Junior regatta is cancelled despite improved weather

Sailing was cancelled on the second day of the junior regatta in Dún Laoghaire yesterday, despite the fact that the weather warning in operation was less severe than on Thursday when many participants got into difficulty during a race.

Many boats capsized on Thursday as a result of what the organisers of the Royal St George Yacht Club junior regatta described as a sudden squall.

A full-scale emergency plan was put into action and 16 people, including one adult, were taken to hospital. No-one was seriously injured, however.

The Marine Casualty Investigation Board is to conduct an inquiry.

Patrick Blaney, public relations officer with the yacht club, said yesterday that the regatta organisers "always look at the weather forecast. Today's forecast is significantly worse than yesterday's. That's why we haven't gone sailing today."

Met Éireann, however, insisted conditions were worse on Thursday. Senior forecaster Hugh Daly said yesterday's forecast was for gales in the open sea and for a small craft warning near the coast in the Dún Laoghaire area. "Whereas for yesterday [ Thursday] the warning for that area was for gale-force eight winds. That's significantly higher." He reiterated this warning had been issued at 4am on Thursday.

Mr Blaney said sailors would have gone out again in Thursday's conditions "99 times out of a 100".

Parents of children who had taken part in the regatta, as well as the young participants, supported the club yesterday. Joanna O'Reilly, from Milltown, Dublin, whose daughter Kate (10) was not let out on to the water on Thursday as she was too young, said she thought coverage by RTÉ and Sky television had been "sensationalist".

"The club made a judgment call and honestly I think they made the right call. I think there is a lot of confusion and criticism of the club which is unfounded because it comes from people who don't understand sailing. Capsizing is part of sailing."

She said the young people were "very capable kids and most have been sailing six or seven years".

Emily Mitchell (16) was among those taken to hospital after being rescued. She said she had not expected to be able to sail yesterday but would have gone out. She described weather conditions on Thursday as "like nothing I have ever seen before". Media coverage was "blown out of all proportion" she said.