#rssailing – Following the success of the 2012 season where the Dun Laoghaire and Cork based Fevas joined the big sisters' RS200/400 regattas at a joint Nationals, the class hope to introduce the younger Northern Irish sailors to the thrill and tactics of asymmetric Feva racing and look forward to more Fevas in the wider Irish RS event circuit in 2013.
The Feva association will be presenting their 2013 event Calendar in the near future.
Although the RS200 fleet has been largely Greystones based for many years, recent expansion in Dun Laoghaire and the North now threatening those comfortable at the top of the fleet while the Greystones youth sailors graduating out of Fevas and into RS200 and RS400s are hot on the transoms of their older rivals providing greater competition across all levels of the class, North and South and some earnest and fun-filled apres-sailing across the generations!
The fleets were surveyed this season to see what they felt was important both in terms of growth and also in communication, and as a result, the decision to circuit through the established clubs in 2013 was taken, to try to further establish the base clubs of Greystones, Royal North and Royal St George, but also to bring on the growth at Ballyholme and Cork. The hope is to take one day events to as many interested clubs as possible, the North seeing several new clubs adopting the RS400 in particular, with Cushendall and Newcastle already well established, but Coleraine, Strangford Lough, and East Down showing enthusiasm for the asymmetric classes.
Members are always keen to get new members out, with taster days and trial runs being esily arranged, so we would encourage anyone interested, to contact anyone on the committee, or post on the Facebook Page http://www.facebook.com/pages/Irish-RS-Dinghy-Association/153793291318773 or the Facebook Group http://www.facebook.com/groups/412080215518344.
The RS200 and RS400 are re-launching new websites for 2013, under the umbrella of the hugely successful International RS Association http://irl.rs200sailing.org/index.asp?Fleet=RS200 and http://irl.rs400.org/index.asp?Fleet=RS400. Circuit calendars can be found at these addresses.
The Irish Nationals are in Royal North of Ireland Yacht Club in July this year, which is concurrently the second leg of the Eurocup, and an event which traditionally attracts some quality competition from the highly competitive UK fleets.
