Sailing Column: If persistence is a virtue then it must pay off for the Irish Cruiser Racer Association (ICRA) who, as expected, have announced a further bid to win the Commodore's Cup.
Irish crews have been pipped at the post on the last two consecutive occasions.
Against all odds, Géry Trentesaux's France Bleu team came from behind to win the Cup in 2006, beating 12 other nations in the process, including three powerful Irish ones.
This week ICRA have announced a strategy for a recast 2008 event following a meeting of skippers earlier this month in Cork where team formation, training programmes and sponsorship were on the table.
ICRA expects to field two and possibly three teams for the 2008 regatta on the Solent but there will be no trials for team selection. Instead Ireland will rely on "organic" formation of its three-boat teams. The method, however, has been brought into question by one skipper this week who likened it to doing "the dance of the seven veils". Effectively owners decide among themselves who they will partner in teams green, white and orange.
A trials series is one alternative to produce an "A team" but this is not ICRA's intention at this stage according to commodore Fintan Cairns as there are a number of boats still to be built. Instead ICRA have opted for indicator events as part of the build-up to the three-boat national team event where participation by Irish crews is mandatory.
It is likely there will be a Mark Mills-designed successor to 2006 entrant No Naked Flames from Belfast lough. Royal Cork's Eamon Rohan will have a Mills-designed King 40 as a successor to Blondie and Tim Costelloe's Tiamat from Dún Laoghaire is likely to return. The formation of another team may comprise of Anthony O'Leary in a chartered big boat though the Crosshaven sailor says he is still "considering all options". Conor Phelan, sailing Jump Juice, and Roy Dickson's Rosie could fill the small boat slot.
The two ICRA indicator events selected are the British IRC national championships in mid-June and ICRA's own Saab-sponsored national championships in Howth in May.
Although Irish officials maintain that the primary reason for loss of the 2006 event was some questionable decisions by Cowes race management, they intend leaving no stone unturned in the build-up to next August.
Royal Ocean Racing Club organisers have also taken onboard many of the complaints from 2006 inlcuding the points weighting of the long offshore race.
The planning, however early it may appear, may only be just in time, given the French defence of the cup has been ratcheted up to include Trentesaux's participation at Scotland's Bell Lawrie series also in May.
Crews will also race in a mandatory offshore race from Cork to Dublin as part of the build up, this 120-mile will also be a feeder race for the Saab event that is expecting an entry of over 100 boats that also has, as a stated priority, an aim to attract more south coast boats.
Given tomorrow's autumn league finale gets under way off Ireland's Eye with 180 boats the ICRA target will be easily reached given its national championship status.
The results of the penultimate race of the 11-class Anglo Irish Bank Autumn League at Howth Yacht Club last Sunday leave a number of classes with everything to sail for going into tomorrow morning's final.
Five of them have only one or two points between their respective top two while the last race means everything to class three and the Puppeteers who each have two boats on equal points after discard. A second win in the series for Robbie Stanley and Tim Callen on OEMojo' gives them a share of the overall lead in the Puppeteers with usual pace-setter David Clarke on OEHarlequin'.
The class three rivalry between HYC's OEAlliance' (Vince Gaffney) and Malahide's OEHydrogin' (Seán Colbert, Andy Davis) has increased significantly, with the East Coast Cruisers 3 champion winning for a second race in succession to even things out with the Hydro 28.
