SAILING:LAST WEEK'S Topper World Championship at Tralee Bay Sailing Club ended with success for British teenager Elliott Hansen following a week-long series for the 180 sailors at Fenit. Simon Doran from Gorey placed best of the Irish fleet with fourth overall among the five-nation event.
In keeping with usual summer fixtures, it is one of several international series being staged in Ireland. The Flying 15 Europeans are due later this month and the Laser SB3 World Championship in September.
Meanwhile, home fleets are steadily working through the annual programme of national championships in classes as diverse as single-handed dinghies to traditional clinker-built wooden boats and much more.
In fact, there is a plethora of organisations dedicated to racing boats around the country, with nearly 50 such groups affiliated to the Irish Sailing Association (ISA), the national authority.
Collectively, these form the backbone of the sport in Ireland and comprise some best-loved but sometimes lesser-spotted classes.
Those boats, once glorified as cutting-edge in the sport, are often now regarded more with affection in spirit than attendance in numbers. Yet the classes endure thanks to the dedication and passion of stalwart organisers.
The number of such groups is responsible for one of the sport's greatest attributes, in that there is an opportunity for almost anybody to take part in a boat that suits their size and sailing ability, all founded on the principle of great sport.
By affiliating to the ISA, every such class or organised group of boats becomes entitled to national recognition that includes the right to hold an annual "championship", which in turn poses a interesting issue: just how many champions can co-exist annually within the sport before the title of "champion" becomes devalued by force of numbers alone?
Not an issue, says ISA racing manager Ed Alcock, who points out that any properly formed and affiliated grouping can declare any of their number their champion following a sporting contest.
"It must be remembered that, unlike other sports, sailing has a following in age groups from six to 96," Alcock said. "Therefore, we're going to see championships as a consequence of the broad following within the sport."
All well and good, but what happens when the class title becomes "national champion" solely on the basis that the class holds national recognition by the Irish authority for the country? In several instances, an affiliated class may have popular support in one location only due to local needs, conditions or tradition.
Applying "national" to its championship title appears to suggest that the outcome is of nationwide significance, when in reality it is a popular local fleet and one important ingredient in the mix that makes up the sport.
Similarly, if a class in decline or "awaiting a period of revival" can only muster a fleet of a dozen boats, can that group truly lay claim to a national championship title? The ISA hold that their role is to foster participation in the sport, rather than place limits on groups. Racing is the key method of improving skills.
Yet at their All-Ireland championships each autumn, the ISA are obliged to undertake a culling process to keep to a manageable size. Almost two-thirds of the affiliated classes are denied a place in the "champion of champions" event, the annual series that takes nominations from all fleets to produce a short-list of just over a dozen, including Olympic "wild-card" sailors.
The conundrum is unanswered but remains: should a distinction be made between a class champion and a national champion?
branigan@indigo.ie
