SAILING: Organisers of this year's 704- mile Round Ireland Race have announced a higher than usual level of entries. Almost 20 boats have been confirmed and if numbers continue apace, entries could be expected to total 30 or more crews for the June 22nd start at Wicklow. In previous years, entries would not have been revealed until late May. The turnout matches international trends towards quality rather than quantity fleet sizes.
Kinsale YC's 2000 winner George Radley on Imp leads the charge with four boats entered along with regular offshore stalwarts such as Howth's Roy Dickson on Cracklin' Rosie and Kieran Jameson on Changling. Samuel Caillault's Pichenette representing the French offshore racing group UNCL, plus the return of Richard Balding's Swan 60 Fenix and Simon Clarke's Farr 52, are among the overseas entries to date.
Sligo YC's Martin Reilly with skipper Joe English are hunting for a replacement craft for their course record attempt following the withdrawal of the 92-foot Leopard. The maxi had been on delivery from the Caribbean when its rudder broke and holed the yacht during a gale. The crew abandoned the boat shortly before a salvage tug took it in tow to Spain. Although due to be extended to 105ft before the race, the repairs required would not have the boat ready until early July.
The latest International Sailing Federation (ISAF) world rankings list published this week brought good news for the squad of Irish sailors: triple Olympian Mark Mansfield in the Star keelboat continues to hold fourth place overall with crew Killian Collins.
The Royal Cork YC duo ended last weekend's spring championship with an impressive sixth overall, ahead of the current world Champion Mark Reynolds. But for a penalty in the final race, the Irish boat would have ended closer to the legendary Paul Cayard in first. The event ended a day too late to be counted in the rankings.
Star class newcomers Max Treacy and Anthony Shanks of the Royal St George YC in Dún Laoghaire continue to close the gap on Mansfield and Collins in the rankings. The pair moved from 25th to 17th overall in the latest list.
Shanks speculated that their placing might have been higher still but for the Bacardi Cup results being omitted from the ISAF list.
Among the dinghy classes, Baltimore's Maria Coleman remains third overall in the Europe fleet following a seventh at the recent Hyeres Week Eurolymp regatta.
The other single-handers are performing well too with Rory Fitzpatrick of the Royal Irish YC moving from 130th to 60th and Howth's Gavan Jones jumping from 160th to 79th - both in the Laser fleet.
Among the Finn sailors, Aaron O'Grady of the Royal St George YC improves to 40th from 49th while Baltimore's Youen Jacob lies 47th from his previous placing of 50th.
The Howth/Ballyholme pairing of Tom Fitzpatrick and Fraser Brown, sponsored by VHI Healthcare, are also getting to grips with the demanding 49er Skiff and lie 27th from 31st. In the men's 470 fleet, constant training for Gerbil Owens (RstGYC) and Ross Killian (National YC) bring this pair from 103rd to 58th. And in the newly-introduced Yngling women's keelboat class, Laura Dillon's team have regained their fourth place overall having slipped to 10th place briefly.
In Admiral's Cup news, the Royal Ocean Racing Club (RORC) ended months of speculation by announcing the big boat band criteria for the event. Teams can select any IRC (endorsed) handicap yacht from 50 feet overall right up to maxi yachts.
The decision opens the prospect of the spectacularly sized entries gracing Irish waters, depending on individual teams. The RORC has also removed the restriction on national team numbers though each must represent an individual club and be nominated by their relevant national authority.
