The Irish Cruiser Racing Association (ICRA) has laid out its plans for the forthcoming 2024 season, and it features a packed calendar of events that will, among other things, produce the ICRA Boat of the Year 2024 by the end of the season.

The Royal Irish Yacht Club in Dun Laoghaire hosted the annual conference on February 10th. As Afloat reported at the time, Royal Cork Yacht Club's Denis Byrne was elected Commodore and will lead the national cruiser-racer body for the next two years.

Members and club representatives from across the country attended the conference.

The event opened as outgoing Commodore Dave Cullen reminded attendees of ICRA's main goals. He then discussed the results of the recent ICRA member survey, including feedback on the preferred time of season for the ICRA National Championships, its format, and the main actions undertaken by ICRA during 2023. Finally, he gave an outlook for 2024 and beyond.

Delegates from several clubs and associations outlined their plans for the significant events that will occur during the upcoming season.

These include WAVE Regatta, which will run from May 24th to 26th at Howth YC; WIORA Championships, which Foynes YC will host from June 12th to 15th; the Round Ireland Yacht Race, starting from Wicklow on June 22nd; Volvo Cork Week, occurring from July 15th to 19th; Calves Week, hosted by Schull Harbour SC from August 6th to 9th; and the ICRA National Championships, which will be part of a trilogy of great events hosted by the Royal Irish YC, along with the J-Boat Cup and the IRC European Championships. The ICRA Nationals will occur from August 30th to September 1st, with the J-Boat Cup taking place on subsequent weekends and the IRC European Championships scheduled for September 10th to 15th.

Brian Turvey of Howth Yacht Club was one of the regatta organisers that gave details of the forthcoming regatta season at Feburary's ICRA conference

Most of these events will count towards ICRA's Boat Of The Year award for the 2024 season, along with several other events. The Notice of Race (NOR) for this year's ICRAs Boat Of The Year will be published shortly.

Following a busy and successful racing season of Irish Cruiser Racing Association (ICRA) events nationwide, the legendary Half-Tonner Farr-designed yacht, Swuzzlebubble, raced by David and James Dwyer under the burgee of the Royal Cork Yacht Club, was deemed the 'clear and comprehensive winner 'of the ICRA Boat of the Year Award

The conference also featured two keynote speakers, Jason Smithwick of RORC and Cian McCarthy and Sam Hunt from Cinnamon Girl, who spoke about their recent two-handed Sydney Hobart Race.

ICRA expressed thanks to all members who attended the conference, especially the delegates from the clubs and associations who spoke to promote the events mentioned above.

ICRA is a sailors association, and any thoughts, suggestions, or queries are always welcome at [email protected].