The 295th Annual General Meeting of the Royal Cork Yacht Club was held last night at its Crosshaven clubhouse electing a new Club Admiral as part of the formalities writes Claire Bateman.

The cordial meeting enjoyed a full house with some good participation from members.

The Executive had completed a two year term of office and former Admiral Pat Lyons conducted the business of the meeting until it was time for the election of officers.

Vice Admiral, John Roche, was duly elected as the new Admiral of the Royal Cork Yacht Club. The election of the Officers of the Executive Committee followed. It was then time to elect two members to the Finance and Administration Committee. Two members to the Bar, Catering and House Committee and two members to the Consultancy and Advisory Committee.

The discussion of General Business then followed and there being no further questions Admiral Roche declared the meeting closed and invited all present to join him for refreshments.

Blue Skies and bright sun were were welcome visitors for the second day of racing at the O’Leary Insurance Winter League writes Claire Bateman.

A sizeable fleet of twenty boats arrived on the start line this morning ready and eager for an enjoyable day of racing having had two days already blown out by the extreme weather conditions.

Race Officers Clem and Wendy McElligott in Adrielle set up a line using the Cage as the pin end and as it was a mainly northerly breeze Clem had mentioned to your scribe beforehand that racing would be mainly up and down the harbour. Wendy has taken on the onerous task of chairing a results committee and as she told me herself she enjoys this type of activity so the Keelboat Committee are indeed fortunate to have this team on board and no doubt the hard worked Rear Admiral Keelbaats, Kieran O’Connell, will be very glad to have their experience and assistance in this very important area.

The fleet set of with a reaching start, some heading inshore to avoid the flood tide, while others did the opposite and stayed out in the tide hoisting spinnakers immediately before heading out the harbour for the No. 3 buoy. They then had a beat back in the harbour up to Cobh for another reach and run and finishing with a run out to No. 5 and a reach in to finish off the Cage. Beautiful though the weather looked it was still extremely cold as had been forecast and the sailors were glad to reach the warmth of the clubhouse.

On Monday night last a Members Forum had been held and the first bit of good news the Admiral had to impart was that the EPA had approved the plan for dredging of the marina area. This in fact has started at the Western end. The Executive Officers each spoke in their turn and highlighted what had been accomplished during the past year and the early plans for our tri centenary year celebrations in 2020. The forum proper was then opened to the floor and evoked some lively discussion from the small number in attendance. This was following on from a Junior Laying Up Supper on Friday night that had packed out the house. This fact led to discussion on the lack of young people participating in club activities and one statement was heard to come from the rear that each person in this room was old!!!. This was disputed in particular by some of the younger males in the attendance who informed the comment maker they were in fact younger than him and one attractive young bride of some few weeks stood up and performed a pirouette to show her agility. There was no mention of the fact that the rest of us who know we are ‘old’ still manage to turn out in all weathers to show our interest in our club and despite the fact there was a crucial soccer match on that evening the club took preference with us.

Ah well, we all have our views, and one thing for sure is that each member of the club both young and old will be putting their best foot forward to have an almighty event in 2020 that the Royal Cork Yacht Club will long be remembered for.

There was a packed clubhouse for the Pyewacket Trophy presentation and Junior Sailing Laying Up supper and prizegiving writes Claire Bateman

The juniors were out in force for their Laying Up supper last Friday night,with over 80 young sailors and their parents celebrating the end of another exceptional season for the club's junior sailors. As usual,the highlight of the evening was the awarding of the much coveted Pyewacket Trophy donated by the late Roy Disney. Roy brought a lot of excitement and wonderful competition to the club when sailing three of his famous Pyewackets during various Cork Weeks and was intensely committed to the promotion of sailing for young sailors.

This year the coveted trophy was won by the duo of Harry Whitaker and Peter McCann and Admiral Pat Lyons was in attendance to present the trophy. Unfortunately, Harry was unable to attend and the trophy was accepted on behalf of the duo by Peter McCann.

The next pleasurable task for Admiral Lyons was the presentation of certificates to the Flippers and Cadet club members groups.

The next part of the evening was the Rear Admiral Dinghies, Celine McGrath’s tribute to Darren O’Keeffe on his stepping down from Junior Sailing administration activities and I quote her as follows:
“For the vast majority of sailors in this room, if not all of them, you will have started out one Saturday morning in April down at the dinghy centre with about 60 other youngsters and their parents all looking a bit apprehensive – for ‘Darren’s Sessions’. Darren’s sessions have become an institution in the RCYC junior dinghies and it’s the route that almost all of us took into sailing. Darren and his family have brought more sailors into the club than probably anyone else ever has. Over many years he and Louise and the boys, Ryan, Killian and Connor, have facilitated these sessions and it’s been a family affair with the boys driving RIBs, Connor in a dinghy and Darren and Louise organizing the masses of youngsters every Saturday morning throughout April and May. Darren has now aged out of his own sessions and handed the mantle over to a new generation but I think we will continue to call them Darren’s sessions for many years to come. As a token of our respect and gratitude Darren we would like to make a small presentation to you and Louise this evening and acknowledge your massive contribution to junior dinghies at the Club.”

At this stage there was a short break in the proceedings and then each of the Class Captains spoke and presented prizes to their respective fleets. The Class Captains were Dr. Andrew Crosbie, Captain of the largest fleet by far in the club, the Optimists, Gail Enright, Mixed Dinghies including RS 200s. AnnaMarie Fegan, Topper Class Captain, Michael McCann 420 Class Captain and Paul Tingle Laser Class Captain.

To complete the prize giving there was a new trophy presented which was a poignant occasion. This is a memorial trophy to the late Frank Thompson whose recent untimely passing shocked all of us. This award goes to the person or persons adjudged to have displayed the highest possible level of voluntary commitment to Junior Sailing and the first recipients of this prestigious award were AnnaMarie Fegan and her husband Denis Murphy.

On completion of the prize giving Rear Admiral Dinghies, Celine McGrath was presented with a bouquet of flowers by Anna Keal in recognition of her dedication and efforts during the year on behalf of Junior sailing.

Saturday night saw the Royal Cork Yacht Club annual Super League prize giving dinner take place and a very enjoyable evening it was too writes Claire Bateman. Admiral Pat Lyons and the Lady Admiral, Ann, together with the ever hard working Rear Admiral Keelboats, Kieran O’Connell, entertained Sponsors and invited guests.

Rear Admiral Keelboats, Kieran O’Connell and Des McWilliam with the crew of Sea Hawk. Picture Robert Bateman

The events involved were the UK McWilliam May League (pcitured above), the North Sails Sunday Morning League, the Union Chandlery June League, the Coastal events, the Marshall Textiles July League, the Royal Cork September League and the September Naval Race.

Also awarded on the night was a glittering array of magnificent perpetual trophies and these combined with the awarding of the Super League trophies kept the Lady Admiral very occupied for the evening as she graciously assisted the Rear Admiral Keelboats with the presentations to the sound of cheers, applause and camera phones by the dozen appearing to float through the air.

Conor Phelan and the crew of Jump Juice receiving the Boat of the Year trophy from the Lady Admiral. Picture Robert Bateman

The much coveted Boat of the Year Award was presented to a surprised but delighted Conor Phelan (above) and listed in his crew was Nigel Young. Nigel of North Sails who was accompanied to the Super League evening by his wife Fiona, is a generous sponsor to the club and this season sponsored the Sunday Morning North Sails League.

Rear Admiral Keelboats, Kieran O’Connell, John Murphy representing Scribbler 2 and Julie Anne McDonnell. Photo: Robert Bateman.

The Martin McDonnell Trophy for the Whitesail Boat of the Year was won by Tom MacSweeny's Scribbler 11 and collected by John Murphy in Tom's absence (above).  Julie Anne McDonnell presented the trophy in memory of her late father and her mother, Carol, was also present at the evening.

The Club Boat of the Year was hotly contested and came down a one point difference in favour of Clem and Wendy McElligot’s Sea Hawk over Leonard Donnery’s ‘No Gnomes’. This battle was for the ‘Stack Polly’ trophy, that was a very well known boat in the Royal Cork Yacht Club and was presented on behalf of John McWilliam by his brother Des who spoke briefly on the history of the vessel.

A light hearted moment as Martin Darrer accepts the Breffni McGovern Trophy from the Lady Admiral watched by Kieran O’Connell, Rear Admiral Keelboats. Picture Robert Bateman

Other trophy winners were The Phelan Trophy for IRC went to True Pennance, The Phelan Trophy for ECHO went to Tux, the H. Harling Trophy went to Heroes and Villians, the Harold Cudmore Trophy went to Bad Company, the Clytie Cup went to Sea Hawk, the Atlantic Fleet Galleon went to Thistle, the H Howard Gould Trophy went to Cosmic, the First Sloop Flotilla went to Minx 111, the Sans Souci Trophy went to Tux, the Hugh Smith Barry trophy went to Alpaca, the Bayona Trophy went to YaGottaWanna, the Breffni McGovern trophy went to True Pennance, the Smelter Valley Trophy went to Jedi, the Muckley Trophy went to YaGottaWanna, The Admiral Doyle Plate went to Loch Greine and finally, the Jim Donegan Plate went to Sea Hawk.

Thus ended the formal formal proceedings of the evening but your scribe is in no doubt the festivities continued well into the night.

The first 24 hours of the 12th edition of the offshore Transat Jacques Vabre race, the two handed race from Le Havre in France to Itajaí, Brazil have been fast in a building breeze and at least some of the fleet is heading to Cork Harbour and, most likely, Royal Cork Yacht Club for safety.

But the Bay of Biscay and an Atlantic low pressure system will hit most of the fleet this evening and tomorrow bringing building seas and big winds with gusts over 40kts. There is no big surprise in store. The ominous system has been lurking west of Ireland for some time, but is only moving slowly SE before it fills and loses some of its intensity later on Tuesday. But the duos in all four classes have been preparing as best they can for the tough conditions, drysuits and boots are on now and may be for 48 hours or more.

Jackson Bouttell (GBR/AUS) and Gildas Mahé (FRA) on the Ker designed Concise 8 informed their Team Concise directors that they have sustained damage and are heading for Cork 120 miles to their NE.

The two co-skippers are in regular contact with Transat Jacques Vabre Race Direction and are not injured in any way and expect to reach the Irish haven by mid morning Tuesday. A full assessment of the extent of the damage will be made on arrival. They anticipate missing the worst of the imminent strong winds. Further details will be released Tuesday morning. 

A number of retirements and damage reports. Fortunately no injuries reported:

* Maitre CoQ Retire

Following the damage that happened at around 2300hrs yesterday evening to a mainstay attachment, Jeremie Beyou and Philippe Legros, who were in 4th place, were forced to make their way to Roscoff, which they reached this morning at 0830hrs. The shore team and suppliers analysed the situation and attempted to replace the faulty part.

In spite of their hard work, late today they were unable to guarantee that the replacement part would be solid enough to allow the two sailors to head back out to sea without any worries. The situation was in fact all the more tense with the weather that has been forecast for the coming hours, as Maître CoQ would have likely faced some strong winds (30 - 40 knots) with a wave height of 6-7 metres

* Damage on Safran, heading to Brest

At 2020 hrs CET this evening, Morgan Lagravière, skipper of the IMOCA 60 Safran, contacted the Transat Jacques Vabre Race Directors to inform them there had been some damage aboard.

The crew (Morgan Lagravière and Nicolas Lunven) has taken the decision to head for Brest. Both skippers are fine and the conditions should allow them to reach the Breton port.

* Edmond de Rothschild Abandon in the IMOCA class

Leaders of the more westerly group of the IMOCA fleet of the Transat Jacques Vabre, Sebastien Josse and Charles Caudrelier have confirmed they have abandoned the race. They are the second of the 20 IMOCA 60s which started Sunday from Le Havre to retire. The pair made the difficult choice which was dictated by good seamanship and their aim to bring the newest Gitana back to port safely.

Sebastien Josse explained the reasons:

"Since the afternoon we had a series of incidents aboard Edmond de Rothschild. Taken individually these problems are quite minor and if we had better weather we could probably put them right. But all added up to one another and given the weather conditions we see these incidents as potentially endangering us and the boat. The weather files show more than 40kts of wind at times and seven metre seas. Charles and I consider it would not be responsible to carry on in these conditions. The boat was only launched two and a half months ago, and despite all the work which was done by the Gitana team to optimises and be ready is so short a time, these are problems associated with a recently launched boat. The decision to abandon was a very hard one but we do not want to jeopardise more than a year of hard work. The boat was designed for the Vendee Globe and that remains the major objective of the team. It is hard to retire but we must not lose sight of that as the goal."

* Prince de Bretagne Capsize, Skippers safe

The Ultime trimaran of Lionel Lemonchois and Roland Jourdain has capsized while they were 140 miles off La Coruna. The two co-skippers are safe and have taken shelter inside the trimaran. They have not requested assistance and their technical team is making every effort to organise help to rescue them and their vessel. At the time of the incident the boat was upwind in 20 to 25kts of SSW'ly wind.

Like the Last Supper the best weather was kept for the final day of the CH Marine Autumn League in Cork Harbour writes Claire Bateman. A brisk nor westerly breeze greeted the Royal Cork Yacht Club competitors. As usual, there were three race areas. Whitesail One and Two with Class Four were sailing down off the Eastern Bank and due to the nor westerly nature of the wind the courses were somewhat shorter with a lot of mark rounding .

The 1720s elected to go out an hour early to get an extra race in such was the enthusiasm of the class and they were able to get the full benefit from the direction of the wind by sailing right across the harbour where they were like greyhounds chasing around the course.

Classes One, Two and Three were in the outer harbour again today and they were given the B type course, which is the triangle course, and this gave great racing. R0 Peter Crowley decided that they would not finish in at the grassy today because it was felt the wind could be a bit flukey inside the harbour.

It was a day that one could use the old reliable description of champagne sailing with blue sea and sky, perfect breeze, and a very fitting end to the CH Marine Autumn League.

All racing at the Royal Cork Yacht Club yesterday had an early start to enable competitors to watch the Ireland v Argentina Match writes Claire Bateman. It was so much different passing Drakes Pool on the road to Croshaven at 9am on a rather grey day but it still looked magnificent in its stillness with wonderful reflections, a tide on the turn, the autumnal colours glorious, and the lights of the wind turbines twlnkling on and off as they rotated in the breeze.

True to the forecast there was breeze in the harbour about 10/12 knots from the north east which produced a cold nip in the early morning air. There was also an air of absolute intensity from the smallest Optimist to the largest cruiser to get to their race areas on time where the Race Officers for all the fleets were ready to go on the dot of their allotted start times.

Mention should be made here of Autumn Series Sponsor, Nick Bendon of CH Marine, a very generous sponsor. The day prizes are gift credit cards for his well known Chandlery business in Cork and Baltimore and are extremely sought after and appreciated by the winners. The main prizes will be presented at the prize giving dinner on Saturday night. CH Marine has also recently taken over the agency for the Laser brand in Ireland.

With eight races of the series now sailed several classes are wide open and it is all to play for in the final races next Saturday, October 24th.

Waterford Harbours Fools Gold leads by a good margin Photo: Bob Bateman

In Class One IRC Fools Gold had two wins today and is leading by a good margin from Freya followed by Tux. In IRC Two it is very tight at the top with only two points separating the top three boats with Bad Company on 12 points, Alpaca on 13 points and No Excuse on 14 points. In IRC Three Ya Gotta Wanna and Bonanza had a first and second each today and that leaves Ya Gonna wanna on 11 points, Bonanza on 14 points and Sea Hawk is lying third on 16 points. In IRC Four our regular visitor from Kinsale, White Magic had two wins today and leads the class on 9 points with Cracker on 11 points and Seven Whistler on 22 points.

In the 1720 Class T Bone leads on 26 points with Aquqtack on 28 points and Heros and Villians on 33 points.

In IRC WHitesail One Aisha had two wins again today and is lying on 9 points with Split Point on 12 and Wild Honey wo did not sail to day on 25 points. In IRC Whitesail Two Minx 111 lies on 9 points, with Promethus on 15 points and Fast Buck on 22 points.

Results here

Final racing will be on Saturday next October 24th

With six races already sailed at Royal Cork Yacht Club's CH Marine Autumn Series and one discard, there are now four races left to sail in the event writes Claire Bateman. It was a regular autumnal day yesterday, a bit grey in the harbour but at Roche’s Point it was somewhat brighter but with a bit of a lop brought about by a largely E/NE light wind and a flood tide going in the opposite direction. Fleets One, two and three were given a windward/leeward course and at the weather mark in Class One Rob McConnell’s Fools Gold came in on port with Conor Doyle’s Freya arriving on starboard and Fools Gold having exonerated herself then proceeded to go on to win in IRC.

Fools Gold and Freya close in at the weather mark. More photos in Bob Bateman's gallery above.

Paul Tingle's Alpaca leads in Class two

In Class Two IRC Paul Tingle’s Alpaca had two firsts and has a good lead over her two closest rivals, the Crosbie family on No Excuse and the Desmond/Ivers/Deasy Bad Company. For the second race RO Peter Crowley did his usual clever trick of giving the fleet a race and then finishing them off the Grassy.

Celebrations on the Albin Express White Magic

Class Four sailed inside the harbour as did White sail One and Two. Class Four has turned into a cracker (no pun intended)of a battle between Clare competitor Denis Byrne in his Ed Dubois TS 250 and Alan Mulcahy’s Albin Express White Magic. Both had a win today and are joint leaders on seven points each in IRC.Blank Zig Mosaic copy

The 1720 fleet were having their usual exciting racing but with the lighter winds did not produce any unexpected surprises. Denis Murphy’s Aquatack took the three bullets today.

Next Sunday will see the penultimate day of racing for the league with the final day of racing on the following Saturday, October 24th.

Royal Cork Yacht Club's CH Marine Autumn League got off to a great start yesterday with 13-14 knots of breeze & sunshine in Cork Harbour. Competitors were met with sunshine and SSE breeze on Day One of the event writes Claire Bateman. Photos by Bob Bateman in our gallery above.

The Royal Cork Yacht Club was in festive mood and was a hive of bustling sailing activity with an abundance of good humour everywhere. Also eagerly awaited was the rugby match between Ireland and Romania for which special viewing facilities had been set up in the main dining room.

Some twenty seven yachts in Classes One, Two and Three were in the outer harbour. They were sailing a windward /leeward course for Race One, using the Harp mark as the leeward mark. For the second race an added dimension was the fact they were brought in by Race Officer Peter Crowley to finish at the Cage. Rob McConnell’s ‘Fools Gold’ is as usual sailing well and is leading IRC One with Conor Doyle’s ‘Freya’ Second and Mary O’Keeffe, helped on by an excellent start lies third.

In Class Two it’s a question of rounding up the usual suspects with the Desmond/Deasy/Ivers ‘Bad Company’ Leading Deirdre and Paul Tingle’s ‘Alpaca’ in second and T.E. Crosbie’s ‘No Excuse’ in third.

In this class Misfortune in the way of a flying shackle on ‘Cortegada’ hit a crew member of the head causing the yacht to retire from the race. Happily, after treatment in hospital, the injured crewman is home and well.

Meanwhile, almost forty boats were saiing inside the harbour including ten 1720s and after three races the 1720 positions are – Gary Rhodes ‘Heroes and Villians’ leads Denis Murphy’s ‘Aquatack’ with Kinsale raider Bobby Nash’s 1601 in third place..

In IRC Four it was nice to see a visitor that we don’t normally see at the Autumn League. Denis Byrne was sailing ‘Cracker’, a cruiser/racer version of a Starflash quarter tonner. Kinsale’s Alan Mulcahy, who is a very frequent and popular competitor at the club was in his newly acquired Albin Express ‘White Magic’, lies in second place. In third position was Rene Wubben of WHSC in his Albin Ballad, ‘Seven Whistler’.

In White Sail One IRC Seamus Gilroy in ‘Split Point’ leads followed in second place by Peter Murray’s ‘Wild Honey’ and in third place Batt and Helen O’Leary’s ‘Sweet Dreams.’

It would be remiss of me to close this piece about the very successful first day of the CH Marine Autumn League without describing how the harbour was at its very best today. Conditions were ideal with sun and breeze. In addition to those competing in the Autumn Series, there were Lasers, Optimists, people just enjoying sailing and motor boating and in general enjoying a family day on the water. There were boats to the left, boats to the right, boats in the centre and boats on all sides of the harbour. Truly a sight to encourage people to take up water based activities. Cork Harbour is certainly alive and well.

The sun shone at its best for Royal Cork's Unveiling of a Commemorative Plaque at the Naval Base in Haulbowline in Cork Harbour last Friday writes Claire Bateman. The Naval Base was resplendent and also at its best. From driving over the newly reconstructed bridge following the cars of other guests arriving there was a feeling all round something important was about to take place. From the cheery greeting of the security personnel to the welcoming cup of tea or coffee at the Officers Mess the atmosphere was filled with bonhomie and anticipation.

This was the day of the eagerly awaited official unveiing of the newly refurbished plaque commerating the location of the Club’s first clubhouse in 1720 at Haulbowline Island. While enjoying the refreshments, the buzz of conversation and meeting with the club representatives and friends was creating a remarkable atmosphere for what was to be a remarkable occasion and coupled with the Naval Personnel resplendent in their immaculate uniforms and the Royal Cork representatives in their formal club attire made for an elegant gathering to mark the occasion.

L. to R. Captain Michael Malone, Cdr. William Roberts and Lt. Jason O’Brien. Photo Robert Bateman

The occasion was marked by the presence of the highest ranking Naval Service Officer in Ireland, Rear Admiral Mark Mellett DSM, soon to be Admiral and Chief of Staff of the Irish Defence Forces. On arrival the guests were welcomed by Commodore Hugh Tully of the Naval Service and then it was time for the arrival of the Minister for Agriculture, Food, The Marine and Defence, Simon Coveney T.D. The Minister ‘of course’ is also a popular member of the Royal Cork Yacht Club.

Minister Coveney addressing the attendance. Photo Robert Bateman

The formal part of the proceedings then commenced with an address by Commodore Hugh Tully who invited the Minister to perform the ceremony of the unveiling of the commemorative plaque. The Minister gave a most interesting account of the entire history of the Royal Cork to date from sailing in Cork Harbour in the 1600s to the formation of the Water Club of the Harbour of Corke in 1720. His speech then ranged to developments in the harbour some of which have already taken place with more in the pipeline involving a total spend of half a billion euro for the area. Here one has to say the Minister has pushed relentlessly for the betterment of the harbour and its surrounds and is to be highly commended for this. The Minister then unveiled the commemorative plaque that was originally commissioned by the late Bernie Cahill during his term as Admiral of the Royal Cork.

Royal Cup Admiral Pat Lyons. Photo Robert Bateman

The current Admiral of the Royal Cork, Pat Lyons, then spoke and referred to the excellent relationship enjoyed between the Naval Service and the Club. He also referred to the plans being made for the celebrations for the 300th anniversary of the yacht club with which the Naval Service will be very much involved and details of which will be revealed as time moves on towards 2020.

Former RCYC Admirals T.E.Crosbie and David O’Brien. Other former Admirals in attendance were Archie O’Leary, Bill Walsh, Tony O’Connor, Bill O’Mahony, Anthony O’Leary, Peter Crowley, Hugh Mockler and Paddy McGlade. Photo Robert Bateman

The official part of the proceedings concluded with a blessing from the Naval Chaplain, Fr. Des Campion, and the naval personnel and their guests then enjoyed a delightful lunch in the elegant surrounds of the Officers Mess and the celebration finished on a high note.

Naval Chaplain Fr. Des Campion. Photo Robert Bateman

It was a happy day, a proud day, and a day to get a glimpse of life inside the naval base and see what wonderful work they do. We read all about them and their difficult work in the far flung corners of the world and also patrolling our own shores. To enjoy their hospitality, cordiality and graciousness to their guests was indeed a delightful experience. We, the Irish people have an awful lot to be proud of in our defence forces and a lot to thank them for as they are always there in times of need and never shirk from the often very arduous duties they carry out on our behalf.

Afloat's Claire Bateman with (left) Rear Admiral Mark Mellett and Neil Kenefick