Saol Eile's Paraic O’Maolriada and wife Myra sailed around the world under the Kinsale Yacht Club burgee writes Bob Bateman. It took the couple six years returning late last season. They picked up an Afloat Sailor of the Month Award for their endeavours and an Irish Cruising Club trophy earlier this month. Last week KYC members got a fascinating insight into life onboard their 63-footer with a detailed lecture from the couple at the West Cork club house.

On the same night, Deirdre Lane of Irish Lights Navigation Services took club members on a journey around Irish lighthouses, Navigation aids and weather buoys.

Exciting racing is anticipated in next Saturday's Kinsale Yacht Club Spring Series Class One IRC with only one point separating the top four boats writes David Sullivan. Justus and EOS on 12 points followed by Jump Juice and Freya with 13 points. Only one long coastal race is scheduled.

Artful Dodger holds a three-point lead over Slack Alice in Class Two IRC with Bad Company Third.

Sponsor James Matthews, sailing his Ed Dubois quarter tonner Diamond, is making a clean sweep of Class Three IRC with five bullets placing him in an almost unassailable position.

The Spinnaker Fleet on the W/L course saw a SE Zephyr build to a slight breeze. The Race Officer got fleet away to a windward mark just south of Sovereigns. Calm seas downwind saw the fleet keeping north out of the flood tide on the run to leeward mark near Hake Head. Two laps were sailed in the first race with a shortened one-lap course sailed in race two.

Class 1
Jump Juice (C Phelan) got two bullets with Justus (D Buckley) Freya (C Doyle) sharing six points each.

Class 2
Artful Dodger (F O’Regan) got two bullets Slack Alice (S Strathem) second with five points and Bad Company (Desmond/Ivors/Deasy) third on six points.

Class 3
The Ed Dubois quarter tonner Diamond (J Matthews) dominated both races in IRC and is now first overall with Flyover (D Marchant) second and No-Gnomes (L Donnery) third overall in IRC.
The seven boat White Sail fleet White Sail had two excellent races on a Matthews, Kieran Electrical, Bulman Triangle.

White Sail: The McCarthy Brothers are now in first place overall on Baccarat with eight points, Crosshaven boat Sweet Dreams (B&H O’Leary) second and Paragon (D Ackerlind) third.

Full Results here

Racing continues on Saturday 29th FG 11.55 HRS

Race Officers – Siobhan Keane Hopcraft, Denis Kieran, Michele Kennelly & Seamus Caher.

James Matthews, sailing his Ed Dubois quarter tonner Diamond, made a clean sweep of class three at the Kinsale Yacht Club Spring Series and is now leading by two points writes David Sullivan. Conor Phelan’s Jump Juice pulled out all the stops winning both races in class one IRC.

Calm seas with light NW winds made cool heads and smart tactics the order of the day as the twenty boat spinnaker fleet set off on a beat to Bulman and long downwind leg to the O'Leary Life mark. The second race, in even lighter winds, had a W/L loop between Matthews and Kiernan Electrical with the finish just south of Bulman.

Class 1
Jump Juice (C Phelan) got two bullets on the day with EOS (C McCarthy) now in first place overall in IRC.

Class 2
Bad Company (Desmond/Ivors/Deasy) also got two bullets with Slack Alice (S Strathem) in first place overall in IRC.

Class 3
The Ed Dubois quarter tonner Diamond (J Matthews) dominated both races in IRC and is now first overall with Flyover (D Marchant) second and No-Gnomes (L Donnery) third overall in IRC.

White Sail The seven boat White Sail fleet sailed to Matthews mark with a beat to a shortened course finish in the harbour mouth. The second race saw the fleet tacking in and out of the tide on an Axiom / Bulman loop.
Sweet Dreams (B&H O’Leary) won the day with the McCarthy Brothers now in first place overall on Baccarat.

Full results here

Racing continues on Sunday 23rd FG 11.55 HRS
Race Officers – Siobhan Keane Hopcraft, Denis Kieran, Michele Kennelly & Denis Cudmore.

The Sovereign’s Cup at Kinsale Yacht Club will have an afternoon start for all cruiser–racer fleets on the first day of racing on June 21st.

The first gun for the biennial cup has been pushed back to 1355hrs to make it easier for sailors travelling down to Kinsale on the Wednesday morning. 

The move is designed to save on a nights accommodation costs in the West Cork port and assist sailors in having to take one day less off from work. Organisers say they hope the move will attract an 'even bigger and better fleet from around the east and west coasts'. 

KYC says an amendment to the Notice of Race for the O'Leary Life sponsored event will be published shortly to reflect these changes.

Sponsor James Matthews of the Matthews Centre sailing store leads his own sailing event after he topped a six boat class three of Kinsale Yacht Club's Spring Series yesterday. Matthews is sailing his newly acquired Diamond, an Ed Dubois designed quarter tonner.

The opening day saw the twenty boat spinnaker fleet under the AP flag for 20min until the wind settled. It was well worth the wait however, as the fleet sailed an excellent offshore W/L course. The sun came out for race two which had the weather mark in Bullins Bay providing a steady strong breeze with a long downwind leg towards Sovereigns.

Class 1
EOS (C McCarthy) swapped places with Justus (D Buckley) in race two with Freya (C Doyle) in third place overall in IRC.

Class 2
Artful Dodger (F O’Regan) and Slack Alice (S Strathem) swapped first and second in race one and two with Rhett Butler (T Kingston) third overall in IRC.

Class 3
The quarter tonner Diamond (J Matthews) dominated both races in ECHO and IRC with Flyover (D Marchant) and No-Gnomes (L Donnery) third overall in IRC.

White Sail
1st race started in light winds with a fetch to Bulman. The McCarthy brothers dominated the seven boat fleet coming in first on corrected with Magic Elfin (P Kelly) second and Sweet Dreams (B&H O’Leary) third. The 2nd race was sailed in brisk conditions finished at Charlesfort with LaoZour (G Grant) leading the way followed by Paragon (D Akerlind) and Bacaret (McCarthy Bros). Overall standings are 1st Baccaret 2nd LoaZour 3rd Magic Elfin.

The omens are good with many more boats being launched and fetching up in Kinsale for day two on Easter Monday April 17th.

Race Officers were Siobhan Keane Hopcraft, Denis Kieran, Seamus Caher & Michele Kennelly

Full Results here

Kinsale Yacht Club has announced O’Leary Life & Pensions as headline sponsors of its 2017 Sovereign’s Cup regatta.

June's biennial event has a good number of spinnaker and white sail cruisers entered as well as 1720 sportsboats, a class that is holding its European Championships during the event from June 21–24.

Another vintage Quarter Tonner will be joining the Irish fleet with the news that the Ed Dubois designed Diamond (GBR 6498) has been bought by a well known Dragon sailor from Kinsale Yacht Club.

The Quarter Tonner, built by John West of Lymington in 1984, looks to be a top notch addition to the local fleet with a hull faired by Ovington Boats in 2006 and dry sailed since.

Her rig was redesigned by the Dubois office in 2009 and structural work by Ian Lovering of Ashdown Marine.

A new single spreader Z Spar rig was added in 2010.

She has a complete suit of North 3DL sails, new in 2011 with only six regattas of use. The boat was advertised for sale at £15,000

23 boats confirmed so far and target is to get to 28-30 for the Kinsale Yacht Club staging of the Half Ton Classic Cup this August. As no French boats are declared yet, it looks likely that the West Cork club will meet or exceed its target. Dowload the entry form and the Notice of Race below.

Ireland will field a strong team with Checkmate XV, Harmony, The Big Picture, King One all set for the trip from Dublin. Cork's George Radley will unleash his latest half tonner Cortegado.

Windsor Laudan and Stephanie Ennis’ stalwart Demelza will lead the Irish hopes for the production series which is open to all boats that were eligible to be half tonners and were production boats and the hope is more Shamrocks will join them.

On the international front, nthe news is that Swuzzlebubble has been bought in Cowes and is being ramped up to defend her title by a pro team. Nigel Biggs returns to the circuit with a newly optimised Checkmate XVIII (ex Dick Dastardly) that is currently receiving surgery. Paul Wayte from Swansea is also working up a refurb of a HB31 called Headhunter that is also being totally revamped so the fleet will be split in two between fully optimised half tonners and more original halfs. Paul Pullen’s Miss Whiplash also has some unfinished business and will definitely be vying for the title with her and some other Half–tonners coming over earlier in the summer to participate in some other Irish regattas.

The Half Ton Classic Cup series consist of daily races between Monday 14th August 2016 and Friday 18th August and will include a mix of both coastal and round–the–cans races.

Race Programme:

Sunday 13 August 15:00 Practice starts followed by practice race

Monday 14th 11:00 First warning signal for 1st race of the day, 2 other races following

Tuesday 15th 11:00 First warning signal for 1st race of the day, 2 other races following

Wednesday 16th 11:00 First warning signal for 1st race of the day, 2 other races following

Thursday 17th 11:00 First warning signal for 1st race of the day, 2 other races following

Friday 18th 11:00 First warning signal for 1st race of the day, 1 other race following

Kinsale Yacht Club reports five entries already received since opening entry this morning for the Sovereign's Cup entries from 21st-24th June 2017. This is the 12th Sovereign’s Cup and organisers are looking forward to welcoming over 100 boats to Kinsale next Summer. 

“We are looking forward to welcoming many fleets to Kinsale next year, to enjoy both great racing and the hospitality Kinsale offers as well,” said Kevin Murray, Sovereign’s Cup Regatta Director. There will be a separate trophy for the white sail class and a new coastal fleet this year,” he added.

The Sovereigns Cup trophy is a revival of a centuries-old tradition when the ‘Sovereign of Kinsale’ presented a trophy for the fastest sailing craft of the time. However, the modern-era regatta is named after the large rocks that overlook the racing area offshore and has been held biennially since 1995.

Many of the Ireland’s best racing crews will be competing for the Sovereigns’ Cup under the international IRC handicap system. The Portcullis Trophy will be awarded to competitors under the ECHO handicap system.

Cork County Council as sponsor, is taking the opportunity to promote Kinsale as a tourist venue and the start/finish point for the much acclaimed Wild Atlantic Way, as many cruising boats are likely to stay in the West Cork area after the regatta. Also Dubarry of Ireland are involved as clothing sponsors.

As the Irish Cruiser Racing Association (ICRA) Nationals take place from 9th-11th June 2017 at the Royal Cork Yacht Club, both Kinsale and RCYC are working together to encourage sailors from the UK and all over Ireland to compete in both events in Cork in June 2017 by organising marina berths for holding boats and arranging delivery crews between RCYC and KYC.

This weekend Kinsale Yacht Club had its Christmas Regatta for Junior Sailors. 34 Optimists, and 12 mixed dinghies, comprising of Laser‘s (Radial & 4.7’s) and Toppers braved the chilly conditions over the two days.

Saturday got off to a rather breezy start which made it challenging for the Optimists and saw 6 retirees from Race 1. Harry Twomey took line honours for the Optimists with Killian O’Regan in second and Edu Ojez took third. Wind eased and the flat seas made for more comfortable racing for the rest of Day 1. For Races 2 and 3 Michael Crosbie dominated the Optimist fleet and took first in both with Edu Ojez second in both, Killian O’Regan took 3rd in Race 2 and Harry Twomey was 3rd in Race 3.

The Mixed Dinghy Fleet was very competitive with local boy Michael Carroll winning Race 1 in his 4.7 ahead of Chris Bateman in a Radial. Micheal O’Suilleabhain was 3rd, also in a 4.7. Best of the Toppers was David Carroll who came 4th in that race. Chris Bateman took 1st in Race 2 with Michael Carroll and Micheal O’Suilleabhain in joint 2nd place. The 4.7’s dominated in the 3rd race with Micheal O’Suilleabhain in 1st place, Michael Carroll 2nd and Cathal O’Regan 3rd .

Day 2 saw a shake up in the Optimist Fleet. Rory O’Sullivan took line honours in all 3 races. Killian O’Regan took 2nd in Race 4 and Harry Twomey took 3rd. Diego Peleteiro Herrero took 2nd in Race 5 with Edu Ojez in 3rd. Race 6 saw Edu Ojez come in 2nd to Rory which was enough to see him win the regatta, Michael Crosbie was 3rd in Race 6 which was enough to secure him 2nd overall.

The mixed dinghies saw the Lasers continue to battle between the 4.7’s and Radials. Michael Carroll in a 4.7 won Race 4 with Chris Bateman in a Radial in 2nd and Micheal O’Suilleabhain in a 4.7 in 3rd. Michael Carroll also won Race 5 with David Carroll in a Topper putting in a great performance to secure 2nd, Micheal O’Suilleahain continued his solid run with a 3rd in his 4.7. For the last race Micheal O’Suilleabhain took 1st place with Chris Bateman in 2nd but a 3rd for Michael Carroll was enough to secure him first place overall.

Overall Results:

Optimist: 1st Edu Ojez 2nd Michael Crosbie 3rd Killian O’Regan 

Mixed Dinghies: 1st Michael Carroll (Laser 4.7) 2nd Micheal O’Suilleabhain (Laser 4.7) 3rd Chris Bateman (Laser Radial)