SAILING: An announcement on the appointment of a new chief executive for the Irish Sailing Association (ISA) is expected early next week.
The new candidate faces a number of priorities, according to Robert Dix, the ISA president.
"Promotion of the sport of sailing in all its forms, plus increase the number of participants," he told The Irish Times yesterday. "We would like to use Team Racing to develop a nationwide schools programme, while also varying outlets for adults in addition to the existing club structure."
Underpinning the objectives is the ISA's strategic plan, "Sailing - the lifelong sport", now in its second life since it was revised three years ago. Sources in the association have suggested that the broad scope of the plan, together with limited funding, dogged progress, and it was this delay that ultimately led to the termination of the former CEO's contract earlier this year.
The national authority relies on a mandatory subscription scheme that generates in excess of €600,000 per annum. In turn, this funds a full-time staff of 10 at a high-profile office in Dún Laoghaire.
Sport Council funding assists with elite sailor development and Olympic competition, but the lack of additional funding has prevented specific new projects from starting to deliver goals of the strategic plan.
Meanwhile, as official confirmation of a third Irish team for the Rolex Commodore's Cup was made this week, the Royal Yachting Association announced four British teams for the biennial event that gets under way at Cowes in five weeks.
Cork yachtsman David Dwyer has just launched a Mark Mills-designed 39-footer, Marinerscove.ie, while a chartered mid-sized boat, another Mills design, a DK46, will link up with another Royal Cork Yacht Club member, Mike McCarthy, in his Ker 32 Checkmate, for the Ireland White Team.
Dwyer's prospects are boosted by Peter Morton as project manager.
Dwyer's new yacht means each of the three teams has a newly commissioned design as their middle boat.
This event will also feature the long-awaited debut of Colm Barrington's new Ker 50, Magic Glove, in addition to Ger O'Rourke's canting-keel Cookson 50 Chieftain. A fleet of six boats over 50 feet will race for the first time in many years.
As many as 15 teams may now be competing at Cowes though with multiple national entries, the event is far from the heyday of the Admiral's Cup when more than 20 countries entered three-boat squads.
Ireland West Tourism and Ireland West Airport Knock have joined in sponsoring an entry in the 2006 BMW Round Ireland Race, Ireland's best known offshore yacht race that starts on July 1st from Wicklow Sailing Club.
Aodháin Fitzgerald, winner of the 2004 Round Ireland two-handed class with Yannick Lemonnier, heads the 12-strong Team Ireland West, drawn from the membership of Galway Bay Sailing Club. They will be sailing a race-optimised Beneteau 40.7, chartered specially for the event, under the name "Ireland's West".
