As Wicklow Sailing Club prepares to celebrate its 50th anniversary in the New Year, offshore sailors from around Ireland will gather at its South Quay clubhouse this evening to hear long-awaited details of the biennial Round Ireland Race scheduled to start next June as usual.

Few surprises, if any, will be in store but a new era for the 704-mile circumnavigation is looming at a critical point in the race's development.

The main news is that the event will start on June 24th with no changes to the event format or course according to Denis Noonan, who heads the organising group within Wicklow SC. Even greater emphasis than usual will be placed on safety, in light of the Sydney to Hobart tragedy, although he is keen to stress the good track record of the Irish event in its 20-year history.

Numbers on the start line have never been easy to predict in the past. The 1998 event saw a significant drop to below 40 boats, ending a long run of fleets well in excess of 55 or more. Nevertheless, Noonan and his team are aiming for a turnout of between 40 and 60 crafts and inquiries have been growing, especially from Cork and across the Irish Sea. Racing will be under the IRC handicapping system but, if enough bigger boats show, the new IRM will be provided.

The long-term future of the Round Ireland remains an issue. The priority at present is to get the 2000 race set up, but against a backdrop of consultation about a range of issues. Noonan says the club is wide-open and decisions will be made democratically, representing not simply Wicklow SC's interests, but the sailors who take part as well.

A number of factors contribute to this. The fact that the race occurs in the same year as Ford Cork Week forces many crews to choose between the events. The Round Ireland demands at least a week-long commitment apart from preparation and training time. The Cork Harbour event demands are similar, if delivery is included. Both eat into valuable holiday time and often place strains on family life.

Another issue is the facilities in Wicklow Harbour. Boats with significant drafts have no option but to sail out of Dun Laoghaire on the morning of the start, be inspected there too and return almost immediately after finishing the race. This factor also excludes any serious international boats or classes that often travel with containers or large trailers for sails and equipment.

In reality, the future of the Round Ireland distils broadly into three plain choices. The first is to retain its current arrangements including what many people consider the essence of the race, that of the charm and camaraderie, typified by the raft-up before and after the race or the intimacy and friendliness of Wicklow Sailing Club itself. Reduced numbers may be a consequence, but it would be positioned as a race of adventure and accomplishment.

Or the race could follow a course of expansion and development. Contrary to its perception, offshore racing is not dead - it simply does not exist in the form or numbers that many people will remember from as recently as half a decade ago. The attractions of staging an event in Ireland are numerous - given the correct approach including marketing. If this choice were taken, the race would surely take its rightful place on the world stage alongside the famous Sydney-Hobart and Fastnet Races.

The third alternative is least appealing but by far the easiest. Simply giving up, whether directly through a lack of commitment, or indirectly caused by a lack of financial support would be a great shame. It would cast a dark shadow across the achievements of hundreds of sailors, young and old, and end the gift to Irish sailing provided by the early pioneers of the course in 1980.