The 2008 SAAB Cruiser National Championship will be hosted by Howth Yacht Club and will run from Friday May 16th to Sunday 18th May. The event promises to be one of the highlights of the 2008 sailing calendar.

Fleet 1 (divisions 0 and 1) will start the championship with two "Round the Cans" races on Friday 16th, while Fleet 2 (divisions 2 and 3) will participate in three "Windward/ Leeward" courses. The fleets reverse courses on Saturday 17th while on Sunday 18th; both fleets will race one 'Round the Cans and one 'Windward-Leeward' race. Warning singles will be at 1055 each day. Derek Bothwell will act as PRO for the 'Round the Cans' course and David Lovegrove will officiate on the 'Windward-Leeward' course'. A skippers briefing will take place in HYC at 2000 on Thursday May 15th. ICRA's Denis Kiely highlights that class divisions in the NOR and the class allocation posted on the HYC event page are indicative only. Class division will be broadly in line with the values in the NOR but a final decision will not be made until after the validity date for IRC (May 9th), at the earliest. Initial ECHO handicaps will be based on best information available to ICRA and please note that ECHO only entries are welcome. Daily prizes will be awarded each evening while the championship prize giving will be at 1600 (approx) on Sunday. With over fifty visiting cruisers, a number of boats will be berthed in the Howth fishing harbour. We thank the Howth Harbour Master, Captain Maitra, and Howth Lifeboat for their co-operation and assistance in the planning of this event. As security will be being provided each evening, a system of ID cards will be provided to all participating skippers and crew. HYC Marina is co-ordinating berth allocation and they will be in contact with visiting skippers who have requested berths before May 15th, by email over the coming week to confirm arrival dates and berth allocation. There will be entertainment in Howth Yacht Club on Friday and Saturday nights and the Championship Gala on Saturday, May 17th will be a highlight of the weekend. The night starts at 2000 with dinner, followed by music by 'The Enemies' and includes a number of surprises! Tickets are 38 and will available from May 9th via the event home page and from the Race Office at registration. We recommend booking early to avoid disappointment! Friday night entertainment is sponsored by the Marine Hotel, Sutton and starts at 1830 with Jack Wise. Be prepared to be amazed with one of Ireland's leading magicians! HYC Friday night buffet will be followed by music by Colm Meath from 2100. We are delighted to announce that The Butler's Pantry has come on board as our on-the-water food sponsor. Every day throughout the Championship, The Butler's Pantry regatta team will be on the marina from early morning. Lunch and snacks can be ordered in advance and collected fresh each day at HYC. Should you have any questions on this event, please do not hesitate to contact the Championship Committee by emailing admin@hyc.ie and marking your email SAAB Cruiser Nationals.

Note From ICRA   by Denis Kiely, ICRA

We look forward to welcoming you to Howth in May, but in advance I have a few points regarding ratings to clarify. The class division values in the NOR are indicative only but will be broadly in line with the values published in the NOR. A final decision will not be made until after the validity date for IRC at the earliest (Friday May 9th). ICRA will endeavour to ensure that boats will be allocated to the classes that most closely correspond to the class they regularly sail in. Initial ECHO handicaps will be based on best information available to ICRA and will include performance in previous Nationals as well as local performance. Progressive revision will apply during the course of the series as was undertaken for the 2007 Nationals in RCYC