As Dublin yacht clubs prepare to crown the domestic sailing stars of 2012 next week, the capital was also the venue for the coronation of the International Sailing Federation’s (ISAF) World Sailor of the Year on Tuesday.
Britain’s Ben Ainslie was in town for the gala awards ceremony that marks yet another record achievement for the 35-year-old, who lifted the men’s award at Dublin’s Mansion House for a record fourth time.
Ainslie’s London 2012 performance elevated him to five Olympic medals (four gold, one silver), surpassing Denmark’s Paul Elvstrøm, winner of four gold medals between 1948 and 1960.
Lijia Xu, the Chinese girl who came from behind in the medal race to beat Ireland’s Annalise Murphy in Weymouth in the Laser Radial dinghy, was named female sailor of the year, and was the first Chinese and Asian sailor to win an Olympic dinghy sailing medal.
The Rolex ceremony was a highlight of this week’s ISAF’s annual conference being hosted in Dún Laoghaire and which looks set for a contentious conclusion by Sunday. This morning there will be a final council vote to reinstate windsurfing to the 2016 Olympic competition after a series of interim decisions divided the federation.
In May, the ISAF’s Events Committee voted by a 17-2 majority to retain windsurfing as an Olympic event, a decision subsequently overturned by the ISAF council, who decided to insert kiteboarding.
This morning marks ISAF’s final decision on the matter but there’s no doubt the debacle has done little to win the confidence of sailors in the world body.
At home, in a month reserved for polishing silverware, Irish sailing has instead posted some of its best international results of the season – UCD winning the Student Yachting World Cup in La Rochelle and Barry Hurley and Andrew Boyle taking the double-handed cup in Malta’s Middle Sea Race, both late but welcome additions to season highs.
Dublin Bay Sailing Club (DBSC) will be first to recognise Annalise Murphy’s outstanding contribution to the sport when they award the Olympic solo sailor their Viking award at the club’s prize-giving ceremony next Friday. Murphy’s Weymouth performance is one of 90 achievements from Dublin Bay to be applauded on the night hosted by the Royal St George Yacht Club.
The following day at their annual conference in Kilkenny the Irish Cruiser Racing Association (ICRA) will name their Boat of the Year from a short list of wide-ranging campaigns.
Judge Denis Kiely says the ultimate winner of the award will be the boat that demonstrates an “extraordinary” year. Nine boats have been shortlisted, including two boats from the Royal Irish Yacht Club and three from Royal Cork Yacht Club. The 2011 winner Storm II, the J109 from Rush, skippered by Pat Kelly, has been nominated again.
On the same day as the ICRA conference, the Wolfs Head Trophy is heading across the Irish Sea to Pwlhelli after a seasoned offshore performance by Stephen Tudor’s J109 Sgrech secured ISORA’s top prize. The ISORA agm to settle the 2013 race programme, with a black-tie prize-giving dinner, will be held at the National Yacht Club, Dún Laoghaire.
Noted quarter-tonner Supernova (Ken Lawless, Pat Shannon and Sybil McCormack) is picking up seven trophies at the DBSC prize-giving next Friday and a fortnight later the Cruisers three campaigner will lift more trophies at the Royal Alfred Yacht Club (RAYC) when they celebrate the revival of their Superleague series for keelboats on November 30th. The series combines the results of the five Dún Laoghaire regattas with five designated Dublin Bay Sailing Club race days.
