2023 IDRA 14 Irish National Championship at Lough Ree Yacht Club

The 2023 IDRA 14 National Championships were held from 24th - 26th August hosted by Lough Ree Yacht Club.

The opening day's weather conditions provided a lively enough start to the 2023 National Championships with westerly winds of Force 4 blowing the cobwebs off the 12 strong fleet. An Olympic Triangular course was set and the first beat to the windward mark didn't put a huge divide in the fleet but as the boats rounded the windward mark it was a race for who was to set their spinnaker first to take flight which really started to heat things up on the race course.

Philip Hackett and Dan Kinlay during the 2023 IDRA 14 Championship at Lough Ree - photo © David Dickson

Clontarf's 14/163 Philip Hackett and Dan Kinlay led the fleet, hot on their heels was 14/134 in a new pairing of reigning National Champion Simon Revill (HYC) and Orla Doogue (CY&BC) in 14/134 closely followed by 14/122 Catherine Martin and Brian Murphy (DMYC) fighting it out with Sutton Dinghy Club's 14/38 Alan Carr and Callum Delehanty. Race 1 also saw a tight race between the CY&BC boats with first timer's Brendan Murphy and Tom Farrelly in 14/123 crossing the line ahead of 14/141 Ronan O'Brien and Matthew Bray followed by Ronan's 12 year old daughter Aibigéal O'Brien crewing for Donal Heney in 14/166 where the three boats all finished within a boat length of each other. 14/134 secured the top spot in Race 1.

Hannah Potter and Orlaith Connolly during the 2023 IDRA 14 Championship at Lough Ree - photo © Rachael Doogue

There were a number of new faces to the IDRA 14 Nationals this year with CY&BC Youth Boat 14/114 Swift lining up for its first National Championship with 'Swifties' Hannah Potter and Orlaith Connolly sharing helming and crewing responsibilities throughout the event. The Swifties christened themselves in Lough Ree during the first race but brushed it off and got stuck into race 2. The Youth team were very well represented with two other Swifties taking to the water as crew in other boats in the fleet too.

Lough Ree delivered some slightly lighter Westerly conditions on day 2 with winds in the range of force 3 / 4 with intermittent heavy downpours of rain, the lighter wind was welcomed by the fleet. It was a family affair on 14/161 (DMYC) with Pierre Long, joined by his son Paul as crew who fought strongly in the top end of the fleet securing a 4th place finish. Race 4 concluded and brought a discard into play with 14/134 able to discard the 2nd place finish of the previous day they were 3 points ahead going into day 3. 14/38 and 14/122 had it all to play for with just one point dividing them on 6 and 7 points respectively.

Donal Heney and Aibigéal O'Brien during the 2023 IDRA 14 Championship at Lough Ree - photo © Rachael Doogue

After a number of years of the 'Crews Race' not being raced due to weather limits, time constraints etc 2023 was the year of the most competitive line up with almost the entire fleet swapping roles and harnesses in the boats. Eleven starters included a mix of some who would never helm, rarely helm and sometimes helm making the white sails only race a spectacle for all on the committee boat and support boats. The starting line was a little louder than the previous four races in the championship with shouts of 'up, up', 'starboard' and cries of 'please don't hit my boat' being heard echoing around Lough Ree. 14/161 Paul Long led to the windward mark followed by 14/134 Orla Doogue hot on his heels. It was the gybe mark that was the real game changer for positions as some decided to gybe while others opted for two tacks. 14/161 Paul Long put in a strong performance with 14/134 Orla Doogue and the rest of the fleet breathing down his transom, he seemed confident and unphased. Unfortunately for 14/161 a tactical decision made while rounding the leeward mark meant 14/134 Orla gained the lead followed by 14/38 Callum Delehanty in second position for the race to the finish line.

Alan Carr and Callum Delehanty during the 2023 IDRA 14 Championship at Lough Ree - photo © David Dickson

Saturday's forecast was windier conditions and after a short postponement ashore, boats launched in a Northwesterly force 5 which built to force 6 in squalls with rolling waves over the open water of Lough Ree. Further postponement afloat led some people to begin to think the racing would be abandoned. However, a triangular course was set and after eagerness shown by the fleet to get going causing a general recall, a restart followed for what was a quick shortened course with 14/134 securing the National Championship - helm Simon Revill HYC and crew Orla Doogue CY&BC.

Simon Revill and Orla Doogue win the 2023 IDRA 14 Championship at Lough Ree - photo © David Dickson

The Silver Fleet was won by 14/126 Charles Sargent and Ed Fleming (SDC) who together proved that their time spent in IDRA 14's gave them the upper hand with knowing the quirks of how the boats work against the girls in CY&BC's 14/114 who are just closing in on their first season in the IDRA 14 coming in second place. 14/166 Donal and Aibigéal finished in third place much to the delight of Aibigéal who was competitively racing her instructors Hannah and Orlaith in 14/114 and her father Ronan in 14/141.

The IDRA 14 class enjoyed the hospitality of Lough Ree Yacht Club who hosted a BBQ on Saturday night followed by the presentation of awards for this year's event. Chit chat, catch ups and celebrations continued into the very early hours closing a successful 75th edition of the IDRA 14 National Championships.

Overall Results:

Crews' Race Results: