Ireland's blossoming marine leisure industry will be showcased next week at the biennial Dublin Boat Show over five days starting on St Patrick's Day. A sign of the times will be the largest yacht - a £250,000 powerboat - while the latest Irish boat-building initiative, the Zzap dinghy will also make its public debut at the RDS. There will be regular displays, and information on charter holidays, training and, of course, boats.
The show is expected to attract 25,000 visitors and the organising body, the Irish Marine Industries Federation, have confirmed the participation of more than 140 exhibitors with a 20 per cent increase in space over the previous best two years, making the 1999 display the largest ever in this country.
The major sailing interest must be the arrival of the Zzap dinghy, representing the most exciting development in the sport since the 1720 Sportsboat initiative five years ago. While that Royal Cork YC-inspired project kick-started regular building at O'Sullivan Marine's yard in Tralee, the David Harte and Garrett Connolly dinghy has added to the building momentum, and the Kerry yard in now the principal centre for yacht construction in Ireland.
The Zzap has been in the pipeline for several years, arguably predating the 1720 and even the Sportsboat craze. The Harte family name is synonymous with boat construction in this country and David Harte's brainchild is the result of years of various building projects, crewing and skippering big boats as well as extensive junior dinghy coaching.
In fact, it was the involvement with elite junior sailing that opened Harte's eyes to the gap in the market for an exciting, cost-effective dinghy that would appeal to young sailors making the transition from Optimists and Mirrors into more established classes. Joining with Connolly was a natural progression for the northside Dublin pair who formed Mizzen Marine several years ago to service the various technical demands of the club racing scene on the East Coast.
Connolly cut his teeth with the construction of NCB Ireland 10 years ago, starting him on a career working on some of the highest profile yacht building projects around the world, from Whitbread to America's Cup. Now the Zzap project is set to take the world by storm with several builders around the world interested in taking on regional production of the dinghy - a vital element if ISAF International status is sought.
Evidence of growing recognition of the marine leisure sector's potential at governmental level can be seen at the Marine Institute's "Oceans of Fun" pavilion that promises an exciting display if previous year's themes are an indicator.
The Irish Sailing Association is also providing a comprehensive Cruising Symposium over three days of the show. Meanwhile, the final round of the Optimist Pre-Qualifying Trials was held at Swords Sailing Club last weekend with over 90 optimists taking part.
In all, only five of the nine races for the Pre-Qualifying Trials could be sailed due to unusually light weather conditions. The racing was nevertheless very competitive with the last eight or so pre-qualifying places still in the balance at the start of the last race.
The top five sailors at the trials were: Tristan McMillan (SLYC); Elizabeth Tait (RCYC); Ben Ferris (EABC); Erica Tait (RCYC); Simon Mitton (RSTGYC); Stephan Knox (EABC).
