Irish sisters help rewrite the playbook at elite youth worlds

UPDATED Jun 27, 2025, 08:46 PM

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In the wind-whipped nursery of elite sailing, three Irish sisters are rewriting the record books at this week’s Optimist World Championship in Slovenia — a regatta where futures begin to take shape.

Maeve, Emily and Lily Donagh, who swept the podium at the national championships earlier this year, are representing Ireland at the 2025 edition of the regatta in Portoroz.

Alongside teammates Charlotte Crosbie and Holly Cantwell, they make up the country’s first all-female squad at the event.

Ireland is not alone in marking a milestone.

Hong Kong also fields an all-girl team, while India, Paraguay and the Philippines each send female sailors as their sole representatives.

By contrast, sailing mainstays including Australia, the United States, Britain, Germany and New Zealand are among some 20 nations represented by all-male teams.

This year’s championship, featuring 287 sailors from a record 66 nations, stands as the sport’s foremost proving ground — where young talent is honed, tested, and often launched toward Olympic greatness.

The Optimist is a single-handed dinghy class designed for sailors aged 15 and under, and is widely regarded as the foundation of competitive sailing.

With more than 150,000 boats registered worldwide, it is the most popular youth racing class and a recognised springboard for future greats including Ben Ainslie, who began his journey in an Optimist.

Ainslie went on to become the most successful Olympic sailor of all time, winning five medals for Britain, including four consecutive golds between 2000 and 2012 after a silver in 1996. REUTERS

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