SAILING:WITH THE sound of tens of thousands of people cheering the Volvo Ocean Race finale in Galway last weekend still echoing around the world, the success of the visit to Ireland can't be doubted in advance of official figures yet to be announced.
Such measures are nearly always topical for reasons of the methodology used. But for certain, a lot of people attended the event, many travelled from overseas, it was good for Galway and by extension for Ireland.
And good for sailing? The spectacle of so many people supporting a sailing event of any kind is rare enough anywhere in the world except perhaps for France but definitely for this small country.
Yet the formula that Galway hit on three years ago has been recognised as the benchmark at home and abroad. It is seen as the key to unlocking public involvement and by implication, crucial funding both corporate and public.
Galway has a unique confluence of factors – population size, location of the venue in the heart of the city, ready entertainment solutions and a geographic location that suits the race route – but they all gel together neatly.
The round-the-world race finale ended with a massive celebration that the organisers prayed for, in spite of the weather. But the key was more than simply staging a sports event finale. The formula that director Maria Moynihan-Lee and her team hit upon in 2009 was to stage a festival around the event that was the celebration.
In nearly every respect, it worked, even down to providing opportunities for newcomers to be introduced to the sport, not just as passive on-lookers but as participants if they felt so inspired.
The reality now however, is that the Galway model is not exclusive, other potential host ports have been seeking to copy it. And it’s not just overseas, every coastal community with a sailing or boating event of sufficient standing is copying the model.
In Crosshaven today, Cork Week is wrapping up five days of sailing. In fact, the biennial series began last weekend when a festival of shoreside activities offered public opportunities to become involved. Although on a smaller scale than the events in Galway, upwards of 1,000 people took part in the family friendly events, many of which had little to do with sport.
But as a method of generating income as well as recruiting people to the sport, the future pathway is clear and anyone still insisting that the sport is elitist will find their arguments less persuasive.
Which is just as well. With just 100 entries, Cork Week is a shadow of it’s former self regardless of the quality of racing afloat. Something still needs to change in the way the sport links establishment events with public interest.
Similarly, as the ISAF Youth World Sailing Championships get under way today in Dún Laoghaire, key public activities such as the opening and closing ceremonies act as a showcase for the sport though at the very pinnacle of the youth sailing sector.
But if the Galway model is being copied at home and abroad, the question being asked last week was “What about next time?” The answer to that question begged another, along the lines of “What’s it all about really?” If the motivation behind all the effort at promotion is indeed participation, whether Galway wins another visit of the race is almost irrelevant. The next step is engagement except on a far bigger scale than even hinted at already.
Whether that’s another Irish entry in the Volvo Ocean Race or a chain of sailing schools around the coast like the French model or simply an upscaling of opportunities such as the ISA’s Spree Weekend remains to be seen.
What is clear is this pattern of bumping along the bottom with sporadic lifts such as the round-the-world race is taking place without any central co-ordination or vision to maximise the return on the effort and funding. It appears nobody is at the helm.
VROON LEAVES THE COMPETITION FIGHTING FOR SECOND
CORK WEEK reaches it’s conclusion off Roche’s Point today with winners in half the classes already decided after dreary conditions for the 100-boat fleet yesterday.
As expected, Class Zero was decided with straight wins for Piet Vroon’s Tonerre de Breskens leaving a fight for the remaining podium places that is likely to see Kieran Twomey’s Gloves Off from the Royal Cork YC go head to head with third-placed Jamie McWilliam on Peninsula Signal 8 as Michael Bartholomew’s Tokoloshe looks set for overall.
Class One is again led by Richard Fildes Welsh entry Impetuous that collected a fifth race win yesterday and has a clear shot at taking the class over local Conor Phelan on Jump Juice and Scandinavian entry Inga from Sweden.
The standings in Class Two, where five J109’s are sailing a depleted Irish championship in this 25-strong division, were over-turned yesterday when Ian Nagle and Paul O’Malley’s Jelly Baby from the RCYC won the first race of the day and placed fourth in the afternoon.
That score was enough to drop Dún Laoghaire’s John Hall’s Something Else from their week-long lead to third place with just today’s Harbour Course final race left to sail.
Meanwhile, veteran paralympian John Twomey from Kinsale YC nailed the outcome of Class Four on Baileen Ban with a day to spare yesterday with a second place and race win matching his score for the week.
Weather for today’s finale is expected to return to normal with a westerly breeze and overcast skies matched by occasional rain.
