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Irish National and Open Championships, SkerriesWhilst most of you went home after the nationals I had one more Optimist Championship to attend. My mum and I jumped back on the ferry to Ireland and went to Skerries for the Irish National and Open Optimist Championships. Skerries is a little fishing village and many of the locals were involved with the organization of the event. We even had a picture on the front page of The Irish Times! On the way in and out to the race area they were many gray seals which was rather fun. In fact every competitor was given a seal on a stone as a keepsake at the end of the competition. There were 69 sailors in the senior fleet and I was the only overseas competitor. It didn’t matter though as I knew many of the other Irish sailors from events over the past years. The tide was very strong in the race area and the winds were generally light and fairly shifty. Everyday they said it was going to be windy but it never came! The junior fleet raced only for 2 days as opposed to 4 days for the rest of us. Their juniors are slightly different from ours in that you can opt for the fleet of your choice - so there is no age limit. This way the top younger sailors can compete against the other top sailors. However if you come in the top 6 in the juniors at the Nationals you have to sail in the seniors the next year. Racing was exciting with three quarters of a point separating the top three sailors going into the last day. These were Lorcan Lennon, me, and Colin Lough. Stefan Hyde was also close behind. With one race to go Lorcan and I were on equal points but in the last race I won and Lorcan was 23rd and Colin 25th so in the end I won easily! It was a good event. The Irish are very friendly and they would be thrilled if more Brits came over for their Nationals next year. When the sailors go off on the water the parents are given free coffee and scones - maybe some British clubs could adopt this idea. It creates a tremendous amount of goodwill! Paul Campbell-James Results: 1st, Paul Campbell-James; 2nd, Lorcan Lennon; 3rd, Colin Lough; 4th, Stefan Hyde; 5th, Daire O’Reilly. |
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