Youth Championships conclude in Strangford Lough after two days of intense racing

The RYA Northern Ireland Youth Championships has finished after two days of intense racing at Strangford Lough Yacht Club.

126 competitors took part across 9 fleets and 3 racecourses, making it Northern Ireland’s largest annual multi-class event.

RYA Northern Ireland CEO Greg Yarnall commented: “We hope people use this event to gain confidence and to go out and experience other events across Ireland and the UK “It’s fantastic to see so many different clubs represented. This year there’s a lot more variety of clubs, showing that clubs have been doing some amazing work over the summer.

“We (RYANI) would like to say a massive thank you to all the officials and volunteers- without that support these events wouldn’t happen.” The event was challenging for the sailors as the conditions were very variable, meaning the overall winners had to demonstrate their “all court game” across the weekend.

Day 1 brought very light wind racing, meaning on the ILCA and 29er racecourse, only 1 race was sailed. Meanwhile, on the Topper, Optimist and RS Feva racecourse, 2 races were sailed.

In sharp contrast, Day 2 brought much stronger breeze with gusts of over 20 knots. The ILCA and 29er course managed 3 races, but the strength of the breeze meant that the Toppers, RS Fevas and Optimists stopped racing after 2 races.

F10 Marine Regatta Fleet

The Regatta Fleet is aimed at sailors with minimal racing experience and helps to give those sailors an idea of what a sailing competition is like. As part of RYA Northern Ireland’s OnBoard programme, the sailors in the regatta fleet received coaching from Jordan Conway, Charlie O’Malley and Emily Hill, allowing them to learn and progress as racers.

For the Regatta Fleet, Saturday was more focussed on drills, with a heavier focus on racing on Sunday. Rafa Cobain was the overall winner, winning two of the three races sailed.

Optimist Fleet

The Optimist class is one of Northern Ireland’s fastest growing classes and following on from a large entry for the Ulster Championships in May, there was a strong fleet of sailors from Strangford Lough and East Antrim Boat Club.

Local sailor Ollie Gunderson emerged on top after 4 races, but he was closely followed by clubmate Anna Catherine Carson Williams and East Antrim’s Penny Doig.                                           

Topper 4.2 Fleet

In the Topper 4.2 Fleet, Leo West-Hurst continued his impressive form, kicking on from his 4^th place finish at the World Championships earlier this year. He won the event, but he was closely followed by Thomas a Choistealbha of Malahide Yacht Club and local sailor Charlie Haslett. Emma West-Hurst finished first girl.

Mackey Opticians Topper 5.3 Fleet

In the Topper fleet Matthew Holden of Ballyholme Yacht Club finished 3^rd boy, Adam Green finished in 2^nd and Callum Pollard in 1^st. The sailor from County Antrim Yacht Club showed his class across the variable wind conditions, winning three of the four races.

Zoe West-Hurst finished third girl, Alex Eadie finished 2^nd girl and Polly Robinson finished 1^st girl.  

RS Feva Fleet 

Ballyholme’s Jessica Dadley-Young and Sally Nixon finished in 3^rd, East Down Yacht Club’s Charlie Stocking and Alannah Kelly finished in second, while The Ridout Sisters (Annabel and Emily) picked up the victory with a clinical display of all firsts.

Emily and Annabel’s victory at the Youth Championships is their second significant result in a short space of time as they picked up victory at the Irish Nationals.

Speaking after the event they said: “Saturday was a very light day- we were kind of just having a drifting match!

“The Feva class is nice because there’s always someone you can talk to in the boat and that helps to encourage you.

“It was a really good event and very well organised.”

 ILCA 4 Fleet

In a similarly dominant display to the Ridout sisters, fellow club sailor Emily Macafee won the ILCA 4 class after scoring 3 first places on the final day of racing. She finished first girl and first overall.

Elsewhere in the ILCA 4 Fleet, Sian Na Choistealbha was 3^rd girl and Isabel Nixon was 2^nd girl. Freddie Doig was first boy, Hugo Boyd was 2^nd Boy and Rory Brennan-Hobs was 3^rd Boy.

Print Library ILCA 6 Fleet

In the ILCA 6 class, Zoe Whitford took the lead overnight, showing excellent speed in the light winds, but the stronger breeze on Day 2 meant she had to settle for top girl and fourth overall at the end of racing on Sunday. Autumn Halliday finished 2^nd girl and Sophia Cahill finished 3^rd girl.

The National Yacht Club’s Charlie Keating finished in third place boy, but he was topped by Ballyholme Yacht Club’s Bobby Driscoll who finished 2^nd boy and Daniel Palmer in 1^st. This was the third time on the trot that Daniel Palmer was the overall Youth Champion.

ILCA 7 Fleet

The ILCA 7 is a boat class typically not seen at the Youth Championships, but it was pleasing to see that a number of sailors had successfully transitioned from the smaller ILCA 6 to compete during the weekend.

Competition was stiff, but it is former ILCA 6 National Champion and current ILCA 7 Munster Champion Tom Coulter who emerged victorious, with Ballyholme Yacht Club’s Lewis Thompson and Joshua McGregor making up the rest of the podium in 2^nd and 3^rd.

Ridgeway 29er Fleet

Unfortunately that despite three entries for the 29er class, there was only one boat which participated over the course of the weekend. Jakub Ozarek and Abbie Stocking from East Down Yacht Club won the event, making them 2024 Ulster Champions, as this competition served as a dual purpose.

Schools Cup and Club Shield

The Youth Championships is also the point in the year where the Schools Cup and Club Trophy is contested.

Ballyholme Yacht Club was the winner of the Club Shield and Sullivan Upper School in Holywood won the Schools Cup.

A full breakdown of all the results can be found here.

Our partners and event supporters

RYA Northern Ireland would like to thank all of the sponsors who made this event possible, namely F10 Marine, Print Library, Ridgeway Rockbags and Mackey Opticians. Additionally, we would like to extend our thanks to Simon McIlwaine from Wavelength Image for supporting the event by taking photos.

We would also like to thank the host club, Strangford Lough Yacht Club and all of it’s volunteers who made the event possible.   

It was fantastic to see so many young sailors out on the water during the Youth Championships, but we are always looking to make our events better. You can submit feedback through this form.