The 1720 National Championships podium ended as it started at Baltimore Sailing Club, with Ross McDonald's Atara at the top of the leaderboard. After three days of tough windward-leeward racing, the only difference was the size of the consistent Howth Yacht Club crew's winning margin, which had extended to 8.5 points after nine races sailed.

According to the official results board, the reigning European Champion counted five race wins in his tally to dominate the championship (see results below). 

Second was Royal Cork's Mia Murphy's Probably Legal on 23 points with a formidable crew line-up of Mia Murphy, Nicholas O Leary, Kelvin Harrap, Rory Harrap and David Kelly.

Local helmsman Fionn Lyden was third on 37 in the 22-boat fleet with a crew that included 2024 49er campaigner Seafra Guilfoyle.

1st - The 2024 1720 National Champions, the Ross McDonald skippered Rope Dock/Atara crew from Howth Yacht Club and Royal Cork. Pictured left to right are: Killian Collins, Aoife English, (baby Kim), Graham Curran, Ross McDonald, Robbie English and Peter O'Flynn, of host club Baltimore Sailing Club

2nd at the 1720 National Championships -  The Probably Legal crew skippered by Mia Murphy from Royal Cork Yacht Club. Pictured From left is Peter O'Flynn, of host club Baltimore Sailing Club, with Mia Murphy, Nicholas O Leary, Kelvin Harrap, Rory Harrap and David Kelly

3rd at the 1720 National Championships- The Spiced Beef crew, skippered by Fionn Lyden from Baltimore Sailing Club. Pictured left to right are Amy Harrington, Brian Leonard, Peter O'Flynn, of host club Baltimore Sailing Club, Fionn Lyden, Séafra Guilfoyle, Darragh McCormack and Florence Lyden 

The championships ran a full programme of nine races despite blustery conditions on Friday and Saturday in West Cork, with westerly winds gusting up to 30 knots. Two races were sailed in Baltimore Harbour for protection from the works of the gales, resulting in a new race area dividend each day of the championship.

The winning skipper told Afloat: "Glorious conditions throughout the weekend. It was fantastic to be planing for almost two whole days of racing. Great battles in a stacked fleet"

"BSC did a fantastic job to get us racing on three different racecourses on three different days, which was very interesting", McDonald added.

The top of the leaderboard stays the same in Baltimore, West Cork, after an exciting day two of the 1720 sportsboat National Championships, except Ross McDonald has extended his winning margin to six points.

Under Principal Race Officer Anthony O'Leary, the Baltimore race team was commended for running two races inside Baltimore Harbour in westerly winds gusting to over 30 knots and keeping to a full race programme at the end of day two of the three-day championships.

The scene at Baltimore Sailing Club where the 22-boat 1720 National Championship fleet start a race inside Baltimore Harbour with winds gusting to 30 knots

Racing went ahead using small sails, with the lifejacket rule in operation.

In full control - Ross McDonald's Atara on his way to one of of four race wins so far at the 2024 1720 National Championships in Baltimore. Video by Peter O'Flynn

Lying second is Mia Murphy's Legal on 12 points, and Fionn Leyden says third on 17 in the 22-boat fleet.

Big speeds for the 22-boat 1720 fleet at national championships hosted by Baltimore Sailing Club. Video by Mark O Reilly

Racing concludes on Sunday when three more races are scheduled. Moderate conditions of 15-knot westerlies are expected.

Results below.

With two wins and two second places scored, Howth Yacht Club and Royal Cork's Ross McDonald tops the leaderboard at the 1720 National Championships in Baltimore, West Cork.

Despite the consistent scoreline, the reigning European class champion, who is a firm favourite this weekend, has only a one-point cushion, after one discard applied, over Royal Cork Yacht Club's Mia Murphy on five points, with three different race winners emerging on day one. Murphy is sailing with past champion Nicholas O'Leary as part of her crew.

Local helm Fionn Lyden threatened with an opening race win in the 22-boat fleet to be eight points off the lead.

On the first day of the three-day championships, Race Officer Anthony O'Leary confronted the strong breeze forecast by sailing a fourth race, one more than originally scheduled, to allow for the potential loss of sailing on Saturday. If the strong winds arrive, there are contingency plans to race inside Baltimore Harbour.

Fresh conditions, with 16-20 knots of breeze and a 2-2.5m swell, led to some retirements on Friday, including that of the class president, Robert Dix, who retired after race one.

Results below

A 22-boat entry does not include defending champion Dave Kenefick for Friday's 1720 National Championships at Baltimore Sailing Club, and at least one late entry in West Cork is expected to have some Olympic firepower onboard for the three-day event.

Strong westerly winds are expected to get the nine-race championships off to a swift start, and with forecasted winds gusting to over 30 knots for both Friday and Saturday, boat handling skills will be at a premium in the sportsboat class.

Howth Yacht Club has a single entry in the form of reigning European champion Ross McDonald's Atara, who must be considered the form boat after his win at the three-race Dun Laoghaire Cup at the Royal Irish Yacht Club a month ago.

Almost half of the fleet are locals, with nine Baltimore entries likely led by former Finn dinghy campaigner Fionn Lyden, a regular podium finisher in the class in Spiced Beef, who will make the most of a home waters advantage.

Other south coast entries come from Waterford Harbour, Kinsale, and Royal Cork Yacht Club.

The Durcan family's T bone will compete in the 2024 1720 National Championships at Baltimore Sailing Club Photo: Bob Bateman

Dublin Bay's Royal Irish Yacht Club has two entries, including Davie Ryan's Big Bad Wolf, who took second at the Dun Laoghaire Cup.

Other Dubliners in West Cork are also in the mix, such as 1720 class president Malahide's Robert Dix, who has opted to sail under the Baltimore burgee this weekend.

In addition to Kenefick, multiple champion Robert O'Leary (with his former boat Dutch Gold entered under Kinsale skipper Michael O'Sullivan) is also absent this weekend. Waterford Harbour's Julian Hughes, second at the 2023 Europeans, is also absent due to work commitments.

Not yet appearing on the weekend entry list, but expected is Waterford Harbour's Tom Murphy, who comes with double Olympian Peter O'Leary. Mark and Dave Hassett, Murphy's son Ethan, and Cliodhna Connolly are also onboard.

1720 National Championships entry list (at May 28th)

1720 National Championships entry list at May 28th

Homeport sportsboats led in three of the competing classes after the first day of racing on Saturday (May 18) at the Royal Irish Yacht Club (RIYC), which hosted the Dun Laoghaire Cup 2024 on Dublin Bay.

Three East Coast and one National championship are being sailed as part of the special two-day event, which will include up to six races for a 34-boat fleet in four separate sportsboat classes on windward-leeward or trapezoid courses. The Race Officer is RIYC's Michael Tyrrell.

1720

At the 1720 East Coast Championship, with the biggest turnout of 13 boats, Ross McDonald's skippered Rope Dock Atara from Howth Yacht Club has a two-point lead over the RIYC's Davie Ryan in Big Bad Wolf, who is on 12 points after three races sailed. Lying third is Galway Bay visitor After Midnight.

SB20

In the 12-boat SB20 class, reigning national champion Michael O'Connor of the Royal St. George Yacht Club, at the helm of Ted, took three wins from three races to already have a four-point margin over the National Yacht Club's Philip Doran on seven points in the class's East Coast Championships.

Michael O'Connor of the Royal St. George Yacht Club, at the helm of Ted

O'Connor's clubmate Patrick McGrath is third on 16 in The Big Smoke. As part of the weekend, the class organised a 'press conference' and live-streamed a parade of sail of the competing SB20s at the East Pier on social media.

B211

Royal Irish's Jimmy Fischer in Billy Whizz

Royal Irish's Jimmy Fischer in Billy Whizz is the leader on a scoring tie-break of the six-boat Beneteau First 21 National Championships after three races sailed. Clubmate Joe Smyth is also on three points after scoring 1,2 in the opening races. 

J80

In the J80s, Austin Kenny's Ram Jam, with three wins, leads from Vincent Lattimore's Jambiya. Third is Declan Curtin's Jester.

 While initially slated for competition, the Flying Fifteens did not race in the 2024 Dun Laoghaire Cup, six having just returned from the European Championships in France. 

Two further aces are scheduled to decide the Cup in all classes on Sunday.

Provisional results are below

The 1720 Sportsboat Class in Ireland has a certain something, which means that when its annual championship comes around, it often attracts stars from other classes for this peak of sportsboat sport. And though the 2023 1720 Nats at Dunmore East with Waterford Harbour SC in September may not have attracted the significantly large numbers seen at some other venues in recent years, there was some very hot talent battling it out on the Waterford Estuary and the nearby Atlantic.

This time round, David Kenefick of Royal Cork came through the lineup of multi-class superstars to take the title ahead of a Who’s Who of 1720 talent, and he gets a clear place in September’s Roll of Honour with it.

Royal Cork Yacht Club's Dave Kenefick has won the 2023 1720 sportsboat National Championships held at Waterford Harbour Sailing Club.

Finishing with a six-point margin after nine races sailed and with one discard, Kenefick's 'Full Irish crew' put in a consistent performance, only once finishing outside the top five.

Kenefick took an early lead off Dunmore East, opening his title tilt with two race wins and, on 28 points by Saturday evening, was clear ahead of defending champions Rope Dock Atara from Howth and Royal Cork on 34.

The Kenefick crew have been an increasing presence at the top of the sportsboat fleet dominating the southern championships at Monkstown Bay in May.

Another Royal Cork entry was third in the 25-boat fleet, as the Durcan/O'Shea partnership in T-Bone finished on 44 points.

As Afloat reported earlier, the 1720 class used live tracking for the first time at the Championships.

Results below

The 1720 Sportsboat class is embracing technological innovations in sailing to enhance its development and offer live tracking for the National Championships for the first time.

Spectators and supporters worldwide can view this live tracking in the Sailmon App.

MarineServices.ie, Sailmon, The 1720 Sportsboat Class, and Waterford Harbour Sailing Club, have collaborated to bring this remarkable improvement to the 1720 Sportsboat Nationals this month.

High-accurate tracking thanks to MAX Mini

The revolutionary Sailmon MAX Mini will facilitate the tracking. The MAX Mini comes with an integrated SIM card offering global IoT coverage with 2G fallback. It ensures high accuracy down to centimetres, thanks to industry-leading sensors. With support for five GNSS constellations (GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, BeiDou, QZSS & SBAS), it guarantees high-precision recording and replay of sailing data with 25Hz sensors (data is recorded in the cloud at 1Hz). The unit will automatically transmit all data to the Sailmon App.

1720 sportsboat racing

Kenny Rumball of MarineServices.ie, the distributor of Sailmon products in Ireland, commented, "We conducted a small trial of this system with the RS21 class earlier this year as part of the Dun Laoghaire regatta. It clearly demonstrated how sailing can now engage spectators on land and provide answers to questions that sailors constantly have, such as whether I was as fast today as usual or if that other boat was faster. We genuinely believe that the Sailmon MAX Mini represents the future, and we hope to offer this system to all racing classes throughout Ireland for the 2024 season."

Sailmon App delivers instant debriefing

Data from all competitors will be instantly available in the Sailmon App, offering unique opportunities for friends, spectators, family, and coaches to relive the races for both fun and analytical purposes. The primary goal of the class is to utilize this high-quality data to enhance competitiveness by comparing race data and facilitating group discussions after sailing. This enables the support team to quickly show the various data differences among different boats in the fleet. It is hoped that this will improve fleet performance and, with spot prizes available, reveal who truly excelled at the start or which boat was the fastest upwind. After all, numbers don't lie!

Julian Hughes of Waterford Harbour Sailing Club "WHSC are excited and grateful to have Sailmon and Marine Services support for the 1720 Nationals to help us make the post race discussion more engaging and fun, having real tangible data to offer prizes for the fastest upwind and downwind sailors along with other areas such as starting will add fun to the daily prize giving. With over 25 boats expected to take the line in Dunmore East, we are looking forward to welcoming the fleet to Dunmore"

Do you want to relive the races of Irish 1720 Sportboats Class

1. Open the Sailmon App:
- Computer: go to Sailmon.com/racing
- Phone and iPad: download via AppStore or GooglePlay
2. Tap on EVENTS (fourth emoticon at the bottom bar)
3. Search and tap on Irish 1720 Sportboats Class
4. Scroll down and tap on one of the races
5. Tap on 'Start Replay'
6. Scroll through time and data

1720 Class President David Love is thrilled, 'The Irish 1720 Sportsboat class is really looking forward to partnering up with Sailmon for our Nationals Championships. This technology will allow for greater interaction for both sailor and spectator in watching racing along with reviewing performance, which will be a great step in showing the quality of racing in the class for sailors'

Fionn Lyden's 'Spiced Beef' of the host club was the overall winner of the weekend's 1720 Baltimore Cup raced under the burgee of Baltimore Sailing Club in West Cork.

Lyden built on his overnight lead to be six points clear of clubmate Rob O'Leary's Dutch Gold crew after six races sailed and one discard on Sunday. 

Racing took place in a stiff northwesterly breeze, with the Lousy Rocks in Baltimore Sound playing a significant role in splitting the fleet in race three of the Cup on Saturday afternoon.

Nick Walsh's Breaking Bad was third on 25 points in the 16-boat fleet.

Next up in the West Cork sailing scene is Schull Harbour's four-day Calves Week Regatta which starts on Tuesday, August 8th, with a capped 70-boat cruiser-racer fleet.

A healthy tally of five race wins assured Howth Yacht Club that its defending champion Ross McDonald would be returning with the 1720 European Championship crown after nine races sailed at the 2023 Simply Blue Sovereign's Cup off Kinsale today. 

After Friday's, somewhat controversial cancellation of all racing, the final races were completed today in tricky 'weight-in' conditions and a shifting breeze that challenged Race Officer Ciaran MacSweeney.

The ultra-consistent Atara crew drawn from Howth and Royal Cork in Crosshaven concluded the event with a margin of nine points over Wednesday's overnight leader Julian Hughes of Waterford Harbour Sailing Club. 

Just one point off second place, Baltimore Sailing Club's Fionn Lyden finished on 32 points.

Team Atara showed a return to their 2022 form as they notched up five bullets and all scores in the top ten ((9), 4, 1, 1, 5, 1, 8, 1, 1) to be comprehensive winners and retain the Cup won last July at Cork Week 2022.

Julian Hughes's Waterford Harbour team on Root 1, who were only a point behind Atara overall going into Saturday's races and sailed well to take two second places but ultimately faced an OCS from Race 6 (that they were able to discard) and a 14th in race eight (1,2,2,2, 6, (25.0 OCS) 2, 14, 2) which shut the door on title hopes for the Kilkenny sailor.

After the disappointment of having all racing on Day 3 of the Simply Blue Sovereign’s Cup cancelled yesterday, sailors were anxious to get back on the water today and an amendment to the sailing instructions brought the first gun of the day forward by 30 minutes with the Race Officer and his team set to run off three races to conclude the 1720 European Championships.

Ross, Robbie and Co on Rope Dock Atara retained their European 1720 crown with five bullets out of nine races sailed Photo: Bob Bateman

The sunshine of the first two days was nowhere to be seen, but the conditions had moderated significantly from those of Friday, and the fleet headed out to the race area with full jibs and masthead kites. The records will show that Ross, Robbie and Co on Rope Dock Atara retained their European 1720 crown with five bullets out of nine races sailed – and after a shaky start this morning, they capped off their championship with two wins in the last races.

Conditions had moderated significantly from those of Friday for the last races of the 1720 Euros on Saturday Photo: Bob Bateman

The Root 1 team from Dunmore East can only rue their missed opportunity – a 14th place in the second last race that they couldn’t discard effectively sinking their challenge, despite two fine second place finishes in today’s other two races. Rope Dock Atara won with a total score of 22 points to the 31 of Root 1; had Julian Hughes’ crew on Root 1 been able to score a second, third or fourth place in Race 8 they would be European 1720 champions, but it wasn’t to be… Tight margins at the top! As if to underline that point, Root 1 had only a single point to spare over Fionn Lyden on Spiced Beef.

Root 1 Skipper Julian Hughes is presented with his second overall trophy in the 1720 Europeans from sponsor Hugh Kelly of Simply Blue Photo: Bob Bateman

The Baltimore Sailing Club team had two third-place finishes today to lock in the overall third place they had claimed after the first two days of racing. Interestingly, the finishing order of the series' final race was Rope Dock Atara first, Root 1 second and Spiced Beef third – fittingly matching the overall outcome of the series.

A big shout out to Robert O’Leary and crew on Dutch Courage who came home a very creditable fourth overall with just a single top-three finish in Race 8, but a string of finishes comfortably in the top ten. Anthony and Nin on Antix got pinged for an OCS in Race 7 that dropped them out of the top five placings overall. The team who claimed the last top-five berth overall was Dave Kenefick’s Full Irish, who started the final day with a bullet and a third place but slipped to a tenth for the final race. Spare a thought for the After Headcase team of Dickson, Mulloy, Ryan, Glynn and O’Byrne. They finished even on points with Full Irish but lost out on the top-five slot on countback.

The 1720 silver fleet prize went to Davie Ryan's Big Bad Wolf from the Royal Irish Yacht Club.

The forecasted build in the wind in the afternoon never materialised, and the race management team had crews heading back to base with a very pleasant breeze not long after 13:30. Boats were being hauled out from both Kinsale boatyard and the main pier in the town not long after. 

Next for the 172 class is The Baltimore Cup on August Bank Holiday weekend and the Irish 1720 Nationals hosted by Waterford Harbour Sailing Club in Dunmore East on 21st-23rd September.

Read all Afloat's 2023 Sovereign's Cup Regatta coverage in one handy link here

Results below