At the end of a long sailing season, this weekend sees the Eagle Star Champion of Champions event taking place mat Howth.

An oft-quoted criticism by non-sailors of the confusing nature of sailing can also be regarded as a sign-post of the broad diversity that is on offer. Making sense of it all from a position of non-involvement can be expected but it also brings a danger of splitting the various interest groups within dinghy, keelboat, traditional, classic, offshore and more.

So when an event comes along apparently claiming to be the ultimate decider of the best sailor in Ireland, a certain dosage of salt must be added. For all 24 of the champions, drawn from various classes and events in the last season, accepting the nature of the compromise must be the first step of competing this weekend.

There can be no doubt that certain classes that have produced a nominee for the champions event don't stand a chance of seeing their sailor competing in the final. But that's okay; for the sailors in such classes, their sport is their class and with a choice of take it or leave it, they choose to compete in that class until they decide to move on.

For those sailors tomorrow, taking part and flying their class flag amidst a national gathering of champions is an honour and a chance to better the performance of last year's representative in the competition. Indeed, there may even be a case for an informal `mini-league' of classes within the main event to provide an annual measure of their performance.

The real tussle for the Irish Sailing Association's trophy comes further up the ranks. The silver salver is truly coveted by those in with a chance of victory but with such a small pool of potential winners, its profile has been confined.

The series starts with elimination rounds that trims the fleet to the potential contenders by Sunday morning. So with a truly top flight line-up of champions plus several crucial wild card sailors, who is likely to be clinching the trophy in two days' time?

Defending champion Mark Mansfield has confirmed his automatic nomination and with an intensive Olympic campaign under his belt, he must be considered battle-hardened and favourite. But he's not the only Olympian and Maria Coleman will also be racing. She showed her form in last year's event where she rapidly got to grips with Mansfield's weapon on choice - the 1720 Sportsboat.

But this year sees the action switch to Puppeteer 22-footers which are certain to be as much of a deciding factor as helm skills. The fleet at Howth is being `equalised', such is their varying condition and specification. This uncertain factor could yet open the door to another set of potential winners.

Chief among these is previous winner Tom Fitzpatrick who won the 1720 class nomination as helm of Xerox in August. He will also be racing on home waters and is capable of beating any of the line-up. Other one-design sailors include Dragon champion Simon Brien and Flying Fifteen helm John Lavery - both are highly experienced and well-proven.

From the dinghy ranks, a number of threats are obvious: Previous winner Ruan O'Tiarnaigh of the GP14 class along with Sean Craig of the Enterprise fleet can be considered strong as can Gerbil Owens of the 420's and a potential Athens 2004 campaigner. Wildcard Colm Barrington comes with a pedigree won from his early days in dinghies although his nomination was won from his complete domination of the large keelboat scene over the last two seasons.