Ridgeway Rockbags Waszp Irish National Championships 2026 at Ballyholme Yacht Club
by Conor Paul 28 Jul 13:24 PDT
25-26 July 2026
BYC locals, Espey and McGovern, in close battle - Waszp Irish National Championships at Ballyholme © Simon McIlwaine /
www.wavelengthimage.com
The Ridgeway Rockbags Waszp Irish Nationals 2026 took place on the 25-26th of July at Ballyholme Yacht Club. With a West North West forecast with wind and waves a ten boat fleet assembled in Ballyholme Bay.
With four races on Saturday in 13-20kts of breeze the competitors had a simple choice every upwind and downwind. Shelter in flatter water and less wind by the beach or more wind and waves on the edge of the bay!
Johnny Flynn of the Royal St George took all four bullets with Rob Espey and Matt McGovern scrapping for second and third respectively.
Sunday dawned and the breeze was up even more and had clocked round to the North West! This meant there was no shelter in the bay now!
Race wins were shared amongst Flynn, Espey and McGovern but in the end Flynn held on and took the overall win from Espey closely in second and McGovern in third.
Speeds of over 20 knots and spectacular dismounts where had by even the best, and the fleet was buzzing when they finished up for the weekend.
A big thank you goes to Sheela and her team for running such a slick eight race series in challenging conditions for the flying Waszps. Next year the Nationals will return to Dublin Bay where it is hoped that some fresh new faces will join the Irish swarm.
Overall Results:
| Pos | Sail No | Helm | Club | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | R5 | R6 | R7 | R8 | Pts |
|---|
| 1st | 3478 | Johnny Flynn | RSIGYC | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | ‑4 | 1 | ‑4 | 8 |
| 2nd | 2810 | Rob Espey | BYC | ‑3 | 2 | 2 | ‑3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 10 |
| 3rd | 99 | Matt McGovern | BYC | 2 | ‑3 | 3 | ‑4 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 14 |
| 4th | 2752 | Henry Start | RSIGYC | ‑4 | 4 | 4 | 2 | ‑5 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 19 |
| 5th | 20 | Conor Paul | LRYC | 5 | ‑7 | ‑8 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 36 |
| 6th | 3123 | Alex Trickett | RStGYC | (DNF) | (DNC) | DNC | DNC | 4 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 41 |
| 7th | 2611 | Michael Ferguson | BYC | 6 | 5 | 5 | 5 | (DNC) | (DNC) | DNC | DNC | 43 |
| 8th | 2071 | Jeremy Tomalin | BYC | 7 | 6 | 6 | 6 | (DNC) | (DNC) | DNC | DNC | 47 |
| 9th | 2455 | Eoghan Duffy | LRYC | 8 | (DNF) | 7 | (DNC) | 8 | DNF | DNC | DNC | 56 |
| 10th | 1 | John Chambers | DMYC | (DNF) | (DNC) | DNF | DNC | 7 | DNF | DNC | DNC | 62 |