Environment
Investors retreat from sustainability bonds in 2025August 4, 2025
By David Pendered
July 14 – Adding a new legend to Irish folklore, three sisters sailed for Ireland in this month’s Optimist World Championship.
The start of the new tale begins with sisters who sail from a yacht club with a quintessential Irish name in a county with a legend of its own – the Royal St George Yacht Club/Long Derg Yacht Club, located in a county associated with a famous World War I soldier’s song, “It’s a Long Way to Tipperary.”
Tipperary must have felt a long way away when the girls touched down in Portorož, Slovenia, a resort at the northeastern tip of the Adriatic Sea that hosted 264 sailors from 64 countries in the 2025 Optimist World Championship.
The girls arrived fresh off their wins in national regattas.
Maeve, Emily, and Lily Donagh placed first, second and third, respectively, in the Irish Sailing Youth Nationals in April. They repeated the showing three weeks later, in the Optimist Leinster Championships.
But it wasn’t meant to be for the Donagh girls at Portorož. Mauve placed 105th overall. Emily placed 146th overall. Lily placed 189th overall.
They did have their moments. In one race, Lily took second place and Mauve took seventh, while Emily took 30th. Emily took third in a race where her sisters finished in the middle of the fleet.
The legend that may grow around the Donagh girls could highlight their bravery in racing tee-tiny boats on the Adriatic Sea; the boats are less than 8 feet long. Each sailed consistently and exhibited flashes of brilliance in scoring at least one Top Ten finish.
They know future races are ahead of them, just as they were for a former Opti sailor who finished 73rd, 109th and 37th in his three Opti World’s before he went on to become the most successful sailor in Olympics history – Sir Ben Ainslie, who won medals in five consecutive Olympics, starting in 1996, before transitioning to the America’s Cup.
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