![Cruiser–Racer sailors are gathering in Limerick tomorrow for ICRA's National Conference](/media/k2/items/cache/c0cdeec40b00226feb461d920c945475_L.jpg)
![Once upon a time, he was Gordon Maguire of Howth. But now, he’s AUSGM1](/media/k2/items/cache/4b38542b5fe670e258afe02a2406332f_L.jpg)
![Cruiser racing in Cork Harbour – national and local racing results for cruisers are calculated under IRC and ECHO handicap systems. Saturday's ICRA conference in Limerick is calling for debate on a future direction for cruiser–racing in Ireland](/media/k2/items/cache/a7fbd623bc66e91eb53860b592c7b426_L.jpg)
![Scroll down to vote for your boat of 2016](/media/k2/items/cache/206a6bde3a58d45a40bf29e081bb98fd_L.jpg)
![Mixed sailing cruisers competing in a Royal Cork Yacht Club Race in Cork Harbour. The ICRA National Championships wil be held at RCYC from 9th to 11th June](/media/k2/items/cache/8a8905fe08a44036144add2d2c74762a_L.jpg)
![DBSC entry Lively Lady (Rodney Martin). DBSC has added three coastal fixtures to its 2017 programme starting this April](/media/k2/items/cache/359abdf11e3c2a033595d80453d3c1d7_L.jpg)
![While the course is on, RORC will be offering to measure boats at a substantial discount at Royal Cork](/media/k2/items/cache/bd9f2bfeff4cb2f6857755c3f36a2e41_L.jpg)
![Prof O'Connell will talk about his Melges 24 World Championships win last December](/media/k2/items/cache/bc2dd508a7967cabdfaa3d4993c39f41_L.jpg)
![Online Entry Opens for Irish Cruiser Nationals 2017 at Royal Cork Yacht Club](/media/k2/items/cache/c21282d208e437c57ab2c3480ee96937_L.jpg)
![Handicap cruiser-racing on Dublin Bay. The IRC rating will get its first world championships in 2018 following a decision at the World Sailing Conference in Barcelona last week](/media/k2/items/cache/9b7eaea99aa9f689273e9cc94b4b9c58_L.jpg)
![ICRA_Banner ICRA_Banner](http://www.afloat.ie/images/news_content_images/ICRA_pgtopper.png)
Royal Cork & Kinsale YC Promote Two Week Cruiser Fest At ICRA Nationals & Sovereigns Cup
25th October 2016 ICRA![Light winds prevailed at Howth Yacht Club's ICRA National Championships in June](/media/k2/items/cache/08548f31438d3d5ac2a1dbd222016d49_L.jpg)
![ICRA Class three champion, the all-black Quarter Tonner Cartoon, skippered by Sybil McCormack/Ken Lawless from the Royal Irish Yacht Club will be in action in Cowes tomorrow](/media/k2/items/cache/ca7f51275b3873e189b22b49dbc5c0c3_L.jpg)
![Do you really think we’ll manage this? Closing in on the pin in a Division 1 start](/media/k2/items/cache/c972b767ad48072cc99db7f3a281dea8_L.jpg)
![Royal Irish Quarter Tonner Cartoon (Ken Lawless & Sybil McCormack) is vying for the IRC Three title at the ICRA National Championships at Howth YC](/media/k2/items/cache/41f0011d6479806f2d2b81b297e5193f_L.jpg)
ICRA Leaderboard Changes on Day Two of Howth Cruiser Nationals (Updated After Five Races)
11th June 2016 ICRA![An on–the–water jury keep a close eye on a class one start at today's ICRA National Championships off Howth](/media/k2/items/cache/83e3081b59aeac7636dd87457839b438_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 |