Sailing on crest of a wave at local Galway Bay Club

Talking Sport with Stephen Glennon

WHILE Annalise Murphy’s silver medal win at the Rio Olympics might have come as a surprise – and delightfully so – to many in the wider sporting community, Pierce Purcell of Galway Bay Sailing Club says the achievement not only recognised the talent and dedication of Murphy herself but also the great work being done to cultivate the sport in Ireland.

No more so than at Galway Bay Sailing Club, which, when Talking Sport dropped into, was festooned with eager juniors looking to follow in Murphy’s footsteps – or sails in this case! “There is a fair bit going on alright,” agrees Purcell, who has spent the best part of his life promoting the sport in the west.

“Galway Bay Sailing Club is actually doing very well despite difficult times. The last few years have been very challenging. Over the last few years when things were tough, people weren’t able to afford sailing, no more than golf clubs and so on. It was not a priority to pay a subscription. That said, here is reasonably affordable. It is not only the best club in the country to get a float but also the easiest.”

Where other clubs may be centuries old, Galway Bay, founded in 1970, is still a child and because of this it has not been hammered by conservatism, tradition or being viewed as elitist. Indeed, its open policy has been of huge benefit to attracting numbers and promoting the sport.

Purcell’s roles both locally and as a Director in the Irish Sailing Association have also helped greatly in growing the junior section in the club. “For my sins, I am a director of the Irish Sailing Association for the last five years and I have been very involved nationally with a programme called ‘Try Sailing’.

“We have 70 clubs around the country involved in that programme. We are hoping to achieve – and we haven’t got the final figures yet – to introduce somewhere north of 3,000 people to the water. I am very happy to say Galway Bay Sailing Club is one of the top clubs in the country for getting people out.

“We have had a big increase in numbers this year, which is the first time in a long time. I suppose, we would have roughly 400 members in total, between adults and juniors and senior members. As you can see looking out the window, the club has about 50 boats on moorings. So, a part of this ‘Try Sailing’ has been to try and introduce people to sailing.”

He notes that, this year alone, 220 juniors have undertaken sailing courses at the club, all of which were supervised by a team of local instructors. “We have been fortunate this year. We have quite a number of our own homegrown junior instructors, which is great,” he continues.

For more, read this week’s Galway City Tribune.