Howth sailor Eve McMahon won the prestigious Irish Sailor of the Year, presented by Afloat Magazine this evening, Friday 22 March, at the Irish Sailing Awards in Howth Yacht Club, Co. Dublin.
Former Irish Sailing Youth Sailor Awardee Eve was nominated following a phenomenal 2023, which saw her progress from junior to senior competition, and she won the under-21 World Championships in Tangiers, Morocco.
Eve McMahon will join Finn Lynch at the 2024 Paris Olympics this summer, with the 49er team still to be decided.
The Irish Sailing Youth Sailor of the Year Award went to Ben O’Shaughnessy and Ethan Spain of the Royal Cork Yacht Club and the National Yacht Club, Dun Laoghaire, respectively. Ben and Ethan are current 29er European champions and secured the bronze medal at the Youth Sailing World Championships. They are also the Irish National champions and brought home a silver medal at the British Nationals.
CEO of Irish Sailing, Tim Bourke, said, “We are thrilled to have such a wealth of talent represented and celebrated here tonight. Sailor of the Year Eve McMahon’s hugely successful progression from youth to adult sailor is an encouraging reflection of Irish Sailing athlete development and, when you couple that with the amazing achievements of Youth Sailors Ben and Ethan, it gives us a lot to be hopeful about for both this summer and the future of Irish Sailing on the international stage. We are also delighted to have another ten awards representing commitment and success across the many activities of our sport and the recognition of all nominees from the sailing community in these awards is something we can all be proud of.”
Galway Bay Sailing Club took home the popular Irish Sailing Club of the Year award, having been nominated as the winner of the West Region. The two other nominees were Howth Yacht Club (East Region winners) and Bantry Sailing Club (winner of the South Region).
Catherine O’Brien of Dungarvan Harbour Sailing Club won the Irish Sailing Cruise of the Year for her inspirational approach to taking up the sport of sailing.
Leonie Conway from Sailing into Wellness won the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Award for her work on programmes that catered nationwide to those with autism spectrum disorder (ASD).
Volunteer of the Year went to Aisling Gillen of Sligo Yacht Club and Senior Instructor of the Year Award went to Sophie Crosbie of Royal Cork Yacht Club.
This year’s Awards included three new categories – Class of the Year won by Irish Laser Class Association, Secondary School of the Year was won by St Andrew’s College in Dublin whose sailing programmes puts up to 250 student sailors on the water annually and the Woman on the Water Award won by Aideen Kilkelly of the Galway Hookers Sailing Club.
The Irish Sailing Training Centre of the Year Award went to Irish Offshore Sailing for their programme of offshore races such as The Round Ireland race, The Fastnet Race and The Dun Laoghaire to Dingle Race.
The Irish Sailing President’s Award was given to Ailbe Millerick and Eunice Kennedy for their lifetime contribution to the development of Team Racing in Ireland at both school and university level.
Full list of winners at the 2023 Irish Sailing Awards, 22 March 2024
Irish Youth Sailor of the Year
Ben O’Shaughnessy & Ethan Spain, Royal Cork Yacht Club & National Yacht Club
Irish Sailing Cruiser of the Year
Catherine O’Brien, Dungarvan Harbour Sailing Club
Irish Sailing Training Centre of the Year
Irish Offshore Sailing
Irish Sailing Senior Instructor of the Year
Sophie Crosbie, Royal Cork Yacht Club
Irish Sailing Class of the Year
International Laser Class Association
Irish Sailing Volunteer of the Year
Aisling Gillen, Sligo Yacht Club
Irish Sailing Secondary School of the Year
St Andrew’s College, Dublin
Irish Sailing Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Award
Leonie Conway, Sailing into Wellness
Irish Sailing Club of the Year
Galway Bay Sailing Club
Woman on the Water Award
Aideen Kilkelly, Galway Hookers Sailing Club
Irish Sailor of the Year presented in association with Afloat Magazine
Eve McMahon, Howth Yacht Club
Irish Sailing President’s Award
Ailbe Millerick & Eunice Kennedy
