Sam O’Byrne Presents Championship Medals to Howth Yacht Club

05 January 2026
Sam O’Byrne Presents Championship Medals to Howth Yacht Club
 
J24 World Champion and three-time European Champion Sam O’Byrne, a long-standing member of Howth Yacht Club and the Headcase team, recently presented Commodore Kevin Monks and Rear Commodore Jill Sommerville with his World and European Championship medals, along with two framed action photographs from the 2025 season. The presentation took place ahead of the club’s annual Achievers Awards.
 
Sam was part of the original HYC Under 25 (K25) squad system and remains a true champion of the programme. A member of Howth Yacht Club for over twenty years since childhood, Sam credits the club as the foundation of everything he has achieved in keelboat sailing.
 
 
“I would never have become a J24 World Champion without the Under 25 keelboat programme at HYC,” Sam said. “The K25 team was formally established in 2012, giving young sailors not just a boat, but a framework to learn how to run a proper campaign — how to travel, fundraise, and compete internationally. From early results at the back of the fleet, through Irish titles, Under 25 European and World Championship success, and ultimately full European and World Championships, that pathway shaped us completely.”
 
He went on to acknowledge the wider club community:
“Over the years, countless HYC members supported us with time, coaching, logistics, advice, towing the boat, and encouragement when results were hard won. That culture of backing young sailors so completely is rare and incredibly powerful.”
 
Sam also highlighted a unique achievement within the J24 class. The Headcase team remains the only team to have won the Under 25 European Championship, Under 25 World Championship, and then gone on to win the full European and World Championships.
 
“That achievement belongs as much to Howth Yacht Club as it does to us,” he said. “It is hugely meaningful to see the K25 programme continuing to flourish, with new crews now taking the same first steps we once did. I am deeply grateful to the club for the role it has played in my sailing success.”
 
 
Sam and the Headcase team are not hanging up their boots just yet. They plan to defend their European title in Sweden at the end of August before heading to Melbourne for the World Championships in November.
 
Feature by Jill Sommerville 
Photo credit Karolina Kernan