Cora McNaughton from Old Bawn and Sean Cronin in action
McNaughton and Cronin win Youth National Sailing crown
LAST week end Irish Sailing held it’s 2025 Youth Nationals in Dun Laoghaire where over 200 young people participated in five different classes over four days.
Old Bawn’s Cora McNaughton and Sean Cronin from Malahide were in second place for the first three days and clinched the title on the final day with two bullets (sailing slang for a win) qualifying them for the Junior Europeans in Porto, Portugal.
One might say that Cora performed a Rory McElroy in Youth Sailing as this was her fifth attempt to gain this title.
Cora has gained this title on the back of winning the Irish Sailing Junior Champions Cup 2024 and Irish National Championships in 2023. It is clear that Cora’s talent and drive has enabled her to peak at National level, so what’s next?
Cora has already embarked in her programme of International sailing for 2025 with the RYA British Youth Nationals in Pwllheli winning one of her races. Other International’s include Kiel week (Germany) and Junior Europeans in Porto.
Cora has her sights set even higher and her ultimate goal for 2025 is to qualify on the World stage – for the Youth World Championships in Vilamoura (Portugal) in December.
In order to achieve this, she needs to come in the top 20% of Kiel week or Junior Europeans and of course she needs financial support which is her biggest challenge currently.
