![Class One action at the weather mark of the inaugural Wave Regatta at Howth in June](/media/k2/items/cache/42a6e7ff6ac3dc17f1f69ef8f922c541_L.jpg)
![Noel Grealish, Independent TD for Galway West with event Chairperson Martin Breen and members of the ICRA/WIORA organising committee on board J109 Joie De Vie, Galway's Class One challenger in this year’s ICRA National Championships](/media/k2/items/cache/3857728f8f1bc9278803d08212813e96_L.jpg)
![Royal Cork's Conor Phelan is an early entry into Galway's first ever staging of the ICRA Nationals in Galway.](/media/k2/items/cache/010e231c8f60fbee90b02281b81d1428_L.jpg)
![A graph showing the rise in 2018 IRC certs (orange) over 2017 (blue)](/media/k2/items/cache/92e8a56495c445a81a9998518cda42df_L.jpg)
![A new ICRA Executive was appointed in Portlaoise and an interim constitution put in place last night](/media/k2/items/cache/3952e55ecbc9846d845442a604e9e78a_L.jpg)
![ICRA Commodore Simon McGibney](/media/k2/items/cache/700598f92c79eec5e035d90ac3e16d7e_L.jpg)
![Extraordinary General Meeting of ICRA Called](/media/k2/items/cache/86b63fee33c54cd7234891ab258d43ca_L.jpg)
![ICRA sailors at the Workshop in Limerick that aims to shape a five year plan for the cruiser racer body](/media/k2/items/cache/4cf173a0fa9d17e746bf7bfc0ea781c0_L.jpg)
ICRA Strategic Workshop Charts The Way for Five Year Plan; Conference Postponed 'Til Autumn
29th January 2018 ICRA![Norbert 'Nobby' Reilly submitted his letter of resignation to ICRA on Thursday 18 January](/media/k2/items/cache/a454f0bda9706f2151d87944598c98b4_L.jpg)
![Norbert 'Nobby' Reilly submitted his letter of resignation to ICRA on Thursday 18 January](/media/k2/items/cache/a3e4cf8f86e21c1e8022b4f792d0b96e_L.jpg)
![Racing at the 2017 ICRA National Championships at Royal Cork Yacht Club](/media/k2/items/cache/bb89ff168842a8db34e551b876de1ac8_L.jpg)
![Kieran O'Connell (third from left) competing onboard a Royal Cork keelboat](/media/k2/items/cache/47537dd67b25e8e5c4776573f89257af_L.jpg)
![Galway Bay launch - Simon Mc Gibney ICRA Commodore / WIORA Commodore, Captain Brian Sheridan Harbour Master Galway Port, Gary Allen Commodore Galway Bay Sailing Club, Rory Carberry Irish Sailing Board Member, Martin Breen Event Chairperson and Denis Kiely ICRA Honorary Secretary](/media/k2/items/cache/2fca9e350895bba375595b9f228dbe51_L.jpg)
![Galway Bay Confirmed As Hosts Of 2018 ICRA Nationals](/media/k2/items/cache/d3b12c03125317b3ec2a2e864a7e50a7_L.jpg)
![Cartoon (Ken Lawless and Syb McCormack) were part of the winning Cruisers III team](/media/k2/items/cache/8fd09b1c0eeb3e81eaceee56c9bb7f61_L.jpg)
![Waterford's Fools Gold crew celebrate another Welsh victory at Abersoch Keelboat Race Week](/media/k2/items/cache/6e09ca6ca2995145d663ec53909f5717_L.jpg)
The creation of the Irish Cruiser Racing Association (ICRA) began in a very low key way in the autumn of 2002 with an exploratory meeting between Denis Kiely, Jim Donegan and Fintan Cairns in the Granville Hotel in Waterford, and the first conference was held in February 2003 in Kilkenny.
While numbers of cruiser-racers were large, their specific locations were widespread, but there was simply no denying the numerical strength and majority power of the Cork-Dublin axis. To get what was then a very novel concept up and running, this strength of numbers had to be acknowledged, and the first National Championship in 2003 reflected this, as it was staged in Howth.
ICRA was run by a dedicated group of volunteers each of whom brought their special talents to the organisation. Jim Donegan, the elder statesman, was so much more interested in the wellbeing of the new organisation than in personal advancement that he insisted on Fintan Cairns being the first Commodore, while the distinguished Cork sailor was more than content to be Vice Commodore.
Initially, the highlight of the ICRA season was the National Championship, which is essentially self-limiting, as it is restricted to boats which have or would be eligible for an IRC Rating. Boats not actually rated but eligible were catered for by ICRA’s ace number-cruncher Denis Kiely, who took Ireland’s long-established native rating system ECHO to new heights, thereby providing for extra entries which brought fleet numbers at most annual national championships to comfortably above the hundred mark, particularly at the height of the boom years.
YEAR | BOAT | SKIPPER | CLUB | BOAT MODEL |
---|---|---|---|---|
2019 | Rockabill VI | Paul O'Higgins | Royal Irish Yacht Club | JPK1080 |
2017-2018 | Checkmate XV | Dave Cullen | Howth Yacht Club | Half Tonner |
2016 | Joker II | John Maybury | Royal Irish Yacht Club | J109 |
2015 | WOW | George Sisk | Royal Irish Yacht Club | Farr 42 |
2014 | Antix Catapult Quokka |
Anthony O'Leary Mark Glimcher Michael Boyd & Niall Dowling |
Ker 39 Ker 40+ Gand Soleil 43 |
|
2013 | Full Irish | David Kennefick | Royal Cork Yacht Club | Figaro 2 |
2012 | NUI Galway | Cathal Clarke & Matin Breen | NUI & Galway Bay Sailing Club | Reflex 38 |
2011 | Storm | Pat Kelly | Howth Yacht Club & Rush Sailing Club | J109 |
2010 | Antix Mariner's Cove Roxy 6 |
Anthony O'Leary Dave Dwyer Andrew Creigton |
Royal Cork Yacht Club | Ker 39 Mills 37 Corby 36 |
2009 | Kinetic | Richard Colwell & Tom Murphy | Howth Yacht Club | Corby 25 |
2008 | Mariner's Cove Rosie |
Dave Dwyer Roy Dickinson |
Royal Cork Yacht Club Howth Yacht Club |
Mills 37 Corby 36 |
2007 | Jump Juice | Conor Phelan | Royal Cork Yacht Club | Ker 37 |
2006 | Chieftain | Jer O'Rourke | RWYC | Cookson 50 |
2005 | Antix | Anthony O'Leary | Royal Cork Yacht Club | Corby 36 |
2004 | Voodoo Chile | Eamonn Crosbie |