International economists and financial journalists trying to analyse just how and why the Irish economy is doing so well these days might learn something from studying the mutations of the annual sailing programme. National events that in times past might have taken a leisurely week or so are now being compressed to minimize interruption of the countrywide work mania, and the latest to leap on the short-break bandwaggon is the upcoming Rooster-sponsored ILCA ILCA Nats, at Howth from Friday 18th August through to Sunday, August 20th.
That’s right. Just three days for the Irish Open Nationals of the only Olympic class which can be said to have a truly global popularity at every level, from ordinary club pottering around, going the whole way up to the super-sharp heights of the Five Ring Circus.
And all this is coming down the line at a club which, next year, will be celebrating the Golden Jubilee of the Boat, Formerly Known As The Laser being a core element of its continuous sailing programme.
But that’s the way we sail now, folks. And Championship Organisers Conor Murphy and Darren Wright and their Senior Racer Officer Scorie Walls - with their team of all the talents - know it can be done, simply because it has to be done.
LARGE AND VARIED FLEET
They’ll be dealing with a large and varied fleet with differing levels of familiarity with the venue. Last year at Tralee Bay SC, the ILCA 7s 2022 were won by Dan O’Connell of Cove, who is a regular on the Howth ILCA Winter Series,
The ILCA 6s at Tralee went to Fiachra McDonnell of Royal St George YC, while the ILCA 4s were topped by Hannah Dudley Young of Ballyholme.
This year’s fleet will include the home club’s super-siblings Sienna and Rocco Wright, while Howth’s awards-garlanded international veteran and mentor Aoife Hopkins will be shepherding her team of promising talent into the ILCA 4 section.
Entries for an already healthy list close tomorrow evening (Tuesday, 15th August). And those whose concern is the weather can be reassured that at present, there seems little chance of those character-forming northeasterlies which Howth sailors expect to provide them with ocean sailing skills.
HOWTH’S CLIMATIC WORLD APART
Then too – as last weekend showed - the benefits of the “East Coast Effect” should never be underestimated. In other words, any Atlantic rain determined to dump on Howth finds itself being absorbed by the muddy midlands before it reaches the Irish Sea, leaving Howth and the many ILCAs in a world of their own, with a mind-blowing evening entertainment programme added in to maximise time-use even further.
Details including entry here
