Nations Cup build-up begins

Sailing News round-upThe build-up to the ISAF Nations Cup to be held in Cork this September got underway earlier this week when Smart Telecom were announced as sponsors for a new Irish Sailing Association initiative to boost participation in match racing in this country. An Irish championship to be sailed in Squibs will be held in Kinsale at the end of this month.

With the America's Cup firmly established as the pinnacle of world match racing, the Irish championship is intended to be the entry level standard with individual clubs permitted to enter teams to compete. The event is the qualifier for the Nations Cup in September in Crosshaven which will attract many of the world's best amateur and semi-professional match race sailors.

The scheme will commence with the championships, a lead-in to the major event in the autumn and it is hoped the interest generated by 60 countries competing in Ireland will help secure a long-term project where the ISA will build a fleet of dedicated match-racing keelboats for continued high-profile events.

The renewed interest in match-racing will be spear-headed by former Royal Cork YC Admiral Peter Crowley who is one of two prominent business figures with strong sailing interests brought on to the board of the Irish Sailing Association by president Robert Dix.

Cork yachtsman Alan Crosbie, widely considered to be the leading expert in race management in the country, has also joined the ISA frontline and the presence of the two Cork men may be seen by some as an effort to heal the real or perceived rift between south and east coast sailing.

However, such a divide is played down by Crowley. "I've read about it but I've never experienced it," he told The Irish Times yesterday. Rift or sign of the times, differences have been an issue in the past. "It was becoming a very Dublin oriented organisation over the last few years but that isn't necessarily anyone in Dublin's fault," commented Donal McClement when contacted by The Irish Times yesterday.

"It may just be that people in Cork weren't prepared to get involved so I certainly welcome this development."

Meanwhile, the Dublin Bay Sailing Club launched their forthcoming summer season at the newly refurbished National Yacht Club this week. The Dublin Port Company continue as principal sponsor and are keen to point out the harmonious relationship between nature, leisure and commerce on the bay as evidenced by the port operations, Bull Island nature reserve and the 2,000 sailors that take part in DBSC events.

However, the organising committee are examining last week's news, described by one club official as "very serious", that the HSS Stena Explorer high-speed ferry is to scale back its summer weekday sailings and begin a new schedule this season.

The revised timings mean the HSS will arrive at the harbour shortly before 6.00pm when hundreds of boats are heading for the race starting area and sail again around 40 minutes later just as the first fleets get underway.