Irish fury at tack change

SAILING: Gut-wrenching was the expression that summed up the state of shock in the combined Irish camp in Cowes yesterday as dreams of victory in the Rolex Commodore's Cup were dashed and the defending French title-holders emerged overall winners of the week-long biennial series.

As in 2004, this year's event was also decided on the outcome of the high-scoring offshore race that started on Friday evening and ended in light airs early yesterday morning.

But the outcome has fuelled bitter disappointment, and the full effects of the result may not be known for some time.

"Congratulations to the French team for winning the event," said Fintan Cairns, who spearheaded the Irish Cruiser Racing Association (ICRA) campaign. "We're also extremely proud of the Irish boats. However, there are serious questions of race management to be asked when a race was lengthened though there was no wind."

But the last race formed just one part of a series of failings by the Royal Ocean Racing Club (RORC) which directly affected the outcome of the event, according to Ireland team-members - and not just Irish sailors.

"This result is farcical and makes a joke of yacht racing," said Ireland White team-member Peter Morton, a British yachtsman and veteran of nine Admiral's Cup campaigns and every Commodore's Cup series.

"There is no conspiracy here at all, just gross incompetence. There is a lack of knowledge and understanding of what makes a quality international event or a farce."

Morton criticised the race management decision to extend the course of the last race on Saturday morning, 12 hours after the start when there was little or no wind on Christchurch Bay.

But RORC principal race officer (and 1980 silver medallist for Ireland) Jamie Wilkinson defended the decision to maintain the stated aim of a 24-36-hour race. "After 13 hours of racing, the fleet had completed two-thirds of the course and would have finished in less than 20 hours. The new course was working well until the wind died - it just didn't work out," he told The Irish Times.

"Obviously we're very disappointed after this so-called offshore race. It was not a fair race, the management was just awful," sixth-placed Ireland Orange captain Colm Barrington said last night. "If you want to run a race just to satisfy a time requirement, well that's your philosophy. But it's not what I call yacht racing when there's no wind."

France Blue also collected the Seahorse Trophy for the best combined inshore races performance, a result that did not include either the final race or the long inshore race that the overall winners were penalised for failing to sail the correct course.