SAILING: AN EMPHASIS on widening participation, more involvement by crews and an enviable decision for the overall boat of the year will be key elements of the Irish Cruiser Racing Association (ICRA) annual conference in Carrigaline, Co Cork, next weekend, where a strong year for this branch of the sport will be marked.

A revitalised effort to improve participation in offshore racing is also under way, with hopes that growth in the Irish Sea Offshore Racing Association will also stimulate similar activity on the south coast.

As offshore courses played a key role in the Rolex Commodores’ Cup in August, ICRA is keen to build on this success.

“We realised that we need more crews with offshore experience and we’ve had to address this for the top end of the sport,” commented Barry Rose, the ICRA commodore.

“It wasn’t by accident that we did better offshore (in Cowes) because more effort went into it, learning the lessons of previous events.”

In addition to providing a trophy for the best Irish boat in the Round Ireland Race, the association is also putting up a prize for a feeder race for the annual national championships, though points from this course won’t count towards the overall championships.

Next year’s championships, which will be held on Cork Harbour, have been carefully timed to maximise potential entries by avoiding fixtures clashes. The weekend series will be held from Friday, June 17th to Sunday the 19th, straight after the biennial Dún Laoghaire to Dingle Race and a week before Sovereign’s Week in Kinsale.

The championships will feature a new national title for Class 4 boats in recognition of the strength of local fleets.

“We want to widen the base of the sport and this is aimed at smaller, introductory boats,” Rose said.

The ICRA is also providing a new prize to encourage non-spinnaker classes to get as many people racing as possible.

The association developed simplified rules for these boats a number of years ago with almost country-wide adoption, with the exception of Dún Laoghaire where strong differing views remain.

“As far as we’re concerned, the spirit and ethos of non-spinnaker racing is to get as many people on the water as possible and also to be as inclusive as possible,” said Rose.

The annual conference is also being broadened to appeal to more crews as well as boat owners, and three members from the winning Commodores’ Cup squad will present their experiences.

The conference tomorrow week at the Carrigaline Court Hotel will conclude with a dinner at the nearby Royal Cork Yacht Club to recognise the achievement of Antix, Roxy 6 and marinerscove.ie in Cowes last summer.

All three boats will also be in the hunt for the overall ICRA Boat of the Year, along with national title winners such as Rockabill V and Kinetic in what is likely to test the judges on the day.

Meanwhile, the Greystones Marina site will take a step closer to completion when public access will be held tomorrow to view progress inside the shoreworks compound to see the final stages of the harbour construction.

Work on the new facilities, including club-houses, public square and a new health centre, will begin early next year.

Marina furniture and facilities are not expected to be ready before early 2012.