Great Results for RCYC At Youth Nationals in Ballyholme

The Irish Sailing Youth Nationals took place from the 9th to 12th April, hosted by Ballyholme YC, Co.Antrim.  The Royal Cork YC was well represented with 27 sailors across 6 of the 7 classes at the event.

The RCYC Optimist squad arrived at Ballyholme Yacht Club well prepared, confident, and ready to take on whatever conditions awaited them. The event was super windy with the top gust recorded at 41kts and regular mean wind speeds of 25 to 30 knots being recorded but the winter training stood to all our sailors. A total of 15 RCYC sailors competed at the event. While challenging weather conditions meant that only six of the scheduled eleven races were completed, the competition was intense and closely fought bringing both reward and disappointment across the fleet. 

RCYC made a major impact on the regatta, with 35% of the full fleet representing our club. This strength in depth was reflected in the results, as eight RCYC sailors finished inside the top 20 overall. The Youth Nationals is a key event in the Irish sailing calendar and forms part of the selection process used by Irish Sailing and the IODAI for international teams for 2026, adding to the significance of the performances delivered. 

A number of sailors produced particularly strong results: 

Oscar Rowan – 4th, Isaac Vaughan – 7th, Eoin Pierse – 9th, Dylan O’Sullivan – 12th, Lilly Sheridan – 14th, George Creighton – 15th, Brendan Hughes – 15th, John Keating – 20th. 

Looking ahead, RCYC will have several sailors representing Ireland internationally later this year, with events scheduled in Morocco, Poland and France. We look forward to confirming final team selections and will provide further updates once the squads are officially announced.

RCYC Optimist Sailors – Youth Nationals 2026

George Creighton – IRL 1693, Lilly Sheridan – IRL 1613, Dylan O’Sullivan – IRL 1686, Isaac Vaughan – IRL 1677, Oscar Rowan – IRL 1690, Brendan Hughes – IRL 1650, Jamie Blennerhassett – IRL 1691, Joe Kingston – IRL 1552, Tom Kingston – IRL 552, Oran Collins – IRL 1603, Eoin Pierse – IRL 1673, Siofra Buckley – IRL 1547, Sadie Bruen – IRL 1599, Leon Joyce – IRL 1545, John Keating – IRL 1463

The Topper Fleet was represented by Ollie Sugars, Amy Whyte and James Nyhan, these sailors sailed exceptionally well throughout the event which provided very challenging conditions on the closest race course to the club, with very shifty and challenging conditions off the shore. All three sailors achieved a top 5 finish in the 5 race series finishing in 4th – Ollie Sugars, 12th – Amy Whyte and 15th – James Nyhan.  

The new edition to the IS Youth Nationals this year was the introduction of the RS Feva Class, although the entries were low for this class, the competition was tight in the conditions with the newbie pairing of Nicholas Nyhan and Ciaran Keating competing together in this event.  

The ILCA fleet was represented by Conor Lynch and Eolann Miles who faced strong competition from many of the top sailors in the country in the ILCA 6 class.

Weather conditions provided another challenge with strong winds gusting up to 35 knots forecast. Sailors launched early on Thursday hoping to get four races completed but in the end conditions only allowed for one. Friday again bought strong winds and challenging conditions with three races completed which ensured that the series would have stood. Unfortunately on Saturday morning, the weather worsened with winds of forty knots leading to racing being cancelled for all fleets.

After an AP’d start on Sunday morning, ILCA sailors launched mid-afternoon and completed two more races in tough conditions such that the 420 and 29’er fleets were unable to race. Both Cork sailors performed very well with Eolann taking 3rd place overall and a 1st and 2nd place on Sunday. A great result and well deserved with all the training and effort he has put in over the last few years. Conor finished 10th overall in a fleet of 25, an excellent result in a competitive fleet.

The 420 fleet had 4 sailors representing the club, although the fleet only managed to sail 2 of the 4 days due to the weather conditions, the racing was tight and challenging, with sailors enjoying the big waves and wind to stretch their legs after their winter training and event program. Royal Cork Sailors Daniel Copithorne and Matt Mapplebeck won the 420 fleet overall following on from their victory at the Munster Championships 2 weeks previously hosted by the Royal Cork YC.

A massive thank you to all the coaches who have supported the winter programs throughout the various fleets over the winter. The hard work which these coaches put into the programs truly reflects the performance of our Junior and Youth Sailors at these National events.