This article is from page 88 of the 2009-01-27 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 88 JPG
THREE UL Limerick students make up half of Team Ireland that flew to Perth, Australia on Monday to compete in the World Team Sailing Championships.
Darragh O’Connor (21, 4th year Engineering Education student, UL) and Katie Tingle (18, Ist year Pri- mary Teacher, Mary I) and Conor
Byrne, (25, UL alumni) qualified for the team through a process of trials last summer. They have since been training and competing all winter, in all weathers, around Ireland and the UK. O’Connor and Byrne are both former captains of the UL Sailing Club, which train in Killaloe. O’Connor spent the summer in the USA, to learn from the American teams, current World Champions.
He also represented Ireland at the previous World Championships, as Captain of the youth team in Spain, 2007, where they finished ninth. Katie Tingle is fresh to the team- sailing scene, having achieved great Irish and International success in the Optimist, Laser and 420 classes be- fore being chosen to join the team. Her experience of different boats will be valuable when the team step
aboard in Perth.
Temperatures in Perth are expected to be 35 degrees Celsius, and winds 25 knots. The team raised all fund- ing from private donations, after many companies pulled sponsorship deals. The total cost to get there is €14,000.
The 12 foot ‘Pacer’ dinghies loaned at the venue are unusual outside Aus- tralia, but the Irish found a few old
training boats very cheap on Ebay UK, and travelled across the water to collect. This forethought gives them the edge over the rest of the World.
Other team members are Marty O’Leary (22, Dublin), Brian Fenlon (28, Wexford) and Emer McNally (20, Dublin). All-Ireland Champion Nicholas O’ Leary (22, Cork) 1s trav- elling with them as coach.