SAILING: Irish windsurfing has been given a boost - at entry level at least - with a revision of tuition guidelines to form a getting-started programme that the the Irish Sailing Association (ISA) claims is the "best in the world".
The thinking behind the scheme, launched earlier this month, came through the determination of a group of dedicated windsurfers who believed the market for bringing new people into the sport was far larger than the 487 trained in 2002.
The six trainers involved saw the potential for the sport's growth stunted by conventional learning techniques. The group, headed by national trainer Oliver Hart of Oysterhaven, Cork, threw away previous course notes, derived from traditional dinghy sailing training, and came up with a scheme designed by windsurfers for windsurfers.
The result, according to the ISA's Tony Wright, is the best teaching scheme in the world and marks a turning point in the association's 10-year history of windsurfing instruction that is published in a 24-page Go windsurfing log book.
Wright admits, however, the increase in participation numbers will be difficult to predict.
"We feel that the current scheme isn't really doing the sport justice but, having said that, the new scheme will have to prove itself outside of the pilots run by the instructor trainers.
"We hope the scheme will encourage new people in and also encourage people back who may have decided that it was too difficult. " he added.
The development of wide style boards coupled with lighter, more controllable rigs is making it possible to learn a lot faster so the trainers have identified a number of key stepping stones on the path to becoming "hooked" on windsurfing and removing the pain of the steep learning curve to the sport. Novices no longer need to struggle with balancing techniques or the up-hauling of sails.
New wide boards are light and plane easily whereas previously stable boards were heavy, offering little in performance for beginners. Every windsurfer can remember the first time they planed and, from an instructor's point of view, you know you are winning when the rig is holding the sailor up and not the other way around.
Getting to these two points has nearly always involved a lot of wobbling around on tippy boards trying to pull heavy sails out of the water and then to sheet them in order to get going. Instead the scheme aims for a dynamic approach where you can learn to beach-start and plane within your first couple of sessions. This, says Wright, means sailors reach the key points sooner.
Meanwhile, 81 entries have been lodged with Kinsale Yacht Club for this year's Sovereign's Cup regatta, which runs from June 25th to 28th. Organisers have cited former Sovereign's Cup 1720 champion, Anthony O'Leary, who will sail the biennial regatta in his X-99 Cruiser Antix, and Colm Barrington in his Corby 38 Gloves Off as favourites from entries received to date.
This staging of the cup incorporates the first Class Two National championship. As this is a competitive cruiser-racer fleet in Ireland, a hard-fought battle to win the honour of the first national champion title is on the cards.
