SAILING DÚN LAOGHAIRE WEEK:DUBLIN BAY is on course for a sailing show of strength next week as a fleet of around 450 boats is expected for the biennial Volvo Dún Laoghaire Week that will easily be the largest participant sailing event in Ireland this year.

And while the turnout is likely to miss organisers’ targets of 550 boats, there has been a substantial increase in visiting boats from around the Irish Sea region. Non-local boats already account for around one-third of the entry with half that travelling from Scotland, England and Wales.

Based on an average of six crew per boat, organisers are expecting in excess of 2,500 competitors for racing afloat during the day with that number set to multiply for the shore-side activities.

“I’m fairly confident that we will have the magnificent figure of about 450, possibly 460 boats by next week which considering the current economic situation is a fine performance,” said Phil Smith, regatta chairman. Last night, the entries stood at 447 boats.

Picking top boats from the broad fleet that includes more than 20 classes is no mean feat and there’s little surprise when it comes to tipping an overall name to stand-out from the entry.

“Anytime Anthony O’Leary appears, he performs very, very well,” said Smith who expects the Classes Zero, J109 and SB3 divisions to provide some of the closest competition.

But while numbers from around the coast may be strong, several notables will be absent. Engine and keel problems have combined to keep Eamonn Rohan’s Blondie IV, winner of last week’s Sovereign’s Cup in Kinsale, from taking part. Another Cork boat is Dave Dwyer’s marinerscove.ie, winner of both the British IRC Nationals and the Irish Championships last month. It has not entered either the Kinsale or Dún Laoghaire events.

That leaves just five boats to represent Cork on the east coast next week. O’Leary will have two boats between his own Antix Dubh in Class Zero and son Robert who will sail the modified 1720 in Class One; both are proven winners.

“I’m very disappointed that there aren’t more boats from Cork,” said Anthony O’Leary. “My suspicion is that the event calendar is very badly skewed – all the events are concentrated in one month.”

The British IRC Nationals were immediately followed by the ICRA (Irish Cruiser Racing Association) championship in Kinsale followed immediately by Sovereign’s Week.

“Three events in three weeks probably explains it,” O’Leary told The Irish Times. “In these times, that’s not easy to justify.”

“I would call for more even spread of the events through the season,” said O’Leary. “I’m a huge supporter of ICRA but the national championships should be in August. And the calendar in September is also empty.”

Meanwhile, responding to “constructive criticism” from previous events, the Dún Laoghaire organisers have made a total re-design of the race areas including moving the courses in from the tidal zone near the Burford Bank. Race officers are also being given the option of sailing either a Round the Cans or Wind-Leeward course, depending on the conditions.

On the thorny issue of light weather that has dominated the past two Dún Laoghaire regatta programmes, Smith feels certain that the remedies needed to maximise chances of getting a race completed have been made. “If it happens, the perception would be then that there is no wind on Dublin Bay at that time of year and therefore we would definitely have to look at a different time of year.”