Dublin Bay Sailing Club's rise in boat entries from 309 to 339 in 2001 is set to increase further next season - by another 30 at least - with the arrival of a new "gentlemen's" class on the bay that will encourage cruising boats to participate in Thursday night racing.

Organiser Trevor Wood is still working on a name for the new class: "pure cruisers" and "genuine cruisers" are among the titles mooted.

Woods claims a new class is needed because the concept of the original cruiser-racer has become "fogged".

Quite simply, the gap between cruising and racing has become so wide it renders cruising boats uncompetitive regardless of handicap in conventionally rated fleets.

Cruising craft have typically become more sedate, whereas racing craft have become more technically advanced to out-point and out-manoeuvre cruising rivals.

Woods argues that even a new modern cruising boat such as a Beneteau 411 could be totally outclassed by a stripped-out racing machine of similar size.

The type of boats that might qualify for the new class are typically those fitted out for cruising - those with furling headsails, bow thrusters or in-mast furling main sails.

His concept has found immediate support among 44 like-minded D·n Laoghaire sailors.

He has 31 entries for the non-spinnaker class and, following a meeting of interested parties at the Royal St George Yacht Club last month, the class has begun to devise its own handicapping system as the East Coast Handicapping Organisation (ECHO) system will not be suitable.

A progressive handicapping system that is flexible enough to be adjusted in any one race has been floated as a possible solution. It's similar to that in operation in Cork and also in Australia.

In Cork, a rekindled cruiser fleet is boasting 33 entries for November's first race of the GlaxoSmithKline league in Cork harbour.

An "all-in" format may have suited some of the bigger boats who managed to finish before the 10 to 12-knot breezes fade, but Frank Clarke's 36-foot Sapphire took first in both handicap divisions ahead of Denis Doyle's 50-foot Moonduster.