With its wide expanse of water suited to all classes of racing, safe anchorage and onshore facilities to cater for crews, supporters and event functions, Aran proved to be such an attractive location for the WIORA 2017 Championships, and other sailing events since then, that Galway Bay Sailing Club (GBSC ), with the support of Aran’s businesses and community, has decided to return there again for WIORA 23.
WIORA, established in 1972, is an association of sailing clubs along the western seaboard from Sligo to Kerry, including the Shannon and the championships rotate between these clubs each year.
Between competitive and non-competitive vessels about 50 boats with 200 crew and as many more supporters arriveD on Inis Mór for this week from Fenit, Foynes, Kilrush, Galway, Westport and Sligo, boosting the island’s staycation economy over five days of the biggest west coast sailing event of the year.
The WIORA Championships were first staged in Aran in 2017, principally to support the newly formed Club Seoltóireachta Árann but also to introduce sailors to the unique Aran experience. It was a phenomenal success not just on the water but also socially as well. Many sailors returned afterwards with their families to holiday on the islands and expressed the wish that GBSC would recreate the Aran WIORA experience this year and, in the process, reboot the local sailing initiative.
There will be four days of racing off the northern shores of the islands and also a round islands race for the bigger boats, a race that is most spectacular on Inis Meáin and Inis Oírr because of the proximity of the course to these islands.
Sailboats cruising the western seaboard have always sheltered in Aran but now it is becoming a sailing destination in itself due to the scenery, culture and hospitality of the islands. The Lambs regatta, which arose out of WIORA 2017, is now an annual cruise of about 40 boats to Connemara and Aran.
The islanders, of course, have an affinity with boats as, for most of the history of human settlement on the islands, the mode of transport to and from the mainland was with sailboats; steam and diesel engines being relatively recent developments.
Because of the affection in which they are held, boats were generally referred to in the feminine and that’s especially true of island people who are totally dependent on them. The currach and visiting Galway Hookers are synonymous with Aran but it also had its own sailboat tradition and once even had a boatyard at Frenchman’s beach. Sailing and other water based activities will soon be greatly enhanced by the installation of a pontoon at Cill Rónáin harbour as this will allow people to safely board and get ashore 24/7 no matter time or tide.
West of Ireland sailors have competed at the highest level of international sailing with Bill King of Oranmore in the first round the world Whitbread Race in the 60’s and, most recently, Pat Lawless of Kerry in the same race, now called the Golden Globe Race, and it is hoped that the WIORA event will inspire future generations of young sailors to continue this form of participation.
