Craig hoping for the best

Sailing: With gale warnings and weather hazard alerts set to dominate the weekend, organisers at the National Yacht Club at Dun Laoghaire will be hoping for a window of opportunity to stage the ISA All-Ireland Sailing Championship.

While western regions seem likely to receive the brunt of the gales, offshore winds on Dublin Bay will hopefully offer sufficient shelter to permit the senior and junior series to be sailed. Plan B-type options range from dispensing with the repechage rounds and completing the entire event in just one day to rescheduling the event.

Racing on Monday is also permitted under the Sailing Instructions, though this is highly unlikely. "We're lucky that the wind is going to be offshore for the weekend," commented Seán Craig, ISA racing manager. "There's a massive difference between 25 knots from the south-east and the 25 knots from the west: we will be very mindful of avoiding damage to the loaned boats."

As many as 50 of Ireland's best amateur and Olympic-level sailors will be competing in this annual event, rechristened the Sailing All-Irelands this year. The seniors will compete with two sails only in 1720 Sportsboats while junior/girls event will be sailed in Topper single-handers.

The combined fleet represents just about every part of the island including inland waters - bar Limerick and Galway. Ironically, two of Ireland's most successful sailors hail from the two missing areas. Ger O'Rourke, owner/skipper of the Cookson 50-footer Chieftain from Limerick, has had one of the most successful inaugural seasons of any Irish big boat in recent years, counting class wins in the Sydney to Hobart Race and the British IRC National championships. The season was topped off with the overall win of the Round Britain and Ireland Race.

Galway's Eamon Conneely has just ended the Transpac 52-footer circuit on Siemens (aka Patches) which placed third overall in the season-long series. The highlight was winning the prestigious Copa del Rey regatta in Spain earlier this summer, a result that cemented his decision to commit to a second, latest generation TP52 for 2007.

ISA ALL-IRELAND CHAMPIONSHIP

SENIOR FLEET - Club Cruiser 0: M Mansfield (Royal Cork YC); Cruiser 1: A O'Leary (Royal Cork YC); Cruiser 2: N Spain (Howth YC); Cruiser 3: V Gaffney (Howth YC); Olympic 1: G Owens (RStGYC); Olympic 2: P McCarthy (Kinsale YC); Defending champ: D Crosbie (National YC); 1720: P O'Leary (Royal Cork YC); Fireball: N Butler (Dun Laoghaire Motor YC); GP14: J McGuinness (Moville Boat Club); Multihull: A-J Lawrence (Blessington SC); Mermaid: D Joyce (Howth YC/Wexford Boat & Tennis Club); Squib: J Driscoll (Royal North of Ireland YC); Ruffian: A Kirwan (National YC); Flying Fifteen: G Donleavey (National YC); J/24: D Taylor (Carrickfergus SC); IDRA 14: A Carr (Sutton Dinghy Club); Laser: R Craig (RStGYC); Dragon: Neil Hegarty (RStGYC); Etchell: A Shanks (RStGYC); Waterwag: D McFarlane (Royal Irish YC); Shannon One Design: D Dickson (Lough Ree YC); Lasers Radial: R Seaton (Ballyholme YC); Wild cards: M O'Loughlin (Howth YC), C Byrne (National YC).

JUNIOR/GIRLS FLEET - Laser Radial: A McLaverty (Kinsale YC); 420: A Rumball (RStGYC); Youth Worlds: A Murphy (National YC); Laser 4.7: B McCartin (Cushendall S&BC); Wild card: B Lynch (Blessington SC); Topper: C Penny (Carrickfergus SC); Laser 4.7: D Kenefick (Royal Cork YC); Optimist: D Kissane (Howth YC); Mirror: D Shiels (Skerries SC); 420: F Jenkinson (Skerries SC); Youth Worlds: G Kenefick (Royal Cork YC); Optimist: J Aplin (RStGYC); Optimist: J Butler (RStGYC); Optimist: J Andreasen (RStGYC); Laser Radial: K McMillan (Strangford Lough YC); Topper: M Dolan (Blessington SC); Mirror: M Armstrong (Sligo YC); Feva: M O'Dowd (RStGYC); Topaz: M Harrington (Courtown SC); Mirror: R Guy (RStGYC); Laser Radial: R Wallace (Wexford Harbour Boat & Tennis Club); Laser Standard: R Murphy (Quoile YC); Optimist: R Vaughan (Royal North of Ireland YC); Laser 4.7: T Brien (Royal North of Ireland YC); Youth Worlds: T MacColgáin (RStGYC).