RSGYC's Donnelly & Arrowsmith win Irish National Championships

RSGYC Pairing of Sean Donnelly and Greg Arrowsmith are the winners of the Provident CRM Irish National championships after a runaway win in the last race to beat Marty and Rachel O’Leary on countback. Three races were sailed in the patchy 6-13 knot conditions to complete the full 7 race series.

Father and son team, Gary & Will Cullen sailing the Provident CRM sponsored ‘Mouser’

A similar pattern emerged again on the second day of racing with the top 3 teams dominating the narrative leaving the remainder of the 21-boat fleet to fight it out. A final race shoot-out with this trio decided the title with a brave call to gybe set at the first windward mark giving Donnelly and Arrowsmith a lead they would never relinquish. After winning 3 of the 7 races, it was a title well earned.

A smart hoist by champions and long time friends Sean Donnelly and Greg Arrowsmith on Sunday’s racing.

The RaceSense System used by the class ensured no general recalls all weekend despite many OCS starters in the Spring Ebb tides that swept the fleet up to the line all weekend. Learning to be cool and not pull the trigger too early with the other boats is a new skill the sailors are picking up, knowing that an immediate OCS signal on the early starters will quickly correct things.

Another nice benefit of RaceSense is the post event analysis… In Race 4, 10 out of the 21 boats were OCS but thanks to RaceSense, there was no General Recall!

Many new teams competed at this the third Irish Championships with the boat proving itself popular across all ages and genders with the youngest crew at a combined 28 years old, racing hard against the oldest team at 111 years old.  To quote Mark Twain, “Age is an issue of mind over matter. If you don't mind, it doesn't matter”

Two 14 year old Feva Sailors, Julian O’Leary and Dillon Tanaka finished inside the top 10 on their class debut

Jamie Tingle elected as the new class president finished fourth alongside Euro winning Cathal O’Regan ensuring a Corkonian presence at the top of the fleet.  Sister and Brother pair Kate and Morgan Lyttle took the top family prize in 7th place.

New class president Jamie Tingle sailng with Cathal O’Regan finished just off the podium in 4th

Local teams from Howth Yacht club included Karena&Lynne, Ciara&Tom, Sarah&Mark and David&Finn

With 37 boats now in the country the class is looking forward to the announcement of the 2026 calendar already.

Results below