The hustle and bustle of a busy sailing season this year pushed into the background the appointment of the Irish Sailing Association's first training and development officer in seven years. Tony Wright (28) brings a wealth of experience in adventure sports to sailing in this country and, perhaps significantly, does not come from an `establishment' club background.

The initial objective of the new executive is to form a permanent link between the teaching establishments and clubs and the ISA. This is to be followed by the creation and encouragement of links between the traditional sailing activities and newcomers to the sport. According to Wright's predecessor and ISA secretary general, Paddy Boyd, natural wastage is matching current numbers taking up the sport.

"The youth sailing scheme alone does not produce enough people each year to cover natural wastage from the clubs," Boyd told The Irish Times this week. "New members for the clubs have to come from other areas of activity."

One initiative the ISA will be taking is to encourage clubs to make contact with their local sailing schools with a view to getting their graduates more involved.

Teaching establishments have been a priority in Wright's first season, although next year will see more visits to clubs.

"Apart from providing a check on quality and service at the (teaching) establishments, the public aren't aware of any standards to expect and that's something that I'll also be addressing: quality and safety are the key areas," Wright said.

A qualified production engineer, Wright began sailing with his father in Botswana, where several families built Mirrors together. This was followed for Wright by the full RYA programme at boarding school near Brighton where sailing was part of the sporting curriculum.

After college in Liverpool where he sailed on the team-racing circuit, a brief spell in his chosen career was broken by the call of adventure and he has cruised extensively and managed expeditions. More recently, Wright was the sailing instructor and manager of the Delphi Adventure Centre in Co Mayo for four years. Meanwhile, the ISA is also planning to appoint a consultant who will formulate a five-year plan for the association following a recent wide-ranging review involving the clubs. A new non-Olympic youth coaching scheme is in the pipeline.