Dublin Bay Sailing Club is once again preparing to host its annual weekend series for bigger keelboats when the Bank of Scotland (Ireland) 2000 Challenge kicks off tomorrow week. With a fleet of 50 boats expected, the turnout can be compared to other major events on the international circuit that appear to be struggling with the DBSC event limited to Classes Zero, One and Two that comprise the majority of the best cruiser/racer crews from around the Irish Sea region.

Added to this is the blossoming Sigma 33 class who have now been given their own start in acknowledgement of the growth towards `one-design' racing among bigger cruiser/racers.

The 2000 series has also earned itself the designation of "major regional event" by the Irish Sailing Association while the fleet also races for the Irish Sea Open IRC Championship title. Indeed, it is this IR-C handicap designation that lies at the heart of the issues between this event and those international regattas that appear to be struggling.

Although many factors go towards determining the popularity or otherwise of an event, the handicapping system is responsible for several of these and all is not well in this area of the sport. To sailors competing in one-design classes - a significant majority of the world of sailing - the grating debates between which system to use must seem quite irrelevant.

But while some sailors prefer to allow talent and crew ability to determine the outcome of their competition, one-design racing has only caught on relatively recently. For years before, the need to equalise yachts of differing sizes and shapes to achieve fairness has dominated the big-boat racing scene and numerous formulae have emerged with mixed success.

The recent Kenwood Cup in Hawaii was unable to muster more than 24 boats. Racing under the International Measurement System (IMS), a complex and expensive handicapping formula used exclusively in the United States and pacific nations, as well as throughout Europe. Some opponents of IMS suggest that this is typical of most such events.

But the northern European IRC/IRM systems are also losing their international following due to the handicapping changes. At the Commodore's Cup event on the south coast of England, the effect of competing purely under the new pro-level IRM handicapping has also been evident by a shrinkage of attendance so that only regional UK teams with a mere scattering of continental boats competed.

This event had been intended to allow good club level and semi-professional crews have a regatta of similar standing to the once amateur Admiral's Cup. Ironically, the next Admiral's Cup, still the holy grail of offshore yacht racing, will have transformed itself completely into a one-design event. For this event to abandon handicapping can only amount to a tacit admission that it sees its future in one-design racing.

Against this backdrop, the transatlantic war of yacht handicapping attrition that has raged almost incessantly since racing first started in the late 19th century, continues unabated though increasingly with less relevance to popular club racing crews.

This leaves the DBSC with a more than acceptable fleet next weekend where a neat formula of four hard races and no discard will prove more than testing as a mid-season focus for Irish-Sea yachts. The event joins the Scottish Series on the Clyde that annually attracts 200 plus entries, Cork Week and Cowes as major venues for handicapped boats. Whatever about the racing beyond these shores, this racing continues to thrive and seems certain to do so for many years.

Meanwhile, one of the biggest community based sailing events on the fixtures list gets underway this evening when the Cobh People's regatta takes place. As big an event ashore as it is afloat, racing for keelboats and dinghies takes place alongside skiff rowing competitions. Full details available at the www.sailcork.com website.