Lough Derg Yacht Club

LDYC Laser News

Congratulations to Matthew O’Dowd and Mark Condy on their performances at the ISA All Ireland Sailing Championship at RCYC 26/27 September 2009 giving Mattie the ISA All Ireland Junior Sailing Championship and Mark 5th place in the very competitive Laser Radial fleet.
Five LDYC Laser sailors have been selected for ISA Regional Squad Training this winter: Eoin Keller, Graham Corbett & Karl Mackey in Laser Radials; Mark Condy, Georgina Corbett & Alfred Guy in Laser 4.7s. Credit is due to the perseverance and commitment of the sailors and their parents and their coaches during the 2009 season, William Atkinson and Conor Byrne.

Una Lee
Coaching Coordinator

Mirror Association of Ireland
O’Dowd Trophy & Southern Championship
Lough Derg Yacht Club
26th & 27th September 2009

Conditions on Lough Derg were ideal for the fleet of 34 Mirrors competing for the Mirror O’Dowd Trophy and Southern Championship at Lough Derg Yacht Club during the weekend 26th & 27th September.

Light winds of force 2-3 suited the mixed ability fleet which included 17 boats from LDYC and 17 visitors from 6 other clubs. However some newcomers to the fleet found the conditions particularly challenging when the wind fell below force 2.

Race Officer Donal Gleeson got 4 races in on Saturday allowing for a discard for the one day race series for the O’Dowd Trophy which was presented during a combined Mirror and LDYC Junior End of Season Dinner on Saturday evening. Local sailors Eoin & Niall Keller took 1st place (5th overall) in the bronze fleet. Eoin taking the opportunity to sail the 2 crew, 3 sail Mirror dinghy after a very successful season at the top of the national Laser 4.7 fleet. Andrew Brady & Muiris Fitzgerald from Sligo Yacht Club, were 1st in the silver fleet (10th overall). Graham Daly & Eoin Hickey from Skerries Sailing Club, 1st overall, were presented with the O’Dowd Trophy by Don O’Dowd.

On Sunday wind filled in on the early morning glass like conditions on the lake to allow 3 races to be completed to give the full series of 7 races for the Southern Championship. By the end of the 2nd race on Sunday every boat in the fleet was flying a spinnaker. The last race was completed in true Lough Derg style with the final leg of the course a run around the south shore of Dromineer Bay giving a wonderful display of spinnakers as the fleet finished to the sound of the canon at the flag pole in front of the clubhouse.

Local sailors Eoin & Niall Keller again took 1st place in the Bronze fleet (6th overall). Ronan Hand & Robert Flood took from Sutton Dinghy Club took 1st place in the silver fleet. ( 11th overall) Competition for the position of Southern Champion was tight throughout the weekend. In a repeat of the results in Saturday’s O’Dowd Trophy Graham Daly & Eoin Hickey from Skerries Sailing Club and Beth Armstrong & Shauna Armstrong from Sligo Yacht Club finished the series with equal points., 1st place in the last race gave the Skerries sailors Graham Daly a & Eoin Hickey the Southern Championship.

LDYC - LASER NATIONALS
Information on lunches and dinners:

Home cooked meals available each evening at club house from 7 to 8.30

EVENING MEALS AT CLUB MUST BE BOOKED AT REGISTRATION

€15 for main course and dessert. Book and pay for 3 evening meals (including dessert) at registration for special deal of €30

Available from club bar daily from 9am, bars, snacks, bananas, filled rolls, bottled water,

Other shops and restaurants in the area:
Nearest shop 5 km from club in Ballycommon
The Whiskey Still Bar and Restaurant Dromineer
The Thatch Bar and Restaurant Ballycommon—5 km
Lough Derg Hostel Dromineer Open all day for breakfast, tea, coffee, scones and desserts

LASER NEWS:

A lot of wind combined with its unpredictable direction in Dublin Bay and fleets of 50 boats meant LDYC lasers faced challenging conditions at the Leinster Championships hosted by the National Yacht Club in Dun Laoghaire 18/19 July.

In the Laser 4.7s Eoin Keller maintained his form taking 1st place overall and becoming the Irish Laser Youth Champion for 2009. Graham Corbett , only 4.75 points behind,took 3rd place. Alfie Guy and Robert Hanly flourished in the windy conditions finishing 13th and 15th respectively. Georgina Corbett showed her potential finishing 2nd in Race 4 ahead of Eoin(5th) and Graham (9th), she finished up 18th - watch this sailor! Mark Condy, Leonard Garland and Ciara Holohan all achieved some good results but found it difficult to maintain consistency in the prevailing conditions.

In the Laser Radials William Hooker, sailing his first event this season, finished 26th. Conall Holohan, Karl Mackey, Andrew Mackey, Tom Ryan and John Hanly represented LDYC well in an extremely competitive fleet.

Coach, Conor Byrne, maintained his season's form finishing 2nd in the Standard Rig fleet just behind James Espey, who is on an Olympic training schedule!

The lasers will be training again in LDYC 24-26th August prior to the National Championships on their home waters 27 - 30th August.

MIRROR NEWS:

The Nationals were on in Lough Ree on the 3rd-5th of July.There were four boats from the club. The results are as follows:15th Julie Donnellan , Hazel Mc Dermott (3rd in silver)21st Alfie Wisdom , Megan Mucathy (4th in bronze)24th Rosie Donnellan, Ashley Mc Dermott (7th in bronze)28th Derbhla O'Sullivan, Eimear Mc Dermott (11th in bronze)It was also Eimear and Derbhlas 1st event.
The Westerns were on the next weekend the 11th and 12th of July. They took place in Mullingar. There were eight boats from Lough Derg.11th Alfie Wisdom, Megan Mulcathy (2nd in bronze) 13th Julie Donnellan, Hazel Mc Dermott (2nd in Silver)17th Rosie Donnellan, Suzanne Seymore (4th in bronze)19th Michelle Murphy, Barry Mullen (5th in bronze)23rd Con Lucey, Laura Coakley (8th in bronze)26th Eimear Mc Dermott, Derbhla O'Sullivan (11th in bronze)30th Elliot Ryan, Melissa Rahman (7th in silver)39th Eric Conan, John Fitzgerald (23rd in bronze)Alfie sailed one of the Mirror Association's new boats and did very well in it.It was a first event for Con Lucey and Laura Coakley and also for Eric Clonan and John Fitzgerald.

There was training for the mirrors at easter and at the May weekend, both with Micheal Mc Carney. We also had a small training session this week to prepare for further events. We are also hoping to organise another one before the end of the July coarse

Julie Donnellan

Eoin Keller and Mark Condy have just completed their first Laser 4.7 international event at the Europa Cup in Warnemunder Woche , Germany. They finished 2nd and 3rd Irish boat and 29th and 34th overall respectively out of 48 entries. Eoin's best results were 14th and 17th and Mark's 15th and 17th. They were 22nd and 26th respectively in the U18 boys.The Europa Cup was part of a huge regatta so the whole event must have been quite an experience!

In very tight racing over a weekend of mixed conditions the Laser Squad of 10 sailors supported by a terrific parent team produced fantastic results for LDYC and themselves. Two days of training in Galway with coach William Atkinson before the weekend helped LDYC take the first three places in the 4.7s, Mark Condy 1st, Graham Corbett 2nd, Eoin Keller 3rd were closely followed by Georgina Corbett 7th and 2nd girl, Alfred Guy 10th, Ciara Holohan 13th and Karl Mackey 15th. Conall Holohan 20th, Andrew Mackey 27th, Kevin Lynch 30th were sailing their first event in Laser Radials.

Forthcoming events:
Leinster Championships 18/19 July National Yacht Club Dun Laoghaire
Lough Derg Yacht Club Regatta 10 - 15 August
LDYC Laser Squad Training 24 - 26 August
National Championships 27 - 30 August Lough Derg Yacht Club Dromineer

TG4 TO BROADCAST VOLVO OCEAN RACE LIVE FROM GALWAYSATURDAY 30th MAY – Coverage starting at 11:55amTG4 has confirmed that it will be broadcasting the Volvo Ocean Race live from Galway on Saturday 30th May with coverage of the in-port races which will be held in Galway Bay that afternoon. The live coverage will begin on TG4 at 11:55am and will include news, interviews and all the action from Salthill with the two in-port races scheduled to start at 1pm. The coverage will also be broadcast worldwide on www.tg4.tv.

Full details at www.tg4.ie/bearla/clar/vor/vor.asp

John Leech

LDYC member, Katie O'Connor is currently sailing across the Atlantic bringing a boat back to Cowes from Antigua via the Azores. She was sailing in the regatta in Antigua for a few weeks before taking sail across the seas.

See details of her voyage at www.mailasail.com the boat is Piccolo—log onto its blog to see what Katie and the crew are seeing and up to!

Regards

Pat O’Connor

LDYC Upcoming Social events

If you missed the May weekend BBQ or the Wine and Cheese, you missed two great social events. Here are 3 more for your calendar.

May 30th - Irish night at the club - dinner upstairs at the club based on an Irish theme with a world renowned chef! - 3 courses 25 euros - will run it if 40 people confirm attendance by May 26th - bar open - text or email bookings to 08... or declanmulcahy@gmail.com.

May 31st - Bring your own BBQ and drinks - 7pm onwards. The May weekend BBQ was a great night, so don't miss this one!

June 20th - The 24th Mid Summers Ball - supporting local community schools sailing and St. Vincent de Paul this year. Tickets 75 euros. Support it and make it successful. Full details on www.ldyc.ie/mid_summer_ball.htm or contact Declan on 08... or declanmulcahy@gmail.com (If you are interested in sponsoring a prize that night for our charity draw let me know). Thanks.

Declan Mulcahy,
Social Secretary

Congratulations to LDYC sailor Eoin Keller has been selected for the Laser 4.7 ISA National Youth Squad.

This was decided on the basis of his results this season at the Munsters, Ulsters, ISA Youth Championships in Schull and the Mitsubshi Youth Championships in Dun Laoghaire. He will be travelling with the squad to Germany in July and Finland in August.

This is a great achievement and a tribute to the coaches who have worked with him at LDYC. David White, who coached Eoin in the Optimist last season, William Atkinson and Conor Bynre who are coaching him in the Laser this season and in whose footsteps he follows.

Una Lee,
Coaching Coordinator