SAILING / Round-up: Southampton professional Mike Golding has confirmed his intention to compete in the double-handed division of the BMW Round Ireland race in July. The entry is a feather in the cap of Wicklow organiser Dennis Noonan, who rolled out the double-handed division as a trial fleet for the 2004 race.
Golding, one of the UK's most prolific offshore racers, was second in the Jacques Vabre transat in 2003 and third in the 2004-05 Vendee Globe.
This will be Golding's first event starting in Irish waters and he will sail Ecover (an Open 60 in which he sailed round the world in 2004) with Graham Tourell on board.
In one-design news, Irish Paralympic Sonar sailors John Twomey, Brian O'Mahony and Anthony Hegarty won the Sonar Open Midwinter series this week in St Petersburg, Florida.
This event was the US qualifier for Beijing 2008, which attracted seven of the top-10 US teams including Athens bronze medallist John Ross, who finished fifth in the regatta.
Staying with keelboats, just two years since the introduction of the Etchells class to Ireland, the fleet has now grown to almost 30. The fleet's second birthday sees the unveiling of its website, www.etchells.ie, and there's further cause for celebration with news that a new fleet is to start in Dún Laoghaire, with a strong possibility of another in Cork.
To date all the boats coming in to Ireland have been second hand, although this year sees Dan O'Grady, Raz Beshoff and Paul Reilly bringing in the first new boat. They will compete in this year's worlds in Perth, Australia alongside David Burrows and the Norton brothers, Frank and Jack.
In team racing news, UCC has tightened its overall grip on the Irish team racing scene with victory in the Intervarsity Championship at Crookhaven.
The Cork squad of Frederick Cudmore and Jennifer Cuppage, Alex Barry and Sarah O'Leary, and George Kingston and Teresa O'Rourke saw off Trinity College, Dublin, in the final.
Sailors are being invited to join a cruise between North Wales and Dublin Bay from June 17th to July 1st.
The European-funded "Cruise in Company" trip is being run by North Wales Watersports and the Irish Sea Marine Sector, in partnership with the Irish Sailing Association, to promote cruising opportunities in the waters between North Wales and Ireland. For entry details, contact Stuart Gibson at North Wales Watersports on 01248 679 008.
