#CowesWeek - It’s third place overall for the Irish crew on Christian Zugel’s MAT 1180 Tschüss in the IRC Zero fleet at Cowes Week.

Maurice O’Connell, Ross Monson, Johnny Mordant and Simon Johnson only moved one place down the table after discards, when they scored a tremendous second on corrected behind the TP52 Gladiator in the final outing of the six-race series yesterday (Thursday 3 August).

However, Gladiator had to take second place themselves behind last year’s IRC Zero winning Lady Mariposa, whose crew did enough over the week to lift the inaugural Sevenstar Triple Crown.

IRC Zero was the only class to sail on the breeziest day yet for what’s been a windblown 2017 regatta, and they had a two-and-a-half-hour course in the easter Solent all to themselves.

Mainsheet trimmer Maurice O’Connell said it was the windiest Cowes Week day he had ever sailed.

“The breeze rarely went below 30 knots for the second half of the race,” he added. “We even goose-winged down the last run doing 15 knots. Crazy but fun!”

The Triple Crown series saw a number of records smashed earlier in the week, with Volvo Ocean 65 MAPFRE setting a world-beating 3:13:11 for both monohull — and a monohull without power assistance — around the Isle of Wight.

Fellow Volvo Ocean Race competitors Team Brunel, Team Akzonobel and Dongfeng Race Team also set new record times on Wednesday (2 August) as they prepare for the next stage of Leg Zero this weekend in the formidable Rolex Fastnet Race.

#CowesWeek - The Irish crew on Christian Zugel’s MAT 1180 Tschüss have much to celebrate as they stand second overall in the IRC Zero fleet at Cowes Week.

Tschüss benefitted from the retirement of top contenders Gladiator and Tonnere in Wednesday’s wet and windy racing as they crossed the line after last year’s winner Lady Mariposa, the Ker 46 that looks set to defend her title.

Maurice O’Connell, Ross Monson, Johnny Mordant and Simon Johnson fully expect to slip down the table when the discard kicks in after the next race.

But with windy conditions in the Solent forecast to persist today, it’s still up in the air whether that final fleet race will take place.

#CowesWeek - Maurice O’Connell and three other Irish sailing stalwarts are headed to the Isle of Wight to join the crew of Tschüss, Christian Zugel’s MAT 1180, for Cowes Week.

Navigator Ross Monson, boat captain and pit boss Johnny Mordant, Simon Johnson at bow and mainsheet trimmer O’Connell will be racing one of three MAT 1180s in the 16-boat IRC Zero fleet, alongside Leeloo from the Netherlands and strong debutante Gallivanter. 

But they won’t be the only ones to watch out for in a fleet that includes Piet Vroon’s Tonnere, Round the Island winner TP52 Gladiator and last year’s winner, Daniel Hardy’s Ker 46 Lady Mariposa.

Other Irish at Cowes Week from this Saturday 29 July to 5 August include Damian Foxall, the Kerry offshore veteran on deck with Vestas 11th Hour for the Round the Island as part of preparations for the next Volvo Ocean Race.