The J/24 Association of Ireland is delighted that Stefan Hyde, Royal Cork Yacht Club and nominated by the International J/24 Class, has taken Ireland’s highest helmsman honour, the Irish Sailing Association’s All Ireland Sailing Championship 2007. Stefan Hyde is the current 2007 Irish National J/24 Champion. This 28th Irish National J/24 Championship was a typically tight-fought J/24 contest, at Lough Neagh SC that went right to the final beat of the last of ten races to decide the winner.
Prof O’Connell the All Ireland Championship’s runner-up, was National J/24 Champion in 2002, an event hosted by Lough Ree YC just after the European J/24 Championship on Dublin Bay, in which Prof – another Corkman - also competed.
Stefan’s earlier J/24 successes, helming a heavy old Westerly built J/24 Carabeg, included sixth place in the 2004 Silvery Anniversary Irish National J/24 Championship on Dublin Bay. In 2005, again in Carabeg, he was narrowly second in the Western J/24 Championship, on Lough Erne and third in the Northern J/24 Championship on Belfast Lough. All were promising achievements around Ireland’s J/24 circuit. Abroad, Stefan was top international helmsman and second overall at Denis Conor’s international invitation regatta sailed in J/24s on New York Harbour.
However, Stefan’s best J/24 achievement was at top World level, when Stefan scored the very best ever Irish World’s result at the 2005 World J/24 Championship, a seventh place overall, at the helm of Carabeg Two, a younger, Italian-build J/24.
In these events, and the All Ireland, Stefan is very keen and ready to credit the vital part played by crew, Daire O’Reilly, Declan McManus (Roy Darrer and others)
Stefan Hyde’s other recent and significant achievements include winning the Student World Keelboat Championship. With all this background, the J/24 Association, when nominating Stefan Hyde to ISA for the All Ireland Sailing Championship, was very confident that he had serious potential to do well. That Stefan has won has proven that judgement to be sound - and is a great delight to all in the J/24 Class.
Stefan’s father, Stephen was a stalwart of the J/24 class in its early days in Ireland, and a Vice President of the Association. He competed in Lady A, named after wife and mother Aileen. Stephen Hyde played a significant part in Ireland’s first hosting of an international J/24 event, the 1985 European J/24 Championship at Royal Cork YC.
Last September, RCYC hosted ISAF’s Nations Cup match racing world final. ISAF specified J/24s. Via ISA, owners in eight clubs across Ireland loaned a dozen J/24s to RCYC to use in a very successful Grade One event brought worldwide praise to Irish Sailing. Ireland’s J/24 owners, north and south, are proud of the vital part their boats played for RCYC in the Nations Cup. Doubling the delight, a year later, RCYC’s Stefan Hyde, made National J/24 Champion in an event on Lough Neagh, is now also the ISA All Ireland Champion –very good for sailing across all of Ireland.
Michael Clarke, President, J/24 Association of Ireland
