The Optimist 2022 Irish national championships

Published 20:59 on 24 Aug 2022

Wilbur Palmer Ward reports :

The Optimist 2022 Irish national championships in Dun Laoghaire started off with two days training for the British teams (Junior and Senior). There were spectacular conditions on both days with lots of jellyfish and seals. On the night before the racing started (Tuesday), the club there held an opening ceremony comprising mainly British and Irish sailors, as well as one person from France.

On the first day fair weather brought in a sea breeze. The race course was laid in Dublin Bay and the committee managed to fit in two races but the second had to be cut short.

Conditions then became tricky on day two with very light winds, choppy waves and a strong tide. We only managed one race. Day three brought shifts, waves and no wind. The committee had to relocate to a different place in hope that the sea breeze would kick in. It was a massive learning experience with the big starts, especially trying to be being assertive and not being pushed off the start line.

On the final day of racing, we had a good start leading to a great result, but we only did one race.

The event was very well organised, it was a lot of fun and it was in a very beautiful location.

Thank you to the Blake Fund for the money to help with the RTGs last year because it really helped me to be selected for this team.