Murphy's European challenge just one event on busy calendar

SAILING:This year brings a new challenge for single-hander Annalise Murphy who will contest a European championship on home waters for the first time when the Olympic Laser class hosts its continental championships in Murphy's own club, the National Yacht Club (NYC) in Dún Laoghaire, in September.

It’s just one event in an exciting list of summer sailing fixtures for Ireland in 2013.

On top of the Olympic competition on Dublin Bay there are also world title fights in the Mirror dinghy and J24 keelboat classes, as well as a full calendar of national cruiser regattas, and an offshore course record to be broken.

Admittedly it’s a more modest line up than 2012 but there is plenty to whet the racing sailor’s appetite. Four international dinghy and one design titles are up for grabs and there can be reasonable expectation of success for Irish sailors too.

As a domestic season starter the biennial Dún Laoghaire to Dingle (D2D) celebrates its 20th anniversary on June 7th from the NYC.

A course record time of 24 hours and 44 minutes was set in the 2009 race by Michael Cotter’s 90-foot yacht Whisper, so the 2013 challenge is to break the 24-hour barrier.

A 270-mile offshore challenge, the 2013 D2D will double as an opportunity for Dublin boats to race to the southwest coast in time for an anticipated 70-boat gathering for the Irish Cruiser Racing (ICRA) National Championships at Tralee Bay Sailing Club from June 12th.

The Kerry championship is followed by Kinsale’s (KYC) Sovereign’s Cup on June 26th. To celebrate its 10th edition KYC has come up with a novel “Triple Crown” trophy for the boat with the lowest aggregate score under IRC after competing in the D2D, The ICRA Nationals and Sovereign’s Cup.

New prize

KYC’s Mike Walsh says the new prize recognises the efforts of the crews who compete in each of these three south coast events.

After a month of activity on the Cork and Kerry coasts, the Volvo Dún Laoghaire regatta will urge Cork boats to head north and join Ireland’s biggest fleet on July 11th, and is already eyeing a 400-boat armada in over 20 classes.

On inland waters, Lough Derg Yacht Club will host their first world dinghy championships, when the Mirror title is contested at Dromineer in Co Tipperary. Royal North of Ireland YC pair Ross Kearney and Max Odell are reigning champions in the 11-foot class and although it’s the first time for Lough Derg to host, the fresh water club are not without international pedigree, the LDYC pair of Peter Bayly and William Atkinson having won the title when the event was last staged in Ireland, in 2001 in Howth.

Howth Yacht Club has hosted seven world and European championships and this August’s staging of the BMW J24 worlds will be their biggest undertaking of 2013. The event is expected to be dominated by American teams but has already attracted interest from Canada, the UK, Hungary, Italy, Germany and Greece.

Marking the end of a busy summer, the NYC will host the European Championships for the Laser Standard class and men’s and women’s Laser Radial class from August 30th.

The event will be a Europeans for both Olympic Laser classes and coming just 12 months before the ISAF Qualifiers for the Rio Olympics in Santander in September 2014, it will attract many of the world’s top Olympic sailors.

Dominate

Continental sailors are expected to dominate but three NYC sailors are capable of making a splash too. Big breeze specialist Murphy who came so close to a medal in the women’s Laser Radial at London 2012 has unfinished business.

ISAF Youth silver medallist Finn Lynch will also be in action. 2011 Irish National champion (and fellow NYC sailor) Philip Doran, who recently celebrated success at the U19 Europe Cup Regatta, is also expected, as is Baltimore SC’s Fionn Lyden.

2013: Key fixtures

Jun 7th: Dún Laoghaire to Dingle Race, National YC

June 13th: ICRA National Championships, Tralee Bay SC

Jun 26th: Sovereign's Cup, Kinsale Yacht Club

Jul 11th-15th: Volvo Dún Laoghaire Regatta, Combined Dún Laoghaire Clubs

Aug 29th-Sept 2nd: Mirror World Championships, Lough Derg Yacht Club

Aug 22nd-30th: J24 World Championship Howth YC

Aug 30th-Sept 6th: Laser Europeans National YC