Ireland's Mark Mills, the Irish Cruiser Racer Representative (ICRA), was among forty delegates from 15 countries descended upon Cowes, Isle of Wight, the home of yachting in the UK, for the annual Congress of the Spinlock International Rating Certificate (IRC) Owners' Association. The weekend was hosted by the RORC Rating Office at the RORC Cowes Clubhouse and the Royal Yacht Squadron, with representatives travelling from all over the world including Australia, the USA, Europe, Japan and SE Asia. Discussions varied from technical aspects of the IRC Rule, which is jointly owned by RORC in the UK and UNCL in France, to race management, measurement, and certificate administration.

Technical Developments for 2017

Simplifying the rating of aft rigging
As racing yacht design becomes more complex and varied, the ethos of IRC is to keep the Rule as simple as possible, protect the existing fleet and try as much as possible to control costs. With this in mind one notable change for 2017 will be a development in the treatment of aft rigging. In recent years it has become apparent that the established definitions for backstays, running backstays and checkstays do not suit all types of modern rigging arrangements. For 2017 IRC will not distinguish between these different types but will count the total number of aft rigging stays, which will simplify the application process for owners.

Addressing undesirable trends
A second change for 2017 reflects the recent trend of moving lead from the bulb into the fin. The IRC Technical Committee does not consider this trend to be healthy for the sport, so in future will be asking for a declaration of the amount of lead in the keel fin for certain types of keel. Members of Congress agreed with both these changes which will come into force on January 1st 2017.

The 2017 Irish IRC championships, raced as part of the ICRA National Championships, will be held next June in Cork Harbour.  As previously reported by Afloat.ie, the event is chaired by Paul Tingle of Royal Cork Yacht Club.

More details of the above mentioned technical changes, and the IRC 2017 Rule text and Definitions here

It will be a packed June for cruiser-racer fans on the south coast next year with two of the biggest sailing events of the season taking place within a fortnight.

Plans are well advanced for the 2017 ICRA Cruiser National Championships at Royal Cork Yacht Club from the Friday 9th to Sunday 11th June 2017 June according to RCYC's ICRA event chairman Paul Tingle. TheCrosshaven club is working closely with Kinsale Yacht Club to facilitate sailors who plan on doing the ICRAs and KYC's Sovereigns Cup just ten days later.

Tingle reports that there will be free marina berthing in Crosshaven and Kinsale for those boats planning to compete in both.

Trailer storage is on offer at Royal Cork for the two weeks. A boat transfer operation facility is also on offer between Crosshaven and Kinsale for selected boats.

Discounted entry fee vouchers have been given out to the class winners at Howth YC Autumn Series last weekend. Similar vouchers are to be provided at the upcoming DBSC Turkey Shoot event in Dun Laoghaire. The first races of the 2017 Nationals are planned for Friday afternoon (FG. 14.00hrs) and a seven race programme is planned.

As well as the IRC and ECHO fleet national titles, the event will also host the Corinthian Cup and a new ICRA Coastal Cup. The event Notice of Race will be issued later in the year.

Following its national championships at Howth Yacht Club in June, the Irish Cruiser Racing Association (ICRA) is seeking feedback on the event via an online questionnaire.

ICRA commodore Simon McGibney says the survey aims to get views on how the event went for attendees but it also seeks the views of non attendees. The survery can be taken here

The next ICRA National Championships take place in at the Royal Cork Yacht Club in 2017

Recently crowned ICRA Class three champion, the all-black Quarter Tonner Cartoon, skippered by Sybil McCormack and Ken Lawless, is one of three Irish Quarter Tonners competing in tomorrow's Quarter Ton Cup at the Royal Yacht Squadron in Cowes.

Only three days after the conclusion of the ICRA Nationals in Howth on Sunday, the immaculately prepared Cartoon from the Royal Irish Yacht Club is joined by another Irish Faroux design, Cobh Pirate skippered Ben Daly and also Royal Cork Yacht Club's Farr designed Anchor Challenge, skippered by Paul Gibbons, for the Solent competition.

Gibbons will be joined by Mark Mansfield, (pictured on the helm above) fresh from success as tactician on Joker II in class one of the ICRAs. Mansfield, a four time Olympian, previously sailed on Anchor Challenge in 2012 when the Cork Harbour crew finished fifth in the Cup. In a busy month for the former Star helmsman, Mansfield flies home to Ireland to join another crew for the Round Ireland Race on Saturday, where he competes on Euro Car Parks, aka the J/109, Storm.

2016 marks the tenth anniversary of the revival Quarter Ton Cup. Since it was first run in 2005 the event has gone from strength to strength and Coutts' support since 2007 has been vital in helping to achieve that success.

The Coutts Quarter Ton Cup 2016 will be hosted by the Royal Yacht Squadron, Cowes, from tomorrow til Friday 17 June. As always the event will combine some of the closest and most exciting inshore racing anywhere in the world with a fun social programme and great class camaraderie.

As Afloat.ie reported previously, another new development for this year's event i s the introduction of an additional class. Class Chairman Peter "Morty" Morton explains the reasoning behind this. "What has occurred over the past few years is that the prototypes and past class winners have been upgraded considerably and in an attempt to encourage the production and older boats back to the event the organisers intend to run a second class provided sufficient numbers enter, known as the cruiser racer class. This will be for boats of a rating of 0.89 and below and for boats such as a GK24, Bolero, Quarto, Farr 727's, Eygthene 24's, Trapper 300. We know there are literally hundreds of those around and hopefully enough of them want to enjoy the regatta. They will be racing for the Roger Swinney Quarter Ton Trophy and it is intended that a round the buoys course will be set for them."

The Royal Yacht Squadron welcomed representatives of the 26 teams that will race for the Coutts Quarter Ton Cup 2016 tonight. The assembled company enjoyed a skipper's briefing followed by a welcome reception on the club's famous Platform as the sun set into the Western Solent behind them.

After an initial welcome by Colonel Tony Singer on behalf of the Royal Yacht Squadron (above), Quarter Ton Class Secretary Louise Morton thanked the club for its warm welcome and event sponsors Coutts for their ongoing support of the event which is now in its tenth year. She also thanked all the competitors for attending and particularly welcomed some new additions to the fleet.

Helleby, the 1980 Laurie Davidson design, which came second to Bullit in the Auckland Quarter Ton Cup of that year, has been tracked down by Robbie Stewart and makes her first appearance with the revival Quarter Ton fleet this week. Protis, the 1981 Fauroux design, which was built for Bruno Trouble and won that year's Cup in Marseille, has been purchased by Diarmid de Burgh Milne and comes to the event fresh from a full refit at Casse Tete Marine. Fauroux's 1989 design Tiger is well known to fleet but is under new ownership for this year's event with Tom Daniel joining the family and looking forward to his first Coutts Quarter Ton Cup.

Louise also welcomed the many old friends returning to the the event and looked forward to some fantastic racing to come. With the welcomes complete Race Officer Rob Lamb ran through the formalities for the week, confirming that racing will be run in the Solent on a mixture of laid windward leeward and fixed mark courses. He noted that Thursday's forecast for possible very heavy and thundery rain storms may limit the opportunities for racing that day, and so he announced that he intends to run four races on the opening day. Up to nine races are scheduled over the three days.

As always close racing is expected with a host of teams in with a chance of taking this year's title. Louise Morton will be defending her title aboard Bullit, but those hoping to snatch the laurels from her include Rickard Melander's Alice II, Sam Laidlaw's Aquila, Tony Haywood's Blackfun, Willy McNiell's Illegal and Ian Southworth's Whiskers, to name but a few.

The Quarter Ton Fleet is renowned for its camaraderie and love of a good party and this year's Coutts Quarter Ton Cup will give them plenty of opportunity to exercise that love, with a very special BBQ at Cowes Yacht Haven on Wednesday evening and the famous Coutts Quarter Ton Cup Gala Dinner and Prize Giving on in the Royal Yacht Squadron Pavillion on Friday evening.

Revived Coutts Quarter Ton Cup Winners

2005 - Purple Haze (1977 David Thomas design) - Tony Dodd
2006 - Enigma - (1977 Ed Dubois design) - Ed Dubois
2007 - Espada - (1980 Bruce Farr design) - Peter Morton
2008 - Tom Bombadil (1982 Doug Peterson design) - Chris Frost & Kevin George
2009 - Anchor Challenge (1978 Bruce Farr design) - Peter Morton
2010 - Cote (1990 Gonzalez design) - Darren Marston & Olly Ophaus
2011 - Overall - Espada (1980 Bruce Farr design) - Louise Morton
Corinthian - Tiger (1989 Fauroux design) - George Kenefick
2012 - Overall - Bullit - (1978 Fauroux design) - Peter Morton
Corinthian - Tiger (1989 Fauroux design) - George Kenefick
2013 - Overall - Espada - (1980 Bruce Farr design) - Louise Morton
Corinthian - Pinguin Playboy (1979 Fauroux design) - Pierre Paris
2014 - Overall - Bullit (1978 Fauroux design) - Peter Morton
Corinthain - Illes Pitiuses (1983 Fauroux) - Dominic and Jason Losty
2015 - Overall - Bullit (1978 Fauroux design) - Louise Morton
Corinthian - Pinguin Playboy (1979 Fauroux design) Pierre Paris
Notes For Editors

About The Coutts Quarter Ton Cup

The revival Quarter Ton Cup was the brainchild of well-known sailors Peter Morton and Tony Dodd. In 2004 Peter was toying with the idea of buying back his old Bruce Farr designed Quarter Tonner Super Q and Tony, the owner of Purple Haze, we keen to increase the number of boats he could race against.

A few phone calls to friends later and the idea of a revival Quarter Ton Cup was rolling. The inaugural event took place in 2005 with 14 boats attending and Purple Haze claiming victory. Each year the number and quality of the entrants has increased with the tenth anniversary event in 2014 attracting a record entry of 33 boats.

The standard of racing in the fleet is truly extraordinary with many of the best-known sailors in the world joining the racing for the sheer fun of it. Certainly the Quarter Tonners are widely acknowledged as offering some of the most competitive racing in the Solent.

Although the revival started in the Solent, the enthusiasm for Quarter Tonners is universal and there are now active Quarter Ton fleets across Europe and Australasia with more boats being rediscovered and given a new lease of life each year.

The boats are quirky, fun, incredibly challenging to sail well, but very versatile in that they are competitive in general IRC fleets. It's also a class that appeals to youngsters and those on a limited budget who can purchase a boat and refurbish her themselves at very reasonable cost. The fleet is always very supportive of new owners offering endless advice and frequently donating parts, sails and even complete rigs to deserving newcomers.

In 2007 the event partnered for the first time with title sponsor Coutts to become the Coutts Quarter Ton Cup, a partnership that has endured ever since. Coutts most generous support has been vital in making the Coutts Quarter Ton Cup the vibrant and successful regatta it is today.

The wisdom of the old salts would have it that in a regatta series, a set of steady results towards the front of the fleet with no silly mistakes is much more useful in the final tally than an uneven performance with the occasional utterly fabulous first place writes W M Nixon. And after the three-day Irish Cruiser Racing Association  Nats at Howth, in which the real winners were the race officer teams who managed to complete a reasonably proper programme despite the winds being fickle in the extreme, we can maybe add in a second rule for series success.

Rule 1 of the Old Salts’ Book of Racing Lore is that you put together a good series of steady results. Keep the head down and keep the points down too. And the new Rule 2 of the OSBRL would seem to be something along the lines of not being utterly brilliant in the first afternoon’s two races. For if you do, you’re a marked boat thereafter. Just because you happen to be paranoid in everyday life doesn’t mean that they really are in fact out to get you. For as Annalise Murphy discovered at the 2012 Olympics, if that’s not what’s actually happening, then it’s something which is very like it nevertheless.

So on Friday we saw some stars clearly emerge, which we duly highlighted in Saturday’s morning’s overview. But as you’ll have gathered if you didn’t spend the main part of the weekend in a Trappist monastery, through Saturday the leaderboard was re-shuffled more than somewhat. And though today’s final racing didn’t find a promised breeze, there was still enough slightly mobile air around to provide some further sets of viable results, and they seemed to confirm that those who were Kings of the Castle on Friday evening were in many case consigned to the dungeon, relatively speaking, as the series concluded early this (Sunday) afternoon.

Half of the boats in the 22-strong Division 2 were J/09s.

Joker II (John Maybury) successsfully defended her class one national title

In the impersonal world of racing to the handicaps of the IRC, there’s no getting away from one totally outstanding performance, a performance which fulfilled both rules of the OSBRL. On Friday, John Maybury’s J/109 Joker 2, from the RIYC in Dun Laoghaire with the not inconsiderable talents of Olympian Mark Mansfield of Cork in the crew, put in what we now recognise to have been a very neat holding performance. In the 22 boats of Division 1 – the most numerous class - Joker was sixth and second on the first day. Not at all spectacular, but she was there or thereabouts as other boats headed one of the championship’s most competitive divisions.

Then on Saturday, after recording another sixth in the first race, Joker 2 seemed to find her mojo, that mojo which made her class champion in 2015 at Kinsale. Perhaps they’d simply been keeping it in storage on Friday, knowing they’d need it more on Saturday. Whatever the story, they romped through Saturday with a winning consistency of performance while other boats – to put it mildly – fluctuated more than somewhat.

For that last Saturday race, and Sunday’s single race for Division 1, saw Joker 2 notching two wins. Clearly her crew had got the measure of the waters of Fingal, for it gave her an absurd lead of 14.5 points over the runner-up, which was another J/109, Pat Kelly’s Storm, which in theory was right at home, as they list Rush SC as their club even though they keep the boat in Howth.

Despite racing in her home waters, the Kelly family’s J/109 Storm of Rush SC had to concede first place to Dun Laoghaire invader Joker 2 (John Maybury)

Dave Cullen’s Classic Half Ton World Champion Checkmate XV found form to win her class at the ICRA Nats. This week, the Checkmate crew move aboard the J/109 Storm to race her as Euro Car Parks in the Volvo Round Ireland

With eleven J/109s racing, not surprisingly they dominated Class 1 in which they were half of the fleet, with the Shanahan family’s Ruth (NYC) taking third while Colin Byrne’s XP 33 Bon Exemple (RIYC) was first of the non-Js in fourth, with Rob McConnell’s A 35 Fool’s Gold from Dunmore East fifth.

But you get some idea of the scale of Joker’s achievement when you realize that Storm was only half a point ahead of the next three boats, which were all tied on 31 points and needed a countback to sort the placings.

Division 2 was the next most numerous with 15 boats, and here they managed six races with a discard kicking in. It is of course the class for the classic Half Tonners, so inevitably Howth YC was dominant to an almost embarrassing extent. Early leader The Big Picture (Michael & Richard Evans) had slipped down the rankings as the curtain came down, she finished fourth overall, but after a sneeze in the first race on Day 1, Dave Cullen’s Checkmate XV got her act together and logged a final scoreline of 2,1,3,3,1,2.

Stephen Quinn’s J/97 Lambay Rules took a second in Division 2 in the ICRA Nats, and on Saturday she’ll be one of the smallest boats competing in the Volvo Round Ireland Race.

It’s good to be discarding a third, but an interesting performance was turned in by the runner-up, Stephen Quinn’s J/97 Lambay Rules, as she’d a list of 5,2,1,,2,4,5. While it’s said that Dave Cullen is so delighted with the silver trophy he got for winning the class that he’s going to take it with him as he goes off on Saturday to do the Volvo Round Ireland as skipper of the J/109 Storm which will have transformed to become Euro Car Parks, for Stephen Quinn this second place with his very attractive 32-footer is direct round Ireland encouragement, as he’s racing Lambay Rules out of Wicklow round Ireland on Saturday. And if the J/97 isn’t the smallest boat in the Round Ireland fleet, then she’s something very near it.

Third place in Division 2 went to John Swan’s re-vamped Half Tonner Harmony after a ding-dong with the Big Picture, while fifth went to Ross McDonald’s X332 Equinox.

Well above the rough and tumble of Class 2, the aristocrats of Class 0 made up in quality what they lacked in quantity, but as there were only half a dozen of them, the points margins could never be large, and though Conor Phelan’s now-classic Ker 37 Jump Juice from Crosshaven had three wins in five races, Jay Colville’s First 40 Licks from East Down YC in Strangford Lough was always right there to take second, while third slot went to the Scottish XP38i Roxtsar (Finlay & Anderson, Cyde Cr C).

Tumbling down the size scale, in Division 3 the Quarter Tonners of the Royal Irish YC were out in strength in an extremely closely-fought series in which Royal Cork’s Paul Gibbons’ Farr 79 Quarter Tonner Anchor Challenge managed to snatch third overall with two RIYC boats ahead of her and one immediately astern, the winner being Cartoon (Ken Lawless & Sybil McCormack) with the ever-lovely Quest (Barry Cunningham & Jonathan Skerritt) in second. Half a dozen of the reviving J/24 Class raced in this division, and best of them was Flor O’Driscoll with Hard on Port, who was fifth overall.

Class Three winner Cartoon (Ken Lawless & Sybil McCormack)

The Quarter Tonner Quest, ICRA Champion in 2014, was second in class in 2016.

The reviving J/24 class had six boats racing in the ICRA Championship

Division 4 was once again a problem numbers-wise, and Patrick O’Neill’s E Boat OctopussE of the host club was best of the two competing. As for Division 5 and 6, the non-spinnaker classes, they were re-born as the Corinthian Classes, and in Division A non-spinnaker, IRC saw the three Elan 333s utterly dominant to take the first three places overall, with Colm Bermingham’s Bite the Bullet (HYC) the dominator of the dominants, as she won with a clean sheet, second going to David Sargent’s Indulgence, also HYC, with DMYC’s Paul Tully getting third with White Lotus.

Colm Bermingham’s Elan 333 Bite the Bullet was a winner all the way

Division B had it very close on IRC between Harry Byrne’s Jeanneau Sunrise Alphida and Windsor & Steffi’s Cub Shamrock Demelza, with Alphida taking it this time round, while third slot went to John Roberts’s veteran Doug Peterson-designed Contention 33 Poppy from Whitehaven in Cumberland.

Peadar Murphy, administrator of ICRA’s Progressive ECHO system at the National Championship, and seen below working the magic Denis Kiely system

But while the serious meat of the racing in the ICRA Nationals 2016 was inevitably under IRC, there was a complete parallel universe out there on the race course with ICRA number-cruncher Denis Kiely’s famous Progressive ECHO system being administered at Howth by Denis’s right-hand man Peadar Murphy.

Under Progressive ECHO, a boat’s rating is revised after every race in the series on the basis that all boats finished dead equal in the race just completed. It works best with a series, and you’ll hear the usual complaints of sand-bagging when it is used in other ways. But what it does do is keep up the interest of every crew right to the end of the series, and a more sophisticated take on it has emerged, as top IRC crews now look on Progressive ECHO as a useful tool to tell them how they’re really doing from race to race, when IRC can be a bit of a blunt instrument.

In the limelight. Terry McCoy (left) of Skerries and John Roberts (second right) from Cumbria found themselves rewarded by the Progressive ECHO system, but John’s veteran Contention 33 Poppy also took third on IRC.

The Progressive ECHO results speak for themselves. In the end, there’s an element of “something for everyone in the audience” about it, and it certainly results in some sailors who have seldom found themselves in the limelight being up there in the Winner’s Enclosure to receive their prizes along with people whose names are usually to be found only at the sharper end of the top classes.

In other words, it adds greatly to the sense of community throughout the fleet, and with sailors from all parts of Ireland and from across the Irish Sea mixing it at Howth, there was no doubting the warmth and strength of that sense of community.

The sun did appear at Howth, but usually only after racing was over and the après sailing was in full swing in HYC.

The ICRA Championship is a fascinating stew of the local and the national, and sometimes the international. The selected venue club will try to put on its best show, but inevitably with an event which is only totally engrossing to the participants, you have to spread the net wide through local contacts to get helpful sponsorship support. In Howth, those who stepped up to the plate were lead sponsors McPeake Auctioneers supported by the tourism initiative Dublin – a Breath of Fresh Air, shoemakers Dubarry of Ireland, and WD40.

So despite the lack of wind strength, and despite the fact that the sun only tended to appear late in the day, we now have a whole new raft of National Champions, the ICRA Nationals 2016 are done and dusted, and attention can swing neatly on time to the Volvo Round Ireland Race.

In the circumstances, surely no-one would begrudge Howth Yacht Club the quiet satisfaction of knowing that they ended the series as winners of both team prizes?

Our boats are packed, and we’re ready to go…..Paul Gibbons’ Quarter Tonner Anchor Challenge from Crosshaven (left) and Simon McGibney’s J/24 Gala Racing from Foynes, on the trailers and about to head for home from Howth after another ICRA National Championship.

Google gives Afloat's ICRA National Championships coverage the thumbs up. See links below.

Afloat's WM Nixon has a review of day one's ICRA racing action in his Sailing on Saturday blog here 

Read also:

ICRA Leaderboard Changes on Day Two of Howth Cruiser Nationals (Updated After Five Races)

Dublin Yacht Clubs Boast Biggest Entry At ICRA Nationals, Light Winds Forecast At Howth

Howth Yacht Club Lambay Race Was ICRA Nationals Form Guide

ICRA Nats In Howth Yacht Club Will Attract The Cream Of The Fleets

 Full IRC results are downloadable below

After five races sailed, there are big changes at the top of the leader board in three of the four IRC classes at the Irish Cruiser Racing Association National Championships this evening which means the stage is set for tomorrow's cliff–hanger finale to decide much sought–after cruiser national titles at Howth.

Only Royal Cork's Jump Juice (Conor Phelan) has managed to retain his overnight lead but only just, as East Down YC's, Licks, a First 40, is only one point behind after five races in the six boat class zero fleet. Third is regular Scottish visitor, the XP38i Roxstar from the Clyde.

New arrival Rockabill VI, a JPK 1080 took a fourth in race four

Six of the top ten places in IRC one are held by J109s. Defending champion John Maybury's Joker II from the Royal Irish Yacht Club has not only overtaken club–mate Tim Goodbody for the lead in ICRA's biggest – and hottest – class but also built a large margin to boot. Maybury, who counts Olympic helmsman Mark Mansfield among his crew, has a 15–point cushion after five races going in to tomorrow's final two rounds. Goodbody spoiled a near perfect scoreline this morning when he finished 13th in the 21–boat fleet and drops to sixth overall. Second is former ICRA champion Storm (Pat Kelly) who is racing on home waters. Kelly has good company chasing him as just half a point behind are Liam Shanahan’s Ruth and Colin Byrne’s Bon Exemple together with Fool’s Gold: all three are tied on 31 points apiece. After them there is a nine-point gap to previous overnight leader Goodbody on White Mischief.

Winds strengthened for the second day of competition for the 86–boat fleet and this perhaps gave an opportunity for the much touted JPK 1080 Rockabill VI to improve her score, taking a fourth in this afternoon's fourth race in IRC one. 

Divisions 2, 3 and 4 each sailed four races today to catch up on the overall schedule.

Checkmate leads an almost exclusive Howth based class 2 fleet

In IRC two, where 14 of the 15 entries are from the host club, Dave Cullen's Modified Half Tonner Checkmate has overtaken ovenight leaders and club–mates Mike and Richard Evans sailing the Humphrey's MG 30.

Cullen, on ten points, now has a four point lead over HYC's J97 Lambay Rules (Stephen Quinn). Third is Johnny Swan's Half tonner Harmony on 19.5 points. The Evans Brothers are now fourth on 24–points, the same total as defending champion Ross McDonald's X332 Equinox lying fifth.

In IRC three, the Royal Irish Yacht Club’s Barry Cunningham and Jonathan Skerritt on Quest narrowly lead clubmates Ken Lawless and Sybil McCormack on Cartoon just a point apart.  In turn, Paul Gibbons Anchor Challenge from the Royal Cork YC is just half a point behind in third.  As with the other classes, a discard if applied tomorrow would have a significant bearing on Sunday's outcome. 16 are competing but it is J24s and Quarter ton designs that occupy the top six berths.

OctopusE (right) leads a two boat class four

Full IRC results (after fives races sailed) are downloadable below

Afloat's WM Nixon has a review of day one's ICRA racing action in his Sailing on Saturday blog here 

Read also:

Dublin Yacht Clubs Boast Biggest Entry At ICRA Nationals, Light Winds Forecast At Howth

Howth Yacht Club Lambay Race Was ICRA Nationals Form Guide

ICRA Nats In Howth Yacht Club Will Attract The Cream Of The Fleets

If you’d brought a party of strangers to sailing out in a spectator boat to view yesterday’s first day of the three-day Irish Cruiser Racing Association’s National Championship, they could have been forgiven wondering why it all attracts such interest. There may be 86 boats entered from all over Ireland and across the Irish Sea. And yesterday evening Howth Yacht Club was fairly heaving with a spirited après sail party mood. Yet the actual sailing often moved with glacial slowness in the lightest of breezes, at times complete calm threatened, and though two of the race areas managed to complete their planned two races, the third area could only find enough breeze for one. W M Nixon tries to explain our weird sport’s special appeal.

When you’re trying to get some sort of sailing performance out of a 9-ton accommodation unit comprising three bedrooms, two bathrooms and a fully-equipped kitchen including a built-in Microwave, it does help to have a decent breeze. Yet on a day of mostly flat greyness with only the occasional flicker of sunshine at Howth yesterday, Howard McMullan’s Dufour 40 Splashdance, a handsome sailing cruiser of 2003 vintage which really does come with all mod cons, found herself struggling to find anything like adequate pressure.

Splashdance (above and below) is a Dufour 40 of 2003 vintage, and quite a hefty proposition to be racing in light airs. Photos: W M Nixon

Mossy Shanahan and Howard McMullan. Photo: W M Nixon

Yet helmsman Mossy Shanahan – who recently marked his 60th birthday by taking a celebratory spin in a World War II Spitfire fighter aircraft – got the big girl going to such good effect that his decidedly motley crew of shipmates came ashore well pleased with the day’s result in Division V (Non-spinnaker), which showed a reasonable fifth overall in Race 1, and a very cheering second overall in Race 2.

Admittedly in conditions like this where one boat can be trundling along quite happily in a private little air while another is almost dead in the water only a short distance away, there were astonishing anomalies in performance, and in our class it has to be said that a trio of Elan 333s – slippy craft perhaps, but very much cruisers nevertheless – gave all the bigger boats a very hard time, with Colm Bermingham’s Elan 333 – fresh from winning the Lambay Lady last weekend – living up to her name of Bite the Bullet by taking two wins.

With this hugely varied performance range, those who don’t find what total dinghy sailors are pleased to describe as truck-racing to be an interesting form of our sport will have found the appeal of Day One to be baffling. But it was utterly intriguing aboard Splashdance. While the hottest race boats on the other sailing areas may have leapt like racehorses with any sharpening of the feeble mostly southeast wind, our generally ponderous group took their time about getting up to speed, all manoeuvres had to be planned well in advance, and with quite a brisk tidal stream, racing marks had to be treated with the greatest respect, as all of them seemed to have somehow become magnetic overnight.

Many of the racing marks had somehow become magnetic overnight…

Yet that said, Mossy really is a demon helm, and when he had half a breeze to do what he wanted, he threw Splashdance about the starts and whatnot with stylish abandon, confidently throwing hyper-close shapes of a type I wouldn’t even dream of in a boat half the size.

Except for the rapidly-bonding band of brothers aboard the boat, it would be tedious to recount every tactic and strategy which provided such a good day’s racing in such unlikely circumstances. But as in all good stories, the best bit was at the end, over the final two miles to the finish of the second race.

Even national champions ended up with unusual crew positions to get the right trim in the meagre breeze – George Sisk’s WOW and Conor Phelan’s Jump Juice in close contention

It had started as a beat, but somehow our tactical team of Mossy Shanahan and Roger Cagney sniffed out a backing of the wind and a sharper air to the left. They got us clear to the left of a group of other boats, and though Bite the Bullet was by this time well ahead, having never out a foot wrong at any stage, we were mixing it with the other two Elan 333s, the Sigma 38 Spellbound, and the XC 45 Samaton (Robert Rendell), with the potentially fastest boat in the class, Vincent Farrell’s First 40.7 Tsunami, seemingly untouchable in front.

Did we really do that? Splashdance’s crew look aft in wonder as the First 40.7 Tsunami comes to the finishing line astern of them. Photo W M Nixon

But suddenly, slightly out on the left, Splashdance tasted magic. She found the groove. She just upped and went, dropping the others and then rolling insouciantly over Tsunami as though it was the sort of thing she did every day. Maybe it is. All I know is that it was a bit of sailing which took her neatly to the finish, and left her entire crew on a high which was only further augmented by our demon driver then reversing the big lady into her very tight inner corner berth in the marina through the seemingly impossible gap created by visiting boats rafted up.

In fact, visiting boats are finding berths wherever they can in this busy weekend in Howth, and an abiding memory from yesterday evening is the sight of some of the more legendary craft in the contemporary Irish offshore scene, yachts of the calibre of Jump Juice, WOW and the new Rockabill IV, rafted up in traditional style outside fishing boats in the fish dock, while at the head of the dock the new state-of-the-art fisheries pontoon is properly providing the full facilities for Howth’s growing fleet of small fishing craft, which is just as it should be.

The new JPK 10.80 Rockabill VI (Paul O’Higgins) finds herself an unusual berth in Howth. Photo: W M Nixon

Working life goes on – there may be top offshore racers in port, but at Howth’s new pontoon for small fishing craft, lobster pots still need to be cleaned with a powerhose. Photo: W M Nixon

Certainly when I met up with ICRA Commodore Simon McGibney of Foynes, he’d no complaints, as they’d obligingly provided late crane facilities on Thursday night after his J/24 had been delayed on the way up from the west. But then like everyone else, I suppose he was delighted with the fact that an almost complete programme had been put through, for yesterday’s wind forecasts suggested we might have been plagued by calm all day.

ICRA Commodore Simon McGibney of Foynes YC in Howth yesterday. Photo: W M Nixon

The wind prospects for today and tomorrow are a little better, but there’s definitely no danger of any race being blown out, though there may be a deluge or two. As it is, the race officer teams deserve every credit for pulling a day’s sport out of light airs yesterday, and going into Day 2 the leaders are Jump Juice (Conor Phelan RCYC) in Division 0, White Mischief (T & R Goodbody RIYC in Division 1,) The Big Picture (M & R Evans HYC) in Division 2, Hard on Port (Flor O’Driscoll, RStGYC) in Division 3, OctopussE (Patrick O’Neill HYC) in Division 4, and Bite the Bullet (Colm Bermingham) in Division V.

The story behind the leaderboard is that Tim Goodbody is putting his imprint on the J/109s as surely as he put it on the Sigma 33s and the J/24s and the Dragons before that, another story is that the J/24s are providing one of the most heartening revivals in 2016, as Flor O’Driscoll’s Hard on Port is only one of several J/24s which are having themselves a ball. As for the news that The Big Picture currently leads Division 2, that means she leads the hyper-hot Half Tonners, so whatever Alan Power did to the Evans brothers’ boat in recent months in his shed up the back of Malahide (see SailSat 21st May), it undoubtedly is all to the good.

Some of the eleven J/109s which have entered for the ICRA Nats 2016 in Howth. Photo: W M Nixon

But even for those not hitting the headlines, the ICRA Nationals 2016 are a reminder that in the final analysis, sailing is all about people sharing enthusiasm for a curious vehicle sport which provides great pleasure in sometimes unlikely circumstances. Going down to join Splashdance yesterday morning in virtually lifeless weather, it was difficult not to wonder what it’s all about. Yet somehow it was absorbing entertainment from beginning to end. My thanks to Howard McMullan and Mossy Shanahan and Roger Cagney and the rest of the gang, who were David Will and Paddy McCaughey of Howth, John Ives of Sutton, and Liam MacMahon of Skerries, good shipmates every one of them.

The Big Picture is in clear focus. Michael and Richard Evans’ Half Tonner currently leads both the Classic Half Ton Class and Division 2

Read also: 

Day One Report: Goodbody Takes Class One Lead At ICRA Nationals

Dublin Yacht Clubs Boast Biggest Entry At ICRA Nationals, Light Winds Forecast At Howth

Howth Yacht Club Lambay Race Was ICRA Nationals Form Guide

ICRA Nats In Howth Yacht Club Will Attract The Cream Of The Fleets

Tim Goodbody made the perfect debut in the ultra competitive Irish Cruiser Racing Association class one IRC fleet off Howth this afternoon when he took a four point lead in his new J/109 White Mischief. The Royal Irish Skipper leads the A35 Fools Gold (Rob McConnell) from Waterford Harbour with defending champion, and Goodbody's clubmate, John Maybury, sailing another J109 Joker II, third in the 21–boat fleet. 

The 2016 championships started in light winds of no more than seven knots from the east and strong tidal streams off Ireland's Eye. The Howth Yacht Club based championships has an 86–boat fleet and racing got underway for all classes today and runs until Sunday.

Tim Goodbody's new J109 White Mischief is class one leader in Howth

In Class Zero, Conor Phelan's Jump Juice from Royal Cork leads East Down First 40 Licks by a single point. In class two, Michael & Richard Evans The Big Picture leads Howth club mates Checkmate XV skippered by David Cullen. Third is another HYC boat Fusion skippered by Ricahrd Colwell. In class four  Flor O'Driscoll's J25 Hard on Port also from Howth Yacht Club leads Paul Gibbons Anchor Challenge from Royal Cork Yacht Club.

Download full results after day one below

Ross McDonald’s Equinox from the host club is joined this year by 14 club-mates to contest the Class 2 title on home waters. In fact, all bar one entry are from Howth so a radically different championship is in store for 2016 compared to last year when the ICRA’s were sailed as part of the Sovereigns Cup at Kinsale YC. While McDonald picked up the class title and the overall trophy in 2015, this year Mike and Ritche Evans showed the way around the cans to win the single class 2 race for the opening day.

Due to the class bands split for 2016, last year’s Class 4 winners move up to Class Three and in turn Class Three move up to Class Two.

As a result, Richard Colwell and Ronan Cobbes’ Fusion, defending their Class 4 title from 2015 are now lying third in Class 3. And the Howth Under 25 team that won the Class 4 title in 2015 are currently sixth overall in Class 3 while their J24 sistership Hard On Port skippered by Flor O’Driscoll leads overall after day one in class 3.

Afloat's WM Nixon will have a full review of day one's ICRA racing action in his Sailing on Saturday blog here tomorrow morning.

Read also:

Dublin Yacht Clubs Boast Biggest Entry At ICRA Nationals, Light Winds Forecast At Howth

Howth Yacht Club Lambay Race Was ICRA Nationals Form Guide

ICRA Nats In Howth Yacht Club Will Attract The Cream Of The Fleets

In a further boost to today's first race of the Irish Cruiser Racing Association national championships at Howth Yacht Club, the fleet has risen from 73 to 86 boats in six classes over the past week. While over 24 clubs from all four coasts (as well as Welsh and Scottish entries) are represented, two thirds of the fleet are Dublin based. The biggest participant club is the host with just over a third of the fleet or 35 boats coming from Howth. Not surprisingly, Dun Laoghaire boats make up the next biggest contingent with approximately another third, or 31 boats, coming from the four waterfront clubs; the Royal Irish Yacht Club is sending 17 boats, the National Yacht Club seven, Royal St. George four and DMYC (who stage their own club regatta tomorrow) three.

Somewhat disappointingly, there are only six south coast travellers; Royal Cork Yacht Club and Waterford Harbour SC sent two boats each. Kinsale YC (last year's hosts) and Cove Sailing Club each sent a single entry.

A full updated list of the latest entries by class division published yesterday is below.

Quarter tonner Cri Cri will compete in class three of today's ICRA Nationals in Howth. Photo: Afloat.ie

As previously reported by Afloat.ie, it is class one where some of the hottest racing will be today. The championships is the first major outing for Paul O’Higgins on his 36–footer Rockabill VI, a brand new JPK1080 design. The class one fleet also includes the J/109 defending champion Joker II skippered by John Maybury as well as a selection of other J109s such as Afloat's Irish Sailor of the Year Liam Shanahan and 2016 newbie Tim Goodbody who has joined the J ranks from the Sigma 33 class. John and Brian Hall’s Something Else from the National YC, winners of last month's Scottish Series class two are also in the 19–boat Class one.

Avg Wind:1kts, Gust:2kts, Wind Dir:104 °(E), Wave Height:0.1m, Wave Period:3s, Water Temp:14.2 °C at 10/06/2016 11:02:00

— Dublin Bay Buoy (@DublinBayBuoy) June 10, 2016

The championships look set to be sailed in light winds, for the first day at least, with the possibility of stronger conditions tomorrow. First gun is 1225. Download the Sailing Instructions below. 

Read also:

Howth Yacht Club Lambay Race Was ICRA Nationals Form Guide

ICRA Nats In Howth Yacht Club Will Attract The Cream Of The Fleets

DIV	Sail Number	Boat Name	Type of Boat	Club	Handicap	StartingECHO
0	IRL4208	WOW	Farr 42	Royal Irish Yacht Club	1.123	1.123
0	IRL4076	Meridian	Salona 45	Kinsale Yacht Club	1.112	1.112
0	IRL2007	Jump Juice	Ker 37	Royal Cork Yacht Club	1.109	1.109
0	GBR8038R	Roxstar	XP38i	Clyde Crusing Club	1.084	1.084
0	GBR4041R	Licks	First 40	East Down Yacht Club	1.083	1.083
0	IRL1507	Aquelina	J-112E	Arklow Sailing Club	1.068	1.068
-	-	-	-	-	-	-
1	IRL13500	D-Tox	X 35	Royal Irish Yacht Club	1.044	1.044
1	IRL10800	Rockabill VI	JPK 10800	Royal Irish Yacht Club	1.043	1.043
1	GBR7377	Impostor	Corby 33	South Caernarvonshire Yacht Club	1.035	1.035
1	IRL1348	Adrenalin	A35	National Yacht Club	1.026	1.026
1	IRL7778	Gringo	A35	National Yacht Club	1.024	1.024
1	IRL3061	Fools Gold	A35	Waterford Harbour Sailing Club	1.022	1.022
1	FRA37296	Triple Elf	Beneteau First 35	Faillie Yacht Club & Clyde Cruising Club	1.020	1.02
1	IRL1095	Dear Prudence	J109	Howth Yacht Club	1.020	1.02
1	GBR9498R	Joie de Vie	J109	Galway Bay Sailing Club	1.017	1.017
1	IRL3670	Altair	First 36.7	Cove Sailing Club	1.017	1.017
1	IRL1383	Ruth	J109	National Yacht Club	1.015	1.015
1	IRL7991	Jigamaree	J109	Royal Irish Yacht Club	1.014	1.014
1	IRL1206	Joker 2	J109	Royal Irish Yacht Club	1.014	1.014
1	IRL1141	storm	J109	RSC/Howth Yacht Club	1.014	1.014
1	IRL5109	Jalapeno	J109	National Yacht Club	1.014	1.014
1	IRL811	Raptor	MILLS 30CR	Royal Irish Yacht Club	1.013	1.013
1	GBR1242R	White Mischief	J109	Royal Irish Yacht Club	1.012	1.012
1	GBR7709R	Justjay	J109	Holyhead	1.012	1.012
1	IRL9898	Indecision	J109	Royal Irish Yacht Club	1.012	1.012
1	IRL29213	Something Else	J109	National Yacht Club	1.011	1.011
1	GBR8933R	Bon Exemple	XP 33	Royal Irish Yacht Club	1.009	1.009
-	-	-	-	-	-	-
2	IRL3470	Flashback	First 34.7	Howth Yacht Club	0.987	0.987
2	IRL1332	Equinox	X332	Howth Yacht Club	0.980	0.98
2	IRL9970	Lambay Rules	J97	Howth Yacht Club	0.971	0.971
2	IRL8094	King One	half tonner	Rush Sailing Club & Howth Yacht Club	0.958	0.958
2	IRL2706	Kodachi	Corby 27	Howth Yacht Club	0.955	0.955
2	FRA079	Graduate	J80	Royal Irish Yacht Club	0.952	0.952
2	IRL1484	Harmony	Half Tonner	Howth Yacht Club	0.946	0.946
2	IRL5522	The Big Picture	Humphreys MG 30	Howth Yacht Club	0.945	0.945
2	IRL2016	Checkmate XV	Mod Half Ton	Howth Yacht Club	0.944	0.944
2	IRL2552	Fusion	Corby 25	Howth Yacht Club	0.934	0.934
2	GBR2588R	Rosie	Corby 25	Howth Yacht Club	0.929	0.929
2	IRL988	Dux	X302	Howth Yacht Club	0.927	0.927
2	IRL3022	Xebec	X302	Howth Yacht Club	0.927	0.927
2	IRL7495	Maximus	X302	Howth Yacht Club	0.924	0.924
2	IRL1103	Viking	X302	Howth Yacht Club	0.923	0.923
2	IRL8223	Kamikaze	Sunfast 32	Royal St. George Yacht Club	#N/A	#N/A
-	-	-	-	-	-	-
3	IRL3087	Anchor Challenge	Farr 79 Quarter Tonner	Royal Cork Yacht Club	0.917	0.917
3	IRL4571	Flyover		Waterford Harbour SC	0.913	0.913
3	ITA8709	Cri Cri	Quarter Tonner	Royal Irish Yacht Club	0.906	0.906
3	IRL508	Quest	Quarter Tonner	Royal Irish Yacht Club	0.906	0.906
3	IRL6559	White Hunter	Formula 28 MOD	Howth Yacht Club	0.906	0.906
3	IRL6136	Starlet	Formula 28	Howth Yacht Club	0.905	0.905
3	FRA9186	Cartoon	Quarter Tonner	Royal Irish Yacht Club	0.895	0.895
3	IRL9538	Running Wild - Seachange Now	Impala 28	Royal St. George Yacht Club	0.889	0.889
3	IRL680	Irelands Eye Kilcullen	J24	Howth Yacht Club	0.887	0.887
3	GBR9612	Bambi	Impala	National Yacht Club	0.887	0.887
3	IRL4115	K25 Howth Yacht Club Johnny Bravo	J24	Howth Yacht Club	0.887	0.887
3	IRL3060	Jumpin' Jive	J24	Greystones SC	0.887	0.887
3	IRL4794	Hard on Port	J24	Howth Yacht Club	0.887	0.887
3	IRL3052	Tobago	Sun Light 30	Malahide Yacht Club	0.885	0.885
3	IRL4384	Gala Racing	J24	Foynes Yacht Club	0.884	0.884
3	IRL728	Maximus	J24	Foynes Yacht Club	0.881	0.881
-	-	-	-	-	-	-
4	E127	OctopussE	EBoat	Howth Yacht Club	0.824	0.824
4	8245N	Asterix	Hunter Sonata	Dun Laoghaire Motor Yacht Club	0.823	0.823
4	IRL6556	Challenger	Julien	Howth Yacht Club	#N/A	0.845
4	IRL35	Eleint	Trapper 300	Dun Laoghaire Motor Yacht Club	#N/A	0.83
-	-	-	-	-	-	-
5	GBR1345R	Samatom	XC45	Howth Yacht Club	1.067	1.067
5	IRL6001	Rebellion	Nicholson 58	Howth Yacht Club	1.051	1.051
5	IRL4007	Tsunami	First 40.7	National Yacht Club	1.042	1.042
5	IRL2382	Xerxes	IMX38	Royal Irish Yacht Club	1.024	1.024
5	IRL4073	Splashdance	Dufour40	Howth Yacht Club	1.011	1.011
5	IRL1166	Edenpark	Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 36i	Royal Irish Yacht Club	0.976	0.976
5	GBR8571	Spellbound	Sigma 38	Howth Yacht Club	0.972	0.972
5	IRL1357	Humdinger	Sunfast 37	Carlingford Yacht Club	0.971	0.971
5	IRL17195	Karukera	First	Royal St George Yacht Cllub	0.968	0.968
5	3335C	Bite the Bullet	Elan	Howth Yacht Club	0.958	0.958
5	IRL1333	White Lotus	Elan 333	Dun Laoghaire Motor Yacht Club	0.956	0.956
5	IRL3339	Indulgence	Elan 333	Howth Yacht Club	0.952	0.952
5	IRL3506	Just Jasmin	Bavaria35Match	Royal Irish Yacht Club	#N/A	#N/A
-	-	-	-	-	-	-
6	IRL1517	Alphida of Howth	Sunrise	Howth Yacht Club	0.951	0.951
6	IRL2070	Out & About	Beneteau 38	Howth Yacht Club	0.929	0.929
6	IRL5643	Calypso	Beneteau Oceanis 361	Royal St. George Yacht Club	0.927	0.927
6	IRL657	Voyager	Dehler 34	Howth Yacht Club	0.922	0.922
6	GBR4183	Poppy	Contention 33	Whitehaven Sailing Assoc	0.902	0.902
6	IRL1502	Vespucci	Dehler 31	Royal Irish Yacht Club	0.878	0.878
6	IRL100	Demelza	Club shamrock	Howth Yacht Club	0.876	0.876
6	GBR3550	Lolly Folly	Hanse 350	Howth Yacht Club	#N/A	0.965
6	IRL1186	Rubicon	Jeanneau 36i	Foynes Yacht Club	#N/A	0.985
6	IRL1343	Arcturus	Jeanneau SO	Howth Yacht Club	#N/A	0.945

To say that Irish sailing’s programme in June 2016 is crowded is a massive understatement. It’s a month which needs at least two extra weekends. Yet with only four available, sailors have to make hard choices, both as to where they’ll be competing, and when. W M Nixon tries to make some sense out of it.

There’s no doubting that special buzz in the air. The mood is good. It’s farewell to recession, and hello to more sailing than we can cope with. But even so, with only four weekends in June, and with the weather forgetting for the moment that this is Ireland and not one of the better sailing areas in the Greek islands, we might well dream of grabbing the opportunity while it offers. Carpe Diem. Seize the Day. For the winter will be long. And damp. And grey.

Paul O’Higgins’ new JPK 10.80 Rockabill VI. She is expected to be one of the star turns in the ICRA Nats at Howth in six days’ time

But in today’s world, you simply don’t bunk off for unlimited time as folk did in times past. The reality is that top crew just can’t do everything in the essentially amateur environment and crowded programme which is Irish sailing, and in a busy year there is only so much an amateur sailor can participate in while continuing to fulfill professional and domestic duties. 

Thus we’re looking at an ICRA Nationals in Howth Yacht Club in six days’ time (Friday June 10^th to Sunday June 12^th) which will do well to get total entries over the eighty mark. Doom merchants reckon that Irish sailing should be looking to have a hundred boats in the cruiser fleet at the Nationals in order to indicate full health. It’s not a view I share. This is a good fleet when you consider that they exclude one designs such as the locally-based Puppeteer 22s and the J/80s, and then add in the fact it’s one very crowded month.

Summertime in Howth – this is the HYC upper deck in uncrowded mode. Photo: Courtesy HYC

As it is, in Howth they already have the annual Lambay Race today, which quite an event in its own right, while last night ISORA’s Dun Laoghaire to Douglas IOM race went off as planned. And then in a fortnight’s time the entire island is holding its breath waiting for the start at 1300hrs on Saturday June 18^th at Wicklow of the Volvo Round Ireland Race 2016. This has virtually doubled its entries on the turnout of 2014, and with biggies like Rambler 88 and the MOD 70s involved, it is simply dominating the entire sailing month.

So the remarkable thing about the ICRA Nationals is that though they’ll conclude with basically just a couple of days to go to the start of the countdown to the Round Ireland in Wicklow and Dun Laoghaire, there’ll be crew and boats racing at Howth like there’s no tomorrow. But when tomorrow comes, they’ll be busy re-inventing themselves as new crews with fresh boats and different livery for the Volvo Round Ireland.

Top of the list in this particular quick-change scenario is the Dave Cullen crew with current Half Ton Classic World Champion Checkmate XV. With a good turnout of Half Tonners lined up for Howth, it’s expected that Checkmate will avoid last year’s slip-up in the ICRA Nationals in Kinsale, when they somehow allowed the lead to be snapped up at the end by Ross McDonald's X–332 Equinox. Jonny Swan's Half–Tonner Harmony was third in Kinsale and is racing again in Howth. Added to this Half Tonner line–up in 2016 is Mike and Ritchie Evan's Big Picture, the recent Half Ton winner at HYC's nine race Sportsboat Cup.

Dave Cullen’s Checkmate leading the fleet in the Half Ton Classic Worlds 2015 in Belgium

All the usual suspects…..Dave Cullen and the Checkmate crew after winning the Half Ton Worlds in August 2015

The J/109 Storm in full cry with the Kelly family in charge as usual. But immediately after the ICRA Nationals, she’ll become Euro Car Parks for the Volvo Round Ireland race, with Dave Cullen as skipper.

But regardless of the outcome, the ICRA Nats will have scarcely been put to bed when Cullen and his team re-direct their thoughts to the Volvo Round Ireland, for which they’ve chartered the Kelly family’s J/109 Storm, which will race round Ireland as Euro Car Parks and will have the already high-powered Cullen squad further reinforced by the addition of Maurice “Prof” O’Connell.

All this metamorphosis will be taking place only ten days hence, but by that time a significant array of questions will have been answered about just which Irish cruiser-racers are going best this year. For regardless of numbers, the fact is the lure of a National title really does draw in some very capable crews well able for the top level in the ICRA Championships.

The attractive array of trophies for the ICRA Nats 2016 include embedded medals to remind us that the winners will indeed be National Champions. Photo courtesy ICRA

And in Howth in six days time, much of the interest is going to focus on the lineup of at least nine J/109s, which will be providing some of the best racing available. It’s a dream scenario in terms of sporting potential, as John Hall’s Something Else is fresh home from Scotland with the class win recorded in the Silvers Scottish Series, J/109 newby Tim Goodbody (a Fastnet Race overall win is only one item in his stellar career) is already rising through the J/109 ranks with bullets recorded in this year’s Dublin Bay racing, and he’s convinced there’s a lot more speed to be found in the newest White Michief, and current ISORA Champions the Shanahan family will be there to help him find it with their hyper-successful J/109 Ruth.

Further raising the ante on the J/109 pace will be John Maybury’s Joker, winner in Kinsale last year. As for the Kelly family of Rush Sailing Club, they may be handing over their beloved Storm to the tender care of Dave Cullen and his gang for the Volvo Round Ireland, but as former ICRA Boat of the Year, Storm is going to be very much the Kelly boat, racing as hard as she can under the Kelly colours in six days’ time.

But there is of course much of interest beyond the virtually one design cut-and-thrust of the J/109s, not least in Class 1 where the 2015 Boat of Year WOW (RIYC), George Sisk’s Farr 42 from Dun Laoghaire, is competing.

We don’t have to tell you that the JPK 10.80 won last year’s Rolex Fastnet Race and was right in the frame in the Rolex Sydney-Hobart, but for the O’Higgins crew the fascination will lie in getting to grips with the very commodious JPK 10.80, because for many seasons they’ve successfully campaigned the Corby 33 Rockabill V, for which several adjectives might spring to mind, but “commodious” would not be one of them.

Ross MacDonald’s X332 Equinox was top scorer at Kinsale last year, and will be aiming for a similar performance in her home waters next week. Photo: W M Nixon

Other winners from the ICRA Nats 2015 in Kinsale include Ross MacDonald’s veteran X332 from Howth. Having been in the fray a week ago with his wife Aoife on the 1720 Atara during the Howth Sportsboat Cup series where a first day lead slipped away from them, he’ll be keen to show that Equnox won’t be similarly eclipsed a week hence.

As it happens, the Howth squad - with their headquarters boisterously established in Kinsale’s White Lady Inn – were very much a force to be reckoned with in all classes in the 2015 championship, and another defender back on home water will be the decidedly senior yet still very competitive Ron Holland-designed Club Shamrock Demelza (Windsor Laudan & Steffi Ennis), which swept the board in Non-Spinnaker Class 6, while clubmate Colm Bermingham with the Elan 330 Bite the Bullet did the same in Class 5.

The Club Shamrock Demelza is now pushing forty years of age, yet owners Windsor Laudan and Steffi Ennis were champions at the ICRA Nats 2015 in Kinsale. Photo courtesy ICRA

However, the very fact of sailing an away series seems to bring out an bit of extra competitive edge in many crews, and in taking an overview of the fleet for the ICRA Nationals 2016, we might find that some of the smart money is on Rob McConnell’s A 35 Fool’s Gold from Dunmore East, and Conor Phelan’s Ker 36.7 Jump Juice from Crosshaven.

Both crews have a fine record of success, and both are renowned for their enthusiasm and sportsmanship. And in the case of Jump Juice, she has already won her class in this year’s RORC Easter Challenge. Not bad going for a boat which has always seemed as new as tomorrow, yet this year she’ll be ten years old. 

But that’s only at the very sharp end of the fleet. The Secret Ingredient of the Irish Cruiser-Racing Association is the Progressive ECHO handicap system, which re-rates each boat after every race. Everyone is in there with a chance. Inevitably, this approach was dismissed by purists as “encouraging mediocrity” when it was first introduced. But it has in fact encouraged new levels of enthusiasm, which in time lead on to markedly improved performance. “Tomorrow is another day” could well be the motto for Progressive ECHO, and we’ll see how well it works as the ICRA Show swings into action at Howth next Friday.

The great Jump Juice as she was at her debut ten years ago. She is still very much a contender

Read also: ICRA Publish National Championship Divisions for Howth Yacht Club Event