SAILING Spring promise delivers a Summer shine

James O'Callaghan, ISA Performance Director reports on the ISA Performance Pathway Programme

Maybe the writing was on the wall, maybe how the script unfolded was obvious, but aspire as we do to world class results, we could not have predicted the success coming as early as this summer. Irish sailors by and large have more than exceeded their 2009 targets.

Results in the early spring perhaps were an obvious calling card that the summer would deliver something special. Within a month Peter O'Leary & Tim Goodbody won the Star Spring European Championship, Annalise Murphy won the Dutch Europa Cup and Matty O'Dowd followed this with a victory in the Danish Europa Cup, both sailing Laser Radials. Preparations for the summer were on track.

Now we can reflect back on what has been nothing short of an extraordinary summer in terms of Irish sailing results. There is plenty of silverware to shine in the club trophy cabinets.

The highlight has to be Annalise Murphy claiming 8th in the World Laser Radial Women's Championship, and in the process she collected the Under 21 World Title, sending shivers down her opponents' spines. Annalise is just 19 years of age, and this is her first year on the senior circuit. The current World Champion is 31, putting into perspective Annalise's potency going forward.

The following week at the same venue in Japan the Laser Radial Youth World Championships were held with 100 sailors from 25 countries competing. Philip Doran and Oliver Loughead finished 9th and 12th respectively in the overall standings but more significantly they picked up the Under 17 World Title and Silver Medal between them. Philip has shown his true grit as a competitor and has made a remarkable transition from the Laser 4.7 class where he won the Under 16 World Title in 2008. How many Irish sportsmen can say they won a world title two years in a row?

When you scratch beneath the surface of these results it is encouraging that there are more sailors ready to challenge those presently on the podium. Competition breeds success. At the Topper World Championship 13 year old Finn Lynch secured second place, which bodes well for his career. At the 420 World Championships, Jane Butler & Jenny Andreasson finished 11th overall. This duo are both eligible to compete in 2010 for the youth title. Their result comes after great use of their transition year, facilitated by the Royal St George Yacht Club's Youth Sailing Scheme. Seafra Guilfoyle finished 50th in the European Optimist Championship, our best at this event for at least 8 years and Fiona Daly finished 40th in the equivalent event for girls.

When you consider that the ISA Performance Pathway spans from Junior right through to Olympic campaigning it is encouraging that the results are coming from different people at different stages of the pathway. We are now in the third year of our long term Olympic Strategic Plan and the seedlings are beginning to shoot.

The success for the Performance Pathway has in no doubt been enabled by Irish Sports Council funding. This support has enabled the setting up of ISA Squads and the employment of good quality coaches.

ISA Youth & Development Manager, Rory Fitzpatrick has managed the ISA Academy since 2005 and deserves great credit for the results achieved to date. The most recent appointment Ian Clingan as ISA Development Coach has also demonstrated the impact good coaching can have. Undoubtedly, a portion of Annalise's success can be put down to Ian's meticulous preparation.

Summer 2009 will be a hard act to follow and with success comes expectation. The team are looking forward to that challenge and hope to get continued support from ISA members and indeed the ISC going forward.