Interest in Team Racing continues to rise

SAILING: An important landmark will be reached this weekend when the Irish Team Racing Association stage their east Coast Championship at the Royal Irish Yacht Club at Dun Laoghaire.

Aside from the ideal spectator vantage points facilitated by the new marina breakwaters and West Pier that will overlook the short course, a new development may well provide the solution to a long-standing problem in the sport.

For years, organisers and sailors have been frustrated by a significant drop-off in participation by youth sailors having completed several years of intensive junior courses at centres around the country.

Prohibitive equipment costs, summer jobs overseas and other social distractions have generally been linked to the drop in numbers.

But since the late 1990s, interest in Team Racing, particularly at college clubs has been growing steadily. The staging of the 1999 World Championships led to a further two strong squads entered for subsequent championships overseas with a level of commitment that in turn kick-started greater numbers: five years later, most larger third-level institutions have active clubs and many enter teams for a series of regional championships.

Inevitably, a range of abilities will be represented and perhaps six teams might be expected to dominate an event. However, Gold, Silver and Bronze tiers will separate the 24 competing teams and 150 sailors this weekend and in a significant development, the championship will be opened to non-collegiate clubs.

The attraction of straight-forward boats racing in an exciting format is the key to the Team racing formula while the success in building interest in large numbers of youth sailors is a mixture of clubs providing training and competition boats plus a vibrant social scene. The arrival of six club teams in this weekends series is expected to significantly raise the level of competition and further break the dominance of the traditional favourites of UCD and Trinity.

Meanwhile, last weekend's call to defer a start to a new Jules Verne record circumnavigation by Steve Fossett's 125-foot maxi catamaran Cheyenne proved correct. Having moved to "Code Yellow" - start being considered - the 13-man international crew that includes Ireland's Damian Foxall was stood down when the meteorologists determined the weather window building in the North Atlantic would not last.

This week saw ideal conditions for crossing the Bay of Biscay but light airs prevailed off the Canaries and would have scuppered realistic hopes of breaking Bruno Peyron's 2002 time of 64 days, eight hours, 37 minutes and 24 seconds on board Orange. A year ago, Olivier De Kersauson saw his record breaking time fail on the final approaches to the finishing line off Brittany when he was virtually becalmed in five knot airs.

The unofficial season for record attempts lasts until the end of March.