In a ding dong battle since Wednesday, Royal Cork Quarter Tonner Supernova (Dave O Regan & Denise Phelan & Tony Donworth) has a single point lead over rival and club mate David Lane in the J/24 YaGottaWanna in the O'Leary Insurance Sovereign's Cup off Kinsale.

Races five and six were sailed in northerly 15 to 20-knot winds off Kinsale Harbour today.

David Lane in the J/24 YaGottaWanna Photo: Bob Bateman

A second Cork Harbour Quarter Tonner BonJourno! Part Deux (Rob O'Reilly) lies third on 11 points. 

The Cup series concludes tomorrow (Saturday).

Quarter Tonner BonJourno! Part Deux (Rob O'Reilly) Photo: Bob Bateman

Results here are provisional and subject to protest. 

Day Three Sovereign's Cup Photo Gallery By Bob Bateman

Just a single point separates leader David Kelly's Half Tonner King One from Royal Cork Olson 30 Coracle VI (Kieran Collins) in IRC Division Two going into the final day of racing at the O'Leary Insurances Sovereign's Cup Regatta on Saturday.

Races five and six were sailed in northerly 15 to 20-knot winds off Kinsale Harbour today.

George Radley's Cork Harbour Half Tonner Cortegada is eight points adrift of his Cork clubmate on 15 points overall in third place.

The Cup series concludes tomorrow (Saturday).

Royal Cork Olson 30 Coracle VI (Kieran Collins) Photo: Bob Bateman

Results here are provisional and subject to protest. 

Day Three Sovereign's Cup Photo Gallery By Bob Bateman

Conor Phelan's Jump Juice from Royal Cork Yacht Club continues to lead the largest division of the O'Leary Insurances Sovereign's Cup at Kinsale after scoring a third in the third race of the coastal series to be one point ahead overall. 

A race win today for Phelan's clubmates Nieulargo (Denis & Annamarie Murphy) moves the Grand Soleil 40 up to third overall, to be three points behind Bob Rendell's Grand Soleil 44 from Howth Yacht Club in second overall on seven points.

Second overall - Bob Rendell's Grand Soleil 44 from Howth Yacht Club is second overall after three races sailed Photo: Bob Bateman

The third coastal race was sailed in 15 to 20-knot northerly winds.

The 17-strong coastal fleet features some of the biggest yachts in the event. As regular Afloat readers will know, first, second (joint) and third from this month's Dun Laoghaire Dingle Race are sailing in the Sovereign's coastal fleet.

Third overall - Nieulargo (Denis & Annamarie Murphy) are third after three races sailed. Photo: Bob Bateman

The Cup series concludes tomorrow (Saturday).

Results here are provisional and subject to protest. 

Day Three Sovereign's Cup Photo Gallery By Bob Bateman

After six races sailed and one discard applied, Howth Yacht Club boats dominate the Class One podium of the O'Leary Insurances Sovereign's Cup in Kinsale. 

An excellent 1 and a 2 for ICRA Commodore Richard Colwell in today's races saw the skipper of J109 Outrajeous make a serious bid to close the points gap on clubmates and overall leader Mike and Richard Evans on the new J99 Snapshot who finishes today on 19 points.

The Evans brothers, sailing with Shane Hughes and Laura Dillon on board, have a healthy ten-point margin going into the final races of the series on Saturday in the 14-boat fleet.

In turn, Colwell has a four-point lead over day one leader Pat Kelly on Storm in third place on 33 points.

Mike and Richard Evans on the new J99 Snapshot lead J109 Outrajeous into the top mark Photo: Bob Bateman

J109 Outrajeous (Richard Colwell and John Murphy) hoist Photo: Bob Bateman

Third overall Pat Kelly's J 109 Storm from Rush and Howth Photo: Bob Bateman

Finnbarr O'Regan of the host club lies fourth in his new J109 Artful Dodjer and Dun Laoghaire Harbour's Something Else (Brian Hall) lies fifth from the National Yacht Club.

Finnbarr O'Regan J109 Artful Dodjer from Kinsale Photo: Bob Bateman

J109 Something Else (Brian Hall) lies from the National Yacht Club Photo: Bob Bateman

Northerly winds of up to 15 to 20 knots. 

An on the water incident led to an ambulance being called to Kinsale Harbour for one Class One boat.

The much smaller custom 1720 Antix Beag is chased by J109s at the top mark Photo: Bob Bateman

Results here are provisional and subject to protest. 

Day Three Sovereign's Cup Photo Gallery By Bob Bateman 

Photographer Bob Bateman took to the skies yesterday to capture some of the O'Leary Insurance Group Sovereign's Cup action off Kinsale Harbour.

There were more lights breezes and sunshine for the second day two of racing that saw changes across most leaderboards at the halfway stage of the regatta, as Afloat reports here. 

Friday's forecast is for cooler and fresher conditions including more wind from the north and the prospect of further great sailing conditions for the remainder of the event that concludes on Saturday.

Sovereign's Cup 2021 from the air

Conor Phelan's Custom Ker 37 Jump Juice has taken the lead of the biggest fleet on the 2021 O'Leary Insurances Sovereign's Cup on day two and now leads the 17-boat coastal division by two points. 

Second overall is overnight leader, Bob Rendell's Samatom, a new Grand Soleil 44 on five points.

Tied on points but in third place due to tie-break rules is local favourite Freya, the Xp50 skippered by Kinsale Yacht Club's Conor Doyle.

"It was a 'Snakes and ladders' type day with quite difficult wind shifts, even up to 180 degrees at times," commented Mark Mansfield, tactician on Samatom. "We're looking forward to the next few days when the wind will be a bit stronger and coming from the north so a bit more normal."

Bob Rendell's Samatom, a new Grand Soleil 44 from Howth Photo: Bob Bateman

The 17-strong division features some of the biggest yachts in the event.

As regular Afloat readers will know, first, second (joint) and third from this month's Dun Laoghaire Dingle Race are sailing in the Sovereign's coastal fleet.

Freya, the Xp50 skippered by Kinsale Yacht Club's Conor Doyle Photo: Bob Bateman

Aboard overall leader "Jump Juice" with "Samatom" to windward after rounding "Black Tom" mark in Courmacsherry Bay Photo: Maurice O'Connell

Results here are provisional and subject to protest. 

Day Two Sovereign's Cup Photo Gallery By Bob Bateman 

It's all change at the top of the leaderboard in IRC classes One, Two and Three after four races sailed at the Sovereigns' Cup in Kinsale today.

The new Howth Yacht Club J99 design of Michael and Richard Evans has outwitted the popular J109 designs that dominated racing after day one and now tops 14-boat class one at the end of the second day of the four-day competition in West Cork.

The Evans brothers leapfrogged the top three J109s overall to move into the overall IRC lead on 13 points, some eight points clear of the National Yacht Club's J109 Something Else (Brian and John Hall).

A second place and then a race win for Mike and Ritchie Evans' Snapshot bounced the Howth Yacht Club crew back into the lead of Division 1 under IRC.  The J99 crew had an opening race win penalised on Wednesday and followed with an eighth place but their form is now being rewarded with a healthy points margin in the 14 strong class. Photo: Bob Bateman

Third is the day one leader, Storm (Pat Kelly), one point behind Something Else on 22 points.

But it wasn't all plain sailing on day two of the biennial event with the wind shifting 180 degrees causing headaches for race management in another day of light winds.

Half Tonner leads Class Two

In Class Two, David Kelly's Half Tonner King One from Howth has taken the lead by a single point from Royal Cork's Olson 30 Coracle VI skippered by Kieran Collins. Cove Sailing Club's Cortegada (George Radley) stays third overall in the five boat fleet.

YaGottaWanna Moves into the Class Three Lead

Dave Lane's YaGottaWanna from Royal Cork now leads clubmates Dave O Regan & Denise Phelan & Tony Donworth in the quarter tonner Supernova by shares the same six points.

Rob O'Reilly's quarter tonner BonJourno! Part Deux from Monkstown Bay SC stays third.

The two White Sails fleets that have 19 boats between them raced a coastal course

White Sails coastal course

On ECHO handicap, Paralympic veteran and former Kinsale YC Commodore John Twomey had a seventh-place for the day on Shillelagh which handed the White Sails 2 lead over to Sam Cohen on Gunsmoke.  David Riome and Mark Leonards' Sigma 33 Valfreya took over from Frank Caul's Prince of Tides in White Sails 1.

Results here are provisional and subject to protest. 

Day Two Sovereign's Cup Photo Gallery By Bob Bateman

Although Conor Doyle's Xp 50 Freya from the host club was the clear 'on the water' winner on the Sovereign's Cup Coastal Course today, it was Bob Rendell's new Samatom, a Grand Soleil 44, from Howth YC that took first place on IRC rating just ahead of Conor Phelan's custom Ker 37 Jump Juice from the Royal Cork YC.

Light winds and rain soon gave way for ideal racing conditions for the event's opening day at Kinsale Yacht Club today. 

As Afloat reported earlier, the overall 62-strong fleet competed on courses ranging from Cork Harbour to the Old Head of Kinsale at the start of the four-day regatta. 

(from left) The X35 D-Tox, the Grand Soleil 44 Samatom and the Xp 44 Wow at the start of the coastal race Photo: Bob Bateman

The 17-strong division that features some of the biggest yachts in the event started racing with a short sprint to the O'Leary Insurance Group buoy before a long leg back to the Daunt Rock off Robert's Cove at Cork Harbour.

As regular Afloat readers will know, first, second (joint)and third from this month's Dun Laoghaire Dingle Race are sailing in this coastal fleet.

Full results here.

After the first two races in IRC Class One, Pat Kelly's Storm from Howth Yacht Club and Rush Sailing Club leads the 14-boat division of the O'Leary Insurances Sovereign's Cup Regatta at Kinsale. 

Kelly is five points clear at the top after two races sailed in light to medium winds on the first day of the biennial event that has attracted a total fleet of 62 boats for the four-day event.

Close combat - J109s make up ten of the 14 boat IRC of fleet at the 2021 Sovereign's Cup Photo: Bob Bateman

Dominating the top three places overall after day one, J109s also sit in second and third places in that division too. Kelly's clubmates Richard Colwell and John Murphy are second in Outrajeous with Royal Cork's Jelly Baby skippered by Brian Jones in third but tied on points.

Olson 30 leads IRC Two

In five boat Division Two IRC, Royal Cork's Olson 30 Coracle VI skippered by Kieran Collins leads from two half tonners on three points. David Kelly's Half Tonner King One is one point behind in second place with Cove Sailing Club's Cortegada on five points in third overall. 

The Olson 30 Coracle VI skippered by Kieran Collins

Quarter Tonner leads IRC Three 

A Royal Cork Quarter Tonner leads a five boat IRC 3 Division with Dave O'Regan, Denise Phelan and Tony Donworth's Supernova on top from David Lane's YaGottaWanna. In third place is Rob O'Reilly's BonJourno! Part Deux from Monkstown Bay Sailing Club.

Twomey takes White Sail win

A combined fleet of almost 20 White Sails entries racing in two Divisions enjoyed a single race that started and finished inside Kinsale Harbour off the historic Charles Fort saw veteran paralympian and former Kinsale YC Commodore John Twomey take the opening race bullet both on the water and under ECHO handicap.

White Sails principal race officer Donal Hayes sent both fleets off on different courses yet still managed to have the last boats in both finish within one minute of one another.

Sovereign's Cup provisional results after day one here 

Sovereign's Cup Day One Photo Gallery By Bob Bateman

Less is more for a quality fleet now gathering for next week's O'Leary Insurance Group Sovereign's Cup, one of the biggest regattas on the 2021 Irish sailing calendar.

A fleet of 62 boats will be in action at Kinsale from next Wednesday as the biennial Cup gets underway (Wednesday 23rd to Saturday 26th June 2021).

Denis and Annamarie Murphy's Nieulargo from the Royal Cork Yacht Club in Crosshaven was the first entry received for the regatta and coincidentally won last weekend's 280-nautical mile Dun Laoghaire to Dingle Race (D2D). Kinsale's own Conor Doyle on Freya, line honours winner into Kerry is also entered and both will compete in the Coastal division of next week’s event.

Conor Doyle's Freya from the host club will compete at the 2021 Sovereign's Cup

Class One counts no fewer than ten J109's that will add an extra competitive edge to the biennial regatta with crews keen to get their season off to a good start.

After missing out on the D2D, ICRA Commodore Richard Colwell's Outrajeous from Howth is one of ten J109s signed up for the Sovereign's Cup

The four-day series is being staged at nearly half its normal size due to the Covid-19 pandemic but is one of the first regular events on the domestic Sailing calendar to resume. No indoor activities have been organised and restrictions on numbers ashore are in place. Overseas entries are unable to attend due to travel restrictions.

"We're following the guidelines very carefully to ensure we can stage a scaled-back but successful event this year," commented Anthony O'Neill, Regatta Director at Kinsale Yacht Club. "Our goal is continuity so that we can welcome back all our regular competitors for a full-scale regatta again in 2023."

Kinsale's own Sufast 3300 Cinnamon Girl (Cian McCarthy) that had such a successful D2D race winning the two handed division is back in home waters to race in the Sovereign's Cup Coastal division

Last weekend's D2D Race, the first competition of the year in Ireland has provided a particularly strong entry for the Coastal class at O'Leary Insurance Group Sovereign's Cup, with many East coast boats now in southern waters and is a sign of continued resurgent interest in racing offshore.

Anthony O'Leary's modified 1720 Antix Beag from Royal Cork (pictured during last night's RCYC June League) will be racing in the Sovereign's Cup IRC class Photo: Bob Bateman

"We are very pleased with the Coastal class that has attracted 17 crews and some of the biggest boats in the country who will race along the spectacular coastline from Cork Harbour to the Seven Heads during the regatta," said O'Neill. "The unspoilt sailing waters and spectacular scenery are what Kinsale is famed for, both at home and abroad."

Pete Smyth's Sunfast 3600 Searcher from Dublin makes its Sovereign's Cup debut

Bob Rendell's new Samatom, a Grand Soleil 44, is racing in the IRC division of the Sovereign's Cup

Ashore, the clubhouse dinghy park will be used for outdoor hospitality with social distancing measures in place along with limits on attendance. "We've planned this event on the national theme of an 'outdoor Summer' and there'll be plenty of options locally as the Kinsale businesses have extensive external spaces available to enjoy in safety."