Nations Cup comes to Ireland

Royal Cork Yacht Club to host Grand Final in 2006

The 2006 ISAF Nations Cup Final and Regional Finals have now been confirmed. The Royal Cork Yacht Club will host the Grand Final, to be held in September 2006. Similar in format to the Soccer World Cup, Competitors will have to qualify, first through their own national qualifier, then by representing their nation at the regional qualifying events. Winners of the regional finals will then compete in Cork in the Grand Final.

The event is a match racing format, similar in style to the America's Cup. Each race consists of two boats only, who duel their way around the course and first across the finish line wins. The final line-up of ten Open and ten Women’s teams will do battle on the waters of Cork Harbour to be crowned the ISAF Nations Cup champions. A gruelling round robin of races will challenge the crews, which is likely to see some of the world’s celebrity match racing skippers fighting it out against some lesser known teams. Match Racing is a fast growing aspect of the sport, and with the America's Cup in Europe for the first time in 2007, it is likely to grow further and bring increased profile to the sport of sailing within the continent.

With 19 countries bidding for the finals it is a great honour for the ISA and Royal Cork to be awarded the Grand Final itself. The organising committee of Peter Crowley and Mike O'Connor of the RCYC and David Quinn of the ISA see the event as a fantastic opportunity to develop match racing in Ireland, while also attracting some of the worlds most famous sailors.

Speaking on behalf of the ISA, Robert Dix, President notes: "The Irish Sailing Association (ISA) is very excited to have been chosen by ISAF to host the Nations Cup Grand Final 2006.Irish sailing clubs have a long and illustrious history in hosting international sailing events. The ISA look forward to hosting the very best match racers from around the world and will eagerly watch the qualification process. The event itself will act as an incentive to develop a national match racing programme in Ireland and the presence of top international names will be an inspiration to our younger sailors."

Speaking on behalf of the Royal Cork Yacht Club, Peter Crowley, Admiral, said "we are delighted at the Royal Cork to be selected to host the ISAF Nations Cup Grand Final in Match racing. As the oldest yacht club in the world we are honoured to be chosen by the ISA and ISAF to run the Final in the year running up to the Americas Cup and Louis Vuitton Finals in Spain."