75th anniversary staging of Irish Sailing Champions' Cup

FOUR UL students were invited to attend the recent Irish Sailing Champions' Cup in Sutton Dinghy Club in Dublin.

As part of the 2022 Irish Sailing Future Journalists Prize, these four student journalists had the opportunity to watch and report on the event and compete in the competition. Among the attendance were Siadbh Redmond (Fourth Year), Ellen Gough (Fourth Year), James Roulston Mooney (Fourth Year) and Anna Powell (Second Year)

This year was the 75th anniversary of the Irish Sailing Champions Cup. To modernise this year’s sailing competition and to make sailing a more inclusive sport, a few changes were made to the event for its anniversary. The nomination criteria was updated to help increase female representation. The competition was also renamed from “Helmsman’s Championships” to the “Champions Cup” to embrace female participation.

This competition consisted of sixteen highly accomplished athletes and was sailed in GP14’s. Every year, the coordinators choose a different boat for the athletes to sail. Normally, this event takes place over two days but due to the adverse weather conditions forecasted for Sunday, the competition was compressed into one day.

This year, Ger Owens won the 75th Irish Sailing Champion’s Cup. Ger Owens, a three-time Olympian, was nominated based on his win last year. He has now won the competition three times. He won the competition with Melanie Morris, his long-standing crewmate of 23 years.

The UL students were given the opportunity to watch the competition on a rib in the water. They were also provided with the chance to speak to spectators and athletes that competed in the event.

Spectators and athletes spoke openly about the benefits of sailing throughout the day. Sailing was described as 'challenging, fun and strategic' by a host of people at the event. It was clear that people’s love for the sport was fuelled by how much fun they continuously have out of water.

Second-placed Jane Kearney pointed out that having fun was of the upmost priority to her when sailing. She said: “If you are not enjoying it, what’s the point?”

When asked about his favourite thing about sailing, spectator Hugh Gill commented: “It really would be the total absorption for me. When you go out into the water you leave everything ashore, and you are in the moment.”

Spectator, Steven Boyle held a similar opinion to Hugh as he reflected on how he 'never thinks of work' when he is in the boat. Sailing as a sport serves people as a great distraction from their worries.

“You are dealing with a totally different set of challenges” out on the water “to those that you have in day-to-day life," noted Steven.

People also spoke about how much they value the community they have found through sailing. After his first-place success, Ger Owens commented on this sense of community.

“The people that we sail with probably mean more to me than the actual sailing itself. I have built some wonderful relationships through sailing," he added.

Great sportsmanship could also be witnessed throughout the day. Ger Owens noticed 'a funny etiquette on the water.' He believed 'everyone was nice to each other on the water even though they were at each other throats and competing'.

Muriel O’ Tiarnaigh, the first female Commodore of Sutton Dinghy Club in 2004, said that there is "great camaraderie involved in sailing. You are out there and it’s dangerous and everyone takes care of each other”.

This competition consisted of very accomplished and skilled sailors. Each athlete had to qualify at an extremely high level to participate in this event and each athlete wanted to win. However, as a spectator, it was clear that even though people were in it to win it, their love and enjoyment of the sport came first and foremost throughout the day.