NUI Galway Win IUSA Event of the Year 2017/18!

The IUSA Intervarsities 2018 took place in Kilrush Marina, Co. Clare from Thursday 8th – Saturday 10th March. This event was hosted by NUIG Sailing and co-hosted by UCC Sailing in a thrilling 3 days of team racing between 10 colleges throughout Ireland and Scotland.

168 competitors took to the waters of Kilrush Marina with 220 college students in attendance in what made for great spectator viewing for the students, locals and those following us on social media alike. Over 137 races took place throughout the 3 days which was an all time record in IUSA history.

IMG_7738Pictured: Team NUI Galway

23 NUIG competitors took to the waters over the three days. NUIG 1 & NUIG 2 reached the semi finals in Silver Fleet after NUIG 2 were promoted from Bronze Fleet following successive wins in their fleet after the 1st day of racing. There was plenty of competition and close quarter racing as each college battled their way through the team racing S-course each day. Congrats to UCC 1 who were victorious in taking home the IUSA Plate.

Kathy Hynes (Development Officer for Clubs and Participation NUIG) and Kevin Cassidy of the NUIG Sports Unit were in attendance on the 2nd day of the event and were more than impressed with the organisation and level of activity on the water by the IUSA students. They both took to the waters as Eunice Kennedy (lead umpire) gave a guided tour on her RIB around the sailing course during racing, highlighting the various rules and plays executed by the respective colleges competing in that race.

IMG_7684Pictured left to right: Karl Glynn (VC & Treasurer NUIG Sailing), Aaron O’Reilly (Captain NUIG Sailing), Kathy Hynes (Development Officer for Clubs and Participation NUIG), Simon McGibney (Kilrush Marina Manager), Kevin Cassidy (NUIG Sports Unit).

A special thanks must be given to Simon McGibney (Kilrush marina manager) and Darin McGibney and Anne Lynch of Kilrush Marina who played a blinder in hosting us and looking after the students of IUSA throughout every day of the event. Thank you to our sponsors, local business owners, those who lent us RIBs, The Royal Western Yacht Club of Ireland for the use of their marks, The Irish Whale and Dolphin Group, The NUIG and UCC committees, anyone who helped out in any way and of course to you the students of IUSA who made this event possible and worthwhile!

It is a testament to the committees of NUIG and UCC for organising such a fantastic event and it was not faltered in any aspect from inception to execution. A BBQ put on by the guys from NUIG every day proved a hit with IUSA students and they donated generously as €300 was raised for the local RNLI as well as donations made to other local charities by the organising committee.

IMG_7696Pictured: Karl Glynn (VC & Treasurer NUIG Sailing) presenting Charlie Glynn of Kilrush RNLI with a donation from proceeds of the “IUSA BBQ”

The annual IUSA ball took place on the final evening where the lovely ladies and lads of IUSA got suited and booted for a final blowout until next year in The Old Ground Hotel in Ennis. What put the icing on the cake was when Karl Glynn and Aaron O’Reilly (lead organisers from NUIG) and their respective NUIG committee along with the UCC committee took home the award for “IUSA – Irish University Sailing Association Event of the Year”.

A truly proud moment for NUIG Sailing and the wider community in NUI Galway. Following this we are rest assured that NUI Galway has firmly set itself as one of the leading universities in Ireland with a firm sailing reputation.

Now, back to our keelboat campaign. Watch this space!

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IUSA Northerns

The second of four regional IUSA – (Irish University Sailing Association) events took place in Lough Erne Yacht Club, Fermanagh, Northern Ireland over the weekend. The IUSA Northerns were hosted by our good friends from Queens University Belfast in what was an extremely enjoyable 2 days of sailing soaking up the spectacular scenery that the North has to offer. NUIG entered two teams in Silver and Bronze Fleet and performed extremely well in what was a challenging course due to the light wind conditions and superb competition from other colleges. Sailing was postponed by the OOD on Saturday as a result of the light airs and resumed Sunday morning at 10am where roughly half of the planned races took place. In light of this not enough races took place in Silver or Bronze fleet to constitute a series, however, NUIG 1 placed in the top three of Silver fleet winning 6 of 6 of their races. The NUIG 1 team consisted of our training officer Jack Ryan, Eanna Gallagher, Andrew Levie, Daniel O’Sullivan, Donal Collins and Karl Glynn. NUIG 2 went undefeated in Bronze Fleet with a team consisting of Sean Mahon, Michelle Dunne, Ronan Armstrong, Aaron O’Reilly, Sarah Eustace, Orla Murray and Ciaran Jordan. Well done to all who took part! That concludes the IUSA events on this side of the year but we resume again in the third edition of IUSA events in Blessington hosted by TCD Sailing in
February 2018. NUIGSC would like to thank QUB Sailing for hosting a fantastic event, Lough Erne Yacht Club for their hospitality in hosting the sailing venue and lastly, all of our competitors from QUB, TCD, UCD, DIT, DCU, UCC & CIT. Thanks to all of the NUIGSC committee for all of their efforts this semester and for continually looking for ways to improve the club and promote and get more people involved in sailing as a sport for everyone!

That’s it from us for now. We’ll be laying low for a while but rest assured NUIGSC is on its way to the top as we look to continue to improve our performance on the team racing dinghy circuit and continue with our training on the cruiser circuit in the lead up to the SYWOC (Student Yachting World Cup) qualifiers in April 2018. Watch this space! Oh and make sure to check out our after movie of the IUSA Northern’s which can be found on our YouTube channel and Facebook page – @NUIGsailing

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