Sailing Column: Aside from the main debates of the day at the recent Irish Cruiser Racer Association conference in Galway, a recurring topic concerned the unresolved background to the outcome of the Rolex Commodore's Cup event in Cowes last summer when Ireland's hopes of victory were controversially denied.

If disbelief marked the initial response to the turnaround in the series that saw France emerge victorious after a week-long 1-2-3 domination of the event by the three Irish teams, five months later little clarity can be added.

Though the whiff of conspiracy still lingers with some participants, nobody so far has been prepared to back charges of anti-Irish bias among the halls of the Royal Ocean Racing Club.

The reason for this lack of such a charge is simply explained: it just doesn't exist. Thankfully those most directly affected by the outcome of the series have already accepted this.

Yet the question persists: how could a championship which is currently the pinnacle of pro-am big-boat sailing in these waters once again evade Irish hands when at least one of the three teams competing could have achieved the goal?

For the second consecutive year, Ireland were the accepted favourites to win the event yet for the second time the final race of the week, the high-scoring long offshore course, proved the undoing of the Irish.

For 2006, two issues sparked controversy and subsequent suspicions of interference by the organisers. The first was the penalty applied to the French for sailing an incorrect course midway through the series. This was subsequently increased by the International Jury to a stiffer penalty which was later reversed, to the amazement of many observers, on appeal by the French to the same jury.

In spite of this, Ireland's three teams continued to occupy the top three places in the event and at least one seemed destined for victory plus a green, white and orange hat-trick - an outcome without precedent in offshore racing at this level.

And though the three Irish teams sparred as rivals, including at least one visit to the protest room prior to the final race, this only proved the three were not acting in unison to leverage the best outcome as had clearly been tried against the smaller Ireland teams in 2004.

The 1-2-3 continued during the final race offshore as the light to moderate winds kept the 39-boat fleet moving. But when the leaders became becalmed and little prospect of wind was forecast, instead of finishing the race it was extended, and back-markers sailed up from behind to score highly at the expense of the front-runners carrying higher handicaps.

As the three Irish teams were composed mostly of latest generation, one-off custom racing boats and many of the French boats were smaller, production-type boats the Irish challenge collapsed. Cries of foul followed but little could be done.

Meanwhile, Irish Water Safety has issued an alert from Danish Liferaft manufacturer Viking that, due to faulty pressure relief valves, Rescu You liferafts should be checked by an authorised service agent as incorrect inflation may result. Full details at www.viking-yachting.com