'Surreal' - Mayo men react after winning sailing World Cup with Irish team

Louis Molloy and Marcus Ryan from Westport sailed to a famous victory over the last few days. The wo Mayo men helped the Ireland team to win a historic first gold medal in the J24 Class at the World Championship in Plymouth, England.

From race one their boat 'Headcase' was up there with the top boats. And in the final race, they stormed to the win in very challenging conditions.

There were some nervy hours ahead of the last day of racing, as Louis Molloy recounts: “All five of us individually woke up at about five o'clock in the morning, because according to the last day, we were still ahead of the race schedules, so still plenty of capacity to mess it up and to not win it.”

But everyone stayed calm and wouldn't tell the other: “It was only after we'd finished the last race and unequivocally won it that we were sailing back in and someone said, 'Jesus, I woke up at five o'clock this morning', and then somebody else said, 'Oh, I did as well.' And it turns out all five of us had the same experience.”

It made sense, as they all were burnt before. Two years ago at an event in Greece, they went into the last day in second with the ability to win it and they had a bad race in the last race, and finished up fourth overall.

The other members of the 'Headcase' crew are Ryan Glynne, from Ballyholme Yacht Club, Cillian Dickson from Lough Ree, and Sam O'Byrne from Howth. Only in July, the 'Headcase' team secured a third European Championship in-a-row in the Netherlands. It had been a steady progression for the Irish team, improving year by year.

Mayo Sailing Club Commodore Pat Aylward was full of praise: "Amazing achievement from a group of guys. Five years hard work paid off. Our club is very proud of its two crew members Louis and Marcus. They're a great example to our young up and coming Mayo sailors."

Marcus Ryan from Westport admits that this was an emotional win, speaking to the Mayo News afterwards, he said: “This has been a pretty strong focus of our lives and a big project for the last seven years. So to reach the pinnacle of where we can go with this, is a surreal moment. But even funny on the car on the way to the airport yesterday, we were discussing all the improvements we can make to the boat and what we need to try and do to retain the title next year, so we're straight back on the wagon again.”

It will be a huge ask to defend their World Championship crown, as they will take place in Australia. That will require some logistical effort and above all money. 

"Our next issue is trying to find a bit of sponsorship for it" explains Ryan: "Because whatever about racing a boat in England, getting it to Australia and racing it down there is difficult, so our next focus for the next few months is going to be trying to find a bit of backing. We're hoping that the success we've enjoyed already can possibly give us a bit of a leg up in that regard."

But first there will be celebrations. A few crew members might meet up in Westport in a few weeks. 

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