The Royal St George Yacht Club in conjunction with Leinster Colleges and Schools are commencing a new team racing league to be held over three Saturdays in March and April.
The ethos behind the league is to provide youth sailors with a more regular schedule of racing in between their clinics, which in turn will enhance their team racing skills and sailing experiences.
It will provide an opportunity to hopefully encourage teenagers to remain in sailing and perhaps assist clubs in expanding their junior sailing programmes.
As part of the league, coaching is permitted between racing at the changeover area to enable competitors to improve on their team tactics.
The races will be umpired and at the end of racing there will be a debrief regarding calls made on the water and an explanation of the rules.
As there is a limited number of Irish Sailing-accredited umpires, the league will also provide opportunities for those that have completed the Local Umpires course to gain on-the-water experience.
The Royal St George hopes that by providing these opportunities, it will whet the appetite for people to come forward to qualify as Umpires and go forward to attaining Regional or National status. Anyone interested is invited to contact Eunice Kennedy at eunicekennedy0@gmail.com.
Going forward, plans are in place to roll out this type of event in the other provinces for five to eight racing days between autumn and spring in order to enhance the experience of college and school team racing programmes.
The debut league will race on 11 March, 25 March and 1 April. The Notice of Race and entry form are available HERE.