#sailorofthemonth – The adjudicators in the Afloat.ie "Sailor of the Month" award for September have been in the happy position of having a proliferation of major achievements to choose from, and they have the bonus of being able to draw on the "Previous Award" clause.
Like everyone else, we agree that Annalise Murphy's comprehensive sweeping of the board at the Laser Europeans & Worlds at her home club of the National in Dun Laoghaire was in a league of its own. But we've already been on the case with the Murphy performance this year, as she was SoM in May after taking two gold medals in major European regattas.
So when the award for Sailor of the Year 2013 is up for consideration, that May success will be rated as a double win. But thanks to this bit of prestidigitation, we still have September's gong to give out, and that goes to young Finn Lynch of County Carlow. He also counts the National YC as his home club, even if he did start his sailing at the lakeside club of Blessington up in the Wicklow hills.
When Lynch won the Silver at last year's ISAF Youth Worlds in Dublin Bay, it was the maturity of the 16-year-old's approach which drew the most favourable comment. And this September, at the ripe old age of 17, he was even more emphatically Irish sailing's Captain Cool. He took Gold in the U21 division, Silver in the Europeans, and Bronze in the Worlds. A phenomenal achievement, and a worthy September Sailor of the Month.
