#SATURDAYSAILING – Eternal optimists among the cruiser-racer community had hoped that the success of the ICRA Championship might make the final difference to the emergence of enough enthusiasm to generate a team to defend the Commodores Cup in July. But ICRA Commodore Barry Rose of Cork – no stranger to optimism himself – reckons that the economic realities militate against it.
A final decision will have to be made within the next fortnight, but with even the top global sailing events showing the harsh effects of economic slowdown, perhaps the sensible thing is to accept that it's a non-runner, and instead we should be building towards getting back in the hunt in 2014.
As it is, with events like the ICRA Championship, the revived ISORA programme, and the round Ireland race in three weeks time providing Irish skippers and crews with excellent value for money and time, those who are keen to go sailing should have no complaints. Nevertheless, with seventeen boats nominated for the British trials this month, even if they muster four three-boat teams out of the lineup, there'll still be five boats going spare. But after the decisive Irish campaigns of the past decade, who would go with some sort of last-minute lash up?
W M Nixon's sailing column is in the Irish Independent on Saturdays
