Irish plan for a national keelboat team

In the wake of the collapse of this year's Admiral's Cup, a band of Irish sailors have hatched a plan for a national keelboat team next season that has been fuelled by a frustration over the void in offshore one-design racing in this country.

The group, comprising of some leading 1720 sailors, are attempting to put together three Mumm 30s to compete in events such as Spi Ouest at Easter and other French circuit regattas before travelling to the Mumm 30 Europeans in Holland in June and the well-known Tour Voile, starting in early July.

Cork's Diarmuid Foley and Mel Collins along with Dublin's Dan O'Grady are examining the plan that might turn out to be the next step up from the 1720 class.

Traditionally, Ireland had a firm place on the international sailing map through the Admiral's Cup. The event gave good Irish sailors a chance to test their abilities against the best sailors in the world.

In the 1990s, however, partially because of problems with the rating rules, handicap sailing reduced in importance. This void was filled internationally by the birth of the new high-profile offshore one-design classes such as the Mumm 30, Farr 40 and Coral 45, but they did not take root in Ireland.

Events such as the Admiral's Cup, which stuck to handicap racing, declined. Eventually, it was forced to change, but the switch to incorporate one-design racing came too late to save it. In Ireland, many of the top sailors, with few arenas to profile their talents, ended up in the 1720 class. Others ended up in the Olympic classes.

However, the Olympic classes are not for everyone, and the 1720 is only a UK and Irish class.

The Admiral's Cup was cancelled in 2001, and there are no plans to resurrect it in 2003 so some top young skippers and crews (such as Malahide's David Burrows and Royal Cork's Mel Collins) have been trying out the Mumm 30 and have brought back an impressive set of results. There are hopes that it will lead to greater Irish interest in the class next season.

This year, Cork's Diarmuid Foley won the UK Mumm 30 nationals and then went on to finish eighth at the worlds. Five of his crew of seven had an average age of just 22.

The Mumm 30 is raced intensively in Europe, the US and Australia, and enjoys an extremely good international circuit.

In addition, the Mumm 30 is the chosen class of the Tour Voile race, one of the top events in the world. This is a four-week race, with around 18 stopovers involving a mix of inshore around-the-buoys races and short passage races to the next venue.

The tour begins in north France and moves down the west coast before the boats are transported to the Mediterranean for further racing. The event attracts extensive international coverage and many top America's Cup teams.

As this is a very extensive event involving over 24 days of sailing inshore and offshore, the proposal is that only one boat, with the crews from all three boats, take part. A crew panel of around 16 people would be required, and most would only do 10 to 12 days each.

This panel approach would ensure that the crew remained strong and motivated.

After the Tour Voile, the three boat owners would then have an opportunity to take part in the Mumm 30 Worlds in the US in September, where one, two or even three Irish team boats could compete.