SCORA is set to become the newest Irish sailing acronym as the Irish Sailing Association (ISA) launches a new initiative, led by the Royal Cork's Jim Donegan, to add spice to cruiser racing on the south coast.

The South Coast Offshore Racing Association (SCORA), comprising of seven southern clubs, will run an open league series based on the existing calendars of clubs that will ultimately lead to a new Cruiser Class championship for the region.

The initiative is in line with the ISA's strategic plan to develop sailing over the next five years and will run under the aegis of the southern branch of the ISA.

The ISA director of racing, Harry Gallagher, credited with the revamp of this month's Eagle Star Champion of Champions competition, is now turning his attention to cruiser racers, the only class of sailing boat that does not have a class association to look after and promote its specific interests.

The inaugural meeting of the South Coast Offshore Racing Association (SCORA) will take place at the Maryborough House Hotel, Maryborough Hill, Douglas, on Monday November 29th 1999, at 6.0. Clubs involved are Royal Cork, Kinsale, Glandore, Waterford, Cobh, Baltimore and Schull.

SCORA will adopt a constitution and elect officers similar in style to other cruiser racing clubs such as the Royal Alfred Yacht Club (RAYC) in Dublin, the Irish Sea Offshore Racing Association (ISORA), and WIORA on the west coast.

"We've been examining ways of assisting the development of cruiser racing on the south coast and have come to the conclusion that the real work has to be done close to the action, so to speak, in the clubs and at a regional level, by cruiser sailors themselves," Gallagher said.

The proposed SCORA officers are all well-known cruiser racers from the south coast: Jim Donegan, commodore; John Godkin, class captain class one; Vincent O'Shea, class captain class two; and Mark Ring, class captain class three.

Next season, the Open or South Coast Series could consist of a number of designated events, perhaps from six to nine races - three discards - spread throughout the sailing season. These could include, for example, the first race of the April League, the RNLI and/or the McWilliam series, and the Glandore weekend at Whit.

SCORA will also have the responsibility of communicating with handicap authorities and, in the case of the ECHO handicap, it will incorporate the existing south coast handicapping committee as a sub-committee and will oversee its operations.

In return, the ISA has agreed to a revenue sharing scheme, whereby the annual ECHO renewal fee will be divided between the ISA and the Association. For boat owner members of the Association it will be, in effect, their annual subscription.

Meanwhile, the New York Yacht Club's Young America team was awarded a point in the America's Cup challengers series in Auckland yesterday for a race it did not even start.

The Louis Vuitton Cup's international jury awarded the point, overturning a ruling by race director Vince Cooke refusing the team's request to delay the start of its race against Young Australia on Wednesday.

The jury said Cooke should have accepted Young America's last-minute request for a delay due to unspecified damage to their yacht, details of which have not been made public.

Young America was awarded a point without even starting the race, while Young Australia were allowed to keep the four points they earned for winning the race by sailing around the course alone.

In other races yesterday, Paul Cayard's America One, Italy's Prada Challenge, Spain's Bravo Espana, John Cutler's America True and Dennis Conner's Stars & Stripes all had wins.