Lough Derg Yacht Club Wish 'Bon Voyage' to Laser Champion Aisling Keller as She Departs for Tokyo

27th August 2018

Radial Champion Aisling Keller leading a race at Lough Derg Credit: Deirdre Horgan

Aisling Keller made her home club Lough Derg Yacht Club proud by winning the Laser National Championships over four days sailing, winning six out of nine races, as Afloat.ie reported earlier here.

Con Murphy, the International Race Officer in charge of the event, had a challenging time getting nine races in over the four days, with Saturday having to be cancelled due to lack of wind.

Aisling, who came to sailing on the lake through the schools sailing programme, started by Liam Maloney, then headmaster of Carrig NS, rose through the ranks very quickly, as did her brother Eoin who also won this event in 2011 in LDYC.

Aisling, who hopes to compete in the Tokyo Olympics, is heading to Tokyo next week to take part in the World Cup, followed by Olympic Week also at the same venue. She is a carded athlete for 2018 as a result of her under–21 European Championship second-place result and hopes to retain her funding in 2019.

Below LDYC supporters at Dromineer carry Aisling from Lough Derg following her national championships win on Sunday:

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About the ILCA/Laser Dinghy

The ILCA, formerly known as the Laser, is the most produced boat in the world, with 220,000 units built since 1971.

It's easy to see why the single-handed dinghy has won the title of the most widely distributed boat of all time.

The Laser is a one-design dinghy, the hulls being identical but three rigs that can be used according to the size and weight of the sailor.

The class is international, with sailors from 120 countries. The boat has also been an Olympic class since 1996, being both the men's and women's singlehanded dinghy.

Three rigs are recognised by the International Laser Class Association (ILCA):