The Royal St. George Yacht Club saluted its top performers at its Dun Laoghaire Harbour clubhouse on Saturday. The Black Tie gala dinner recognised some outstanding sailing exploits from youth to offshore as well as cruising and team racing achievements in the club's 180th year.
In a special presentation for a significant contribution to the sport, the Waterfront Award went to Dublin Bay Sailing Club's long serving Honorary Secretary, Donal O'Sullivan.
The Club's Causeway Trophy for Sportsmanship went to Sean Flanagan. Flanagan as outgoing Junior organiser was described as 'a true champion for the RStGYC younger sailors and someone 'who worked tirelessly to represent junior interests in the club'.
The Youth Award went to Team Racing Captain Greg Arrowsmith. The Saint Andrew's College Leaving Certificate student has been heavily involved in getting young people involved in Team Racing. He also organised the Elmo Trophy (Youth Team Racing) for the second year and led the ‘Team George Racing Team’ in the Cup. The award citation on Saturday night said 'the team is a shining example of the success of the revitalised team racing initiative at the club'. Many of the team finished second for the second year running against much more experienced team racers. Team members were Greg Arrowsmith/Sarah Fogarty - Henry Higgins/Emily Arrowsmith - Toby Hudson Fowler/Kathy Kelly.
The O'Hanlon Cup for the best cruise of 2017 went to ‘Samphire’ – Kieron Guilfoyle and Frank O’ Beirne's Anglesey cruise, followed by an extended cruise to Cork and beyond.
The Vice-Commodore's Cup for a significant dinghy performance went to Jack Fahy (Laser Radial Youth). 2017 was a great sailing year for young Fahy. Among his achievements was a first in the Laser 4.7 youth nationals in Ballyholme at Easter, first in the Laser 4.7 Laser Nationals in August, first in the Laser 4.7 Connaughts in Wexford harbour in July. His performance has been recognised by Irish Sailing who invited him to join the Laser Radial Academy.
The Commodore's Cup for the best offshore sailing performance went to ‘Aurelia' (Chris Power Smith). Power Smith's J122 was highly competitive in both the Dun Laoghaire Regatta and the ISORA 2017 series. Aurelia also finished third in the Dun Laoghaire to Dingle Race.
The Enriquetta Cup for significant keelboat performance went to Michael O'Connor in his SB20 ‘Sin Bin’, the Irish National Champion and Corinthian Division winner of the 2017 SB20 World Championships. Hi result of Top Irish boat overall (6th) was the best ever result for an Irish sailor in this event.