#sailing – The Irish Sailing Association (ISA) has issued a statement outlining how monies raised in its new Olympic initiative called 'The Irish Sailing Foundation' will be spent.  

News of the new initiative that aims to raise €2.75m per year – nearly three times the turnover of the association – appeared in a recruitment advertisement for a new 'ISF' CEO in last Friday's Irish Times and appeared again in weekend newspapers.

The advertisment said it expects the ISF to build 'philanthropic fund raised income to €2.75 million annually in support of the high performance mission and programmes'.

The text of the advertisement also appeared briefly on the ISA website this week but has since been replaced with the updated statement (see below).

According to an ISA insider, there is 'concern' at board level that the initiative appeared to be 'at odds' with its recently launched strategic plan that intends to 'redress the perceived imbalance' between the support structures for those competing in the non-Olympic area and those involved with the High Performance area –essentially the Olympic area.

Today's statement points out any funds raised will also 'provide a contribution towards the development of a National Coaching programme which will be accessible to sailors of all interests and levels of ability'.

The ISA statement refers to the initiative as a 'pilot scheme'  with the financial support of the Irish Sports Council.

The original advert is here and The full ISA statement is below:

The ISA is pleased to announce an innovative funding initiative to support Irish Sailing. With the financial support of the Irish Sports Council, a pilot scheme, to be called "The Irish Sailing Foundation" has been established to raise finance from sources other than those which traditionally provide sponsorship to sailing on a national and regional level. The funds are intended to be applied to the continued support of Elite Youth and Olympic development together with providing a contribution towards the development of a National Coaching programme which will be accessible to sailors of all interests and levels of ability.

The funding for the initiative will come from the resources of the Olympic Steering Group which manages the High Performance activities of the ISA.

The recruitment process to identify an experienced professional fund raiser to manage the project has commenced.

David Lovegrove, President of the ISA, in welcoming the initiative, said it was important that sailing explored new ways of funding to position itself with adequate finance to make longer term investment commitments to the development of the sport.