A Sydney 2000 medal for an Irish sailor is just one of 39 ambitious targets set out in a plan that Irish Sailing Association (ISA) president Neil Murphy will be urging members to adopt at tomorrow's (Saturday's) a.g.m. in Dun Laoghaire.
Published this week the Strategic plan is designed to take the association into the next century and is the biggest single ISA initiative ever undertaken.
It underlines the potential for the 42 clubs nationwide and points to the fact that the domestic sport could double in five years if 16,000 sailors currently contained within the ISA framework work together. Harnessing club co-operation, therefore, will be Murphy's central message in his annual address at 2 p.m. at the Royal St George. It was a frustration through a lack of facilities and a stagnation of club structures, that compelled ISA executives Clayton Love (Royal Cork YC), John Crebbin (Royal St George YC), Paddy Maguire (Royal St George YC) and Murphy (Malahide YC) to commission a project manager, Morgan Buckley, to prepare a plan for sailing nearly a year ago.
Down to earth and practical, the 41-page draft lays out the ISA stall for 1999-2003; increasing the number of women in sailing, attracting youth and adults into the sport as well as strong demands for improved facilities are just some of the proposed goals that all stem from the central concept that clubs working together will benefit everybody.
Sailing is the first national governing body to have prepared such a far reaching design and it is anticipated that other sports under the auspices of the Sports Council will follow suit.
Abroad, Jon Lasenby moved a fraction closer to realising one ISA goal this week when he took fourth overall yesterday at the first event of the 1998 Olympic Europa Cup circuit in France this week in a fleet of 150 boats drawn from 15 countries.
Sailed in strong but very shifty wind conditions on the Etang de Berre inland sea adjacent to Marseille, Lasenby produced two race wins over the six race series that would have put him on the podium were it not for the fact that a second-placed Frenchman, Bicler, passed the Irish sailor only seconds before the finish line of the final race.
"I'm frustrated to have missed out on a podium finish here, but my coach Trevor Millar puts this result into perspective saying that it shows I am on form as we go into Hyeres. I am sailing more and more like a winner with every race I sail," Lasenby said yesterday.
Staying in France, the Irish built 1720 sportsboat has swept the boards at La Trinite Spi-ouest regatta under Channel handicap (CHS). Falmouth-based Donal O'Halloran and a five man crew discarded a second place to take the trophy for most successful class winner in the 500 boat fleet. It's an international performance that will boost 1720 yachts who head for their inaugural European class championships on home waters in July.
The UK and Irish Dragon make a freshwater start to the 1998 season at Lough Ree today for the fourth outing of the Lisney Cup sailed from the Hodson Bay marina.
Organiser John Corby expects a fleet of between 25 to 30 boats for the seven race regatta that is the first of five qualifying regattas for the Dragon European championships this summer.
Easter's Mirror championships proved a successful trip south for Royal St George brothers Roger and Nick Craig who beat their Dun Laoghaire club-mates Gerbil Owens and Gina Henderson for first place in a 104-boat fleet at Crosshaven. In third place were Sarah Hyde and Cathal Doorley.
