SAILING:WITH ENTRIES in – and barring 11th-hour hitches – today's opening action of the Leibherr Cruiser Championships on Dublin Bay will feature a combined fleet of 117 boats drawn from around Ireland and Britain. Weather looks set to dominate the three days of competition, but little else stands between 880 competitors and a clutch of national titles.
Four classes will compete under the IRC handicap for primary trophies, while the Irish Echo system will also be used. And for the first time, the Irish Cruiser Racer Association has introduced a Corinthian Cup for a further two classes to encourage entries that would otherwise avoid full competition.
The Offshore trophy, which was won last year for the delivery race to the event venue in Fenit by Blondie, has already been secured by Anthony O’Leary’s Antix for last weekend’s sprint from Crosshaven to Dun Laoghaire.
Dave Dwyer and marinerscove.ie arrived alongside the new pontoon break-water at the Royal St George YC, host club to the series, earlier this week to defend his Division Zero IRC title, while George Sisk’s Wow! will defend the Echo championship.
Paul O’Higgins’ Rockabill, from the Royal Irish YC/National YC, is the reigning Division One title-holder under IRC, but the 2009 Echo winner, Tom Whelan’s Chaos from the Royal Western YC in Kilrush, is not attending.
It’s a similar picture in Division Two where John Murphy and Richard Colwells’ Kinetic from Howth has a short journey across the bay for their IRC defence, but Fionnbar O’Sullivan’s Treyona, from Tralee Bay, is not defending on Echo, and Jackie Ward’s Hallmark from Clifden is also not in Dún Laoghaire, which opens the prospect of the masterful Vincent Gaffney from Howth producing the double in IRC and Echo.
Unsurprisingly, as the largest club in the country, Howth Yacht Club has the biggest squad in Dún Laoghaire with 20 crews spread across the six divisions. And as visitors make up close to half the fleet, the Royal Cork YC is the next largest club with nine boats.
There are also representatives from many of the smaller venues; in all, 19 clubs are included.
The turn-out marks a strong response to the recession and a clear effort to “rally the troops”.
But the effects of the economic problems can also be seen in the single confirmed team of three boats from Ireland for this summer’s Commodore’s Cup in Cowes: just two years ago, Ireland had three teams of three competing for the sought-after trophy.
But while the ICRA championships this weekend represents close to a record entry for a national championships series, many boats still remain tied-up and unused. Almost 400 IRC certificates are being issued to Irish boats this year, yet just a quarter of that will compete this weekend.
While many simply opt out of the commitment of a national-grade series, preferring regular club racing, a frequently cited problem by owners is unavailability of committed crews.
It’s a widespread problem found at many venues and there is little sign of a co-ordinated solution.
“It’s a national championship with all the top boats from all coasts, so the calibre is at the highest level,” said ICRA commodore Barry Rose.
“Most clubs now have websites that can facilitate boats looking for crews. But this event caters for teams looking to compete at the top level.”
Rose also points to the size of the British equivalent IRC championship, which attracts around just 65 boats, and reckons Ireland has one of the strongest followings for this branch of the sport in Europe.
Meanwhile, as always at Irish venues, wind – or rather the lack of it – is the talk of the dockside. Inevitably, comparisons will be made between Dublin Bay and its rumoured “transition zone” where a forecast light wind off the land meets a gentle sea breeze head-on, both cancel each other out and a calm results.
Hopes are high, however, that the forecast gentle wind today will be from a southerly direction, similar to the sea breeze and, provided fog doesn’t interfere, a good sailing wind could result.
branigan@indigo.ie
