John Minnis Youth Championships: Enter now

Entries are now open for the largest annual dinghy competition in Northern Ireland, the John Minnis Youth Championships.

This event, hosted at Ballyholme Yacht Club on 13 and 14 September, will bring over 120 sailors together to compete in the Topper 4.2, Topper 5.3, ILCA 4, ILCA 6, ILCA 7, Feva and 29er classes.

Racing will take place across 3 racecourses. One racecourse will be dedicated to the “OnBoard Regatta Fleet”, where junior sailors who are new to racing will benefit from a blend of racing and coaching. The second racecourse will be dedicated to the Topper classes and the third racecourse will be dedicated to the ILCA, Feva and 29er classes.

The competition also acts the Sailing Schools Cup and the 29er Northern Championships, and this year racing will be carried out in a new format in that there will be ten races over the course of the weekend, rather than the traditional six. The increase in the number of races provides a different mental challenge for sailors, as managing a longer series of races is more similar to a larger competition. It will act as a great learning experience for all the competitors. 

The John Minnis Youth Championships is vitally important in the overall context of the Northern Ireland Sailing Team as it is a significant factor in the selection of Topper, Feva and ILCA squads. It is expected that the competition for selection will be intense as the event falls at the end of the season, when sailors’ skills will be sharp. 

To enter the John Minnis Youth Championships, click here.

This is the first time that the Youth Championships have been supported by a commercial sponsor in a multi-year partnership. John Minnis Estate Agents will be the title sponsor for the Youth Championships for the next three years which will undoubtedly allow the competition to grow. John Minnis Estate Agents’ support is hugely appreciated as the success of the Youth Championships is crucial to the overall development of Northern Irish sailing.