Ireland will be the base for the Nigel Biggs Checkmate XVIII Half Ton campagin this season with a programme that includes the ICRA Nationals, Sovereigns Cup, Dun Laoghaire Regatta and the Half Ton Cup in Kinsale.

In a previous Irish campaign, Biggs was the overall winner of the 2013 'Boat of the Week' at a massive Dun Laoghaire Regatta edition with seven straight wins in class two.

Biggs's 'new' Half–Tonner that is currently very much a work in progress (see photo above) is the old Emiliano Zapata, ex Dick Dastardly, ex French Beret, ex Concorde from 1985. As with his previous two successful half–tonners (Harmony and Checkmate XV) she has been 'breathed on' by Wicklow yacht designer Mark Mills with a revised sailplan and keel. All the work is being undertaken at his team base near Bangor in North Wales and he anticipates launching early May.

Having campaigned his C&C 30 in the US in the US last year, (debuting in Dun Laoghaire in 2015) Biggs say his 12–year–old daughter had been nagging him to get a boat over this side of the Atlantic so she could sail with him more often. 'What father could refuse such a request?' he told Afloat.ie

Checkmate XVIII boat will be sailed by his usual team, some of whom have sailed together for over 20 years and some of whom have only joined over the last couple of years ( Dun Laoghaire's Adam Hyland and Cian Guilfoyle) plus his daughter, of course.

Next year's three big Irish sailing regattas have set out their stalls early. The race is on to attract entries for July's Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta but before that there will be a fortnight of action on the South Coast with the Sovereign's Cup at Kinsale and the ICRA Nationals at Royal Cork both taking place in June.

The ICRA Notice of Race is published here and the Dun Laoghaire NOR is published here. Details on the 2017 Sovereign's Cup are here.

As an extra incentive all fully paid entries for VDLR received by 31st December will be automatically entered into a draw and 10% of these crews will have their entry fee refunded. 

Organisers are expecting up to 31 Classes for the 2017 Regatta at Dun Laoghaire that also celebrates the bicentenary of its famous Harbour with a Classic Boat section. 

Kinsale Yacht Club reports five entries already received since opening entry this morning for the Sovereign's Cup entries from 21st-24th June 2017. This is the 12th Sovereign’s Cup and organisers are looking forward to welcoming over 100 boats to Kinsale next Summer. 

“We are looking forward to welcoming many fleets to Kinsale next year, to enjoy both great racing and the hospitality Kinsale offers as well,” said Kevin Murray, Sovereign’s Cup Regatta Director. There will be a separate trophy for the white sail class and a new coastal fleet this year,” he added.

The Sovereigns Cup trophy is a revival of a centuries-old tradition when the ‘Sovereign of Kinsale’ presented a trophy for the fastest sailing craft of the time. However, the modern-era regatta is named after the large rocks that overlook the racing area offshore and has been held biennially since 1995.

Many of the Ireland’s best racing crews will be competing for the Sovereigns’ Cup under the international IRC handicap system. The Portcullis Trophy will be awarded to competitors under the ECHO handicap system.

Cork County Council as sponsor, is taking the opportunity to promote Kinsale as a tourist venue and the start/finish point for the much acclaimed Wild Atlantic Way, as many cruising boats are likely to stay in the West Cork area after the regatta. Also Dubarry of Ireland are involved as clothing sponsors.

As the Irish Cruiser Racing Association (ICRA) Nationals take place from 9th-11th June 2017 at the Royal Cork Yacht Club, both Kinsale and RCYC are working together to encourage sailors from the UK and all over Ireland to compete in both events in Cork in June 2017 by organising marina berths for holding boats and arranging delivery crews between RCYC and KYC.

#sovscup – UKMcWilliam Sailmakers are quick off the mark to celebrate weekend success at the Sovereign's Cup and ICRA Nationals. The Crosshaven–based sailmaker scooped 'two thirds of the class winners and two thirds of the class places' in the 109–boat fleet off Kinsale. As well as the sails on the overall winning yacht Equinox, UK McWilliam also took Division One ECHO, Division Two and Dvision three IRC. Sailmaker Des McWilliam has compiled a full list of winning boats setting UK McWilliam sails and it is downloadable below as a MS Word file.

#icra –  A change of leader in class one was just one of the upsets as the ICRA Nationals reached the halfway poiint at Kinsale Yacht Club yesterday. Overall positions in most of the eight racing classes lie finely balanced with just four races remaining in the Cork County Council sponsored series.

The 109-strong fleet enjoyed fresher conditions though a lumpy seaway proved challenging for some despite the steady 14-18 knot southerly breeze.

The mid-size divisions are providing some of the closest battles with changes to overall leaderboards since the opening day. In Division 1, the two-way battle for the lead between Ian Nagle's Jelly Baby from the Royal Cork YC and John Maybury's Joker 2 from the Royal Irish YC reversed places as the Dublin boat edged ahead by a single point.

Meanwhile, Division 2 saw David Cullen's Checkmate XV ousted from his overall lead when his Howth club-mate Ross McDonald on Equinox matched his opening day double-win with one of his own yesterday to take the lead in the class. Howth boats continue to dominate this class, occupying the top four places.

"There are five or six boats in with a real chance at the overall win at this halfway stage," said Kinsale Yacht Club's Denis Kiely. "The decision to put the modified half-tonners with the three-quarter ton size boats is proving to be correct and there's genuine competition taking place in this division."

In Division 0, a navigational error cost Andy Williams the overall lead of this eleven strong class as he was obliged to retire or face protests from the fleet. A win in the afternoon was more like his form and with the single discard coming into force after race six, the Plymouth Ker 40 is almost certain to retake the lead.

However, ICRA Commodore Norbert Reilly still holds first place in the class on Crazy Horse and any further slips by Williams could still upset the standings. Also waiting in the wings is Conor Phelan's Jump Juice from the Royal Cork YC who delivered a win and a second place yesterday in a markedly improved form from the opening day.

Elsewhere in the large fleet, the White Sails divisions enjoyed an 18-mile race from their start off Charles Fort in Kinsale's spectacular natural harbour. Windsor Laudan's venerable but fast Club Shamrock Demelza from Howth delivered impressive performances on the water and leads on both IRC and ECHO handicaps. Racing continues today with the finale on Saturday afternoon.

Results – ICRA Nationals & Sovereign's Cup 2015 Day 2, after 4 races sailed (25th June 2015)

Division 0 IRC

1 Crazy Horse, Norbert Reilly/Alan Chambers (Howth Yacht Club)
2 Jump Juice, Conor Phelan, (Royal Cork Yacht Club)
3 Keronimo, Andy Williams (Yealm Yacht Club)

Division 0 ECHO

1 Godot, John Godkin (Kinsale YC)
2 Forty Licks, Jay Colville, East Down YC
3 Roxstar, Jonathan Anderson, (CCC)

Division 1 IRC

1 Joker 2, John Maybury, (Royal Irish Yacht Club
2 Jelly Baby, Ian Nagle, (Royal Cork Yacht Club)
3 Fool's Gold, Robert McConnell (Wicklow Harbour SC)

Division 1 ECHO

1 Adrenalin, Joe McDonald (National Yacht Club)
2 Indecision, Declan Hayes (RIYC)
3 Gringo, Tony Fox (NYC)

Division 2 IRC

1 Equinox, Ross McDonald, (HYC)
2 Checkmate XV, Dave Cullen (HYC)
3 The Big Picture, Michael and Richard Evans (HYC)

Division 2 ECHO

1 Equinox, Ross McDonald (HYC)
2 Checkmate XV, Davie Cullen, HYC
3 The Big Picture, Michael and Richard Evans (HYC)

Division 3 IRC

1 Fusion, Richard Cowell, (HYC)
2 Bad Company, Desmond, Ivers, Deasy (RCYC)
3 White Mischief, Timothy Goodbody, (RIYC)

Division 3 ECHO

1 Powder Mondy, Liam Lynch, (Tralee Bay SC)
2 White Mischief, Timothy Goodbody (RIYC)
3 Reavra, Stephen Lysaght (KYC)

Division 4 IRC

1 Blackfun, Tony Hayward (Cowes)
2 Anchor Challenge, Paul Gibbons, (RCYC)
3 White Magic, Donal Hardig (Waterford Harbour SC)

Division 4 ECHO-

1 Seven Whistler, Rene Wubben (WHSC)
2 No-Gnomes, Leonard Donnery, (RCYC)
3 White Magic, Donal Harding, Waterford Harbour Sailing Club

J109
1 Joker 2, John Maybury (RIYC)
2 Jelly Baby, Ian Nagle (RCYC)
3 Storm, Pat Kelly (Rush SC/HYC)

Quarter Tonner

1 Blackfun, Tony Hayward (Cowes)
2 Anchor Challenge, Paul Gibbons (RCYC)
3 Cartoon, Ken Lawless, Joe Brady, Sybil McCormack (RIYC)

White Sail Division 1 IRC

1 Bite the Bullet, Colm Bermingham, (HYC)
2 White Lotus, Paul Tully, (Dun Laoghaire Motor YC)
3 Baccarat, Brian & Anthony McCarthy (KYC)

White Sail Divison 1 ECHO

1 Baccarat, Anthony/Brian McCarthy (KYC)
2 White Tiger, Tony O'Brien (KYC)
3 Bite the Bullet, Colm Bermighham (HYC)

White Sail Division 2 IRC

1 Demelza, Windsor Laudan, (HYC)
2 Saoirse, Richard Hanley (KYC)
3 Loch Greine, Tom O'Mahony (RCYC)

White Sail Division 2 ECHO

1 Demelza, Windsor Laudan, (HYC)
2 Privateer, Dermot Lanigan (KYC)
3 Loch Greine, Tom O'Mahony (RCYC)

#icra –The Irish Cruiser Racer Association (ICRA) has published details of provisional handicap divisons for its National Championships and Sovereign's Cup 2015 off Kinsale next month.

The sensible bands is a sensible arrangement of similar sized (if not speed) boats in each class which keeps competition tight in a very good turnout of at least 101 boats.

While there will no doubt be the inevitable usual thorny issue of production cruiser/racers say in IRC 0 (Beneteau First 40, Dufour 44, Salona 45 etc) having to compete with custom race boats (Mills 37, Ker 37, Ker 40 etc) this is always the challenge for IRC in how to equitably rate these different boat types. 

The make–up of a new class two fleet out of a previously unwieldly class one is the most noteworthy aspect of the new racing bands. The Beneteau 34.7 Black Velvet will be the scratch boat in the new class that also sees X332s separated from J109s. Modified Half–tonners, all now deemed to be fully optimised, are also now in the new 15–boat class two.

Each division is extremely competitive but especially so in class one where J109s Jelly Bay and Storm are lining up for honours with Rockabill, a Corby 33 and Bob Exemple (Xp33) in a super turnout of 20 class one entries. And more are expected.

In breaking out the 101 boat fleet, there are also 12 Class zeros.16 class three boats will be racing and 20 in class four. Two white sail divisions of ten and eight respectively make up the 2015 fleet.

Download the new divisions as a pdf file below.

ICRA's Barry Rose adds:

All five provisional DIVISIONS have attracted competitive fleets from all coasts of Ireland. This will be a true test of national champions. With equal status/trophies and ISA gold, silver and bronze mounted medals being awarded by ICRA to both IRC and Progressive ECHO, all entrants are given a fair chance to compete for overall honours.

Division 0 features a strong fleet from the Kerr 40 Keronimo to the Ker 37 Jump Juice, the Farr 42 WOW and the likes of Corby 36's Roxy 6 and Stratisfear against the Mills 36 Crazy Horse with local knowledge in Freya and Godot. Also Roxstar, another high-performer from Scotland.

Division 1 sees Corby 33 Rockabill challenge sister ship Imposter, and a clutch of J 109's which includes past champions Storm and Jellybaby together with competitive XP33 Bon Exemple. This class, including A35's Gringo and Fool's Gold – recent winner in Scottish series - is building to produce a great battle for honours.

Division 2 will see an equally intense contest between the likes of modified half-tonners Checkmate XV, The Big Picture and Harmony and the very competitive X332's Dexterity and Equinox and also with top-rater Black Velvet. Provisionally this is a new Division and should provide great racing for all – taking some boats from usual Divisions 1 and 2.

Division 3 again is ultra competitive with the Corby 25's, X302's and older but very competitive Slack Alice and Dis a Ray.

Division 4 has Black Fun, Cartoon, Cri-Cri and Supernova, the modified quarter tonners which are expected to dominate this class together with recent Solent winner Aquila. The J 24's Hard on Port, Ya Gotta Wanna and Crazy Horse, and the slippery Blazer 23 Shilelagh will be all out to upset the above predictions as will the Sigma 33's which include Sigma champion Tim Goodbody..

In addition the non-spinnaker Divisions, with a fine fleet of 18 boats, will compete for ICRA's Corinthian Cups on IRC and ECHO. Boats do not need endorsed IRC certs in these divisions.

#cruiserracing – Can you successfully incorporate a full-blown National Championship into an established neighbourhood regatta? We're going to find out from June 24th to 27th, when the ICRA Nationals and the Sovereigns Cup in Kinsale are combined into one four day event, the result of the joint efforts of two sets of organisers and administrators. W M Nixon takes a look at how this situation has developed and discovers four of the top men in the marine and sailing scene have significantly different views as to how big regattas and the ICRA Nationals should be staged. 

The Irish Cruiser-Racer Association emerged from an attitude of complete realism about the contemporary sailing scene in 2002. Back then, the Irish economy was starting to develop a head of steam, and people were buying potent performance-cruisers which just begged to be raced offshore. Yet changing social attitudes meant that the traditional concept of an offshore racing crew being prepared to spend seven or eight long weekends away every summer campaigning the boat in classic offshore races simply wasn't acceptable in the new world of shared family responsibilities.

But the short-lived ideal of making classic offshore racing more family-friendly was also soon seen as unattainable except for those few extra special family crews – we can all think of one or two examples - whose very uniqueness in their shared enthusiasm for rugged offshore sailing day and night only serves to emphasise that what they like doing is simply not for the majority of sailing families.

For sure, we admire them without reservation. But we know that it won't float our family's boat. For although the totality of Irish "cruiser-racers" in 2002 included several out-and-out racing machines which were vigorously campaigned inshore and offshore, the reality is that most of the fleet were the sailing equivalent of those 4x4 SUVs which block up the parking in many a leafy and affluent suburb.

Usually, the most adventurous outing such vehicles will go on is the daily school run. There's no way their loving owners plan an aggressive demonstration of their pride-and-joys supposed off-road ability. But they do seem to find it reassuring to know that if for some reason they suddenly have to go across rough terrain, the vehicle can manage it even if the driver is scared stiff. And of course, in the unlikely event that a horse-box needs to be towed – well, no problem......

So, thirteen years ago as sailing's equivalent of the SUV began to take over marinas, two leading figures in sailing administration realised that, far from changing the new increasingly family-oriented way of doing things and forcing boats well capable of going offshore to do so even if their crews didn't particularly want to, what was needed instead was a new kind of event to suit the way that most people wanted to sail with their new performance cruisers.

The late Jim Donegan of Cork, Commodore of the South Coast Offshore Racing Association, was ocean racing aristocracy – his grandfather Harry owner-skippered the 18-ton cutter Gull to third place overall in the first Fastnet Race in 1925, and consequently became one of the founder members of the Ocean Racing Club which six years later in 1931 became the RORC, while Jim himself was to go on to win many an offshore contest.

Fintan Cairns of Dun Laoghaire has given generously of his energy and time over the years to sailing both as an active participant, a race officer, and an administrator – he was Commodore of Dublin Bay Sailing Club at a period of its healthiest expansion. Like Jim Donegan, in 2002 he was hugely enthusiastic about racing boats with lids, and he loved the offshore game. Yet in the Autumn of 2002, the two of them convened a national assembly in Kilkenny in order to form an organization whose primary aim would be to create the kind of event that would be attractive to the new generation of cruiser-racer owners, people whose boats could go offshore, but preferred the nice regatta atmosphere and home-to-port-at-the-end-of-the-day format.

A nice regatta atmosphere, and back to port at the end of the day.....the racing in the ICRA Nationals 2014 at the Royal Irish YC in Dun Laoghaire neatly captures the purpose of the organisation as envisaged by the founders in 2002. Photo: David O'Brien

Thirty-one years earlier in 1971, the Irish Sea Offshore Racing Association had been formed by enthusiasts like Hal Sisk of Dun Laoghaire and Dickie Richardson of Holyhead on the assumption that their new organisation should be related to an area of good and extensive racing water, and for a while it worked very well. At its peak, ISORA was attracting a total entry of 107 different boats from all arts and parts into their annual season-long championship in which – if you were intending to be a serious contender – you had to think of racing at least seven events.

That meant seven weekends which, in some cases, inevitably meant leaving your home port on the Thursday and maybe not getting back until Monday morning or even later. Fine and dandy in its day, but its day didn't last too long. Maybe fifteen years in all. By then, new attitudes to family life and a tendency to concentrate one's sailing on a few big events combined with other less time-consuming smaller local events, meant that the ISORA model was no longer valid.

Yet boat numbers in ports kept increasing, so the Irish Cruiser Racing Association came into being at that November meeting in Kilkenny in 2002 to provide Irish-based regattas which, in some cases, would involve trailing the smaller boats to distant venues still on the island of Ireland, instead of sailing them many miles to others ports across the channel.

For old salts, the idea of an offshore racing association based on a land mass, and the notion of road-trailing offshore racers across that land mass to a regatta, seemed absurd. But this was only the beginning of it. For unless there was an unexpected demand for it, the new ICRA programme had no plans to include any overnight sailing except where it involved the training up an Irish Commodore's Cup team, as this was soon within ICRA's ambit.

Basically, what it meant was that ICRA's purpose was to organize an annual national championship regatta of four days at one of Ireland's main sailing centres, chosen on a rotational basis, they would also honour a "Boat of the Year", and every second year they would assemble a Commodore's Cup team.

Far from owners being faced, as they were in the old days, with the challenging demands of preparing a boat for offshore racing and then assembling an experienced crew from a panel in which the ideal number would be twice the number required to crew the boat, instead they were now offered an agreeable pattern of day sailing at some pleasant venue, and much socialising with it, while the results were efficiently calculated by ICRA's travelling road show of race administrators and number crunchers.

Yet for anyone who thought this wasn't really quite rugged enough, there was ruggedness-by-association with the Commodore's Cup campaigns. And all this went particularly well as the Irish economy went stratospheric from 2002 until 2008, so much so that at one stage Ireland actually fielded three different Commodore's Cup teams which even had the luxury of competing against each other. There's posh for you......

But it was too good to last, and ironically the economy had already fallen off a cliff in 2010 when a very serious single team Irish Commodore's Cup campaign, carefully led by Anthony O'Leary, finally won the Commodore's Cup. Also during 2010, the ICRA Nationals in late May were hosted by the Royal St George YC in Dublin Bay, which provided immediate access to the largest fleet of cruiser-racers in Ireland. Thus numbers were easily kept up to a respectable level and in all – the brutal recession notwithstanding – it was a great year for ICRA, with the 2010 Commodore Barry Rose, who had also been the Commodore's Cup Team Manager, deservedly accepting the Mitsubishi Motors "Irish Sailing Club of the Year" award after this great season.

But inevitably, things were more subdued for the next three years as the longterm ill-effects of the recession took hold. So though ICRA Nats were held in Crosshaven in 2011, Howth in 2012, and Fenit on Tralee Bay in 2013, resources were so scarce that the decision was taken not to attempt a defence of the Commodore's Cup in 2012.

The images which came back from the ICRA Nationals 2013 in Tralee Bay suggested good sailing, but for two days the stormy weather caused a complete shut-down. Photo: Bob Bateman

When one cornerstone is removed, others are examined in more detail. The 2013 ICRA Nationals in Tralee Bay had the misfortune to coincide with a period of very unsettled weather which emphasised the fact that many of the top boats had travelled a long way by both sea and land to this gallant outpost of the Irish offshore racing scene to link up with their WIORA counterparts. But although some spectacularly sunny photos of racing in strong winds and bright sunshine emerged, the reality is that they barely had two days of viable competition as the rest of the programme was blown out in utterly miserable storm conditions.

Coming as it did at a time when the economy was barely faltering back into life, this unlucky outcome led to it being open season for suggestions as to the way ahead. There were those who wondered if people's seemingly ever-decreasing sailing time might be better used if the ICRA Nationals were combined into some established events, pointing out that a natural annual rhythm was already there with the biennial Volvo Cork Week rotating with the biennial Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta to provide easy access for large local fleets.

When set against the all-Ireland idealism of the founders, this was anathema to many, as the stand-alone national event, with the effort made to go anywhere in Ireland where you could find substantial local cruiser-racer fleets, was seen by some as central to the ICRA ethos.

However, things were put on hold during 2014 with a well-supported if locally-emphasised ICRA Nationals hosted by the Royal Irish YC in Dublin Bay in June, and then in July there was a mighty victory in the Commodore's Cup 2014 in a wonderful effort built around quiet background work by team captain Anthony O'Leary.

ICRA Nats 2014 in Dublin Bay saw a popular win in Class 0 for the Phelan family's Ker 36 Jump Juice from Crosshaven. Photo: David O'Brien

Jonathan Skerritt's vintage Quarter Tonner Quest of the host club was overall winner of the ICRA Nats 2014 at the RIYC. Photo: David O'Brien

But meanwhile, faced with the reality of the recession in sailing, ICRA's senior number cruncher Denis Kiely had quietly been putting out feelers about the possibility of combining the 2015 ICRA Nationals with Kinsale YC's biennial Sovereigns Cup regatta, which has been trundling along since 1995. By the time the great 2014 season was fully under way, it was no secret that this arrangement for 2015 was already in place, thereby guaranteeing – it was hoped – a substantial increase in numbers in 2015 and better overall value for the sailing community, while at the same time taking the ICRA Nationals to another new venue.

The perfect sailing in the 2013 Sovereign's Cup at Kinsale inspired ICRA officers to seek the link-up for the ICRA Nationals 2015 with the Sovereigns Cup 2015. Photo: Bob Bateman

At first glance, it seemed eminently sensible. But not everyone agreed. It was towards the end of an engaging interview with Commodore's Cup winner Anthony O'Leary at the end of July last summer in his beloved Royal Cork YC, just four days after he and his team had received the trophy on behalf of Ireland on the Royal Yacht Squadron lawns in Cowes, that I witnessed the first significant shot going across the bows of the good ship ICRA/Sovereigns of Kinsale.

Team Captain Anthony O'Leary's veteran Ker 39 Antix hanging in there to stay ahead of a newer Ker 40 to lead Ireland to victory in the 2014 Commodore's Cup. Photo: Rick Tomlinson

Someone whose considered opinion has to be taken seriously – Anthony O'Leary in thoughtful mood as he speaks at a reception to welcome the Commodore's Cup back to the Royal Cork YC. Photo: Bob Bateman

Anthony O'Leary was quite clear in his mind as to how the Irish cruiser-racing scene should go forward. And just as you should never get into a row with people who buy ink by the barrel, equally you wouldn't dream of openly disagreeing with someone who has just pulled Irish sailing out of the doldrums, so I just sat still and let this broadside roll over me.

"I think it's a mistake to incorporate the ICRA Nationals in the Sovereigns Cup in Kinsale....." he said bluntly. "The Sovereigns is one of my favourite regattas, but it's a friendly intimate business. While the town may have the infrastructure ashore, the marina is always crowded and I don't see how the kind of fleet they hope to attract will be comfortably accommodated there".

"Then too" he continued, "we already have two major alternating four day regattas in Dun Laoghaire and Cork Harbour. It's time to accept that sailing people are seeking to focus on fewer major events, and to give a more compact annual programme their best shot. So let's see how it would work if the ICRA Nationals simply rotated between Volvo Cork Week and the Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta".

Clean close racing at Volvo Cork Week 2014. There's a line of thought that reckons this regatta could comfortably incorporate the ICRA Nationals. Photo: Bob Bateman

You can see how, in the circumstances, this idea seemed vibrant and immediately attractive. But more recently in an interview with another equally renowned sailor, Tim Goodbody who is Chairman of the Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta Committee 2015 there was something said which gave further pause for thought.

Tim Goodbody was totally clear in his own mind about the thinking behind the successful VDLR concept and its ability to provide viable racing for 31 different classes, and as he has helmed to victory both inshore and offshore to the highest levels, while also proving himself a master at designing courses for Dublin Bay, his views carry every bit as much weight as those of Anthony O'Leary.

"You have to remember it's a regatta, not a championship" said Goodbody. "Enjoyment of sport comes first, and the purity of fierce competition second. But of course we're going to provide the best possible starts. And the intention is to have those starts leading into the best possible courses in the conditions prevailing"

"Yet the way we see it, people should be racing just as soon as possible after leaving the harbour. There's nothing which impairs simple sailing enjoyment so much as having to wait around in a perfectly good but maybe fickle sailing breeze, hanging about in frustration while an overly-pernickety Race Officer dithers over setting the absolutely perfect start line".

In the context of the fun-filled suburban sailfest which is the VDLR, that's a perfectly reasonable approach. But is it a proper approach for something which aspires to call itself a National Championship? I rather doubt it, and there's no way the VDLR claims to be a national championship even if the numerous GP 14 Class are calling their enthusiastic participation in the VDLR 2015 the class's "Leinster Championship".

Everyone getting in everyone else's way, but that's part of the fun. The laid-back approach of the Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta as seen at 2013's event. Photo VDLR

For, in terms of boat size, the GP 14s will be among the smaller craft taking part in the VDLR, and they can find their own space. However, if you were campaigning a large cruiser-racer in one of the ten IRC classes which have to share the waters of Dublin Bay with 21 other boat classes during VDLR, would you expect to have your part of the event designated as the ICRA Nationals? On the contrary, if you were seriously concerned about the overall good of Irish sailing, you'd probably rightly think this was a spurious claim for what is essentially a fun event.

We were still mulling over the deeper meaning of Tim Goodbody's words in relation to Anthony O'Leary's opinions when this week another big beast in the sailing sphere, Minister for the Marine Simon Coveney no less, also launched into the choppy waters to be met with by those who would hope to rationalise the sailing programme into fewer but bigger international-standard events.

As he was speaking aboard the Naval Service's LE Eithne in Dublin's River Liffey at a reception to boost this summer's joint ICRA Nationals/Sovereigns event in Kinsale, it will be no surprise to learn that he was strongly in favour of it, so perhaps he reckons – unlike Anthony O'Leary - that Kinsale can cope with a substantial influx of visiting boats.

"Two events like this combined at the same time in one venue give extra strength" he said. "I want to see sailing in Ireland become much more ambitious in combining resources to create events which will have true international standing. This is a sport we should be really good at, both in participation and in staging events of world stature. Combining medium-sized events and regattas into one much bigger event like this one in Kinsale is going to be for the long-term good of Irish sailing in particular, and Ireland in general. The planned event is now expected to generate at least €800,000 extra income for the Kinsale area during the regatta period, while there's continuing beneficial spinoff for this harbour town which has added significance as the southern terminal and start point for the Wild Atlantic Way".

Norbert Reilly, Commodore of ICRA, with Minister for the Marine Simon Coveney at this week's reception aboard LE Eithne in Dublin to promote the combined ICRA Nats and Sovereigns Cup 2015 at Kinsale from 24th to 27th June. Photo: David Branigan

Doubtless we'll be getting spinoff of a different kind about these Ministerial views from the many people around the coast who work long and hard to keep alive those quirky little local regattas and special neighbourhood sailing and boating events which will never be major happenings of international stature, but are an essential part of the fabric of our many and varied maritime communities, and are deeply attractive for discerning visitor who shun crowds and seek out quiet enjoyment.

But as it is, aboard the Eithne we had yet another viewpoint to put into the cauldron of developing opinion, as the concluding speech was made by Nobby Reilly, current Commodore of ICRA. In a conversation with him before he made his speech, Nobby emphasised that the ICRA Nationals 2016 will be a stand-alone event once more, and he can be fairly certain about that, as the venue will be his own home port of Howth.

In the light of this, it should be remembered that in his blunt no-nonsense way, Nobby has done great work in encouraging newcomers into sailing. Earlier this week, I happened to be with some keen sailing folk from Wicklow including David Ryan – Farmer Ryan - whose remarkable Monster Project campaign of racing a Volvo 70 in Wicklow's Round Ireland Race 2014 had drawn on the efforts of Nobby Reilly and ICRA with their Let's Try Sailing campaign last May. This resulted in four wannabe sailors from remote parts of Ireland getting their first taste of the heavy metal with the Monster, and we'll see a film of it on RTE and other channels in due course, after the heroic task of cutting 147 hours of tape down to one hour has been completed.

But in the meantime, Nobby concluded the shipboard reception for this year's ICRA Nationals-with-the-Sovereigns-in-Kinsale with a spot of unexpected banter. "Maybe" says he, "maybe we should stop being concerned about trying to convince people that sailing is inexpensive. For we all know that, as it's a vehicle sport, there's bound to be basic expenditure over and above what you'd get with straightforward athletics and team sports. So maybe we should encourage people to get their kids to take up sailing on the grounds that if they come to like it, then there's no way they'll have the money to do drugs....."

ICRA Commodore Nobby Reilly's positive response to the perceived costliness of sailing

Read also: 

Should Irish Cruiser Racing (ICRA) Championships Stand Alone? (July 2013)

The Commodores' Cup – How Ireland Won It & Where It Might Go From Here (August 2014)

#sovscup – The final day of the 2013 Covestone Asset Management Sovereign's Cup enjoyed Caribbean-like conditions of 14-16 knots of wind, flat seas and blazing sunshine, to conclude a week of magnificent sailing in Kinsale Harbour.Day four photos here

At the Prizegiving Ceremony, Regatta Director Mike Walsh thanked all competitors for taking part and the huge number of KYC volunteers and staff that ensured the smooth running of the event. Also, he thanked Donal Roche, Managing Director of Covestone Asset Management and acknowledged their sponsorship and excellent support.
The Sovereign's Cup 2013 was awarded to Peter O'Leary and his crew on 1720 Sportsboat Spiced Beef, "for their consistency in performance in an incredibly competitive class," according to Regatta Director Mike Walsh. "This was a very difficult decision to make as there were four boats in the running but O'Leary and his team were outstanding in my opinion," he added.
The Spiced Beef crew comprised Peter and Robert O'Leary and Jamie Donegan from RCYC and Cathal Cottrell and Youen Jacob of Baltimore Sailing Club, who were all delighted to accept the beautiful Waterford Crystal perpetual trophy.
The Portcullis Trophy, awarded to the boat with the best performance under ECHO handicap, was presented to Godot, skippered by KYC stalwart, John Godkin.

The idyllic conditions provided the battleground for all classes, who after three days racing remained very tight at the top with all to play for on the final day.
Classes 0 and 1 blasted 'around the cans' course on the final day of racing. In Class 0, Andy Williams' team on-board Keromino stretched their legs in impressive style, displaying awesome power under her A-sail on the downwind legs to finish her regatta with two bullets and the Class 0 overall trophy. RCYC's Corby 39 Gloves Off came home in second with club mate Conor Phelan's Jump Juice pipping Richard Fildes Impetuous into third by a mere half a point.
Class 1 proved to be a battleground between the J109's and A-35's for all podium positions. John Maybury's Joker II with North Sails Ireland Nigel Young calling shots took the laurels on 15 points with Howth YC's Storm coming second on 18 points. Third was Rob McConnell's Fools Gold on 26 points. A mere 3 points separated third from fifth, making this one of the tightest contests of the regatta.
In Class 2, Sovereign's Cup veteran and former overall trophy winner, Anthony Gore-Grimes and his team on Dux proved consistency is the name of the game. Discarding a 10th, the team on Dux never finished outside of the top five to win the class. Wicklow Harbour Sailing Club's Slack Alice took second, with the evergreen Cavatina filling the final podium position.
KYC's paralympian, John Twomey made Class 3 his own, winning all races in his Blazer 23, Shillelagh. John showed a masterclass performance in both the heavy and light airs beating the Foley/Bergin/Byrne J-24 into second place. An T'Oileanach took third place, with both J24's clearly enjoying the planeing conditions downwind.
The 1720 European Championships was an extremely closely fought event. Going into the final day, the leader board remained wide open, demanding consistency in performance in the last two races. Grasping the opportunity was Peter O'Leary and his RCYC/BSC team on Spiced Beef who along with her four bullets from earlier in the regatta, scored a third and fifth to take the overall title ahead of Tom Forrester-Coles on Ricochet. Third was the Durkan/O'Sea team on T-Bone with Nicholas O'Leary at the helm who, despite winning the final two races, were unable to recover from dropping their rig on windy Friday. Great credit is due to this team who worked well into the Friday night to ensure they made the last two races.
The Quarter tonners had their fair share of excitement over the regatta. Getting these boats downwind in big breeze and rolling seas with the rig pointing in roughly the right direction is no mean feat, as Sam Laidlaw's Aguila displayed excellent crew work and skill to take the class win. Tony Hayward on Black Fun was second with Rob Gray on Cote third on count back from Willie McNeill's Illegal Immigrant.
The White Sail classes enjoyed four great races over the course of great racing throughout the regatta. The Charles Fort line provided an alternative experience for sailors and was deemed a great success by visiting competitors. In White Sail Class 1, the Elan 333 Bite the Bullet took the honours from the Hanse 311 Loch Greine with Emir Herr third. White Sail Class 2 proved an all-Kinsale affair, with Ger and Fiona Grant taking the class win on Loa Zour, Ray Bowes Calero second and Richard Hanley third in his GK24, Saoirse. Loa Zour won the Overall White Sail Trophy much to the delight of skipper and crew.
The Michelle Dunne Prix d'Elegance trophy for the best turned out boat and crew was presented by Carrie Dunne on behalf of the Dunne Family to Andy Williams' Keronimo.

Regatta Director, Mike Walsh made a small presentation to KYC member Denis Kiely, who, 20 years ago had the vision to establish the Sovereign's Cup regatta in Kinsale on the alternate year to Cork Week at RCYC.

Mike also made a special presentation to recognise the efforts of Ben Fusco and his young team on the 1720 Sportsboat Merlin with an on-board average age of 17.

Closing the prize-giving, Mike announced the next Sovereign's Cup dates of 24th-27th June 2015 and welcomed everyone back to Kinsale Yacht Club in the near future.

#sovscup – On the eve of racing in the 2013 Sovereign's Cup, Kinsale Yacht Club released IRC class bands for tomorrow's handicap cruiser divisions.

Based on these bands, it is expected that ten boats will come to the starting area in Class 0, while Class 1 will see 16 boats (most of which lie in a very narrow handicap range) fighting for honours.

18 boats will do battle in Class 2 with an anticipated seven boats in Class 3.

IRC Rating Range

Class 0 > 1.061

Class 1 0.990 - 1.061

Class 2 0.924 - 0.989

Class 3 < 0.924

"Harbour rots ships and ruins men". So said Horatio Nelson. He not only knew it from his own extensive command experience, but from time to time during long stays in port, he proved it personally with cringe-making results. He should have remembered that other saying of the sea: A busy ship is a happy ship. And at a more basic level, surveyors and boat maintenance experts will tell you the simple truth, that boats and their equipment usually don't get worn out, but they slowly rot through disuse.

With modern materials, it's not rot as they'd have known it in Nelson's day. But whatever you might call it, it makes things non-functional. Yet a boat which is on the move - sailing regularly and extensively - soon has everything working sweetly, for the demands of the sea are such that the attitude of "sure 'twill do" soon provides its own come-uppance.

Out in the west, they've an attractive boat which is making a fair bid to be a perpetual motion machine, with everything functioning smoothly. It's not that long ago that Martin Breen of Galway bought the Reflex 38 Lynx, but since then she has been in the frame in so many major offshore events, and under so many different sponsorship names, that you could be forgiven for thinking he's owned her for more than a decade, and that there are two or three different boats involved.

At the time he bought her, we noted that she seemed to be the ideal size of boat for Irish conditions. The First 40.7, globally the most successful production-built frontline offshore racer of the past twenty years and a super boat with it, is just that little bit too big for Irish conditions in terms of personnel demands and maintenance requirements. But if you go down to some of the hotter 36ft and 34ft machines, you often find you're missing the boat in terms of catching tidal patterns, and the basic realities of seagoing comfort, even though the brilliant J/109 frequently proves otherwise.

Settling in shortly after the start of the Dun Laoghaire to Dingle, 2011

But 38ft LOA - that is just spot on. When Christian Stimson created what is now the Reflex 38 in 1998, he came up with a concept which has withstood the test of time. She can sail up to her rating, and has proven a steady and successful performer in a wide variety of conditions, proving that the comment by Robert Scheidt - that sailing is a consistency sport - applies every bit as much offshore as in the bays.

Successful debut. Dawn comes gently over the boat in winning mode in the Dun Laogaire-Dingle Race 2011

Pre-start manoeuvres off Wicklow at the 2012 Round Ireland Race

The new Breen boat made her Irish debut with the Dun Laoghaire-Dingle Race in 2011, and really stuffed it into the fleets from other Irish coasts, for she raced as Galway Harbour, and had an excellent overall win. Then last year it was active members of NUI Galway SC past and present who took her over under the leadership of Cathal Clarke, and they became the ICRA Boat of the Year with a superb all-round programme which included a class win in a major ISORA race, and the class win – including beating the hottest Reflex 38 from Britain – in the Round Ireland Race.

Not always sunny – determined conditions in the Round Ireland Race 2012

Grey day at sea, Round Ireland Race 2012, with Joan Mulloy from Mayo SC trimming the spinnaker

Between times, the boat didn't rest, as Martin Breen has his own crew for inshore regattas. But this year, the pace is into an even higher gear with Aodhan Fitzgerald (who has been involved since the boat first reached Ireland) in overall charge offshore in a programme which is simply mind-boggling. It was launched yesterday evening in Galway with the boat now in the Discover Ireland livery, and she'll be promoting the Emerald Isle and The Gathering Cruise in a series of campaigns which start today off Rinville at 1000hrs with the 60-mile Clarenbridge Crystal Race in Galway Bay. The crew will be clad from head to toe in new kit provided by Dubarry, with the boat setting a fine new set of threads from Des McWilliam, saling in conditions which look most unlikely to include any calm spots.

Then it's off to Scotland round Ireland's bumpy nor'west corner for the Scottish Series from May 24th to 27th with the boat to be raced by Martin Breen's GBSC team, then south to Dun Laoghaire to be on station for defending the Dun Laoghaire to Dingle title, starting the 266 mile course (which is also a Fastnet qualifier) on June 7th, then on from Dingle it's immediately into the WIORA and ICRA championships just round the corner at Fenit on Tralee Bay, then before June is out, they're challenging for the Sovereign's Cup in Kinsale.

The gang's all here – the 15-strong crew panel's select offshore squad

The total crew panel is 15, ranging in age from 19 to 55, and for the offshore programme the lineup is Aodhan Fitzgerald (skipper/navigator), Johnny Murphy (tactician/trimmer), Neil Spain (driver), Ben Scallan (driver), Martin Breen (driver), Cathal Clarke (bowman), Joan Mulloy (trimmer), Nigel Moss (trimmer), Ruairi de Faoite (mast), and Louis Mulloy (bowman).

While the crew emphasis is on Connacht, in the way of offshore racing this team also includes people from most other parts of Ireland, people that you'd meet in the course of other campaigns, people who seem to fit in with your own boat's way of doing things. If you tried to delineate a clear career path on how to become part of a group like this, you'd find it very difficult. There is no clearcut way. It seems to happen by a mixture of telepathy and osmosis. You are impressed by the way people are sailing another boat, and you make it your business to get them inside your tent.

Because for sure, the business of successfully balancing different temperaments is going to be paramount in a season in which they're only getting going as the Sovereign's Cup draws to a close. The high point of the year is going to be the Rolex Fastnet Race in August. By the time the boat gets to Cowes, she'll have sailed more than a thousand miles in delivery trips.

Stating the obvious? Starting the Rolex Fastnet Race with this message emblazoned on your topsides is going to invite ribald comment from the opposition. But displaying something similar has proven successful in the past.

And there she'll be in the Solent among 350 other Fastnet wannabees, with Discover Ireland boldly displayed along her topsides. They'll be getting some smartass comments about that. After all, what else is the Fastnet Race all about? Back in 1975, when the Golden Jubilee Fastnet Race included a fleet for classics racing for the Iolaire Block presented by Don Street, one splendid old gaff cutter had her crew all kitted out in crisp new T-shirts, each one imprinted with different letters. When they all lined up along the rail, those T-shirts read: "What is the way to the Fastnet Rock, please?" In Irish. And it worked. They won the Iolaire Block, even though Iolaire was herself racing. So let's hope that having discoverireland.ie emblazoned prominently on the topsides is going to be equally successful in the Fastnet Race for the boat formerly known as Lynx.

What with this extraordinary campaign, and the news this week about Galway plunging ahead with its new harbour, it's very clear that in the 21st Century, it's totally superfluous to warble on about the west being awake. For a long time now, it hasn't been asleep.

Comment on this story?

We'd like to hear from you!  Leave a message in the box below or email William Nixon directly on [email protected]

WM Nixon's Saturday Sailing blog appears every Saturday on Afloat.ie

Follow us on twitter @afloatmagazine and on our Afloat facebook page