06 Mar ICRA Conference 2016

The ICRA conference took place yesterday in Castletroy in Limerick.

The main topic up for discussion was still the falling numbers involved in the sport and wether the ISA is doing enough to promote the sport to all.

Boat owners are downsizing and needing less crew and people just aren’t going racing at either club or national level. What can we do to help solve this problem?

The issue of the sport still being elitist reared its ugly head once again.We as a club certainly don’t fall into that category and will welcome anyone with open arms. Just turn up at the marina on a Friday evening during the season and someone will get you out on the water!

This also applies to the boat owners too. Just because the crew have left you down or are unavailable shouldn’t mean that you have to sit in and be subjected to EastEnders and Coronation St. Get down to the marina and either pick up crew or go crewing…. It beats sitting at home!!

Training was also a hot topic. Yes, we would all like that scruffy bloke standing on the marina to be an VOR bowman in disguise but chances are he doesn’t know a sheet from a rope or his starboard from his right but give him a chance he could turn out to be your VOR bowman. Help them out with some friendly advice and debrief with a cold beer afterwards. He or she might even come back next week!!

Getting bums on boats has to be a priority for the season. With this in mind we should invite all and sundry to the season launch night in April in the Quay’s Bar. If you are a parent and your kids enjoy the Saturday sessions there is no excuse for you not to enjoy the Friday sessions. Most of us don’t bite!!

All in all the conference was informative but the biggest thing taken from it was that we need to open our doors and invite people in. Let them try the sport,gain a new skill and find new friends.

For anyone interested the SCORA agm is in Kinsale next Friday night, just check out an earlier post for details.