SAILING: Last weekend's inaugural conference of the Irish Cruiser Racer Association (ICRA) is likely to prove pivotal in the development of big boat sailing in this country, with a capacity attendance expressing enthusiastic support for the initiative.
A wide-ranging agenda brought long-awaited clarity to several key aspects affecting handicap keelboats.
Absent from the event was any evidence of a rumoured Cork-Dublin divide, and there were undertakings that both fleets would support a rotating national championship format. Next May will see the first fully combined event take place in Howth and Kinsale will be the venue in 2005.
Discussion of the rotating event brought strident representations from the west coast contingent, attending in strength, and a commitment that the championship would rotate was given. The growth of racing on the Atlantic seaboard was high-lighted, which led to discussion on how to tailor the fixture list to allow a smoother transition for the fleet around the coast.
In light of this, there were calls for a pool of delivery crews to be listed so that owners could minimise calls on regular crews' free time to attend events. Several people suggested four-day events for the important gatherings would work best, as two or three days did not always reflect the effort required.
Professional crew will be restricted to class zero boats.
Increasing the number of events is not on the cards due to an already crowded calendar, but more co-ordination between clubs, facilitated by the ICRA should ensure fewer clashes.
Top designers John Corby and Jason Kerr had to pull out of the gathering at short notice. However, Wicklow-based Mark Mills, along with the Royal Ocean Racing Club's (RORC) Mike Urwin from the Lymington Rating Office, provided an excellent insight into developments in design and handicapping.
The RORC official said the formation of the ICRA coincided with a worldwide acceptance of IRC handicapping. He also warned against limiting the type of courses, as this would allow type-formed boats to gain an advantage.
"If IRC becomes totally dominated by one-off race boats, we would be failing in our job," Urwin told the meeting.
The ICRA will also administer the selection process for teams entering the biennial, RORC Commodores' Cup to be sailed next July in Cowes. A call was made for the team to be selected on the basis of victory being the sole goal, in place of the traditional approach of aiming to take part as the main motivation.
Meanwhile, a report on the forthcoming Grand Prix Rule that showed surprisingly high support for offshore racing at 80 per cent is good news for Wicklow Sailing Club's Round Ireland Race. Organisers will announce details of the 2004 event this evening, and a new two-handed division has been included.
The formation of the ICRA should be even better news for Wicklow as cohesion in the national fleet stands to boost entries for the 704-mile race. Interest has been slipping in recent years but fresh interest in offshore racing, thanks to ICRA, will provide a ready-made entry list.
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