Fundraising Update  23rd October

Hi All,

I thought I would let you know how my fundraising is going.
I’m nearly half way there in my pledge sports appeal with 2,450 donated so far so thanks so much to everyone who donated your support has been fantastic!
Euro Car Parks have donated 500 euros so thanks so much Dave. I’ve received 1,600 in offline donations from family and friends.

So my delighted to say I’ve raised enough to cover the costs of the first event the Copa de Vela de Brasil in Rio. So my sights are now firmly on the second event which is the Miami World Cup in January. Money is tight for everyone in January so I’m hoping to raise the money for this over the next few weeks. So please spread the word!

My wonderful home Club Howth Yacht Club are holding a 120 th year ball on the 14th of November and it’s a fundraiser to support my campaign.

I’m planning what to wear already!

I can’t thank the Commodore Brian Turvey, Emmet Dalton and Richard Kissane in addition to the support of the whole General committee enough. I am honoured as always to enter every event under the HYC burgee.

Yours in Sailing
Aoife

 

My name is Aoife Hopkins I am a 16 year old Laser radial sailor from Howth Co. Dublin.

I am a member of the Irish Sailing Associations High Performance Squad.

The laser radial is the women’s Olympic boat and Ireland have qualified for a place at the 2016 Olympics in Rio.

I am delighted to announce my intention to compete in the upcoming Olympic Trials!

In order to sail in the Olympics I have to be the top preforming candidate at the following events:

• 2015 Copa Brasil de Vela in Rio in December
• 2016 ISAF Sailing World Cup Miami in January
• 2016 Laser Radial World Championships in Mexico in March

In addition I will have to attend a number of other championships such as the Laser Radial European Championship in Gran Canaria.

Unfortunately sailing is an expensive sport and I have to pay for Equipment, Boat Charter, Entry fees, Flights to events and coaching costs.

I have been doing really well in my sailing campaign so far and have been sailing at Olympic level competitions this year. I was recently 9th at the Youth European Championships in Portugal and 20th at the World Championships in Kingston Ontario in Canada.

I was nominated for Irish Youth sailor of the year 2014. I was 2nd overall (1st Youth Lady) at the Europacup in Brest (150 entries) over Easter. I am currently lying 81st overall in the World Rankings (July 2015 consisting of 550 people).

In June I competed in the Sailing World Cup in the UK. I qualified based on my impressive domestic and international results in 2015. The top 40 in the world (of all ages) were sailing in this event. I was the youngest competitor in the World to be invited and was honoured to represent my country at such a high level.

I have achieved my goals for this year which were top 10 at the Europeans and top 20 at the Worlds.
My ultimate goal is to win a medal for Ireland at the 2020 Olympics.

I addition to sailing I like doing all the normal teenager stuff watching movies, eating pizza, hanging out with friends.

It’s a struggle balancing school, study, fitness and sailing but my school Santa Sabina Sutton, coaches at ISA Performance and Sportsmed Ireland have all been a great help and support to me!

The approximate cost of the Olympic campaign  is 20,000 euros. I hope to raise 5,000 through pledge sports.

Your help no matter how small will make my Race to Rio possible.