With school holiday season about to enter full swing, trailer loads of dinghies are already covering the continent as the youth sailing classes ramp up a range of major championship events.
The season marks a pinnacle for youth talent drawn from all corners of Ireland as the first regatta gets under way this weekend.
In the narrow age range passing from junior to senior levels, the task of passing on the lessons from the unforgiving Olympic circuit falls to a pool of coaches with Liam Glynn taking on the role of Irish Sailing’s head junior coach.
A veteran of the pathway system all the way to international competition in the ILCA7 class, he is responsible for the narrow age range that sees the youngest talent graduate from Optimists or Topper dinghies towards their ultimate senior class.
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Although heavily dominated by the single-handed boats, progress towards double-handers is happening with the imminent arrival of a 29er skiff coach. Meanwhile, Erin McIlwaine from Ballyholme Yacht Club with Ellie Cunnane from Tralee Bay Sailing are already commencing their senior campaign in the 49erFX class.
Along with other pathway graduates such as Rocco Wright and Eve McMahon, both of Howth Yacht Club who have significant international achievements at youth level, the hope is that a full pathway will inspire the younger teenagers to adopt the programme’s value-based system.
“We have to be motivating (the sailors) to make sure that they pick up on the values such as fitness and organisation that are part of what makes an athlete,” Glynn told The Irish Times this week. “It’s hard to instil at that age – the only opportunities are at weekend and short training camps in winter.”
Glynn is responsible for the Topper and ILCA4 (formerly the Laser 4.7) squads as well as assisting Milan Vujasinovic, the ILCA6 academy coach and Sean Evans, the Olympic development coach.
“There are people (at that age) who are competitive but don’t know how to lose well,” said Glynn. “They’re still developing and we need to make sure that their competitiveness isn’t linked to results.”
The Ballyhome sailor points to the rapid learning curve in the switch up from the youngest classes and for that reason doesn’t look too closely at the Optimist squads attending the European and World championships this summer until they are ready to graduate or have queries about their progression.
“Developing a sense that competition isn’t about winning all the time but (is about) improving all the time is part of the maturing process,” he said. “Selection for the academy is based on how they pick up on all these values.”
As the Optimist World Championships begins racing this weekend on the Costa Brava, five Irish sailors will be among the 259 competitors in action for the six day series.
Another seven Irish sailors will compete in a field of almost 300 boats at the Optimist European Championships in Thessaloniki, Greece a month later while Glynn and his ILCA4 squad will also compete at Volos, Greece at the same time.
ILCA 4 squad
Peter Kenny, Wexford Harbour Boat & Tennis Club
Cillian Twomey, Howth Yacht Club
Kate Flood, Royal St George Yacht Club
Ava Ennis, Royal St George Yacht Club
Lucy Ives, Carlingford Sailing Club
Megan O’Sullivan, Royal Cork Yacht Club
Riona McMorrow Moriarty, Tralee Bay Sailing Club
Caoilinn Geraghty-McDonnell, Royal St George Yacht Club
Emily Cantwell, Royal St George Yacht Club
Glenda Gallagher, Howth Yacht Club
Thea Daly, Royal St George Yacht Club
Ciara McMahon, Howth Yacht Club
Seth Walker, Royal St George Yacht Club
Topper squad
Iseult Spears, Ballyholme Yacht Club
Cormac Byrne, Ballyholme Yacht Club
Stan O’Rourke, Malahide Yacht Club
Kate Kenny, Wexford Harbour Boat and Tennis Club
Siún Ní Choistealbha, Malahide Yacht Club
Leo O’Doherty, Galway Bay Sailing Club
Emily Isabella Macafee, Ballyholme Yacht Club
Grace Keating, National Yacht Club
Hannah Walsh, National Yacht Club
Hugo Boyd, Ballyholme Yacht Club
Rory Brennan Hobbs, National Yacht Club
Chloe Craig, Carrickfergus Sailing Club
Academy (ILCA 6)
Fiachra McDonell, Royal St George Yacht Club
Sam Ledoux, Royal Irish Yacht Club
Tom Coulter, East Antrim Boat Club
Zoe Whitford, East Antrim Boat Club
Charlotte Eadie, Ballyholme Yacht Club
Sienna Wright, Howth Yacht Club
Optimist World Championships
Harry Dunne, Howth Yacht Club
Caoilinn Geraghty McDonnell, Royal St George Yacht Club
Andrew O’Neill, Royal Cork Yacht Club
Gemma Brady, National Yacht Club
Jules Start, Royal St George Yacht Club
Optimist European Championships
Conor Cronin, Royal St George Yacht Club
Abigail Murphy, Royal St George Yacht Club
Maeve Donagh, Royal St George Yacht Club
Max O’Hare, Royal St George Yacht Club
Jude Hynes Knight, Tralee Bay Sailing Club
Rory Whyte, Royal Cork Yacht Club
Carolina Carra, Royal St George Yacht Club
Optimist Under-12 squad – British Nationals
Emily Donagh, Royal St George Yacht Club
Patrick Fegan, Malahide Yacht Club
Maeve Donagh, Royal St George Yacht Club
Basile Dion, National Yacht Club
Tomas A Coistealbha, East Antrim Boat Club
Abigail O’Sullivan, Royal Cork Yacht Club
Hugo Breen, Lough Ree Yacht Club
Holy Cantwell, Royal St George Yacht Club
Donnchadh Duane, Lough Ree Yacht Club
Tara Hayes, Royal Cork Yacht Club
Ciara McElligott, Lough Derg Yacht Club
Lucy Scott, Howth Yacht Club
Eoin Pierse, Royal Cork Yacht Club
Optimist development squad – French Open Nationals
Dougie Venner, Cork Yacht Club
Emily Donagh, Royal St George Yacht Club
Kate Spain, Royal St George Yacht Club
Louise Hanley, National Yacht Club
Annabella Wilson, Royal Cork Yacht Club
Matthew Holden, National Yacht Club
Finn Foley, Royal St George Yacht Club
Patrick Fegan, Malahide Yacht Club
