The news this week that the development of the breakwaters for Dun Laoghaire's new marina will not foreclose the end of the southside sailing season will be greeted with widespread relief, especially as the popular east-coast event has already been postponed twice due to construction work.
The Royal Alfred Yacht Club's annual Bailey Bowl had been scheduled for the start of the season but had to be rescheduled due to lack of moorings in the harbour. Late July proved unacceptable due to congestion on the fixture's list leading to this weekend's date at the Royal St George Yacht Club.
The 11th-hour accommodation for boats on swinging moorings on the site for the marina would have resulted in chaos as the usual October lift-out dates would have been brought forward at what is a peak time in the sailing season.
The Bailey Bowl now looks set to be bigger than ever and may, ironically, be set to benefit from the rescheduling. For a start, the RAYC have secured major sponsorship from The Labyrinth, an internet web development company, with the result that the entry fees will now be donated to the Royal National Lifeboat Institute.
Rejoining the Bailey Bowl line-up after an extended absence will be the Ruffian 23-footers, the largest single club one-design class in the country.
Such is the range of standards in this fleet that two divisions, gold and silver, have been introduced as an incentive.
The 1720 Sportsboat class will also be competing and should add an exciting element to the event. This will be especially likely as many of the entrants will be taking part as a warm-up to the National Championships taking place in Dun Laoghaire in two weeks' time - another unexpected bonus from the delayed fixture.
The Dragon class will also be well represented with Ulsterman and Edinburgh Cup winner Simon Brien coming head to head with a host of regular adversaries led by Andrew Craig whose season to date includes second overall at the European Championships in Spain.
Suffering from a redistribution of its fleet to growing venues around Ireland, the J24s cannot boast the same turnouts that once saw the class as the second largest fleet on the bay. That won't stop a close battle for top place, certain to be a play-off between Bryan Maguire's Cries of Passion and the Crazyhorse partnership of Frank Heath and Ivan Schuster.
Finally, the growth of the Sigma 33 fleet on the bay, more than a dozen boats, will have their second starring appearance in two weekends. Hailed as the cruiser/racer one-design, the class featured in last weekend's Bank Of Scotland (Ireland) Challenge as the only one-design in an otherwise handicapped event.
Meanwhile, the only handicap fleet with a large following on the east coast that isn't included in the challenge event recently concluded its own east-coast championship event at Malahide. A very healthy turnout of 35 boats competed over three days with Philip Byrne's Growltiger of the Royal Irish YC firmly stamping his authority on the class with a neat hat-trick of four straight wins.
