SAILING:Two-time winner of the Sovereign's Cup, Anthony O'Leary, will be back in action - but in a new boat - in June for a double helping of regattas in a fortnight.
First the Saab Irish Cruiser Racer Association (ICRA) National championships kicks off on his home waters at Royal Cork and runs from Friday the 22nd to Sunday.
The championships will be run by Royal Cork's Kevin Lane.
On the water, Alan Crosbie and Peter Crowley will set courses for the fourth ICRA nationals and the first time it has sailed out of Crosshaven.
A fleet of 90 boats is promised, with the bulk of it boosted by east-coast travellers who make the trip round the Tuskar for two south coast regattas.
This week ICRA organisers issued a reminder to members of a discounted entry fee if entries are received before April 30th.
O'Leary will not be sailing his championshipwinning Corby Antix. He has replaced it with the 10yearold Dubois 37 design, originally named Victric III.
Most cruiser racer fans know the black-hulled boat as either Dark Angel or Nimmo, previously owned by Simon Coveney et al, and before that owned by Galway's Eamonn Conneelly.
Apart from local racing, the new O'Leary boat, named Antix Dubh and sailed with sons Nicholas and Peter, will make its debut - after some serious modifications - at the Scottish series on the Clyde in May.
Commodore's Cup boats such as Dave Dwyer's Mariner's Cove and Conor and Denise Phelan's Jump Juice are already in action in Cork harbour's April league, with the latter making the running in last weekend's opening round.
A number of new designs to be ready for the 2007 Dublin Bay season have yet to hit the water. These include two new Corby 33s and an A35.
It is unlikely, however, that Colm Barrington's new Ker 39-footer (an evolution of his 50-footer Flying Glove), which is under construction in Croatia, will make the championships.
Following the ICRA action off Roche's Point, attention turns to Kinsale for the Sovereign's Cup that runs the following week from June 27th-30th.
Up to 150 boats are expected to take part in the regatta that has been scheduled to tie in with other cruiser fixtures in 2007, such as the Dingle Skellig Hotel Dún Laoghaire to Dingle race that precedes both of these southcoast fixtures.
The biennial race, which starts on June 10th, was launched by Minister for Sport John O'Donoghue at the National YC. It sails a 180mile course leaving the Muglins, Tuskar Rock, Coningbeg Light Vessel, Fastnet Rock, Bull Rock and the Skelligs to starboard to the finishing line off Dingle Harbour.
One of the highlights of the race is a prize-giving dinner in the Dingle Skellig Hotel on June 13th.
One month later the National Yacht club turns its attention to dinghy sailing when it hosts the European Laser 4.7 championships from July 21st to 27th. It will be the biggest single dinghy event of the year.
Organiser Cathy McAleavey, who has just returned from the Italian championships in Lake Garda, said the interest in the Irish event was "sky high".
"We have 280 places in total and it's now clear that we will be oversubscribed."
The largest contingent entered is from Britain - 13 to date - while 11 top Irish youth (under-18) sailors have entered. Large teams have entered from Italy (9), the Netherlands (7), Switzerland (7) and Hungary (5).
The Laser 4.7 is the popular, one-person, youth version of the Laser with a sail area of 4.7sqm. The championships are for those between 12 and 18 years of age.
Leading Irish hopefuls include David Kenefick (Royal Cork YC) and Ross Vaughan (Royal North Ireland YC).
