This weekend, Friday August 13 to Sunday August 15, will see the GP14 fleet return to LEYC for the 2021 Irish Championships. The event is kindly supported by Enniskillen BID, Fermanagh & Omagh District Council, Ropelocker.ie and Inishmacsaint Fermanagh Beer.

Past Olympians, world champions and novice racers are expected among up to 100 visitors for the competition.

Competitors will travel from all over Ireland to compete on the waters of Lower Lough Erne. Half a dozen local boats will be joined by up to 45 visiting boats.

On the water volunteers will set up to eight races over the three days led by Derek Bothwell from Howth, Co Dublin, a national race officer.

Favourites for the title include Ger Owens and Brendan Brogan (with no less than 10 Irish GP14 titles between them), 2016 Word Champion Shane McCarthy and 2018 Irish Champion and World Championship runner up Ross Kearney.

The event also includes the Irish Masters and Junior Championships which are always hotly constested.

The last time the fleet visited Lough Erne was for the Hot Toddy event in October 2019, the planned 2020 Championship of Ireland was postponed to 2021 due to COVID.