Sailing: Howth expecting bumper turnout for cruiser championships

Entries from all coasts of Ireland are already being received at Howth Yacht Club ahead of the annual combined championships for the cruiser classes on the second weekend of September.

Currently standing at 44 boats, organisers are confident that the Irish Cruiser Racing Association (ICRA) nationals will reach 80 boats before the entry deadline in two weeks’ time.

Racing will be for five classes using both the international IRC rating system and domestic Echo handicapping. In keeping with recent trends, long coastal courses using the natural features from Fingal to Wicklow will be offered.

And, in addition the event will feature the J24 national championships for a class that has a growing following from under-25 teams from clubs around the country.

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The now permanent revised fixture has switched to the end of the season rather than the traditional May or June dates that continued for close to 20 years since the formation of ICRA in 2002.

While an August event was attempted in Galway several years ago, weather and other logistical issues conspired against it.

During Covid, the National Yacht Club hosted a successful if restricted event so 2023 is the first full test of the new fixture date.

The idea behind the change is that crews will have had a full season of campaigning so the winners will be all the more representative of their titles. The annual survey of owners four years ago also confirmed a large consensus in favour of a late season event.

“I think the difficulty is that people have had a busy season between the Volvo Dún Laoghaire to Dingle Race and Dún Laoghaire Regatta, the Fastnet Race and Calves and more,” said David Cullen, ICRA commodore.

“They’re taking a breath of air for holidays or to get kids ready for school and are just getting around to entering now.”

Neighbouring Dublin Bay Sailing Club (DBSC) has cancelled its regular Saturday racing for Classes 0, 1 and 2 to encourage boats to race in the ICRA event, while the new fixture is close to the popular DBSC Cruiser Challenge series that was last sailed a decade ago.

Meanwhile, the perennial debate about which coastal venue should be the next host for the event continues in the background. Tralee Bay Sailing Club had been under consideration but is reportedly unable to accommodate the numbers needing marina berths.