'All Organised Sailing Activity to Cease with Immediate Effect'

'All Organised Sailing Activity to Cease with Immediate Effect' - Irish Sailing

16th March 2020

Irish Sailing continues to monitor and follow the HSE advice on Covid-19 on a daily basis. As always, the health and safety of our members and the sailing community is of paramount importance.

The Government has now asked bars and pubs to close from this evening until 29th March and we would advise that bars in clubs should conform with immediate effect.

Since the guidelines issued by An Taoiseach last Thursday, we have been in discussions with a number of stakeholders from both competitive and training backgrounds, and have concluded that social distancing is not only difficult to achieve onshore from an organisers’ perspective but also difficult to achieve at a personal level on the water.

For double handers and/or keelboats requiring two or more crew, it is not possible. Even for organised activities involving single-handers requiring safety cover (with two people in the safety boat), it is not achievable.

For this reason, Irish Sailing advises that all organised sailing activity should cease with immediate effect and will be reviewed on 29th March. We will continue to monitor Government announcements and update the advice accordingly.

Published in ISA

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Coronavirus

About The Author

Treasa Cox

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Treasa Cox is Head of Communications at Irish Sailing

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Irish Sailing

The Irish Sailing Association, also known as Irish Sailing, is the national governing body for sailing, powerboating and windsurfing in Ireland.

Founded in 1945 as the Irish Dinghy Racing Association, it became the Irish Yachting Association in 1964 and the Irish Sailing Association in 1992.

Irish Sailing is a Member National Authority (MNA) of World Sailing and a member of the Olympic Federation of Ireland.

The Association is governed by a volunteer board, elected by the member clubs. Policy Groups provide the link with members and stakeholders while advising the Board on specialist areas. There is a professional administration and performance staff, based at the headquarters in Dun Laoghaire, Co. Dublin.

Core functions include the regulation of sailing education, administering racing and selection of Irish sailors for international competition. It is the body recognised by the Olympic Federation of Ireland for nominating Irish qualified sailors to be considered for selection to represent Ireland at the Olympic Games. Irish sailors have medalled twice at the Olympics – David Wilkins and Jamie Wikinson at the 1980 games, and Annalise Murphy at the 2016 games.

The Association, through its network of clubs and centres, offers curriculum-based training in the various sailing, windsurfing and powerboating disciplines. Irish Sailing qualifications are recognised by Irish and European Authorities. Most prominent of these are the Yachtmaster and the International Certificate of Competency.

It runs the annual All-Ireland Championships (formerly the Helmsman’s Championship) for senior and junior sailors.

The Association has been led by leading lights in the sailing and business communities. These include Douglas Heard, Clayton Love Junior, John Burke and Robert Dix.

Close to 100 sailors have represented Ireland at the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Membership of Irish Sailing is either by direct application or through membership of an affiliated organisation. The annual membership fee ranges from €75 for families, down to €20 for Seniors and Juniors.