In 1947 a group of sailors from Dun Laoghaire Harbour and West Kirby Sailing Club sat down in the bar in the RStGYC and devised rules to make inter-club racing more interesting.
You could engage in ungentlemanly conduct to win the match, such as ‘mislead & baulk’ your opponent, cover opposition boats to allow your teammates to advance; scores were cumulative and winning the race wasn’t all.
Thus, the first Team Racing rules were formulated. West Kirby had been invited to Dun Laoghaire for ‘open’ water racing, which was not then available on the west coast of England as the minefields protecting Liverpool Port had not yet been cleared.
The following year, Dun Laoghaire clubs got together to run the inaugural IDRA National Team Racing Championships in Fireflies a World first. 75 years later the event repeats under the auspices of ITRA (Irish Team Racing Assoc.) and the RStGYC on 18th/19th November in the ‘George’ and entries open next Tuesday (on rsgyc.ie).
Four youth teams will receive invitations. These comprise the Irish winners and runners-up from the Elmo and Schools Nationals '23 events, which were truly amazing events rallying 32 representative teams.
Demand for entries is expected to be brisk as this is the ultimate event of 2023.
