Howth Yacht Club is honoured to host the Irish Sailing Investwise Youth National Championships this year! The event kicked off yesterday with some VERY patient young sailors waiting out the windy weather to get their chance on the water, and continues through the weekend. For more on the event, see the press release below, courtesy of our friends at Irish Sailing. 

Ireland’s biggest youth regatta will again see just under 200 young sailors taking part at the 2023 Irish Sailing Investwise Youth National Championships, hosted this year by Howth Yacht Club in Dublin and sponsored by Investwise Financial Planning. Racing runs 13th to 16th April.

The sailors will be vying for their opportunity to be noticed by Irish Sailing’s coaches who are out and about talent-spotting, identifying young hopefuls for the Irish Sailing Performance Pathway. The Pathway Programme is the development pipeline that brings sailors from potential to medal winning performance, and ultimately the Olympic Team.

Host club Howth has a long track record of stellar youth sailors and is home to Tokyo Olympian Robert Dickson, the current ILCA6 Youth World and European champions Eve McMahon and Rocco Wright, and Aoife Hopkins who recently retired from her Olympic campaigning.  

The Irish Sailing Investwise Youth National Championships are the biggest youth sailing event held in Ireland – and unique in that it’s the only time that different youth classes come together to compete, gain valuable experience on the water, and learn more about the Irish Sailing Performance Pathway Programme directly from the coaches.

There are six classes identified as the best to facilitate progression through the Irish Sailing Performance Pathway: Optimist, Topper, ILCA 4, ILCA 6, 420s and 29ers. Irish Sailing coaches will be talent spotting throughout the event.

Sean Evans, Irish Sailing Development Manager said “the Youth Nationals is the diamond event for those starting off their sailing career. It’s an opportunity for sailors from across the nation to test what they have been developing and perfecting within their clubs against the best competition on offer. The event covers an opportunity for all, from those who will be competing in this as their first major event after training hard at their clubs, to those who will be fighting it out at the top end of the results sheet. Regardless of where you are in your development it’s a journey and Irish Sailing’s youth and junior coaches will be out on the water and on the land to watch every start, tack and gybe”.

Sean adds: “Howth is a tidal venue so knowing what the water is doing can be a big advantage. And spring in Ireland can bring a wide range of wind speeds and temperatures so make sure to keep a weather eye on the forecast”.

David Quinn, Managing Director of Investwise Financial Planning said “Myself and the team at Investwise are thrilled to be sponsoring the Irish Sailing Youth National Championships again this year. Our own motto is ‘Invest in your Future’, but for this event it feels more apt to say ‘Invest in their future’.  Youth sailing was a hugely important and enjoyable part of my formative years, where I made life-long friends and learned valuable life lessons, so I’m delighted to be able to give something back and support this generation of competitors. Good luck to all the sailors and event volunteers”.

--- Report by Irish Sailing

Keep up with the results here.