SAILING: The presence of two-thirds of the Irish Commodores' Cup squad among its fleet spices up this afternoon's Saab Irish Cruiser Racer (ICRA) National Championships on Dublin Bay.
Six of the nine Commodores' Cup (CC) crews are on the bay but team talk is suspended until this weekend's battle for eight individual Irish titles are resolved. Championships will be decided using both the international IRC and the national Echo handicap rule.
Irish CC crews have already been on the water this season; starting at Easter at the Red Funnel Regatta in Cowes and on that occasion Ireland celebrated two class wins, a second and a third placing in an early display of promise. Ireland's single CC team in 2004 led the series for most of last year's regatta only to end up third following a slip in the closing stages. The Irish performance last time has fuelled additional interest for 2006 and Easter's performance is a signal that the Irish continue to be at the top of cruiser racing fleets in these islands.
But it is also acknowledged among the crews that April's Red Funnel was merely a tuning regatta, which makes this weekend all the more important as the first proper event of the season where endorsed handicap certificates will be mandatory.
Irish team members in action this weekend are Tiamat (Mills 40), Tim Costello, Dun Laoghaire Motor YC; Blondie III (Corby 37), Eamon Rohan, Royal Cork YC; No Naked Flames (J109), Andrew Allen and Colm Monahan, Royal North Ireland YC; Checkmate (Ker 32), McCarthy Bros, Royal Cork YC; Jump (Ker 37), Conor and Denise Phelan, Royal Cork YC; and Antix (Corby 35), Anthony O'Leary, Royal Cork YC. If there was an event T-shirt the slogan would read "92 boats: proof enough there is a demand for this type of event".
Three years ago there were many who put a question mark over the concept of a separate association for cruisers, but a small band of enthusiasts headed by Commodore Fintan Cairns will have by this afternoon staged the third 100-boat national championships at three separate venues.
Cairns never doubted its success among both the high end racer and the club racers too: "Even a blind squirrel can find the nut . . . the fleet size is proof enough, he says, that there was a demand for this type of event".
In two months time ICRA organisation fields three of the strongest ever Irish Commodores Cup teams which, by any standard, is a change in fortunes for Irish cruiser racing, for so long the back-bone of Irish sailing. Thirteen Cruiser zeros, 27 Cruiser ones, 29 Cruiser twos and 23 Cruiser threes make up this morning's fleet at the Royal Irish Yacht Club. All will be competing for national championship honours.
Eamon Crosbie's Voodoo Chile, and Conor Fanning's Fanatix, Anthony Gore-Grimes's Dux and Tom Kirby's Yami-Yami have been joined by new campaigns from experienced sailors including Andrew Creighton's Mustang Sally, and Mike MacCarthy's Checkmate.
In particular, the Dublin Class Three fleet have made an enthusiastic response, with 20 boats entered by the start of this week. Included in Class Three is a new departure for Kinsale-based Paralympic sailors John Twomey and Brian O'Mahony. They have swapped their Sonar for an IRC-rated 24-footer, also designed by Bruce Kirby, with a view to campaigning on the cruiser circuit this summer.
Apart from Dun Laoghaire's own four waterfront clubs Howth, Malahide, Rush, Dundalk, Arklow, Courtown, Waterford harbour, Royal Cork, Kinsale, Schull, Western, Foynes, Sligo and northern clubs such as Carrickfergus, Royal Ulster and Royal North are all represented in a fitting tribute to the health of Irish cruiser racing.
The fleet is boosted by visitors from across the Irish sea from Liverpool, Sunderland and Conwy who are eligible to take an Irish title as it is an open event.
And this year - a watershed year - the 92-boat fleet contains some of the hottest cruiser race teams in these islands. It is immaterial the number is down on last year's attendance as part of Sovereigns week and the only real disappointment this morning is that having hosted the event there last year there are two Kinsale travellers to the east coast. Up to nine Royal Cork boats are in Dun Laoghaire. Five boats have travelled from the west.
In other Cruiser racer news Cork Week organisers say they may have to consider capping the number of entries for the regatta due to pressure of space at Crosshaven.
