SAILING COLUMN:A MASSIVE fleet of 248 Optimist sailors raced their national championships on Dublin Bay last weekend in a show-of-strength by the junior class that caters for sailors up to 14 years old.

Conditions were rarely light for the four-day series and winds peaked at close to Force 6 as an added test.

Thirteenyear-old Seafra Guilfoyle from the Royal Cork Yacht Club (RCYC) emerged overall winner of the Senior Gold fleet with all top-three results from the 11 races sailed.

Howth Yacht Club’s Tara Flood in fourth overall was also best female sailor but, significantly, was also the only Dubliner inside the top 12. Malahide’s Lizzy McDowell won the Silver fleet within the senior division.

Amongst the under-12s, Peter McCann of the RCYC won the Gold fleet, while Conor O’Beirne of hosts Royal St George YC (RSGYC) took the Silver fleet.

Two years ago, parents were privately lamenting the strength of the visiting British sailors but can now point to successes for Irish sailors in Britain. At the heart of this success is increased participation, improved coaching and adjustments to the structure of major events.

“This was the biggest national championships ever,” said Fred Campbell, new president of the International Optimist Dinghy Association of Ireland (IODAI) from Royal North of Ireland. “The standard of the fleet has improved dramatically over the past two years.”

Amongst the changes, the IODAI replaced the old Gold, Silver and Bronze age bands with a Junior and Senior divisions, with Gold and Silver fleets in each. Most importantly, both divisions and fleets race together, giving sailors a chance to practice tactics in a big fleet contest typical of bigger continental events.

“Our junior fleet excelled at the British nationals and Cian Byrne won the event, with others in the top 10,” recounted Campbell. “More numbers are improving the level [of performance] and more people are travelling; there seems to be no sign of recession yet, perhaps the year ahead will tell.”

However, the strength of the Cork and Kinsale boats is clear evidence that building a strong local fleet is crucial.

“The Royal Cork are on a roll due to the numbers they have – they’re getting better and better,” Campbell said, suggesting this will be the benchmark formula for a nationwide campaign.

“IODAI is aiming to give every Optimist sailor top-class coaching over the next two years.”

Strength isn’t just limited to Munster boats, in spite of what the results from the nationals suggest.

“There’s lots of very good kids around the coast,” said Tom Crosbie of the RCYC. “We’re starting to see great depth around the country as a result of the clubs’ and ISA programmes.”

Meanwhile, the turnout was boosted by the unusually international mix of competitors, attributed to long-term planning as the ISAF Youth World Championships will be sailed from Dún Laoghaire in 2012.

Last weekend’s event required the attendance of more than 50 crewed rescue boats.