Barry out to make his mark in Olympic-class 470
Thursday, 2 October 2008
Barry McCartin (19), from Cushendun, who hopes to make his mark in the Olympic-class 470 double-hander class.
Cushendun teenager Barry McCartin hopes to make a name for himself in the Olympic-class 470 double-hander class, writes Shaun O'Neill.
The 19-year-old will be mostly sailing out of Dun Laoghaire since he has just started his Mechanical Engineering degree at UCD in Dublin.
But he still hopes to keep his hand in in Lasers over the winter at Howth!
Last season Barry moved up to the Laser Radial class, after dominating the junior single-hander series throughout Ireland for a couple of years, winning four National titles in two different classes.
Irish winners in the Laser class often go on to greater prominence, and not necessarily just in Lasers.
Barry went on to win his fifth National title.
Since 2007, he also has been the boat-specialist coach to the Irish Topper team's A-squad, which achieved 4th and 15th in the recent World Championships in Tralee.
Internationally, he has competed in the Europa Cup event in Italy and Germany, in World Championships in France - twice, and Holland, in his short career already.
Meanwhile, Barry cannot sing the praises high enough of Biznet Internet Solutions, his main sponsor.
He has secured a fantastic threee-year sponsorship partnership with a company.
Their MD, Adrian Bradley, said that Barry has greatly surpassed their expectations in the first year of their relationship.
Barry has additionally been sponsored by the leading UK sailing gear and accessories company, Rooster Sailing.
He has also been awarded grants by the Ulster Sports Trust, which disburses funds to emerging athletes through the governing bodies of various sports, particularly those with an Olympic profile.
A few weeks ago Barry won the Leinster Championships at Wexford and prior to that won the Irish Laser Championship in Howth.
