The fact that Royal St. George Olympic 470 helmsman Ger Owens has won the Ulsters, Leinsters and Skerries Regatta, which are the three GP14 events sailed so far this season, means he is a clear favourite to take the Championship of Ireland when it returns to lower Lough Erne for its 2021 edition next week.
Lough Erne Yacht Club stages the event from Friday 13th – Sun 15th August.
Half a dozen local boats will be joined by up to 45 visiting boats from all over Ireland for the eight-race championships.
Despite his current form, Owens, who is sailing with Brendan Brogan (with no less than 10 Irish GP14 titles between them), will not have things all their own way. 2016 Word Champion Shane McCarthy and 2019 Irish Champion along with World Championship runner up Ross Kearney are set to test the Beijing and London Olympian.
Derek Bothwell from Howth is the national race officer in charge of the event.
The event also includes the Irish Masters and Junior Championships, which are always hotly contested.
The last time the fleet visited Lough Erne was for the Hot Toddy event in October 2019, and the planned 2020 Championship of Ireland was postponed to 2021 due to COVID.