A RECORD turnout of 123 boats for last weekend’s BMW ICRA National championships at Howth Yacht Club was boosted by exceptional weather.

At the front end of the five championship classes, two champions defended their titles as Anthony O’Leary on Antix in Class Zero and fellow Royal Cork club-mate Neil Kenifick on Tiger in Class Three remain unbeaten since last year.

Ian Nagle and Paul O’Malley’s Jelly Baby deposed Rush Sailing Club’s Pat Kelly on Storm to take Class One, thus completing a RCYC hat-trick for the event. Visitor Nigel Biggs on Checkmate XV took the 29-strong Class Two while Team Toy Yot delivered seven straight race wins for the host club in Class four.

A recurring query, however, for the Irish Cruiser Racing Association is the timing of the event. The argument runs that many crews have barely launched but then are straight into the national championship. Indicators that performance might improve later in the season include the relatively small number of boats that opted to fly spinnakers in the opening race last Friday evening.

Counter arguments include that good boats will always be good regardless of when a championship is held. And surely the keenest crews are racing year round? But another explanation also includes the thorny old issue of clashing fixtures and crew availability in a packed summer season.

In the past, staging the nationals early allowed the best crews to work up from club level such as competing in the British championships. The next step would be entry to the Commodores’ Cup in Cowes that Ireland won in 2010. Although the odds are against a late defence of the trophy this year, the fixture issue remains for the alternate years.

The Irish championships are due to be held in Fenit, Co Kerry, in June 2013. This should allow crews to attend the nationals and also compete in the Sovereigns’ Cup in Kinsale before heading for the biennial Dún Laoghaire Regatta. Moving big boats around the coast is not undertaken lightly.

So the notion of a late-season national championship is tempered by a logistical issue plus a measure of realpolitik that established clubs are loathe to shift their fixture dates. So the decision when to stage the championship is more complex than whether crews are at the top of their game or not.

ICRA organisers point to the calibre of the racing as a result of maximising turnout, as witnessed by the record entry last week.