Home sailors selected for Orkney Island Games

Excitement is building for Orkney 2025, following a Selection Regatta in Kirkwall Bay on Saturday 12 April, the final stage in a process under way since last summer to coach and identify an Orkney Sailing Team for the Island Games in July, resulting in the selection of four sailors.

The selected sailors offer a mix of experience and fresh talent across both the ILCA 6 and 7 fleets.

Sailing the ILCA 7 will be Andrew Leslie, who has competed at 7 previous Island Games, and newcomer Kyle Harcus, who has only been sailing competitively for a couple of seasons.

The ILCA 6 fleet will see returning Island Games athlete Kavan Kynoch take to the water alongside Ewan Sinclair, who brings experience from the Snipe class.

Connor Gilmour will act as a reserve sailor for the ILCA 7 fleet.

There has been a growing interest in ILCA sailing on Orkney since 2023, in the run-up to the home Games. Since last summer, Mark Taylor from Stromness Sailing Club, assisted by John Orr of Holm Sailing Club, have led a selection and coaching programme, with support from Orkney Sailing Club and use of their facilities in Kirkwall.

RYA Scotland has also offered support in the form of additional coaching in September 2024, with more to follow next month.

May will also mark the arrival of a fleet of 24 new ILCA dinghies, made possible by investment from sportscotland allowing RYA Scotland to purchase the boats.

Looking ahead, the RYA Scotland team are already working with the local community to ensure a strong sailing legacy post-games, with plans in the works to ensure effective redistribution of the dinghies.

(Image - John Orr)

With excitement building fast, the recent Selection Regatta on Saturday 12 April marked a key milestone, and the next phase of preparations for sailors.

Consisting of various commitment and attendance indicators, skills and tactics evaluations, and performance at a 2024 test event, anticipation was high heading into the final selection opportunity.

Sailors took to the water northwest of Kirkwall Bay where the Island Games Sailing Regatta will take place in July. A total of 7 sailors took part, chasing the four available positions (plus one reserve spot).

Commenting on a sunny day afloat, Mark Taylor of Stromness Sailing Club said:

“We were delighted to have such good conditions for the final selection event. Racing was tight with positions changing constantly.

“Congratulations to all who took part, and especially to those who have been selected to represent Orkney. There is more work to do, and in the remaining months we will focus on preparing the sailors for the Games in July, where they will face stiff competition from some very experienced sailors from around the globe”

Following the racing on Saturday, officials, safety crews and shore-based volunteers participated in major incident exercise 2025 alongside crews from HM Coastguard, the RNLI Kirkwall Lifeboat and the Scottish Ambulance Service.

(Image - Mary Maley)

The exercise involved recovering a mock casualty onboard the yacht “Spruce”, allowing the RNLI crew to put their casualty care skills into practice in a realistic rescue scenario; and testing procedures at the Hatston Slip with Coastguard personnel recovering a mock casualty with a head injury from one of the dinghies.

This exercise was an important part of preparations for the Island Games Sailing event, which will take place with 5 days of racing planned (weather permitting) Sunday 13 July to Thursday 17 July 2025. The event organisers are grateful to all who gave their time to help test the emergency response procedures.

To find out more about Orkney 2025, head to the website now.