With just two weeks remaining before the annual Irish Cruiser Racing Association conference in Limerick, the final composition of a defence for the prestigious Brewin Dolphin Commodores' Cup is expected. But the winds of change a blowing in the direction of this end of the sport and a traditional team entry is far from certain.
The perennial issue of handicapping is once again to the fore after decades of relative calm though whether this will impact on a cup defence is unclear.
Ireland won the cup in Cowes in 2010 and again in 2014 following years of effort that resulted in notable major trophy wins at Cowes Week and near misses for international events such as the Admiral’s Cup and its close relative, the Commodores’ Cup.
Both wins were led by team captain Anthony O'Leary of the Royal Cork Yacht Club, who has again committed to an Irish team but another two boats are needed.
Strategic mix
Not just any cruiser-racer will do. A strategic mix of varying sizes from 35 to 45 feet is needed to take into account the mix of inshore and offshore courses and weather conditions.
Crews are mainly amateur with strict limits of professional involvement unlike the all-out chequebook sailing that helped undermine the now defunct Admiral’s Cup.
Which means that chartering the remaining boats for team alongside O’Leary’s own boat offers the most competitive mix of sizes. Crews would be drawn from a pool of Irish talent, perhaps topped-up with owners’ representatives for the charter boats.
O'Leary's new Antix featured in the last Commodores' Cup when it was Catapult and owned by American Marc Glimcher and went on to be the top scoring boat of the regatta sailing for Ireland.
Turning-up for the Commodores’ Cup with good club-level boats such as the best of the Irish J109s for example would be an option but the winning combination is to have the biggest possible boat in each of the three class size-bands.
Along with Catapult and Antix from 2014, Quokka 8 was chartered by Michael Boyd and Niall Dowling. An option to charter this boat once again has been retained but it is understood that this option expires at the end of the month.
A third boat would also be needed and the overall cost that would include team sponsorship is estimated to be around €75,000.
Firepower
Time is against the team organisers, especially with the annual Red Funnel Easter Regatta in Cowes that is the season proving-ground, particularly in Commodores’ Cup years.
A composite “Celtic-nations” team has also been mooted as an alternative as has a straight-forward club-level team that might be unlikely to match the fire-power of the previous winning Irish squads.
By the time the ICRA conference gets underway at the Castletroy Hotel on Saturday March 5th, the situation should be clearer.
The conference will also receive a presentation from the promoters of the ORC handicapping system. Rapidly gaining popularity around the world as an alternative to the incumbent IRC system – the recent Key West Regatta in Florida was split between the two systems – it has yet to be trialled in this country.
“We have no idea what ORC is but would like to know and especially why it is making so much progress overseas,” commented ICRA’s Norbert Reilly.
Apart from the ORC debate, a “constructive review” of the home-grown ECHO system is also planned for 2016.
