Tourism boost for Clare as Fireball sets sail for Lough Derg

TOURISM enterprises around Lough Derg are looking forward to a wave of international business next August thanks to the staging of the Fireball World Championships in the locality, writes Dan Danaher.

This will be the first Fireball World Championship since Montreal in 2019 so there is significant interest around the globe, with international teams already booking their accommodation and making travel arrangements.

The International Fireball is a high-performance two-person racing dinghy popular in Ireland and around the world. The dinghy class has a small local presence in Dromineer and a larger one in Killaloe SC and in the Dublin Bay waterfront clubs.

At the time of writing, teams are expected to flock to the Lough Derg Yacht Club in Dromineer from Australia, Canada, the US, France, Switzerland, Italy, the Czech Republic and South Africa, along with a large contingent from the UK and a rapidly growing local fleet.

The organisers have predicted the Fireball event should provide a significant boost to tourism in the region and help spread the word about the internationally lesser-known attractions of the Lough Derg Lakelands.

With special Irish Ferries rates for competitors, this trip to Lough Derg is an attractive option for sailors from mainland Europe and the UK.

One of the great attractions of the yacht club is the amount of space available for camping and for camper vans, with so much of the world’s fleet expected to live on-site for the event helping to keep the event both affordable and extremely social.

Competitors and their families are seeking houses and rooms to rent within each reach of Dromineer.

With Carrickcraft cruiser hire as one of the event sponsors, discounted cruiser hire is available to sailors, providing an attractive accommodation alternative which would allow families to view the racing from their floating holiday homes based on the marina beside the sailing club.

The booking system for the club campsite space is also now live.

With the publication of the Notice of Race and the opening of the online entry system, it is all systems go for the Fireball World Championship.

The Covid-19 pandemic has caused great disruption to international competition worldwide and a planned world championship in Howth in 2020 had to be cancelled as the scale of the pandemic became clear.

When the Australian Worlds in Melbourne planned for January 2023 had to be postponed due to Australian Government lockdowns the Irish Fireball Association managed to secure the event for Ireland this August.

The club has a proud history of hosting major events including the Mirror World Championship in 2013.

International race officer Con Murphy will be PRO for the event. The father of Irish Olympic medallist Annalise, Murphy is one of the country’s most respected and experienced race officers.

The World Championship takes place from August 21 to 26 with a warm-up event on August 18 and 19, which doubles as the Irish National Championship.

Measurement checking is expected to take place mainly on Saturday, August 20, with the racing programme of two races per day running from Sunday through Friday and Wednesday as the lay day.

With Omicron hopefully a distant memory by summer, sailors are anxious to get stuck back into high level international competition and a fleet of between 50 and 80 boats is expected to assemble at Lough Derg.

With about fifty square miles of open lake the venue is likely to challenge sailors with a good mixture of conditions over the week.

The stunning lakelands area, a lesser-known gem of the Irish tourism offering, is likely to surprise domestic and international sailors alike with its beauty.

The event will include an activity programme for families and non-sailors with many and diverse regional attractions.

The lead-up to the event, with the delay caused by the pandemic, has given the domestic Fireball fleet a great boost and the last couple of years have seen a big increase in local numbers.

More than 25 Irish boats have committed to the first Fireball Worlds on local waters in 11 years and this number is expected to grow as the date nears.

Sailors are asked to register now via the club website at ldyc.ie and for those who register early and pay the remainder of the entry fee by the due date a raffle is being held for free entry.

Welcoming the event LDYC commodore Joe Gilmartin said the club are really looking forward to hosting the international fireball community at this major event.

“It is definitely lining up to be one of the highlights of our 2022 season. You are assured of an excellent event with some great sailing, lots of fun and generous hospitality”.

Speaking from her home in Switzerland Fireball International Commodore Christina Haerdi commented – “It feels like a first breath after a long stay underwater”.

“We will celebrate the Fireball Worlds in Ireland. The organisers did not give up after the frustrating cancellation of the 2020 Worlds but restarted with full energy to make it happen in Dromineer.

Irish Fireball Association chairman, Neil Cramer chairman said they hope to attract not only individual competitors but their entire families as well, with attractive off-the-water activities and some excellent lay-day options.

Notice of Race, online registration and registration for event camping are now live and can be found at ldyc.ie.