SAILING:A potential crisis with serious consequences for sailing in Ireland appears to be on the cusp of resolution following extensive consultations between the Irish Sailing Association and officials from the Government's Marine Survey Office over the past 12 months.

In February last year, the ISA wrote to all its sail-training establishments informing them of the Department of Transport's intention to enforce compliance with Irish Passenger Boat law for boats taking students to sea for instructional purposes.

If implemented, most vessels would fall short of the required standards or be obliged to make considerable modifications that would be widely regarded as inconsistent with international best practice.

There were also fears that the department's move was the "thin end of the wedge" of the bureaucracy that would be applied to other areas of the marine leisure sector, including racing yachts and smaller high-performance boats.

However, a draft Notice to Mariners, an official instruction to seafarers operating in Irish waters published on the ISA's website this week, has brought hope to the sector with the news that the consultation meeting at the Royal Cork Yacht Club on Monday, March 10th, will focus on resolving the issue.

The draft notice already indicates that the stipulation that training yachts carry liferafts commonly found on large ships has been amended to accept ISAF-standard devices that are smaller but in widespread international use.

Gone also is the requirement for hull construction certification except for boats intending to sail deep offshore. Existing boats intending to cater for this activity will still need to satisfy a surveyor of the integrity of the construction and core samples of hulls may be taken.

Compromise has also been reached on the issue of racing yachts by requiring such boats to compete under a recognised class or international standards. Chartered boats from outside the State would need to have an equivalent passenger licence, unless they are chartered without a crew - bareboat.

"It's quite definitely progress but it's not quite there yet," Gail MacAllister of West Cork Cruising and Powerboat School told The Irish Times.

"If they're going to tighten the belt so tight that it becomes unviable then more schools are going to close. It will defeat the point of having schools."

While progress has been made over the past year, the new requirements will still oblige 20-ft keelboats to have a bulkhead fitted, something widely regarded as impractical.

"My opinion is there should be licensing and it should even be extended to bareboat chartering which seems to have slipped through a loophole," says McAllister. "It's already a break-even industry and I don't know of any sailing school that makes money."

Off the record, other school owners point to the British Maritime & Coastguard Agency's (MCA) code system that has an extensive range of categories that are seen as more user-friendly. Irish schools have already suggested this code be copied here but this has not found favour in spite of its success in Britain.