SAILING:CROSSHAVEN IN October might seem along way from Cowes next June, but one of the most exciting by-products to come out of tomorrow's final round of the O'Flynn Exhams October League is an early blueprint for Irish Commodore's Cup teams.
At least three of the six cup prospects are in action, and there’s plenty of speculation on the Royal Cork marina about how the Irish Cruiser Racer Association (ICRA) intends to construct each of the three-boat teams.
That’s not least because team structure has been cited as one of the downfalls of the 2008 squad.
After a series of near misses in the Commodore’s Cup, there are many reasons why 2008 would have been an appropriate time for an Irish win on the Solent.
“Third time lucky” was how it was scripted, but not how it was acted out.
After first being jilted by the French and twice by the English, the Irish could be forgiven for giving up on the cup.
Ahead lies eight months of waiting for another assault, and the last four weeks show that interest has not waned. Ireland is seriously plotting the capture of the cup. It is a measure of the resolve that the 2010 campaigns are forming, buoyed no doubt by the memory that in the closing stages of the 2008 event Ireland White held the overall lead.
This is a significant point, because not only does it show how quickly the event can change, it also shows that Irish cruiser pro-am racing deserves its place on the world stage. Properly building the 2010 teams is critical.
Many hold the view that boat owners should decide the line-up among themselves “organically”, but the ICRA have said this time an indicator series should be part of the foundation of the squad.
Skippers remain tight-lipped on possible team-mates, though, and there will be no concrete decisions until after the ICRA’s meeting on the subject in two weeks.
Four weeks winter racing in Cork has confirmed an Irish appetite for the cup in eight months, but, like so many building projects round the country, these teams are still only half finished.
Tomorrow Eamon Rohan has the upper hand, three-and-a-half points clear of Dave Dwyer’s Marinercove.ie on 15 points. His superbly turned-out Blondie leads class zero, and is already wound up to Commodore’s Cup level. Her crew include three visiting British sailors who raced the boat in Cowes two years ago, including helmsman Mark Richmond, professional Neil Mackley of North Sails and Ben Field.
Third is Dublin boat Tiamat, skippered by Tim Costello and sailed by Crosshaven’s Mark Mansfield on 16½ points.
In spite of the lead on the water, a non-discardable final race of the series will keep class zero open to the very end.
Staying on the south coast, John Sheehy, Nick Smyth, Paddy Kirwan and Marty O’Leary emerged as the top crew at the Match Racing championships in Kinsale last weekend. The Royal St George Yacht Club team has been dominant on the Match Racing tour of Ireland all year and look set to break into the top-100 match racers in the world when the ISAF rankings are announced in December.
Cork’s boating community is mourning the loss of Michael Bowen, formerly of Union Chandlery. The popular marine industry figure who was known throughout Ireland died last Friday.
“Cork”, the name of the Irish entry in the nine-boat Clipper Round the World race, has started the next leg of the epic, 35,000-mile challenge, leaving behind the iconic Rio backdrop of Sugar Loaf Mountain for the race to Cape Town.
Glenans Irish Sailing Club says there has been a tremendous response to its fundraising drive launched this month. The club, which provides training at its bases in Baltimore and Clew Bay, needs to raise €75,000 by the end of the month to secure its future and prepare for the next phase of development.
Thanks to the generosity of its members and supporters, €68,000 has been collected. So with just days to go to the deadline, Glenans is only a few thousand short of its target.
Chairman Paul Rossiter thanked all those who supported the appeal, adding: “We are now very close to achieving one of the main elements of our rescue plan”.
