The Irish Sailing Association (ISA) has revealed that a total of seven nominees from County Cork have been shortlisted for this year’s prestigious ISA Annual Awards. A total of 25 nominees have been announced across six categories with the Corkonians in contention for five of those awards. The winners will be announced at the ISA 7th Annual Awards Ball in the Royal Marine Hotel, Dun Laoghaire, Co. Dublin on the 2nd of March as hundreds of members and supporters of the Irish sailing community come together for one evening of celebration. Crosshaven local and three time Olympic campaigner Peter O’Leary has been nominated for the premier accolade of the Irish sailing community; the ISA Sailing Achievement of the Year award. Peter O’Leary and teammate David Burrows earned their nod when they won gold at the pre-Olympic ‘Sail for Gold’ regatta which took place less than two months before the Games at the Olympic venue in Weymouth. They will go head-to-head against fellow 2012 Olympic teammate Annalise Murphy who finished 4th at the Games and offshore sailor Damian Foxall from Kerry who was Watch Captain on Groupama, winner of the 2011-2012 Volvo Ocean Yacht Race. In the Youth Sailor of the Year category, 15 year old Harry Whitaker from Douglas will represent Royal Cork Yacht Club. The young Optimist sailor had a tremendous season of competition finishing 20th overall at the Optimist World Championships in the Dominican Republic in July where he competed against the top Optimist sailors in the world. New to this year’s awards ceremony is the collaboration between the ISA and Mitsubishi Motors for the ISA Mitsubishi Motors Club of the Year Award. Representing Cork in this category is Baltimore Sailing Club, the home club of Olympic sailor Peter O’Leary. The club have very effectively maintained the balance of being a popular summer club in a neighbourhood with a small but vibrant local year-round maritime community. They also have a very active junior programme. The Instructor of the Year award has a total of five nominees with three of them hailing from Cork. Nominations for this award are made throughout the year by members of the public who have been instructed by the individuals. Aileen Mann, the only female nominee from Cork, calls Ballinspittle home while she works is the Kinsale Outdoor Education Centre in Kinsale town. She will be joined by Daragh Mathews from Youghal who works for Aquatrek Sea Skills also based in Youghal and Pearse O’Flynn from Durrus who instructs from the Fastnet Marine Outdoor Education Centre as part of the Schull Community College sailing programme. The final nominee from Cork is The Oysterhaven Centre which will be competing for the title of ISA Training Centre of the Year 2012. The family run business was established as Ireland’s first windsurfing centre back in 1981. They are a leading centre for sailing and windsurfing, providing both beginner and advanced instruction for adults as well as sailing and windsurfing summer camps for kids. As the most exciting annual social event for the Irish sailing community, the ISA 7th Annual Awards Ball provides a platform for the ISA to officially acknowledge and commend some of the outstanding contributors to sailing over the past 12 months. ISA Chief Executive Harry Hermon remarked “We’re delighted to host this event for the seventh year to honour Ireland’s talented and dedicated sailors. 2012 was a phenomenal year for us and we’re proud to publicly recognise the accomplishments made by some of our champions”. And the nominees are: ISA Sailing Achievement of the Year · Damian Foxall (Watch captain on Groupama, winner of the 2011-2012 Volvo Ocean Yacht Race) · Annalise Murphy (4th place at the 2012 London Olympics in the Laser Radial class) · Peter O’Leary & David Burrows (Gold medal in the Star class at Sail for Gold 2012 in Weymouth) ISA Mitsubishi Motors Club of the Year · Baltimore Sailing Club · Royal St George Yacht Club · UCD Sailing Club · Wicklow Sailing Club ISA Youth Sailor of the Year · Sarah Eames (Strangford Lough Yacht Club, Co. Down) · Finn Lynch (National Yacht Club, Co. Dublin) · Dougie Power (Waterford Harbour Sailing Club, Co. Waterford) · Harry Whitaker (Royal Cork Yacht Club, Co. Cork) ISA Volunteer of the Year · Eoghan Lavelle (Scouting Ireland) · Rick LeVert (Rathmullan Sailing Club, Co. Donegal) · Dennis Noonan (Wicklow Sailing Club, Co. Wicklow) · Vincent Rafter (Lough Ree Yacht Club, Co. Westmeath) ISA Instructor of the Year · Simon Doran (Courtown Sailing Club, Co. Wexford) · Claire Lambert (Lough Derg Yacht Club, Co. Tipperary) · Aileen Mann (Kinsale OEC, Co. Cork) · Daragh Mathews (Aquatrek, Co. Cork) · Pearse O’Flynn (Fastnet Marine OEC, Co. Cork) ISA Training Centre of the Year · Colaiste Uisce (Co. Mayo) · Greystones Sailing Club (Co. Wicklow) · Howth Yacht Club (Co. Dublin) · Rusheen Bay Windsurfing (Co. Galway) · The Oysterhaven Centre (Co. Cork)
8th February, 2013