In a move that has provoked concern among some dinghy sailors in south Dublin and further afield, the annual general meeting of Dublin Bay Sailing Club (DBSC) increased the 2001 season subscription for dinghies by approximately 45 per cent on Monday night. The decision reopens the debate surrounding the state of club-level small boat racing.

The increase is a response by the DBSC to the disparity between the cost of running racing for dinghies and the income derived from this group. Numbers at its weekly racing schedule have dropped over recent years.

The low turn-outs have sometimes been cited as evidence of a widespread malaise in this sector, although class championships tend to disprove this. The subscription level for 2001 will rise from £94 to £135 per boat and in spite of various objections on Monday night, the meeting voted to accept the revised scale. The issue raises a number of other on-going debates such as crowding on the sailing calendar and the cost of servicing dinghy fleets compared to bigger keelboats.

Dinghy sailors cite several objections to the move, most based around affordability, particularly for youths.

Nevertheless, DBSC Commodore Fintan Cairns is keen to reassure his membership that the club is not "out to get" dinghy sailors. "The majority of our assets are tied up in dinghy sailing," Cairns told The Irish Times last night. "We're not complaining (about the cost) but we are trying to reduce the deficit that dinghies incur."

Cairns agrees that better planning in the fixtures list might assist clubs such as the DBSC to anticipate peak times of the year for major championships when club turnouts will be low or non-existent.

In the meantime, the reaction of the committed DBSC dinghy sailors will only now start to become apparent. Already, one move to attract sponsorship has been suggested to offset the increase. Either way, several observers have suggested that the DBSC move is certain to become a watershed for the dinghy community.