The Irish Team Racing Association (ITRA) National Championships 2022 has been 'disappointingly' cancelled due to very strong southerly then westerly winds this weekend.
The forecasted sea state for Baltimore Harbour in West Cork of up to 2m and 40-knot squalls necessitated the cancellation, ITRA Chair Ailbe Millerick told Afloat.
Baltimore Sailing Club had assembled a large team of volunteers and nine RIBs organised by Rob O'Leary to facilitate the eighteen entered teams and an umpiring team of eight led by Ailbe Millerick and Chris Lindsay.
The decision was reluctantly taken after consultation with ITRA and David Harte, who was to come out of retirement and act as PRO & course director.
The fleet of four flights of dinghies comprised Fireflies from the ISA and UCDSC and TRs from FOMEC school in Schull. The entrants consisted of Colleges, Clubs, Alumni teams and an ex-pat Shull team travelling from the UK who are coming over to party anyway.
Thanks are due also to BSC Commodore Graham Coppleton, Mark Hassett and Eunice Kennedy, ITRA Secretary.
The postponed ITRA AGM will be rescheduled by Zoom in the near future.
Next year's ITRA's will be in the RSGYC, and the 2024 event will be back in West Cork at Baltimore SC if accepted, Millerick said.