#rcyc – Derry Good's Exhale was the IRC Handicap winner and the overall ECHO All In winner was Ian Hickey's Cavatina in today's third day of Royal Cork's Winter league writes Claire Bateman.

The weather forecast turned out to be deadly accurate and the race organisers of the Marshall Textiles sponsored racing had prepared for every eventuality with great detail including shortening of the course.

The course was predetermined and a sheet showing same was given to each skipper of the fleet of intrepid mariners before they took to the water and this information was again radioed to the fleet as they arrived at the Grassy start. Four rounds were scheduled to be sailed.

Racing commenced in 18 knots of a south/south westerly breeze. Starting from Grassy the first round went to No. 5 port, No. 7port, 14port and back to Grassy and then on to round two first to 12 starboard, and back to Grassy where the organisers had taken the decision to finish racing. What had started as 18 knots had increased to 26 gusting 30 and there wasn't anybody about to question that decision.

A few brave souls did fly kites but that did not last very long in the conditions and indeed some were seen to be having difficulty retrieving them and ended up doing a bit of trawling.

The lower rated boats had possibly an hour and a quarter racing with the big boats possibly having slightly less.

#rcyc – Royal Cork Yacht Club celebrated a highlight of the year in its Crosshaven clubhouse at the weekend with the presentation of perpetual RCYC trophies writes Claire Bateman.

Admiral Peter Deasy presented the Boat of the Year Trophy to Ian Nagle of Jelly Baby as well as League trophies for: O'Leary Insurance Group Whitesail April, UK Halsey Sailmakers May, Union Chandlery June, a new and welcome sponsor Airport View Parking for July, August and September and last but certainly not least the Heineken Super League.

There were so many trophies that a second table had to be provided to hold them and the magnificent display generated a huge amount of interest during the evening.

#rcyc – Apart from the chill in the breeze on Saturday and the beautiful colours in the trees around Crosshaven, one might have been forgiven for thinking it was a summer's day for the last race of the CH Marine Autumn league writes Claire Bateman. (scroll down for photos by Bob Bateman)

The sailors were all in high good humour anticipating an excellent day of sailing with the prospect of two good races and an early return ashore to get back to the club tonight for the final highlight of the event, the prize giving dinner.

Racing outside the harbour today was on two triangular courses with a verycomfortable 8 to 11 knots of breeze from the north with the same conditions pertaining inside the harbour with the fleets on round the cans courses.

Special thanks must got to all the visiting yachts, the huge contingent from Kinsale, our neighbors from CSC, all those from east of the south coast and west of the south coast and of course all our own Royal Cork competitors who turned out in such numbers.

The organisers and all volunteers have worked extremely hard to ensure this was the hugely successful Autumn League it turned out to be and many thanks and appreciation must go to Nick Bendon of CH Marine for the generous sponsorship and wonderful prizes.

#rcyc – There were surfing conditions for day four of the CH Marine sponsored Royal Cork Autumn League in Cork Harbour yesterday writes Claire Bateman.

Classes one, two and three sailing to the mouth of the harbour made a superb spectacle as they rounded the mark and headed downwind, in many cases surfing on the waves, as they made their way in the harbour to No. 10 making a kaleidoscope of colour in the bright sunshine and with plenty of breeze from the south east.

Tension was high today on the penultimate day of what has been to date an excellent league. In Class One Gloves Off dominated the class with six wins to date but today they had to yield to Mary O'Keeffe's Tux who took the gun in the first race of the day when she won Class One IRC.

The competition in Class Two was equally as intense especially with the three modified quarter tonners and an unusual scenario occurred when there was an incident between the Losty Brothers Illes Pitiuses and Ian Travers' Per Elisa. What was unusual was the fact the hearing was open to any competitors wishing to attend. The protest was heard under the chairmanship of Donal McClement and resulted in the disqualification of Per Elisa. Did I forget to say that the two guest helms on the day were brothers Peter O'Leary, newly crowned All Ireland Champion, on Per Elisa, with Nicholas O'Leary on Illes Pitiuses.

Meanwhile White Sail division One and Two, Class Four and 1720s were sailing on the flat waters of the eastern bank where the breeze appeared tohave more east in it and this provided tremendous competition in all the fleets.

To date in the League with the exception of week one, when the weather caused a bit of a hold up but nonetheless ended up with a brilliant afternoon's racing, sailing conditions have been excellent and it is hard to believe that next week will be the last.

The daily prizes were certainly unique and very popular with the winners. A novel idea on the part of CH Marine.

The final two races will take place on Saturday next October 27th and the prize giving dinner will take place at 7pm.

#royalcork – Kieran Twomey's Gloves Off continues to lead in the 14-boat Cruisers 1 fleet of the CH Marine Autumn league at Royal Cork. The Corby 38 took its third race win this afternoon to lead by a margin of 13 points from Rob McConnell's A35, Fools Gold. Third is Dan Buckley's J109 Justus writes Claire Bateman.

With thrills, spills, T bones, a medical emergency and seasick sailors the second Sunday of the CH Autumn Regatta provided very different fare to last week.

Outside the harbour Class One were the first to start today and they got away cleanly as they had a long start line square to the boat and off they went on a windward leeward course.

There was no catching Kieran Twomey's lightweight flying machine 'Gloves Off' on the day. However, a ding dong battle ensued between Conor Doyle's Freya and Tom Roche's Meridian, Conor Doyle leading at the first weather mark but a better hoist on Meridian brought them into the lead. This lead continued for the three rounds of the course and ended up with Meridian coming into the finish line on starboard with Freya coming in on port but one boat length behind. Mary O'Keeffe's X332 'Tux' was also engaged in tough rivalry with the other two X332s. Similar situations of these ding dong battles pertained right throughout the fleet in today's conditions. Bad Company, Alpaca, and Allure were also engaged in tough battles for supremacy. A similar situation also existed with the three quarter tonners, Iles Pitiuses, Per Elisa and Anchor Challenge.

Today there was an awkward sea with wind over tide for a period and also the matter of the tide flowing out the harbour to create lumpy stretches followed by dropping into holes in the sea and with wind of about 16 knots occasionally rising to over 20 it put the crews to the test. There were many broaches and many sailors not feeling the best as a result and many raised voices urging fast action as required.

The second race was a triangle course, the wind having shifted some 30 degrees more into the south east and again there were many incident s including one port and starboard incident where the porthand boat tried to dip the starboard boat but in the conditions the boat wouldn't bear away quickly enough.

Meanwhile, inside the harbour the Class four and whitesail fleets were having good racing as well with flat water and with the wind starting out at about 11 knots and before racing finished it had risen to some 16 or 17 knots. The 1720s were sailing on this course today and they had a fleet of nine boats. Class four were given a course running between the East Ferry mark and no. 16 buoy while the wind shift that was affecting the outside harbour course caused the Race Officer to slightly alter the course on the eastern bank as well using EF2 and No. 13.

A competitor who was feeling unwell was whisked away in one of the Club's high speed rescue RIBs to rendezvous with Crosshaven RNLI 'Miss Betty'. The lifeboat crew then took the sailor on board and transferred him to the ambulance waiting to take him to CUH. The good news welcomed is the sailor involved is making a good recovery.

All in all today proved to be a wonderful day of sailing with the sailors congregating afterwards while awaiting the prize giving and regaling one another with stories of their experiences of the day that left everyone looking forward to next Sunday's racing.

#rcyc –  Royal Cork Yacht Club (RCYC) at Crosshaven in Cork harbour has announced leading Irish marine supply firm CH Marine as sponsor of the club's annual Autumn Regatta starting at the end of the month.

Preliminary details are as follows:

Dates of Racing: First Gun Race 1 each day 11:55 hrs

Sunday September 30th 2012

Sunday October 7th 2012

Sunday October 14th 2012

Sunday October 21st 2012

Saturday October 27th 2012

Number of Races: a maximum of 2 races per day are scheduled for the Regatta.

The entry fee this year will be €75 and there will be a first prize for any group of three boats of the same type.

Entry Forms must be received before Friday September 28th 2012

#rcyc – Good winds and great atmosphere ashore made for an excellent two day Neville Jewellers At Home Regatta for Royal Cork Yacht Club in Cork Harbour writes Claire Bateman.

Plenty of stories were to be had from the Saturday racing even to one account of a spinnaker being blown to shreds on a Class Two boat and a Laser losing its mast on Day Two and a young competitor going overboard from his Optimist.

The fleets were a little depleted as the Laser National Championships were taking place in Dublin and the Royal Cork was represented in all three divisions, Standard Rig, Laser Radial and Laser 4.7. Nonetheless the turnout at Crosshaven was excellent.

The At Home dinner took place on Saturday night and an excellent evening was enjoyed by all with members enjoying the convivial atmosphere, good food and many exchanges of salty dog stories around the tables.

The Family At Home day ashore on Sunday, in addition to the fleet racing in the harbour, was packed with activities including face painting, bouncy castles, and bubbles floating everywhere from the bubble guns provided for the kiddies. Forty Two children took place in a hard fought tug of war. The famous, or infamous, Optimist Parents race took place at the marina in front of the club and had great racing with even greater encouragement from the spectators, even if it took in some over use of tillers and some ingenuous interpretations of the sailing rules! The eagerly awaited Admirals Boules match had a splendid entry of twelve and a ding dong battle for supremacy took place between former Admirals T.E. Crosbie and Kevin Lane with the latter succeeding by the narrowest of margins.

Throughout the afternoon the admiral's Lady, Judy, and her band of willing helpers kept the hungry hordes supplied with copious quantities of scrumptious sandwiches and cakes supplied by the ladies of the club. The children had their own designated area where they were supplied with delicious treats, goody bags, had their faces painted and received squiggly balloons and had high jinks on the bouncy castles keeping their parents well occupied running around after them.

Finally, the prizegiving took place with the prizes being presented by the Sponsor, John Neville, and the Admiral presenting the trophies. The Admiral having thanked the Sponsor, the day came to a close with unanimous agreement that it had been a wonderful weekend.

#rnli – One of Crosshaven RNLI's major fundraising events of the year was held on Saturday evening last, with a black tie Dinner at the Royal Cork Yacht Club. The event was held in conjunction with the Cork Week regatta which is taking place this week.

On a glorious summer evening, one hundred supporters listened to a very enjoyable and Interesting conversation between afloat's correspondent Tom MacSweeney and the Coxswain of Baltimore lifeboat, Kieran Cotter as well as enjoying an excellent meal provided by Royal Cork Yacht club.

#1720 –A single point separates first and fourth place overall after two high speed races of the CH Marine sponsored 1720 National Championships writes Claire Bateman.

Defending champion Mark Mansfield, who is always formidable in strong winds, lies fourth overall after counting a 2 and a 4 in the 15-boat fleet while Finbarr Jeffers leads from Anthony O'Leary on an equal five points. Scroll down the page for more photos and results.

It was well worth waiting for the winds to abate in Cork harbour yesterday because by 5pm the first race of the championships got off to a cracking start in blustery high winds

Racing over windward leeeward course on the Eastern Bank off Aghada and with the weathermark close to the Spit the fleet enjoyed two great races and provided plenty of thrills and spills with even the heavy weather experts, Anthony O'Leary and defending champion Mark Mansfield both experiencing broaches inspite of the use of smaller jibs and kites. Photos of the action below.

#OYSTER –  Stephen and Aileen Hyde's Oyster 56 Lady A from Royal Cork Yacht Club is in the mix for an overall trophy at the Oyster Regatta in the British Virgin Islands (BVI) following dazzling conditions for the third race of the regatta today. With 15 knots of steady Trade Winds, flat water and brilliant sunshine, the Oyster fleet enjoyed a magnificent race around the scenic island of Virgin Gorda and its outlying islands.

Oyster CEO David Tydeman addressed the Oyster owners at the Skippers' Briefing and concluded that the race would commence in the narrow confines of the North Sound before the fleet would burst out into the exposed yet utterly sublime waters of the western approach to the stunningly beautiful archipelago. There can truly be few places on earth as beautiful to sail as the Virgin Islands when the wind blows and the sun shines, as it has done, every day for the Oyster Regatta BVI.

After a fabulous close reach to Necker Island, the Oyster flotilla bore away to the southwest, unfurling spinnakers in gleaming sunshine to accelerate through the electric blue ocean swell. The Oyster family had a memorable experience; surfing six-foot waves in warm air with the spectacular views of Fallen Jerusalem and a close passage past the granite outcrops known as The Baths, it really was sailing at its best.

Ross Appleby's Oyster LW48, Scarlet Oyster raced with great precision and tactical awareness to take the gun. However, with one race left to sail, there is a tremendously close finish expected for the 12 Deck Saloon Oysters racing in Class 2. From Ireland, Stephen and Aileen Hyde's Oyster 56, A Lady was victorious today and having scored well in all three races currently leads the field. A Lady has overtaken Scotland's Bill Munro's Oyster 575, Boarding Pass III, which could only manage an 8th in the Round Virgin Gorda Race due to sail damage at the start. Marshall Glynn's Oyster 49, Norman g III had a superb race today gaining their first podium position of the regatta. However, Class 2 is proving to be very competitive as typified by Ian Galbraith, skipper of Jigsaw, the Oyster 53 took the "First across the start line prize" with pride and a rapturous applause from the Oyster family.

In Class 1, the Oyster 82, Starry Night of the Caribbean, skippered by Philip Scully sailed well yet again to take line honours and the corrected-time win. However, Chris and Susan Shea's Oyster 72, Magrathea were so very close to winning the race. John Noble's Oyster 655 Neki took third place and received a huge round of applause at the Prize Giving. John

and his wife have never raced before, let alone attended an Oyster Regatta but their eagerness to learn and passion for sailing has shone through in the race around Virgin Gorda. The last race will confirm the podium places for this class, Starry Night of The Caribbean currently lead overall, but Ravenous, Magrathea, Matawai, Neki, Blue Horizons and Rivendell of Wight are all still very much in the running.

After racing today, the Oyster fleet bid a fond au revoir to the Bitter End Yacht Club. John Glynn, VP of Sales and Marketing was quick to thank the Oyster family. "It is such a pleasure to have the Oyster owners and their guests at the Bitter End. By co-incidence, it is interesting to know that Oyster Yachts was established in 1973, the same year that the Hokins family purchased the land that the Bitter End Yacht Club stands on today. Our club and Oyster have similar values; friendship, loyalty and first class service and I am sure that many of the Oyster family will return and I can assure you, we will always be delighted to see you."

After the Dolphin Sails Race Around Virgin Gorda, the Oyster fleet moored stern to at the fabulous new superyacht dock at the YCCS Virgin Gorda. The Caribbean clubhouse of the famous Sardinian Club is absolutely spectacular and probably the most luxurious yacht club anywhere in the Caribbean. Set in a divine landscape of tropical plants and granite boulders, the Clubhouse amenities include an infinity pool with a gleaming teak bar and a view that takes your breath away across the North Sound. A sumptuous buffet supper was served on the YCCS Clubhouse lawn, as a full moon blessed the grand occasion.

After dinner, an energetic steel band played the night away to a packed dance floor, there maybe a few aching limbs for the final race of the Oyster Regatta BVI; the passage race to Nanny Cay Marina sponsored by Pantaenius.