friday night for Howth Yacht Club's Sienna Wright (15) were well earned as she added to her ILCA 6 medal haul with a silver medal – and the under 17 title, too – on the final day of racing at the 2024 class Youth's Women Fleet of the World Championships at Yacht Club Argentino.

After 12 races sailed and one discard, the Irish youth world bronze medalist had an eight-point margin in the 31-boat fleet to claim the silver prize and, as Afloat reported previously, held second overall going into the final rounds.

Barely a month after taking to the podium at the Youth World Sailing Championships, Ireland's Sienna Wright has won the Under 17 world title as well as the overall silver medal in her ILCA6 class this weekend (Buenos Aires, Argentina Friday 19th January 2024). Photo:  Matias CapizanoBarely a month after taking to the podium at the Youth World Sailing Championships, Ireland's Sienna Wright has won the Under 17 world title as well as the overall silver medal in her ILCA6 class this weekend (Buenos Aires, Argentina Friday 19th January 2024). Photo:  Matias Capizano

On the sixth and final day of the championship, the last races were held with a south wind of approximately 8 to 12 knots.

Italian Maria Vittoria Arseni became the overall champion after sailing consistently well all week. The third-place award went to Italian Ginevra Caracciolo.

The 15-year-old Dubliner included three race wins in her tally (including a standout performance on a penultimate day by winning the first race of the day), but discarding a retiral from race six, so on 25 points, Arseni ended up some 12 points clear at the top.

The Howth sailor delivered a highly consistent 12-race series across the wind range in which she took three bullets and featured in the top six leading boats for most of the event Photo:  Matias CapizanoThe Howth sailor delivered a highly consistent 12-race series across the wind range in which she took three bullets and featured in the top six leading boats for most of the event Photo:  Matias Capizano

Scroll down the results for the girl's division results below.

Published in Howth YC

Howth Yacht Club's Sienna Wright is lying second overall heading into the final day of racing at the ILCA 6 2024 ILCA 6 Youth World Championships Yacht Club Argentino on Friday.

After ten races sailed and one discard, the Irish youth world bronze medalist is vying for the overall lead in a 31-boat fleet.

The 15-year-old Dubliner includes three race wins in her tally but is also discarding a retiral from race six to be on 25 points and behind Italy's Maria Vittoria Arseni.

Wright had a standout performance on the penultimate day by winning the first race of the day and now trais the leader by just five points. Italian Ginevra Caracciolo drops one position and is now in third place.

Scroll down the results for the girl's division results below.

Published in Howth YC
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Consistent sailing from Sienna Wright sees the Howth Yacht Club ace on equal points with the overall leader of the female ILCA 6 fleet at the Youth Sailing World Championships in Brazil and 29er European Champions Ben O’Shaughnessy and Ethan Spain of Royal Cork YC and the National Yacht Club have moved up from seventh to fifth place.

It was a day of change at the top of the standings across the Youth Sailing World Championships as new leaders emerged after a third day of racing.

Sienna Wright of Howth Yacht Club sits in second overall in the ILCA 6 fleet at the Youth Sailing World Championships in Brazil Photo: World SailingSienna Wright of Howth Yacht Club sits in second overall in the ILCA 6 fleet at the Youth Sailing World Championships in Brazil Photo: World Sailing

Alenka Valencic (SLO) and Roos Wind (NED) both earned bullets to leave little separation between the sailors at the top of the ILCA 6 female class.

Valencic took victory in the day’s opening race, finishing ahead of Sophie Zimmermann (PER) and Petra Marendic (CRO), who sits third overall.

That is just one place and six points ahead of Wind, who bounced back from a 17th-place finish in the opener to pip her Croatian opponent into second for the day’s final race, with Sienna Wright (IRL) third.

That was enough for Wright to sit second overnight, level on points with leader Emma Mattivi (ITA), who posted a pair of sixth-place finishes.

Four Irish boats and six sailors are competing in Armação dos Buzios.

29er Female

Lucia Cullen and Alana Twomey (Royal St. George YC and Royal Cork YC) lie 16th, dropping back from 11th in the 25 boat Female Skiff 29er class.

Lucia Cullen and Alana Twomey (Royal St. George YC and Royal Cork YC) lie 16th, round a mark during racing at the World Sailing Youth Championships in the 25 boat Female Skiff 29er class.Lucia Cullen and Alana Twomey (Royal St. George YC and Royal Cork YC) lie 16th, round a mark during racing at the World Sailing Youth Championships in the 25 boat Female Skiff 29er class

Ewa Lewandowska and Julia Maria Żmudzińska maintained their dominant lead in the 29er female class despite bullets going elsewhere on day three of the competition.

The Polish pair sit 16 points clear of Fleur Babin and Sarah Jannin, who strengthened their grip on second with two bullets.

The French duo edged leaders Lewandowska and Żmudzińska into second on the first and last races of the day, with the other won by Laura Hamilton and Carolina Zager (USA).

The Americans edged Jule Ernst and Louisa Schmidt (GER) and Boróka and Szonja Fehér (HUN), with the Hungarians now third overall.

29er Male/Mixed

Ireland's 29er European Champions Ben O’Shaughnessy and Ethan Spain of Royal Cork YC and the National Yacht Club have moved up from seventh to fifth place after nine races sailed in their 30 boat fleet.

Karl Devaux and Hugo Revil (FRA) kept their hold on top spot of the 29er male standings but face stiff competition from Alex Demurtas and Giovanni Santi (ITA).
 
Devaux and Revil clinched victory in the opening race of the day, their fourth of the competition, but were not allowed to extend their lead as the Demurtas and Santi won the final two races.
 
The Italians bid to reel in their French rivals who took a blow after a seventh-place finish in race seven, with Lukas Kraus and Ondrej Bastar (CZE) and Charlie Gran and Sam Webb (GBR) finishing behind Devaux and Revil.
 
But Demurtas and Santi bounced back with consecutive bullets to sit 14 points off the summit overnight, edging out the leaders in the day’s final race with Guilherme and Fernando Prazeres Menezes (BRA) taking third to climb to fourth overall, a point behind Gran and Webb.
 
''The wind shifted a lot in intensity,” said Guilherme. “We jumped to fourth in the classification and we’re going with everything we can to reach the top positions tomorrow and look for that podium.”

ILCA 6 Male

Fiachra McDonnell of the Royal St. George YC stays 20th from 48 in the male ILCA 6 fleet. 

An opening race bullet helped Mattia Cesana (ITA) to the top of the ILCA 6 male standings after the third day of racing.

Cesana took his second race victory of the competition, coming in ahead of Santiago Guinand (PER) and Soma Sigmond (HUN) on another day of mixed results across the fleet.

The second race was won by João Pontes (POR), with Guinand again second and Jack Graham-Troll (GBR) third.

It leaves Cesana with a 12-point lead in the standings after nearest challengers Hidde Schraffordt (NED) and David Ponesti Mesquida (ESP) struggled to close the gap with finishes of 35th and 36th, respectively, in the second race of the day after strong showings in the first.

Racing continues on Thursday. Results are here

Published in World Sailing

Howth Yacht Club talent Sienna Wright leads the ILCA 6 fleet after the first day of racing at the Youth World Sailing Championships in Brazil, with a total of four Irish boats and six sailors competing in Armação dos Buzios.

Croatia’s Petra Marendic was declared an early overall leader in the female one-person class but then disqualified from race one, leaving Wright with a two-point lead at the top of the 45-boat fleet.

“It was a nice day on the water,” said Wright. “The wind was pretty nice, the waves were quite choppy, and there was quite a big swell out there, but the wind was up and down all day.”

The youth world championships scoreboard shows Sienna Wrigtht with a six-point lead in the ILCA 6 Female one person dinghy The 2023 Youth World championships scoreboard shows Sienna Wrigtht with a six-point lead in the ILCA 6 Female One-Person Dinghy 

A strong Cork-Dublin youth sailing team sees three of the four Irish boats sitting in the top ten of their respective fleets after two races sailed.

Female 29er

Lucia Cullen and Alana Twomey (Royal St. George YC and Royal Cork YC) are lying sixth from 25 in the Female Skiff 29er class.  A near-flawless opening day on the water fired Lewandowska and Maria Zmudzinska to the top of the 29er female standings.

The Polish pair won all three races to establish an early six-point lead over Fleur Babin and Sarah Jannin (FRA), with Laura Hamilton and Carolina Zager (USA) a further two points back despite a black flag in the opening race.

Male 29er

In the Male/Mixed 29er, a pair of victories handed Devaux and Revil (FRA) the overnight lead in the 29er Male/Mixed class. The French duo, who won the event in 2021, earned bullets in the day’s second and third races to end the day with a 12-point lead at the top of the standings after finishing fifth in the opening race. Ireland's 29er European Champions Ben O’Shaughnessy and Ethan Spain of Royal Cork YC and the National Yacht Club are lying seventh from 30.

Male ILCA 6 

A pair of third-place finishes guided Hidde Schraffordt (NED) to the top of the ILCA 6 male standings after the first day of sailing, with Fiachra McDonnell of the Royal St. George YC lying 19th from 48.

There is no Irish representation in the 420, iQFOiL or Formula Kite classes.

 Racing continues on Tuesday. Results are here

Published in World Sailing

Steadily rising star Sienna Wright from Howth recorded a formidable tally in the Under 17 Division in the ILCA 6s at two major regattas in Poland during July.

The Youth Worlds early in the month saw her take the silver in the U17s, and then in the third week, the Youth Worlds of the class (formerly the Laser Radials) saw her record her second international silver, again in the U17s.

The summer which eluded Ireland during July was generally very present in Poland, and her comment that it provided sailing which was “Quite tricky, very shifty conditions, long hours, but in the end, it was a good result” well illustrates the kind of resilience and dedication which is required of Ireland’s young talent at this level. This international success will add an extra edge to the ILCA Nationals 2023 at Wright’s home club of Howth from August 18th to 20th.

Published in Sailor of the Month
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It’s been a bumper month for Howth Yacht Club’s Sienna Wright on the international stage, with U17 silver medals in the ILCA 6 Youth Worlds and Europeans.

Last week in Gdynia, Poland at the Youth European Championships (12-19 July), the younger sister of April’s Junior Sailor of the Month Rocco Wright placed 13th overall in the gold fleet and second among the under-17s in an impressive performance in the former Laser Radial.

And it came just two weeks after a similarly strong showing at the class Youth World Championships in Dziwnów, Poland (1-9 July) where she claimed silver in her age bracket and placed 18th overall.

Speaking after her latest achievement, Sienna said of the week: “It was quite tricky, very shifty conditions, long days waiting, long hours, but in the end it was a good result so I’m happy.”

Published in Laser
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In a building breeze throughout the day, the three Irish sailors competing in the 52-boat ILCA 4/Laser World Championship warm-up event in Villamoura, Portugal, posted some good results.

Sienna Wright of Howth Yacht Club, sailing under the Faro burgee, is currently the leading female helm in eighth place overall. She is also the leading Irish boat on 15 points, counting an eighth and a seventh while discarding her worst result, a 12th place.

Close behind her is Daniel O’Connor of the Royal St George Yacht Club on 19 points and in 11th place overall. Daniel had a tough first race finishing 23rd but he recovered well with an eighth and an 11th in the second and third races, respectively.

Krzysztof Ciborowski also of the Royal St George Yacht Club, is the third Irish boat, and he found the conditions challenging throughout the day but recovered well, particularly towards the end of the afternoon and now lies in 38th place overall.

There are three races scheduled for tomorrow, with the race organisers trying to simulate what the courses will be for the main event starting later this week.

The current leader is Feodor Zoubovski from Cyprus. Results can be found here

Published in Laser
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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 WrightRocco 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 ImagesSienna 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.

Published in Eve McMahon

Annalise Murphy, Olympic Silver Medalist

The National Yacht Club's Annalise Murphy (born 1 February 1990) is a Dublin Bay sailor who won a silver medal in the 2016 Summer Olympics. She is a native of Rathfarnham, a suburb of Dublin.

Murphy competed at the 2012 Summer Olympics in the Women's Laser Radial class. She won her first four days of sailing at the London Olympics and, on the fifth day, came in 8th and 19th position.

They were results that catapulted her on to the international stage but those within the tiny sport of Irish sailing already knew her of world-class capability in a breeze and were not surprised.

On the sixth day of the competition, she came 2nd and 10th and slipped down to second, just one point behind the Belgian world number one.

Annalise was a strong contender for the gold medal but in the medal race, she was overtaken on the final leg by her competitors and finished in 4th, her personal best at a world-class regatta and Ireland's best Olympic class result in 30 years.

Radial European Gold

Murphy won her first major medal at an international event the following year on home waters when she won gold at the 2013 European Sailing Championships on Dublin Bay.

Typically, her track record continues to show that she performs best in strong breezes that suit her large stature (height: 1.86 m Weight: 72 kg).

She had many international successes on her road to Rio 2016 but also some serious setbacks including a silver fleet finish in flukey winds at the world championships in the April of Olympic year itself.

Olympic Silver Medal

On 16 August 2016, Murphy won the silver medal in the Laser Radial at the 2016 Summer Olympics defying many who said her weight and size would go against her in Rio's light winds.

As Irish Times Sailing Correspondent David O'Brien pointed out: " [The medal] was made all the more significant because her string of consistent results was achieved in a variety of conditions, the hallmark of a great sailor. The medal race itself was a sailing master class by the Dubliner in some decidedly fickle conditions under Sugarloaf mountain".

It was true that her eight-year voyage ended with a silver lining but even then Murphy was plotting to go one better in Tokyo four years later.

Sportswoman of the Year

In December 2016, she was honoured as the Irish Times/Sport Ireland 2016 Sportswoman of the Year.

In March, 2017, Annalise Murphy was chosen as the grand marshal of the Dublin St Patrick's day parade in recognition of her achievement at the Rio Olympics.

She became the Female World Champion at the Moth Worlds in July 2017 in Italy but it came at a high price for the Olympic Silver medallist. A violent capsize in the last race caused her to sustain a knee injury which subsequent scans revealed to be serious. 

Volvo Ocean Race

The injury was a blow for her return to the Olympic Laser Radial discipline and she withdrew from the 2017 World Championships. But, later that August, to the surprise of many, Murphy put her Tokyo 2020 ambitions on hold for a Volvo Ocean Race crew spot and joined Dee Caffari’s new Turn the Tide On Plastic team that would ultimately finish sixth from seventh overall in a global circumnavigation odyssey.

Quits Radial for 49erFX

There were further raised eyebrows nine months later when, during a break in Volvo Ocean Race proceedings, in May 2018 Murphy announced she was quitting the Laser Radial dinghy and was launching a 49er FX campaign for Tokyo 2020. Critics said she had left too little time to get up to speed for Tokyo in a new double-handed class.

After a 'hugely challenging' fourteen months for Murphy and her crew Katie Tingle, it was decided after the 2019 summer season that their 'Olympic medal goal' was no longer realistic, and the campaign came to an end. Murphy saying in interviews “I guess the World Cup in Japan was a bit of a wakeup call for me, I was unable to see a medal in less than twelve months and that was always the goal".

The pair raced in just six major regattas in a six-month timeframe. 

Return to Radial

In September 2019, Murphy returned to the Laser Radial dinghy and lead a four-way trial for the Tokyo 2020 Irish Olympic spot after the first of three trials when she finished 12th at the Melbourne World Championships in February 2020.

Selection for Tokyo 2021

On June 11, Irish Sailing announced Annalise Murphy had been nominated in the Laser Radial to compete at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021. Murphy secured the Laser Radial nomination after the conclusion of a cut short trials in which rivals Aoife Hopkins, Aisling Keller and Eve McMahon also competed.

Disappointment at Tokyo 2021

After her third Olympic Regatta, there was disappointment for Murphy who finished 18th overall in Tokyo. On coming ashore after the last race, she indicated her intention to return to studies and retire from Olympic sailing.  

On 6th Aguust 2020, Murphy wrote on Facebook:  "I am finally back home and it’s been a week since I finished racing, I have been lucky enough to experience the highs and the lows of the Olympics. I am really disappointed, I can’t pretend that I am not. I wasn’t good enough last week, the more mistakes I made the more I lost confidence in my decision making. Two years ago I made a plan to try and win a gold medal in the Radial, I believed that with my work ethic and attitude to learning, that everything would work out for me. It didn’t work out this time but I do believe that it’s worth dreaming of winning Olympic medals as I’m proof that it is possible, I also know how scary it is to try knowing you might not be good enough!
I am disappointed for Rory who has been my coach for 15 years, we’ve had some great times together and I wish I could have finished that on a high. I have so much respect for Olympic sailing coaches. They also have to dedicate their lives to getting to the games. I know I’ll always appreciate the impact Rory has had on my life as a person.
I am so grateful for the support I have got from my family and friends, I have definitely been selfish with my time all these years and I hope I can now make that up to you all! Thanks to Kate, Mark and Rónán for always having my back! Thank you to my sponsors for believing in me and supporting me. Thank you Tokyo for making these games happen! It means so much to the athletes to get this chance to do the Olympics.
I am not too sure what is next for me, I definitely don’t hate sailing which is a positive. I love this sport, even when it doesn’t love me 😂. Thank you everyone for all the kind words I am finally getting a chance to read!"

Annalise Murphy, Olympic Sailor FAQs

Annalise Murphy is Ireland’s best performing sailor at Olympic level, with a silver medal in the Laser Radial from Rio 2016.

Annalise Murphy is from Rathfarnham, a suburb in south Co Dublin with a population of some 17,000.

Annalise Murphy was born on 1 February 1990, which makes her 30 years old as of 2020.

Annalise Murphy’s main competition class is the Laser Radial. Annalise has also competed in the 49erFX two-handed class, and has raced foiling Moths at international level. In 2017, she raced around the world in the Volvo Ocean Race.

In May 2018, Annalise Murphy announced she was quitting the Laser Radial and launching a campaign for Tokyo 2020 in the 49erFX with friend Katie Tingle. The pairing faced a setback later that year when Tingle broke her arm during training, and they did not see their first competition until April 2019. After a disappointing series of races during the year, Murphy brought their campaign to an end in September 2019 and resumed her campaign for the Laser Radial.

Annalise Murphy is a longtime and honorary member of the National Yacht Club in Dun Laoghaire.

Aside from her Olympic success, Annalise Murphy won gold at the 2013 European Sailing Championships on Dublin Bay.

So far Annalise Murphy has represented Ireland at two Olympic Games.

Annalise Murphy has one Olympic medal, a silver in the Women’s Laser Radial from Rio 2016.

Yes; on 11 June 2020, Irish Sailing announced Annalise Murphy had been nominated in the Women’s Laser Radial to compete at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games in 2021.

Yes; in December 2016, Annalise Murphy was honoured as the Irish Times/Sport Ireland 2016 Sportswoman of the Year. In the same year, she was also awarded Irish Sailor of the Year.

Yes, Annalise Murphy crewed on eight legs of the 2017-18 edition of The Ocean Race.

Annalise Murphy was a crew member on Turn the Tide on Plastic, skippered by British offshore sailor Dee Caffari.

Annalise Murphy’s mother is Cathy McAleavy, who competed as a sailor in the 470 class at the Olympic Games in Seoul in 1988.

Annalise Murphy’s father is Con Murphy, a pilot by profession who is also an Olympic sailing race official.

Annalise Murphy trains under Irish Sailing Performance head coach Rory Fitzpatrick, with whom she also prepared for her silver medal performance in Rio 2016.

Annalise Murphy trains with the rest of the team based at the Irish Sailing Performance HQ in Dun Laoghaire Harbour.

Annalise Murphy height is billed as 6 ft 1 in, or 183cm.

©Afloat 2020

At A Glance – Annalise Murphy Significant Results

2016: Summer Olympics, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil – Silver

2013: European Championships, Dublin, Ireland – Gold

2012: Summer Olympics, London, UK – 4th

2011: World Championships, Perth, Australia – 6th

2010: Skandia Sail for Gold regatta – 10th

2010: Became the first woman to win the Irish National Championships.

2009: World Championships – 8th

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