As part of the World Championship winning Irish team, two Mayo sailors have been nominated for the World Sailing Team of the Year.

Louis Molloy and Marcus Ryan from Westport sailed to a famous victory about a month ago.

The two Mayo men helped the Ireland team 'Headcase' to win a historic first gold medal in the J24 Class at the World Championship in Plymouth, England.

They were both 'a bit shocked' when they received the news this morning, that they have been nominated for this extremely prestigious award.

'Headcase' are in good company, as the other nominees include last year's winners of the Americas Cup, the Emirates Team from New Zealand.

Public voting counts for 50 per cent, while the rest will be set by an expert panel.

Votes close on October 26.

It would be an unbelievable underdog story if the Irish Team Headcase can win the title of World Sailing Team of the Year.

To find out more about voting for the World Sailing Awards: Click here.

The success of Team 'Headcase'

In 2018, Mayo cousins Louis Mulloy and Marcus Ryan (both O’Malley descendants through their Grandmother Sheila), teamed up with Cillian Dickson of Lough Ree Yacht Club, Sam O’Byrne of Howth Yacht Club and Ryan Glynne of Ballyholme Yacht Club.

With an aspiration to compete in the 2020 J24 World Championships in Poole, Dorset, they bought an old J24(named Headcase) from a shed behind Lidl in Kinsale.

Headcase had pedigree having previously won world titles in ‘91 and ‘93 and European championships in ‘97,’98 and ‘10, but by 2019 she was a little past her prime.

Over the following years, the crew of 5 worked on refitting the boat, learning their craft and slowly climbing through the ranks, initially in the Irish J24 fleet, and then the European Fleet.

They tasted major international success first during a European road trip epic, towing the boat from Castlebar, down to Thessaloniki in Greece for the 2023 World Championships.

The Europeans that year were held on the down in Balatonfured, Hungary and here, the lads secured a tight victory in the light lake winds to secure their first ever European title, beating their ever-tenacious rivals from ‘La Superba’, a professional crew, fully funded by and representing the very stylish Italian Navy. The European Championship win represented the highest achievement to date of any Irish J24 team.

In 2024 they defended their European title in Porto Cervo, Sardinia, beating the Italians in their home waters.

A world title in Seattle that year remained elusive with the Americans showing why they are the standard bearers for J24 sailing.

The Headcase crew learned some painful lessons about the difficulties of chartering boats for foreign events here where, despite much time and effort put into setting up their boat, it was ultimately not perfectly tuned to their sailing to the standard necessary to beat the best of the best in the sport.

Then, 2025 proved to be a keystone year for Headcase, winning their first ever world title.

The season kicked off with the first of the usual 3 regional J24 Irish events held in Sligo Yacht Club in glorious May sunshine. Headcase started the season well, winning every race in the event, despite strong showings from the rest of the Irish class.

The Southern Championships were held in The Royal Cork Yacht Club in markedly different conditions. Little did the Irish fleet know that the strong winds and cold weather battled in the eastern reaches of Cork Harbour would be but a taste of what they would face in Plymouth in the September J24 World Championships.

Headcase did not have it all their own way in Cork but did prevail with a second event win of the season setting them up nicely to take on the European Fleet in July in Wilmeldinge, Holland.

All 12 races were run in the event and despite strong opposition from local boats who benefited from crucial local knowledge, Headcase prevailed winning 7 of 12 races in the 20 boat fleet. This was their third European title in a row, matching the record to date.

It all culminated in Headcase winning the 2025 J24 World Championship last September.

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