International Development Team in Loctudy
Our 2012 International Development Team - Adam D'Arcy, Ciaran Finnegan, Johnny Durcan, Richard Hogan, Ros Morgan, Heather Spain and Alix Buckley - are
in Loctudy in Brittany, in training for the French Summer Championship.
The team have gone through the registration process, and are continuing training on the water, with the Practice Race and Opening Ceremony today, Sunday
15th July.
Off the water, they have been perfecting their pancake-making skills and will be accomplished chefs when they arrive home!
Webcam to the Loctudy club is http://www.loctudy.fr/webcam/images/index.php?
cam=3 and the event website is http://www.cnloctudy.com/fr/resultats
Thomas Chaix update 13th July:
"Dvpt team: another wet day and very little wind. 2 sessions afloat. Morning of speed testing and getting use to the area and 2 races in the afternoon with the Indian team. The team is in great spirit which will be handy tomorrow for mesurement :- )... and the early start (keen to get it out of the way quick so we can go sailing in the afternoon)... High pressure making its approach... cant wait for a bit of sun!" Thomas Chaix update 15th July:
"Dvpt team : measurement done, registration done without a problem and almost 3 hours afloat under SUNSHINE
and a gorgeous 12-15 kts... After an hour setting the boats and brushing up some technics, we joined with the Belgium team and T Maher ( from Indonesia) for a few
races. Some french kids joined as well on the last one. Alix led the Irish to the front and we showed good promises ( always good for confidence)."
Thomas Chaix update 16th July:
"Dvpt team : practice race! boom! in a lovely 15-16 kts westerly the Irish showed class with a solid 2, 3, 4, 5, 10 at the
first windward. The race (surprisingly) remained competitive almost till the end giving the team valuable lessons for tomorrow... For the story most Irish retired beside
the finish line but JD decided he'll take the bullet on offer. Breezy on the forecast for tomorrow, so the spirits are high."
Thomas Chaix update 17th July:
"Dvpt team & Co: 3 races today in 15-18 kts... not a day for the light hearted! The Irish overall performed OK led by
Cliodhna freshly returning from a disappointing Europeans concluding a good day by a 2nd. Ciaran and Heather fell foul of an early start (ruining a 5th for Ciaran) but he rest of the team performed consistently between 10th and
20th. Special mention to Adam capsizing in the second race and after the fastest bailing ever came back to 31st in race 2. "
Thomas Chaix update 18th July:
"Dvpt
team: 2 more races in gorgeous conditions; sunshine and 8-12 kts from a south westerly direction. With 5 races the split is now operated and Thursday we will race in
Gold and silver. With a cut at 79, the team made it into Gold without Alix who will regret that costly capsize in the second race. A good day today was only enough to
close the gap to a mere 5 points unfortunately just above the cut. After 5
races Richy Hogan is 19th (20, 14, 6, 49, 6), JD 35th (34, 12, 21, 3, bfd), Adam 47th, Heather 59th, Ros 67th, Ciaran 75th (
with two bfds, hummm!) and Alix 83rd. Tomorrow Ros, JD, Adam reinforced by Cliodhna will fly Irish colour in the team racing event whilst the rest will rest until the
coastal race ( at 15.00)... The event will resume Thursday in Gold and Silver."
18th July:
No event racing was scheduled for today, but there was a team racing event and a coastal
race; Ireland entered the team racing event but were unlucky in Round 1. In the coastal event, Heather Spain did us proud by getting a third place, well done!
Thursday 19th July - Thomas Chaix report:
"Mixed day in Loctudy! It could have been a great day but the Irish got unpluged for about an hour with
costly BFDs and 2 capsizes. Alix lost all chances of winning Silver fleet despite being by fqr the best sailor of the fleet (2-bfd-1), clio burned her discard (15-72-18) but
climbs to 9th overall, JD sailed well but his was ruined by a capsize; he climbs to 23rd (10-60-5). Ciaran had a solid day ending with a 16th: Adam scored a 9th after 2
disapointing races."
Friday 209th July - Thomas Chaix / Curradinghy report: "Cliodhna 8th overall and 2nd girl!!! boom! Silver medal to Ireland at the CIE 2012. JD 23rd,
Richard 32nd, Adam 33rd, Colin 40th for the best finishers. In the U11 fleet, Micheal in 38th was second Curradinghy charter team finisher."Report from Adam D'Arcy (RCYC) who travelled to Loctudy as part of the International Development Team: "On July 11th the Irish Development team travelled to Loctudy in France to compete in the French Nationals. The team included the following sailors; Richard Hogan, Adam D'Arcy, Johnny Durcan, Ciaran Finnegan, Ross Morgan, Heather Spain and Alix Buckley.
The team travelled from Rosslare to Cherbourg with their coach Thomas Chaix and team Mum Oonagh Breen. The trip was great because there were lots of on board entertainment, including a cinema. It was also a good time to have a bit of a banter before the 7 hour road trip. The trip was interesting with the van averaging 40 miles an hour! But at least we had lots of stops.
We had three days of pre event coaching,Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Initially the training involved checking our boats and speed tests to see if our equipment was in working order. Our training then became more race orientated, we also got a chance to race against the Belgium and Indian team. The first two days were wet but on Saturday the sun came out and stayed for the remainder of the event.
In the evening the team relaxed by swimming in the pool and also got a chance to take part in a pancake competition that Oonagh organised, the competition was nearly as fierce as on the water!
We had a rest Sunday morning so Oonagh took the team to Loctudy for crepes and ice cream. In the afternoon all participants had a practice race which was a great success, with Johnny port tacking the fleet and getting a bullet! The team in general sailed well and felt confident for the week ahead. We finished the day with the opening ceremony.
The event began Monday with approximately 400 sailors participating from France, Monaco, Switzerland, Netherlands, Spain, Belgium, Wales, England, Brazil, India and the Caribbean Islands. Monday and Tuesday produced perfect sailing conditions of approximately 10 to 15 knots in an average 18 degrees. By the end of Tuesday the majority of the Irish team had qualified for the gold fleet.
Wednesday was a rest day with team racing and a coastal race, which was a new experience for all the Irish sailors. Heather had a great day finishing 3rd overall and was rewarded with lots of French Chocolate!!
Back to business on Thursday which in fact resulted as the last racing day due to no wind on Friday. Another excellent sailing day with a perfect sea breeze. The team finished the event in great form and generally happy with their results, realising that this experience at International level will stand to them in the future. Full results can be found at the following link http://www.cnloctudy.com/fr/resultats
A number of other Irish sailors participated in various divisions within the event, they were as follows; Cliobhna Ni Shuilleabhain, Charley Breen, Colin O'Sullivan, Tom Keal and Micheal O' Suilleabhain. They all sailed well and enjoyed the event, especially Cliobhna who finished 2nd girl overall.
The team would like to thank the Buckleys and D'Arcys for the Pizza night and BBQ and a very big thankyou to Oonagh for providing fantastic cooking for the hungry sailors and looking after us so well!
A final thank you to the coach Thomas for all his fantastic tips and local knowledge during the event and being great craic as well!!" Well done to Team Ireland for a great event! |