Sophie on crest of a wave

Sophie Browne’s sailing achievements have won her respect and accolades on two sides of the globe.

In January she captured a silver medal at the Optimist World Championships while The Irish Sailing Association named the 14-year-old their Youth Sailor of the Year.

But back home, amongst her peers in Mercy Mount Hawk, Tralee, the bar has been set considerably higher.

“My friends thought I sailed to New Zealand,” she laughed when recounting the reaction of classmates upon her return from the waters off Napier where she was 13th overall in a field of the best underage sailing talent on the planet.

“It was tough but it was grand. Everyone there was the best from their country but it went well. It was hard work but I had trained hard and it all worked out.”

Browne is being modest in downplaying her performance. Two hundred and ten competitors from 48 nations gathered in Hawke’s Bay on the eastern coast of the North Island for nine days of racing. Kimberly Lim, the overall winner, was the only girl to better Browne in the competition.

Performance Director at Irish Sailing Association James O’Callaghan is best placed to put Browne’s achievements into context.

“It is unbelievable. It has been a remarkable year for Sophie. To win the trials in Ireland was very challenging in itself considering you had the likes of Peter McCann from Cork who was fifth in the Europeans. Then she went to the worlds and almost topped all of that. It is a remarkable achievement. Her rise has been steady, her work has been amazing. The Optimist is the first step on the ladder for young sailors. What is important is the bigger picture. The Optimist is the beginning and not the end. But her parents deserve huge credit for what she has achieved.”

Sophie took to the water with Tralee Sailing Club aged seven. And at every step of the way, mother Lorna and father Donal were close at hand, taking her here, there and everywhere as she began making waves in national and international competition.

Lorna admitted: “My family wasn’t a sailing family. I have grown into it with a bit of dinghy sailing and the like. Donal grew up through the mirrors, cruising and was involved with the likes of the Round Ireland and the Whitbread. When the kids were young we were out in the mirrors and were racing a few times a week.”

Older siblings Ciara (19) and Daniel (17) helped pave the way for Sophie with impressive underage careers.

The Sailing Association’s O’Callaghan heaps praise on Lorna’s efforts in developing not just Sophie’s skills but an exciting crop of young sailing talent in the Kingdom. But like her daughter, Lorna bats away any compliments.

“Many families were involved and you were just asked to take on a job. I spent time on various committees and got involved with the Sailing School in Fenit. But as any parent will know, you just roll with it. The Sailing School has brought in new sailors which is wonderful. We help, encourage and support them, and then their parents get involved and the cycle takes off again.”

But all that time spent training, travelling, competing must be difficult for all involved.

“It is a labour of love,” Lorna agreed. “You wouldn’t do it if you didn’t enjoy it. We have visited many places with Sophie; Lake Guardia, Holland and New Zealand. Thankfully we don’t have to manage her in terms of study and the like. She has missed school but always makes the time up, She has a great work ethic.”

That work ethic will be tested more and more in the years ahead as she progresses through the sailing ranks, and state exams began to fill her horizons. Lorna admitted: “The plan is to remain in the Optimist for another year. Then she will be looking at a double handed boat or a single hander.

O’Callaghan hopes the success of Sophie Browne will be a catalyst for further young tyros to emerge from outside the traditional sailing strongholds.

He said: “It shows what is possible with hard work. Too often people think that access to sailing is restrictive. But Tralee Bay Sailing club have shown that you don’t have to be in one of the bigger clubs to be successful. The success of any club is driven by people like Sophie’s mother Lorna and many, many others. We are casting the net wide.”