ICRA Commodore Simon McGibney has expressed relief that everyone is safe after the weekend loss of Scottish competitor Inis Mor on its way to the ICRA National Championships at Royal Cork Yacht Club.
As Afloat.ie reported on Saturday, the Cruisers Zero Ker 39 sank off the Saltee Islands. All three crew were rescued by Coast Guard Helicopter.
“We are saddened by the loss of Inis Mór and the absence of our Scottish friends from the championship but we are enormously relieved that nobody was injured or worse during the sinking,” said McGibney. “We are thankful, as always for the professionalism of the Irish Coast Guard crew on Rescue 117 for winching the sailors to safety and to the Kilmore Quay RNLI lifeboat crew for their efforts to save the yacht.”
Bright and breezy conditions are on the cards for next weekend’s Irish Cruiser Racing Association’s annual championships at Crosshaven where a fleet of 60 boats from around Ireland are expected to contest four national titles.
A steady stream of boats arriving by road at the Royal Cork Yacht Club marked the build-up to the event over the weekend with several crews expected on the water on Thursday for training practice.
All four national champions will be defending their titles led by ICRA Boat of the Year, John Maybury’s Joker 2 from the Royal Irish YC who is aiming for a hat-trick victory in Class 1 this year. Class Zero champion Conor Phelan on Jump Juice will be without the Scottish challenger Inis Mor. Howth YC’s David Cullen arrived by road with Checkmate XV on Monday while Ken Lawless and Sybil McCormacks’ Cartoon from the Royal Irish YC is also ready to defend their Class 3 title. Read more in Afloat's runners and riders preview here.
Foynes based McGibney says 'safety will be upper-most in the ICRA event organisers’ thoughts' this weekend as current forecasts suggest winds in the upper-range of racing conditions for at least part of the event.