Club and community still proud of Annalise

The absence of yachts from Dublin Bay on a bank holiday Monday in August was the first sign that it was no ordinary day for Ireland’s sailing community.

Instead, the fine weather found many of those who would normally be out on their boats ashore at the National Yacht Club in Dún Laoghaire — the home club of Olympic medal hopeful Annalise Murphy since she was aged just six years old.

Martin McCarthy, the club’s honorary secretary, observed with a wistful smile that it was also “somewhat unusual” for so many of the club’s members to have gone to Mass over recent days.

The port town, which is home to four of the country’s biggest yacht clubs, was already in festive mood, with large crowds congregating along the seafront for a local 10km race. But in truth, the only real competition was the one being shown on the TV screens in the packed, darkened rooms of the NYC’s bar and lounge.

From early morning supporters of the UCD science student gathered in the clubhouse near Dún Laoghaire’s much-loved East Pier in the hope of celebrating what could turn out to be the greatest day in the club’s 142-year history.

Another 250 members of the club are estimated to have travelled to Weymouth on England’s south coast, including the club’s commodore, Paul Barrington, to witness what they hoped was Ireland’s first Olympic medal for sailing since David Wilkins and James Wilkinson at the 1980 Games in Moscow.

Despite living in the foothills of the Dublin mountains in Rathfarnham, the Murphy family are all the more at home on the water, with Annalise’s father, Con, a past commodore of the club, while her mother, Cathy, together with Aisling Byrne, were the first female sailors to represent Ireland in the Olympics in Seoul in 1988. Her sister, Claudine and brother Finn (rumoured to have been named after a sailing class) are also accomplished sailors.

Back home, the crowd at the NYC cheered loudly as giant TV screens beamed pictures of the many tricolours dotted among the large crowds gathered on the cliffs overlooking Weymouth, which had been labelled “Murphy’s Mound” by her Irish fans.

Sailing might not exactly be the most exhilarating spectator sport (especially on TV) but the crowd, with their knowledge superior to that of most TV viewers, roared every time Annalise’s small craft beat one of her three main rival’s to turning around one of the red markers.

As Annalise’s race position appeared to go up and down like the bobbing of her yacht, her supporters’ faces went through the full range of emotions as it became clear that China’s Lijia Xu and the Netherlands’ Marit Bouvmeester looked safe bets for gold and silver.

However, silence descended as Annalise slipped out of a medal place on the final turn, having been overtaken by Belgium’s Evi van Acker, whom she had led for most of the race.

Colin Galavan from Dún Laoghaire, who has sailed in the past with Annalise’s parents, said the shorter, inshore course which was used for the first time in the medal race had been “challenging”.

He admitted that Annalise seemed to find the downwind sections of the race more difficult. “I’m delighted for her but also equally disappointed,” said Colin.

Excitement had been building all week at the NYC, particularly among the junior sailors whose interest in the sport will certainly have been cemented over the events of the past week, as Annalise won her first four races.

Instructor Chris Raymond said the young kids attending training had been ecstatic since the Olympics began and had organised their lessons to finish in time to follow Annalise’s early races.

“I’m absolutely devastated for her,” said Chris. “But it’s important to remember she is still only 22 and has come fourth in her first Olympics.”

Martin McCarthy, who probably has had to scale down the size of the club’s homecoming celebrations for Annalise, who is expected back in Dublin at the weekend, said it was a day of mixed emotions.

“She has done a phenomenal job. We would all have loved if she had got a bronze medal but it was always going to be a struggle, especially as the wind was light. Sometimes there are random elements in sailing which you just can’t plan for. But the Olympics have confirmed that she is in the top four in the world.”

The club’s secretary was insistent that she would have no regrets about her performance. “I don’t think she could have done any better,” said Martin proudly.

The sinking feeling among Annalise’s followers was lifted a short while later when another Irish female from seven miles further down the coast in Bray boxed clever and set course for Olympic gold.