SAILING COLUMNTHE BEST way to safeguard the future is to invent it and by introducing satellite tracker technology, Wicklow Sailing Club brought internet access to this year's BMW Round Ireland race.

Out went arbitrary reporting positions relayed by coast guard and in came precise tracking on computer screens for the five-day voyage of the 40-boat fleet.

Its impact was most apparent yesterday in the exciting closing stages.

Pundits tracked Irish sea duels between Cavatina, Ireland West and McCarthy motors.ie to predict the overall prize with some certainty.

The investment in this technology is a quantum leap forward for race organisers and has been widely acknowledged as such.

Wicklow Sailing Club say its website attracted 57,000 hits over the past five days. It puts the club on the map but in a wider context, it's also a boost for the campaign, encouraging more interest in offshore sailing at a time when it is in decline.

But such innovation should not end there because, if the comments of this year's line honours winner are anything to go by, the club is sitting on a golden opportunity.

If this is the case why does the race's appeal, though deserving of far greater international note, remain rooted in a small fleet?

When he came ashore from his second circumnavigation, Leopard skipper Mike Slade said the timing of the race was an obstacle to further international growth.

"It's so close to the UK's Round the Island race, and it's not a Fastnet year. I think if it was on in a Fastnet year, you'd see more of the big boats coming here for the Round Ireland and then doing the Fastnet."

By listening to the advice from Slade - owner of a super-yacht which holds some of the world's biggest records -­ Wicklow could make further innovations for 2010.

The club could also consider wider changes, including the course itself. In a replay of recent races, the last 100 miles of the 2008 voyage have seen a dramatic change in fortune for one-time backmarkers.

Slower boats were the winners again last night and the high-speed endeavours of Wednesday have been relegated in the handicap stakes at least.

This continued march of the slow boats has prompted calls for an examination of the course to see if there is another way of staging Ireland's premier offshore race.

Essentially, statistics from 1986 to 2008 show the race is won and lost between Rathlin island and South rock; and last night's closing stage of the 15th edition proved no different.

Because the race effectively restarts as boats can be caught in a tidal gate after some 600 miles of fair sailing, it has been suggested that the option of sending the fleet northabout on a flood tide should at least be examined.

Another option is to allow competitors sail in either direction after the start passing through a gate east of the Wicklow line.

As those stepping ashore in Wicklow testified last night ­ though brutal at times, the Round Ireland is the perfect offshore race course - and it needs to be sold around the world as such.

The entire sailing community needs to get behind Wicklow and assist it in promoting this 704-mile offshore race as an icon of Ireland's summer sport.