There will be no match racing on the south coast this year following a rejig of the fixtures calendar.

After two years of expansion for match racing in terms of events the theme for 2011 is consolidation.

Changes to the ISA SailFleet schedule for the boats mean that we have had to go through a rejigging of the match racing calendar.

The major impact is that Royal Cork YC are to take the boats latter than originally hoped meaning that they will be unable to host a leg of the Tour.

With Kinsale not taking part in the SailFleet scheme this year that means no match racing on the south coast for the first time in a couple of years.

With no tie up with the Dun Laoghaire Festival of Cultures available this year a date of July 23rd and 24th has been settled on for the Ireland vs The World International.

The highlight of last year this event will once again pit Irelands 6 best match racers against 6 teams from the rest of the world. Once again National and Tour champion John Sheehy will captain the Irish team.

The Leinster Match Racing Open, to be hosted by the Royal Irish Yacht Club, has been moved to July 16th and 17th to allow it to act as qualification for the Irish team for the following weekend and to give Laura Dillion and the Gladiators (Sam Hunt, Paddy Blackley, Peter Bayly, Richard Murphy) competitive practice immediately before heading over to Poland to represent the country at the ISAF Nations Cup.

Howth Yacht Club's, Dublin Match Racing Open stays with a date of September 3rd and 4th before we head for Lough Derg and the Womens (October 15th and 16th) and Open National Championships (November 5th And 6th).

All of the above means that here will be no Munster Match Racing Open this year and work continues to find a host for the IUSA Student Match Racing Nationals with Galway a potential for early April. There has been considerable work on the cost of entry for events over the winter and the majority of events will have a basic entry of €330 this year. All events will be run at ISAF grade 3.

Revised calendar

July 16-17th – Leinster Match Racing Open, Royal Irish Yacht Club
July 23-24th – Ireland vs The World International, Royal St George Yacht Club
September 3rd and 4th – Dublin Match Racing Open, Howth Yacht Club
October 15th and 16th - Womens Match Racing Championships, Lough Derg Yacht Club
November 5th and 6th – National Match Racing Championships, Lough Derg Yacht Club

In a further boost for the fledgling match racing scene here, top Irish international Umpire Bill O'Hara is looking to have the ISAF Grade one women's match racing event held on Belfast Lough from his home port of Bangor from August 17 - 20 2011, straight after the Weymouth pre-Olympic event.

The 2011 Dublin Boat Show is going on the water in 2011 if a new approach to promote boating in Ireland takes off. The Irish Marine Federation (IMF) aims to include as many boating activities as possible in the national boat show line up next May in Malahide.

An attendance of up to 17,000 are expected at the Malahide marina venue from May 20 to 22. It will be the first time the national event has taken to the water in its 50 year history.

The world's biggest boat builders Beneteau, Jeanneau, Sea Ray and Sunseeker among others have already signed up for the North Dublin event, according to the IMF.

The organisers are partnering with leading Irish boating organisations to demonstrate the many different aspects of the sport on the water with a weekend schedule of live commentary.

BJ Marine, MGM Boats, Western Marine, HM Yachts in Cork and Viking marine of Dun Laoghaire and Shannon Castle Line in County Clare are among the first of the Irish firms to express interest in the new format as exhibition details circulate through the industry this week.

The aim is to get as many class associations on the water as well as small powerboat racing such as Zzapcats, kayaking and match racing fans to stage short, sharp events on the estuary directly in front of the marina. A timetable of events will be published shortly. 

Coastguard and Lifeboat demonstrations are also planned. Technical demonstrations such as glass fibre repairs and engine maintenance are also in the line up.

Despite the coastal setting Ireland's Inland waters will feature prominently too through the Irish Boat Rental Association who will be promoting holidays on the river Shannon and Erne.

Visitors are also expected from Wales and across the Irish Sea region and special offers to both show-goers and exhibitors are being made through an Irish Sea Inter­Reg programme.

The Malahide exhibition site will feature a marine village ashore with over 500 square meters of undercover exhibit space. Show goers will get the chance to talk to the leading lights in the sport before going afloat on the marina where over 100 berths will be available.

"It's a pretty unique site that gives us the best chance to show off the marine leisure industry afloat and ashore. Because its just off the M50 and M1 motorways it means it's also so easy to get to from anywhere in the country. This will be a great day out." said the Federation's Steve Conlon.

More information from Steve Conlon on 087 6472746. Updates here on afloat.ie as the show takes shape.

On the eve of this year's Irish Match Racing Championships in Kinsale, IMRA has announced its 2011 National Championship will be sailed on Lough Derg on November 5th 2011. The full 2011 fixture list is below:

March 26/27 - RCYC - Munster Match Racing Open
July 30/31 - RIYC - Leinster Match Racing Open
Sept 3/4 - HYC - Dublin Match Racing Open
Nov 5/6 - LDYC - National Match Racing Championships

Ireland took on the world at the weekend in the inaugural Ireland v. The World Match Racing Challenge, but it was the global alliance that came out on top in the end, with 36 wins over Ireland's 29.

Light winds kept the race count down from the anticipated 90-odd, but good conditions on Sunday meant the 66-race Round Robin was completed in Scotsman's bay.

The overall team trophy was in balance until the final few flights, but the World team did enough to edge out the Irish Challenge.

Romain Baggio and his Bordeaux Racing team sailed an impeccable series, only losing one race to Keith Swinton of Australia to take the Individual win.

The event was an experiment in many ways, with proceedings blogged flight-by-flight  as they happened by on-the-water reporters. The records of the entire event can be found online at matchracing.ie/challenge, and you can replay the flights on the online GPS tracker HERE.

Live, on-the-water commentary was broadcast over channel 77 from Olympic commentator Jimmy Fitzpatrick and Olympian Ger Owens, and innovative spectator packages allowed spectators fire the gun to start racing and even sit in an on-board hotseat during racing.

Final Skipper results after 12 races each are:

Baggio (FRA) 11 wins(91%)

Nicholas (AUS) 10 wins(82%)

Cornah (GBR) 7 wins (64%)

Swinton (AUS) 8 WIns (73%) minus 1 point penalty

Elmes (IRL) 6 Wins (55%)

Sheehy (IRL) 6 Wins (55%)

O'Connell (IRL) 5 wins (45%)

Hunt (IRL) 4 wins (36%)

Fowler (IRL) 4 wins (36%)

Duncan (NZL) 3 wins (30%)

O'Leary (IRL) 3 wins (30%)

Huckstadt (GER) 0 wins (0%)

More than 20 ladies from around Ireland took to the water in Dun Laoghaire last weekend for a women's match racing training weekend, which may result in a ladies' Match Racing nationals taking place later in 2010.

A recent rise in interest in match racing combined with the Irish Sailing Association’s drive towards promoting women on the water resulted in full programme organised by experienced match racer Mary O’Loughlin and held in the Royal St George Yacht Club in Dun Laoghaire. Women’s match racing is a recent introduction to the Summer Olympics in 2012 and has received a strong international following in preparation for the games.

Some participants had already had a taste of match racing in the ISA’s Sail Fleet; others were fresh to the scene. Whilst some sailors were weary after a hectic week down in Cork, all were keen to try out the J80’s and get on the water.

After a comprehensive briefing on boat set up, starting procedures, tactics and rules, the ladies took to the water to put their new found knowledge into practice. Weather conditions were varied, sunshine and gentle breezes right around to a gusty force 4 on Sunday afternoon.

Under the guidance of some of Ireland’s top match racers and umpires, they completed two action packed on the water sessions and rounded it off with a closing briefing on the weekend’s racing.

The weekend was thoroughly enjoyed by all of those who took part. Many of the ladies who attended the weekend are keen to continue on in the match racing scene and plans are underway to hold a Women’s Match Racing Nationals later in the year

The International Match Racing Challenge, taking place this weekend in Dublin Bay, has been profiling their twelve teams, six from Ireland and six from around the world, on their site over the last few days. The event is shaping up to be the match racing spectacle of the year, with mixed breeze and flat water anticipated in Dun Laoghaire on Saturday as a low pressure moves in.

The event will take place close to shore in Scotsmans Bay, with racing visible from land, where the Festival of World Cultures will be taking place.

Irish eyes wil be watching top-ranked helm John Sheehy and Andrew Fowler, who has stolen a march on Sheehy in this year's circuit. Marty O'Leary's team, recently returned from the Student Match Racing Worlds, will also be keen to maintain their good form, having mixed it with several professional teams in Crete.

The line-up of skippers is featured below, with individual team profiles are included on the event website, HERE.

 

Ireland

John Sheehy World Ranking 70

Andrew Fowler World Ranking 163

Maurice O'Connell World Ranking 192

Marty O'Leary World Ranking 815

Graham Elmes World Ranking 1163

Sam Hunt World Ranking Unranked

 

The World

Keith Swinton  (AUS) World Ranking 17

Pete Nicholas  (AUS) World Ranking 90

Romain Baggio  (FRA) World Ranking 107

Ben Duncan  (NZL) World Ranking 194

Lars Hueckstaedt (GER) World Ranking 217

Andrew Cornah  (GBR) World Ranking Unranked

The organisers of this weekend's inaugural International Match Race Challenge are attempting to make the regatta a multimedia spectacle, with live reports on the action in Dun Laoghaire's Scotsman's Bay relayed to a constantly updated website. The new site, live at matchracing.ie/challenge, will be refreshed with updates, pictures, and audio from the racecourse with a reporter watching the action and posting bulletins in real time.

The website will be displayed in the Royal St George Yacht club, and will auto-refresh every few minutes to ensure that spectators can track the action as it happens. Any club in Ireland whose members are involved can do the same and track the event live over the internet. Live commentary will also be broadcast on Channel 77 for the duration of the regatta.

The International Match Racing Challenge pits six international teams against the top six Irish teams. Spectator packages are still available for the event, in which a paying spectator can sit in one of the boats as it races, watching the action from the cockpit. Details are HERE.

 

Ireland's team finished fourth at the Student Match Racing World Championships at the weekend, the highest-placed team not to contain professional or near full-time match racers on their squad.

Facing the Australian ladies' Olympic match racing team in the third place playoff, a team who had been campaigning full-time for the last two years, the Irish team won the first race, only to see the result pulled over a protest.

"The first race we won," said team captain Marty O'Leary, "but was re-sailed after the other team protested that we were over the line but the committee had not called us back, and the Aussies got the Aussie and English coach to witness we were over, and the PRO was on our side, but they jury decided on a re sail after an hour of deliberation."

"Sure these things happen," he said.

"AUS went on to win the re-sail and take third place, GBR won the worlds over all, with Australia [mens] in second and Ireland in fourth."

"We would just like to say a huge thank you for all the support on behalf of the whole team, we learnt a lot at this event, and the standard was very very high, with numerous teams going for the Olympics in 2012 in London, we did ourselves DIT and Ireland proud. Now the rush to make it home for Cork Week!"

 

Ireland's student match racers are through to the quarter finals of the University Match Racing World Championships, finishing fifth after the round robin series. The final races in the round robin are now over with some big changes in the final ranking as a result. France only needed to close out a single match and the Italians 2 from 4 in order to progress automatically but both teams failed to do so, leaving DITs finest in 5th spot and through to the quarter finals with out the need for sail off.

The two GBR teams lead the pack followed by AUS1 and Singapore. The Irish have had close races with all these teams during the first phase and should feel confident going into the knock out stages where mental toughness begins to play an increasing role.

The automatic qualification gives the team chance to get a break from the super hot afternoon sun, nurse their injuries are prepare for their racing to resume around 5-6pm. In the mean time Italy, France, Australia 2 and Greece sail off for the two remaining places in the quarters while Greece 2 and the two Polish teams pack their bags for the trip home.