BALLYDEHOB’S Daniel Copithorne may be only 17 years of age, but he is already preparing to make waves in Denmark.

The U23 Youth Match Racing World Championships begin on Sunday, June 21st, and the Schull Community College student will skipper the Irish team, Moxie Racing.

Copithorne is the skipper of the crew, responsible for steering the boat and receiving invitations to championship events. He is one of just 12 skippers from around the world selected for the championships.

The West Cork teenager has gained valuable experience with his school team, Schull Sharks, and while the skipper's role carries plenty of responsibility, it is one he relishes.

‘I can’t wait for these championships. I enjoy this sport. It’s unreal and great craic too. The build-up is nearly over now, so we just can’t wait,’ Copithorne told The Southern Star.

‘Steering the boat does involve pressure. There is a bit of responsibility involved and if something goes wrong, it’s mostly on you.

‘I have four crew on my team and I got to pick them. We have to work closely together and train as a collective. It’s all about keeping calm really. The key is to keep plugging away even when things start to go wrong.’

Moxie Racing fly out to Denmark on Thursday, June 18th before the championships get underway that weekend.

Copithorne is joined by fellow Schull Community College student Jacob Collins, Cork city sailor Matt Mapplebeck, as well as Donal Walsh and Ciara McMahon from Wicklow and Dublin.

Three members of the crew are still in secondary school, while the other two have just completed their first year of college, making it a young team competing at U23 level.

Daniel Copithorne in action with Fiona Mehaffey for Schull Community College.

‘Everyone in the team gets on really well. This is our first event as a team of five, so we’ve done a good bit of training together,’ Copithorne explained.

‘There is a huge amount of training involved. Myself and the others based in Cork go up and down to Dublin almost every week, while those in Dublin sometimes come down to Cork. I’d be training on the water down here any chance I get too. There is a lot of effort that goes into this.

‘I’m extremely lucky to have good people training me. We get a lot of practice in. With five more years left at this grade, the hope is to improve as much as I can and help our team grow over the next few years.’

While his focus is on Moxie Racing, the Ballydehob teenager is also the reigning 420 Irish Youth champion. The 420 class is an individual racing discipline where multiple boats compete against each other.

Despite that success, Copithorne much prefers the team aspect of sailing.

‘I would rather team racing, 100 percent. I wouldn’t be too fond of racing on my own. To be honest, the World Championships are going to be very high quality. There are 12 teams competing this year, so a top-eight finish would be nice,’ he said.

‘The people going to this event will be future Olympians. This is the real start of it all. Even to race against these people is a valuable experience for us. The amount we’ll gain from this event could be crucial for our careers.

‘I would love to win the U23 World Championships at some point in the future. That would be the ultimate goal. If I could get to the Olympics, that would be the pinnacle of it all.’

Copithorne is fortunate to be growing up in one of Ireland’s strongest sailing regions, and he believes the sport is enjoying a boom across West Cork.

He was part of the Schull Community College’s SCC Sharks team that won the recent 2026 Schools Team Racing National Championships in Dún Laoghaire, coming out on top against 23 other schools. In fact, it was an all-Schull final, the SCC Seals pushing the Sharks all the way.

‘West Cork is on a sailing boom right now. Everything they are doing in the school in Schull alone has taken a huge rise. Places like Baltimore, Bandon and Crookhaven are taking it on board. The sport is getting huge now.

‘You look at the schools’ team racing and I think we had 27-odd teams down for those events. That’s a lot of people and hopefully the sport keeps growing even more,’ Copithorne concluded.