Five boats from the ever growing Kinsale Squib fleet travelled last weekend to Killyleagh Yacht Club (Strangford Lough) to take part in this year’s Irish Squib Nationals.

The competitiveness of the fleet produced six different race winners across the event.

Friday evening’s two opening races were won by Kinsale boats: Atomic, sailed by Ian Travers and Keith O’Riordan, and Crackers, sailed by Sean and Paul Murphy fresh off their Eastern Regional victory.

Light airs and tricky conditions persisted throughout the weekend. On Saturday morning, Richard Callanan and Frank McGowan in The Beesknees, along with Pat Salter and Padraig McGillicuddy in Pot Black, relished the tight racing, while Bobby Nash and Una Leader in Flora scored a fine top-10 finish in Race 5.

After six races, Ian Travers and Keith O’Riordan in Atomic reclaimed the National Championship title, adding to their 2022 victory.

“Winning a national title is a massive achievement! A huge congratulations to Ian and Keith and to all four other travelling crews who did Kinsale proud!”, John Sullivan  (KYC Squib Fleet Class Captain)

“A massive congratulations to Ian and Keith on bringing the National Championship home to Kinsale once again.  Congratulations to our entire Squib fleet for such a superb performance at Killyleagh. Having five boats travel and compete so strongly at the very top level is a fantastic testament to the depth and spirit of Squib sailing at the Club”, said a delighted Anthony O’Neill Commodore at Kinsale Yacht Club.

The Frank Clark Ltd Squib Southern Championships will be held at Kinsale Yacht Club on September 5th and 6th.  Click here for event details.

See the Irish Squib Class Facebook page for more photos of the Fleet.

Report by: John Sullivan  (KYC Squib Fleet Class Captain)