Gul Topper Worlds at Tralee Bay Sailing Club - Preview
by Dr David Buckley 10 Jul 2008 23:49 PDT
19-25 July 2008
The prestigious Gul World Topper Championships will take place in Tralee Bay Sailing Club, Fenit, from Saturday 19th July to Friday 25th July 2008. This major international sailing event will attract in the region of 170 boats to Fenit.
“Along with 170 topper dinghies we expect about 600 accompanying people to Tralee for the week, which should be worth over half a million euro in revenue for the town” said Dr David Buckley, Commodore TBSC.
It is a tremendous coup for TBSC to have secured this hugely significant event for Fenit. This World Topper event was held in Lake Garda, Italy last year.
This is the second time in the 52 years of TBSC that a World Championship event has been hosted in Fenit. The World Fireball Championships was hosted by TBSC in 1970 and was a huge success.
The topper is a single-handed dinghy usually sailed by teenagers and young adults. Of the 170 topper dinghies, there will be 12 local sailors and 5 different countries will be represented, including the UK, Germany, France, Italy and Ireland.
TBSC is expecting six days of exciting racing on the waters by some of the top dinghy sailors in the world. There will also be 30 support boats on the water to cater for safety, judges and committee.
Alan Crosbie from Cork, a Race Officer with internationally recognised qualifications is among the panel of international judges who will ensure the event runs safely and efficiently.
“We are also very proud and honoured to have Thomas Chaix as the Irish coach for the Topper Worlds in 2008. Thomas is an international champion sailor and we are delighted to have him as a member of TBSC. His expertise and experience at previous events have been invaluable to the local organising committee. Thomas is a terrific asset to the Club” said David Buckley.
A lively social calendar is planned around the event with entertainment in the Clubhouse in Fenit throughout the week. The official opening ceremony will be held on the pier in Fenit at 6.30pm on Sunday 20th July and this should be a very colourful event. There will be lots of entertainment on the pier on that Sunday afternoon and all are welcome.
“It is a wonderful boost for Irish sailors to have this world event held at home in Irish waters this year” said David Buckley. “We have terrific sailing facilities with our wonderfully located club house and purpose-built sailing school. We would like to attract new sailors to the club, making sailing as accessible as possible to those who would like to give it a try” he said. Further details can be obtained on the Tralee Bay Sailing Club website.