All four major title-holders from last year’s Irish Cruiser Racing Association (ICRA) national championships will be in action in a fortnight when a fleet of over 60 boats from around Ireland will gather at the Royal Cork Yacht Club, Crosshaven to decide the 2017 winners.

The number is up slightly from 56 when ICRA published its provisional entry list on May 8. ICRA has said it will publish class divisions for the fleet closer to the event. In April, ICRA confirmed there would be no crew limit for the championships, and that the IRC Rule 22.4 would stay deleted after discussion earlier in the year on the topic at the ICRA conference. 

The closing date for entries is today, Friday 26th May and the €200 entry fee includes free berthing at the RCYC for the event including before and afterwards for visiting boats.

Half–tonner Checkmate (Dave Cullen) mastered last year's light airs at the Howth championships to win class two. Photo: Afloat.ie

As ICRA Boat of the Year, John Maybury’s Joker 2 from the Royal Irish YC will be the headline entry as the Dun Laoghaire yacht aims for a hat-trick victory in Class 1 following wins in 2015 and 2016. However, rival J109’s Storm from Rush Sailing Club and Jigamaree from the RIYC are amongst the pack likely to challenge Maybury’s form.

Class Zero champion Conor Phelan on Jump Juice will have home waters advantage this year against Scottish challenger Inis Mór while Howth YC’s David Cullen on Checkmate XV will be looking to repeat his home waters win last year further south on Cork harbour in Class Two. Ken Lawless and Sybil McCormacks’ Cartoon from the Royal Irish YC will defend their Class 3 title.

Dublin Bay based ICRA class one champion Joker 2 from will defend at Royal Cork. Photo: Afloat.ie

"A strong turnout from the host region is welcome and although overall numbers are down on 2016, the top boats have all committed to the championship,” said Simon McGibney, ICRA Commodore from Foynes. “There was also an unfortunate fixtures clash that we intend to avoid in future but for this season, under the circumstances we’re happy with quality over quantity.”

Conor Phelan’s Jump Juice will defend class zero title on home waters at Crosshaven. Photo: Afloat.ie

A new Coastal division will be introduced subject to demand and following the successful implementation in 2016, the Progressive ECHO system will now be standard for the ICRA nationals across all classes.

Class bands will be decided next week and will be announced together with proposals to address the fixtures congestion for future seasons.

The ICRA National Championships hosted by the Royal Cork Yacht Club will be sailed from Friday 9th to Sunday 11th June 2017.