Maurice O'Connell
Maurice 'Prof' O'Connell is a partner in North Sails Ireland. He is also a professional sailor, sailing & life/business coach and sailing media analyst/commentator.
In 2018 he again won his class in the Round Ireland Race and in 2019 finished 2nd in the Dun Laoghaire to Dingle Race - 10 years after he won it!
Also in 2019, he was providing expert commentary and analysis in studio for the SSL Star Europeans in Garda, Italy and SSL finals in Nassau.
Full bio here.
North Sails Ireland Reports Fantastic ISORA Success, Winning Overalls & All Three IRC Classes
8th September 2019 North Sails Ireland
I was on Dun Laoghaire Marina and in the Royal Irish Yacht Club on Saturday night to greet both the JPK 1080 "Rockabill VI" and J122 "Aurelia" into Dun Laoghaire after the ISORA grand finale - the Pwhelli to Dun…
North Sails Reports 'Stunning Weekend of Successes' on Both Sides of Irish Sea
27th August 2019 North Sails Ireland
WOW! What an amazing weekend for our fantastic clients. Inshore, offshore and one-design - well done, congratulations and Thank you for your brilliant sailing writes Maurice O'Connell of North Sails Ireland. Where to start? Here goes... Beneteau 31.7 Nationals Following…
Greetings to all J109 sailors! As the summer draws to a close and our seasonal pricing programme starts (please do get in touch for special offers now!), we thought it would be timely to reflect on what has been an…
North Sails Ireland's Customer Successes at Sovereign's Cup in Kinsale
1st July 2019 North Sails Ireland
North Sails Ireland was on and off the water, last week in Kinsale for the biennial Sovereign's Cup supporting our customers and all the competitors writes Maurice O'Connell My colleague Shane Hughes raced aboard the Wright's "Mata", winning the super-competitive…
The D2D race was, in many ways, similar to the 2009 race which I did on the X41 "Legally Blonde" writes Maurice O'Connell in this post-race review. Similar to then, strong northerlies made for a very very fast trip with…
It was a fantastic weekend for North Sails Ireland customers at the ICRAs (IRC Nationals) at the RStGYC writes Maurice O'Connell. Our wonderful clients won four out of the six IRC divisions plus stacks of podium places, including an amazing first in IRC…
The North Sails Ireland regatta service team will be in Dun Laoghaire this coming weekend for the ICRA Nationals at the Royal St. George Yacht Club. If you need any help with damaged sails or spares please do not hesitate…
The North Sails Ireland team of Nigel Young, Shane Hughes and myself, Maurice O'Connell, head to the Scottish Series today to race with our customers and against our many friends from Ireland and the UK. J109 Chimaera I will be racing…
Here at North Sails Ireland, we have had a fantastic start to this year's J109 class season writes Maurice O'Connell. The East Coast Championships in the National YC that featured North Sails Ireland as an event sponsor boasted a strong fleet of…
North Sails Ireland Fits New Mainsail for Discovery 67 in Dun Laoghaire Marina
25th April 2019 North Sails Ireland
North Sails Ireland have just fitted a new mainsail for Glen Finegan's lovely Discovery 67, Tangaroa 2 which has recently arrived from Scotland writes Maurice 'Prof' O'Connell. Glen is returning to Ireland, having worked abroad for many years. Working on the…
It was a fantastic feeling for me to retain my connection with the Melges 24 class, even though it's been some time since our World Championship win on "Embarr". Last weekend I travelled to Bergen in Norway to work with…
Battle of the Sunfast Sisterships in DBSC Spring Chicken Race (Video)
3rd March 2019 North Sails Ireland
Prof O'Connell of North Sails Ireland reports from the deck of the Sunfast 3600 YoYo in the DBSC Spring Chicken race on Dublin Bay. Today's DBSC Spring Chicken race was a light wind affair with big wind shifts, making it challenging…
Rush Sailing Club in North County Dublin is the venue for the next North Sails talk where North Sails Ireland agent Maurice O'Connell will talk about upwind sail trim and escaping from the start. RSC is the home club of…
Prof O'Connell & Conor Clarke Dismasted While Leading Round Jamaica Race
4th December 2018 North Sails Ireland
Two years to the day that Ireland's Embarr team won the Melges 24 Worlds in Miami, Conor Clarke and Maurice 'Prof' O'Connell were back on the water for the 380–mile Round Jamaica Race on Mark Shield's Beneteau 35s5 "Breakaway". Mark is…
North Sails Powered J109s Dominate 2018 Nationals at Howth Yacht Club
11th October 2018 North Sails Ireland
North Sails Ireland clients dominated the recent J109 Irish National Championships in Howth Yacht Club. The top six places were hoovered up by J109's flying 100% North Sails inventories. Conditions were tough, with winds always in excess of 15 knots…
North Sails Ireland J109 National Championships Sponsorship Features Video Debriefs
3rd October 2018 North Sails Ireland
In the second part of North Sails Ireland's sponsorship of the two flagship Irish J109 events in 2018 (see here), North Sails Ireland's Maurice "Prof" O'Connell and Nigel Young team will be on the water this weekend at the National…
The overall ISORA series was won for the second successive year by Peter Dunlop and Vicki Cox's J109 "Mojito" and she also took the spoils in IRC 1. Second overall was Chris Power-Smith's J122 "Aurelia" who also won IRC 0.…
North Sails clients finished 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th overall in the recent Irish Dragon Championships held at Glandore Harbour Sailing Club. As Afloat.ie previously reported, it was a tough four day series with "Phantom", helmed by Neil Hegarty and…
