ISORA has published its race schedule for 2011 and to win the overall series next year boats must complete 4 of the 6 "qualifying". Points for the overall series will then be taken from the Best 5 results from ALL the races completed.

The offshore body has also changed the scoring of each race to the High Score system and it will apply weightings for those qualifying races depending on the complexity of the race. The aim is to better reward the winner and participants of longer races with bigger fleets.

To provide opportunities for those boats who have not been winning to win prizes and trophies, it was also agreed at last weeks agm to create a "Silver" fleet in both Class 1 and Class 2. The selection of boats to enter the "Silver" fleet for 2011 will be based on their performance in 2010. The success of these new classes will depend on maintaining the number of boats entering and racing at least at last years numbers.

The NOR and Entry forms for ISORA 2011 will be published later this month.

The Race Programme is attached for download below.

 

The 2011 Topper World Championships will be hosted by the National Yacht Club in Dun Laoghaire.

The club beating off stiff competition from around Europe to secure this major sailing event. It follows the successful 2010 Topper Worlds held at Lake Garda last August. The news was confirmed by Bill Brassington, President, International Topper Class Association.

Over 250 of the world's top youth sailors are expected to partake in the Irish event which will run from August 15th - 19th 2011 and promises some of the closest and most exciting youth sailing ever seen on Dublin Bay.

The Topper is one of the world's most popular youth boats with over 50,000 boats around the globe. It has grown greatly in popularity in recent years because it suits the learner sailor as well as those with ambitions of Olympic medals. Because it is exceptionally light and easy to transports the National Yacht Club are expecting 150 competitors from other countries to partake.
National Yacht Club Commodore Peter Ryan commented on the announcement: "We are delighted to be hosting the Topper World Championships next August. It will follow on from the Figaro Race stop over and reflects that fact that Dublin Bay can cater for top class events for both ends of the spectrum. The Topper is an extremely popular boat with young sailors and a great gateway to sailing so we will be putting all the club resources into making the event an outstanding success."

The Topper was designed by Ian Proctor whose other boats include the ever popular Wayfarer. It was originally constructed in GRP but this was changed quite early on to an injection moulding construction. After well over 20 years of continuous production it is the outstanding build quality, durability and innovative design features that have made the Topper a very popular boat. The Topper hull is injection moulded with incredible precision, reaching a level of uniformity quite outside the scope of any other production system, either hand built or mass produced in GRP or roto-moulded plastic. The material is polypropylene which has proved to combine strength and flexibility with lightness and virtually everlasting life.

Irish Sea Offshore sailing Chief Peter Ryan has circulated the Notice and Agenda for next Saturday's ISORA AGM at the National Yacht Club and told Ireland's biggest band of offshore crews to wear dinner jackets so they can vote on next year's sailing, watch Ireland play South Africa and attend the formal ISORA prize giving dinner all at the same waterfront venue.

The AGM takes place at 14.00 at the NYC. The rugby match is on at 17.30 and Ryan says if sailors are interested they can dress up in your tux and watch the match.

Immediately after the match at 19.45, the pre-dinner drinks reception will be held in the JB Room of the Dun Laoghaire club with complimentary sparkling wine and classical music by the Neptune Trio.

Dinner will be at 20.30 sharp to enable the prize giving to take place at 22.00 and finish of ceremonies by 23.00 latest. After this sailors can relax or dance the night away at the ISORA disco.

AGM papers are attached for download.

Offshore boss Peter Ryan has submitted two sailing issues for consideration at ISORA's AGM in the National YC on the 6th November.

The first is a proposed race schedule for 2011. Due to the number of races and the large variation in the distance and complexity, Ryan is proposing to identify some of the main races as those that qualify for the Overall ISORA Series - "The Wolf's Head Trophy". The other races will qualify for another lesser series that involves all races. Trophies and prizes will be awarded for all races irrespective of status.

The second issue is the proposed use of the High Score system and incorporating a difficulty coefficient to reflect the type of race involved. The use of the high scoring system will also be preferable when dealing with a series where many boats will not do most of the races and the variation in the fleet numbers can be significant.

Stephen Tudor of PSC has used the results from 2010 to illustrate the proposed system and these are attached below. Unfortunately (or fortunately) in the example the places of the top boats are generally unaltered but this is due to the fact that the top boats did most or all the races.

Ryan also says he has contacted RORC and they have agreed in principle to accept any ISORA race of over 75 miles and incorporating a night passage as a qualifier for next year's Fastnet Race.

The main purpose of the exercise is to encourage boats to do as many of the races as possible but not the penalise them too much for races missed. It is also to reward those boats more that win in large fleets over a win in a smaller fleets. Day races will be used to encourage and entice more new entries to ISORA in 2011.

The Race Schedule and Scoring System will be agreed at the AGM.

SB3 Class captain Justin Burke admits he's not sure how to measure the success or otherwise of last weekend's Open Day but he is sure everyone enjoyed themselves. "We had 31 people that sailed, got fed and watered and got boat info. One fell over board and one lost their breakfast overboard and all said they enjoyed the day. The most encouraging bit was that they all asked to be put on the mailing list".

Of the 31 people who came along six from Howth and Burke anticipates further Howth moves into the class. The Galway connection was also renewed and two top Northern Irish helmsmen travelled to the National YC. 

The National YC announced with sadness this afternoon that its former commodore Freddie Cooney has died. Freddie, an active sailor in a number of classes both at home and overseas, was a trustee of the Dun Laoghaire Club. Funeral arrangements HERE

What started out as local recruitment drive on Dublin Bay has widened with interest now reported nationwide for next weekend's Dun Laoghaire SB3 Open Day. Sailors are coming from Howth, Galway and Northern Ireland for test sails at the National YC. "We never imagined there would be so much interest from so many locations out side the Dun Laoghaire area" says class captain Justin Burke.

"Our original intention was to encourage local sailors to try out an SB3 but we will look after everyone. The bookings are coming in at a steady rate and everything thing is in place for a great day. We have racing , boat show , demos and video of the Worlds at Lake Garda", he added.
The Sports Boat concept is focused around close competitive racing on 40 minute courses in easily manoeuvrable one design boats. "You do not need a football team to race just 3 people. And above all they are fast. This is not cheque book racing. Everyone has the same boat same sails so it's all about the racing, Justin says.

Although this concept of racing is not new it is very much in tune with the modern life style where free time is at a premium and the prospect of getting 2 competitive races in 2 hours appeals to helm and crew .

Contact Justin Burke 087 2417542 or drop him a line at [email protected] with your name and number to book a test sail

Shane Drumm was the winner of the rescheduled Dun Laoghaire Harbour Swim today.  The race took place along the East pier and finished beside the National YC pontoon. A large crowd gathered on the pier to hear live commentary and cheer on the swimmers. There was racing in both mens and womens division.

Swimmers approach the finish in today's Harbour swim at Dun Laoghaire

In a major announcement for Dun Laoghaire sailing a top French fixture involving 50 single handed yachts will visit the east coast port next Summer. Dun Laoghaire will be the only stop over outside France for next year's  prestigious La Solitaire du Figaro race.

The race is regarded as one of the world's solo sailing great events and one of the toughest on the international sailing calendar. 

Although  having strong connections with Ireland this is the first time the 42 year old fixture will visit Ireland's largest sailing centre.

The fleet will moor in Dun Laoghaire harbour at the finish of the second leg and hosted by the National Yacht Club. They are expected to stay for a week.

This year the race visited Kinsale and in the past has also visited the Irish ports of Crosshaven, Howth and Dingle.

One month since the finish of the Solitaire du Figaro 2010, event organisers are already looking ahead, to 2011. The 42nd edition announces a new route: four legs, four French ports and one foreign stopover. The full details will be unveiled at the Paris Boat Show, on Friday December 3rd.

La Solitaire is going back to its roots. Perros-Guirec and Brittany from where the race will start on Sunday, 31st July 2011, are the most faithful of all host ports in the history of the race as Perros-Guirec has the record number of participations, this being the 16th time that the town will welcome the race. The last time was in 2005 and there is no doubt that Perros-Guirec will do its absolute best for this comeback.

The second French stopover in 2011 will be Caen, where the race will go back for the third time. The harbour and the village are ideally situated in the city centre and will surely gather thousands of visitors during the week long stay, with a full schedule of social events organised by the local municipality.

The third French rendez-vous is les Sables d'Olonne, which requires little introduction. In 2007, the port in the Vendée region celebrated the victory of Michel Desjoyeaux and since then the local authorities and the town live in very close ties to yachting, always ready to welcome sailors of all sorts, and namely from the Vendée Globe race... undoubtedly the people from Les Sables will show a very warm welcome to the skippers competing on the 42nd edition of La Solitaire next summer, as they have already done on six occasions on previous occasions as a host port for a race start or finish.

Dieppe will host the finish and close of La Solitaire du Figaro 2011 race. The Haute-Normandie region town expects to see the finish on a around August 24th. The town first hosted the race in 2009, regarded as a great success and one that the organisers wish to repeat by returning of for the finish.  Locals in Dieppe will welcome the fleet over the final miles and will put on a whole host of celebrations through to Sunday 28th of August for the traditional final parade sail.

Just one stop over outside of France is planned and this is to be held in Ireland.  La Solitaire will go to Dún Laoghaire for the first time, just ten minutes from the bustling town centre of Dublin at the finish of the second leg. The second stage promises to be a nice discovery for the Figaro sailors who will appreciate the charming Bay of Dublin and National Yacht Club's members warm welcome.

Perros-Guirec, Caen, Dún Laoghaire, Les Sables d'Olonne and Dieppe: five cities for a 42nd edition marked by many novelties. Sailing across the Channel, the Atlantic ocean, the Irish sea and the Celtic sea, the Solitaire du Figaro 2011 guarantees to be one of the season's greatest sports events.

Preparing for La Solitaire du Figaro here

Latest news for La Solitaire du Figaro here

Alterations to future sailing series plus a change to how races are scored will be considered at November's ISORA agm. The 2010 season has been a watershed year for the body after the National YC rekindled interest in Irish sea racing, boosting numbers from single figures to a fleet of 30. Now ISORA commodore, Peter Ryan, intends to capitalise on the new interest by circulating issues for discussion to take place at the AGM at the National YC on the 6th November at 14.00. Already on the table, according to Ryan, is  a proposal to change the scoring system to the High Point System as used by the Royal Alfred YC, a system which rewards the winners of the bigger races.