Team Ireland has finally arrived at the Student Yachting World Championships in La Trinité Sur Mer after 24hours on the road, the trip being made easy thanks to the team van kindly provided by AVIS Ireland.

Today the team got their first taste of the ups and downs of the week to come when they received their charter boat. After an initial inspection, a few key problems were found in the gear supplied by the organisers. However after a short testing session and some discussion, a few of the problems were resolved by the end of the day. Despite their troubles with the boat, the team still hopes to rectify the rest of these problems tomorrow but they remain quietly confident of being one of the favourites to bring the cup back home to Ireland.

Excitement is building, as tomorrow a practice race will take place to give all the teams a last chance to fine tune their boats and crew skills before the big kick off on Sunday. Strong winds and heavy seas are forecast for Sunday and the following couple of days provoking mixed emotions amongst all involved in the competition.

On the eve of the regatta, the team would like to thank Bank of Ireland, AVIS Ireland, Euro Car Parks and of course Cork Institute of Technology for all their help and support as their challenge here in France would not be possible without them.

George Kenefick