#roundireland–  Wait long enough for the wind to change direction and just about anything can be made to happen, just ask the crews preparing for this year's Round Ireland Yacht Race race this Saturday. 

Yet again next week the Irish coastline will prove to be the perfect racecourse but for the future of the race itself, the winds of change need to blow a bit harder. It took the 30th anniversary to get Wicklow Town behind the pioneering efforts of its sailing club four years ago, but now the locals are behind it with a street festival, isn't it time Irish sailing backed the Round Ireland too?

Many will see this year's eventual 35-boat fleet as a reasonable turnout in recessionary times. It's certainly on a par with most other recent editions of the race where the fleet has hovered between 35 and 50 boats.

While Irish sailors are happy to talk about Ireland as the finest offshore course in the world, when it comes to sailing it, very few do.

Other offshore courses such as Britain's Fastnet Race has a 300-boat limit, Australia's 2013 Sydney to Hobart Race had over a 100 boats. Malta's Middle Sea Race had a record entry of 99 boats in 2013.

This year half the entries are from overseas, a further indicator of its potential. The Round Ireland, therefore, is deserving of far greater international note but interest remains rooted in a small national fleet drawn from Ireland and Britain.

If this island is a classic offshore course then it is no exaggeration to say the fleet is capable of doubling.

For many potential international campaigns, and former winners Tonnerre de Breskens of Holland and Inis Mor from France are notable exceptions, Irish waters remain uncharted.

Within the sailing community tacit efforts are made to promote it but much more could be done. And, even with its limited resources, there is much Wicklow could do to put the Round Ireland on the map.

For example running the race the weekend before when 1,600 boats compete in Britain's Round the Island race in Cowes is an obvious problem. But there is simply no point blaming a clash of dates in the UK when a harbour of up to 300 suitable entries lies only a few miles north in Dublin. 

Why are the National YC only send two entries, the Royal St George YC one, the Royal Irish YC two or the Dun Laoghaire Motor YC two?

Were the new Royal Ocean Racing Club (RORC) safety standards so prohibitive it meant this country's biggest boating centre could muster only seven for what the Irish Sailing Association likes to bill as Ireland's 'Blue Riband' event?

Four years ago then Wicklow Commodore Charlie Kavanagh asked for the Irish Cruiser Racing Association (ICRA) to become more involved in the running of the biennial race.

Kavanagh recognised that for the event to survive it needed to grow. 

Help was immediately forthcoming. Two of the country's biggest cruiser associations lent their support. ICRA will present a new trophy as part of the overall awards. The Irish Sea Offshore Racing Association (ISORA) based its 2010 fixtures around the event.

For this year's race, Wicklow has gone further. In a move described in January as 'a major overhaul' it struck up a formal race alliance with the Royal Irish Yacht Club in Dun Laoghaire, again in an effort to boost numbers.

But the initiative has not resulted in bigger numbers for 2014's 18th edition. Of the 35 entries in this year's race ten are existing ISORA boats. Two years ago the number was 16 out of 37. As usual these 10 boats will be competing for the ISORA trophy. There has unfortunately not been a great response from 'south coast' boats either.

There appears to be fall off of those "regular" boats that are well capable of competing in the race and have done so in the past. 

But there seems to be an understandable issue among some skippers of "been there, done that, have the t-shirt". Put simply, they are looking for new challenges.

ISORA Chief Peter Ryan admits he is also finding this in ISORA as well and as he says 'that is why we have tried new races such as the recent the Liverpool - Douglas - Dun Laoghaire offshore weekend'.

But It is hard to keep re-inventing as ISORA is limited with destinations in an ever increasing race calendar. 'We are even try linking our races with inshore events such as last weeks ICRA and the welsh IRC nationals in August', says Ryan.

For the Round Ireland committee the options are even fewer. They have to start and finish in the same place and there are no shortcuts to the course.

Perhaps the Race should seek support in France from those professional fleets like the disbanded MOD70, Class 40, IMOCA 60 and the Multi 50 as they are also looking for new challenges. The multihulls have been to Dun Laoghaire recently and could be easily coaxed back.

The introduction of a French angle to the entry is bound to also attract amateur French entries and promote this great race to the French sailing fraternity. 

Somehow the Round Ireland will have to reinvent itself to attract the new generations of sailors who do not yet " have the t-shirt".

If the comments of the sailors gathering in Wicklow are anything to go by, it's not just the club, but Irish sailing, that is sitting on a golden opportunity with this biennial race.