Displaying items by tag: Calves Week
The successful Dun Laoghaire White Sails Dufour 425 campaigner 'Act 2', was back in the silverware this week with a win in the Fastnet race at Calves Week.
Owners Michael O’Leary, David Andrews and Tom Roche, all former international offshore sailors, from the Royal Irish Yacht Club, made the best of the heavy weather and big seas last Thursday to take the 2019 Cup.
Act 2 went on to win the Calves Week White Sails Regatta division by one point with scores of 1st, 3rd, 1st and (5th). See more here.
More Calves Week race news in this link here
A 180-degree wind shift to the east from the previous two days of westerlies, presented Calves Week race officer Alan Crosbie with a problem on how to get fleet to the Fastnet and back, without forming a large reaching procession writes Michael Murphy.
He elected to set up his start line inside Schull harbour with a half-mile frantic beat across the harbour to the windward mark, much to the delight of the various tourist ribs on the water.
From there the fleets split with the smaller classes three, four, and white sail two, then on a broad reach to the rock, via the Amelia buoy, while the three larger classes had a spectacular run up Long Island Sound, with a sausage type fetch from Goat Island to the rock and a reach back to the same location and a beat back down the channel to a turning mark at the harbour mouth.
M50 type congestion occurred off the Fastnet as the various fleets arrived together, with local Schull boat “Quinsea ” even managing to embrace the rock.
In class one IRC Paul O Higgins' “Rockabill VI finally beat rivals “Neulargo” and “Jelly Baby” in a very competitive race, while Gabby Hogan’s local boat “Growler” took the echo prize from Denis O Sullivan’s “Aris” and the 1720 “Sheebeen” sailed by Mick Horgan.
In class two IRC Jonny Swan’s “Harmony” came home ahead of yesterdays winner “Bad Company”, with George Radley's “Cortegada” in third, while in Echo it was a victory for Paul Eikrems “Freyja”, with Henry Hogg’s “Lisador” in second and Schull commodore Flor O Riordans “3 Cheers “ in third.
In class three IRC the Cove crew on “Musketeer” notched up another win from David Buckley’s “Jaguar” and Dan O Donovan’s “Second Count”, while the Dwyer family sailing local boat “Sally In Stitches” took first in Echo ahead of another Schull boat “La Perle Noire” sailed by Deborah Crowley.
In class four IRC yesterdays placings were reversed with Rob O Reily’s “Bonjourno” taking the trophy from the Murphy family in “Shelly D” while in ECHO victory went to the Buckley Family in “Tete a Tete”.
In White Sail one Michael O Leary’s “Act Two” finished ahead of Aiden Heffernan’s “Indulgence”, while in Echo it was a win for ex Schull sailor “Dermot Cronin” in “Encore” from Adrian Blake's “Tulia”.
In White Sail two local Schull boats dominated, with Frank Murphy’s “Dreamcatcher” beating Andrew Mackey’s “Lorna Drew” into second place.
Calves Week Win for J109 'Jelly Baby' Crew in Spectacular Day Two (Photo Gallery Below!)
The weather gods certainty decided to be kind to Schull today for the second day of Calves Week, by providing a sun-filled summers day with a steady 15 knots of a warm westerly wind, and a long inter-island interesting course from race officer Alan Crosbie writes Michael Murphy.
Once again all the fleets started with a beat-up Long Island sound, much to the delight of the throngs of spectators who had a spectacular close up view of the activities on the water.
In IRC 0/1 it was the turn of Brian Jones in “Jelly Baby” to win both handicap divisions followed home in second IRC by Paul O Higgin's in “Rockabill VI” and local Schull boat “Growler” sailed by Gabby Hogan in Echo.
"All the fleets started with a beat-up Long Island sound, much to the delight of the throngs of spectators"
In class two it was back to winning ways for Frank Desmond and the crew of “Bad Company”, following yesterday’s retiral, to clinch victory in both IRC and Echo, ahead of Johnny Swan's “Harmony” in IRC and George Radley’s “Cortegada” in Echo.
Class three IRC produced the same results as yesterday, with David Buckley’s “Jaguar” followed home by the “Muskateer” crew from Cobh and Dan O Donovan’s “Second Count”.
In Echo, it was a first for the second named “Growler” in the fleet sailed by Diarmuid Dineen from Tralee, ahead of the Dwyer family sailing local boat “Sally In Stitches”
Class four IRC reversed yesterdays placing with the Murphy family in “Shelly D” snatching victory from Rob O Reily’s “Bonjourno”, with Simon Nelson in “Witchcraft winning Echo from Paul Taylor’s “Sea Psalm”.
White Sail One IRC saw Aiden Heffernan sail “Indulgence to victor, from Tom Mc Carthy’s “Bateleur” who was second in IRC and first in Echo. A new boat “Prince Of Tides” on its maiden visit to Schull. scored second in Echo for owner Frank Caul, with local sailor John Molloy on the helm.
Dan Buckley's “Zeezwan was a clear winner in White Sail Two, from John and Fiona Murphy’s “Esme”.
Tomorrows Fastnet Race is now scheduled to go ahead, following an improved weather forecast.
Results are here
Murphy's 'Neulargo' On Form in Blustery Calves Week Opener
Thrills and spills were the order of the day for the opening races at Calves Week 2019, Schull, sailed in a brisk westerly wind, gusting close to thirty knots at times writes Michael Murphy
Race Officer Kieran McSweeney, who was drafted in at short notice in place of principle race officer Alan Crosbie, elected to set up his starting line south of the harbour entrance and succeeded in getting all six classes of the sixty-two boat fleet away, without mishap.
All the fleets had a though beat through Long Island sound, with all bar White Sail two rounding Goat Island for a bumpy downwind leg outside the islands to the Amelia Buoy.
The conditions took their toll on the fleet with six retirals before the halfway stage.
In Class 0/1 it was a perfect start for Denis Murphy's “Nieulargo” who clocked up first in both handicap divisions ahead of Frank Whelan's “Eleuthera”, with the much smaller “Antix Beag” claiming third in IRC for Antony O'Leary, while Paul O'Higgins “Rockabill VI” took third in Echo.
In class two Jonny Swan's “Harmony” from Howth took the IRC prize, with George Radley in “Cortegada” filling the Echo slot.
In class three it was a clean sweep for Tralee based David Buckley who sailed “Jaguar” to victory in both IRC and ECHO ahead of the “Musketeer” crew from Cobh who notched up a second in IRC and third in Echo. Dan O'Donovan from Dungarvan sailing Club “Second Count” and the Schull based Quinlan family filled the third spots.
Class four saw Rob O'Reilly's “Bonjourno” claim the IRC prize ahead of the Murphy Family in “Shelly D”, with the order reversed in echo. Richard Hanley's “Saoirse ”from KYC, claimed third in IRC, with the Buckley crew in “Tete-A-Tete filling third in Echo.
White Sail one, saw Michael O Leary's “Act Two” from the Royal Irish Yacht Club claim both prizes, with Bryan Heffernan's “Aisling” filling both seconds.
In White Sail Two, victory went to the local boat “Dreamcatcher” sailed by Frank Murphy, ahead of Andrew Mackey's “Lorna Drew.
The West Cork Sailing Festival kicks off this Saturday when SCORA will start an offshore race off Kinsale to Baltimore starting at 8 am. This replaces the traditional overnight race from Crosshaven, which had suffered from declining numbers in the past few years.
The cruiser fleet will be greeted by Baltimore Sailing Club who are hosting the 1720 Sportsboat “Baltimore Cup” series in the harbour on the Bank holiday Saturday and Sunday.
Baltimore Traders Regatta on Monday signals the start of the Calves Week series of races, called after the Islands that lie at the centre of most of the weeks sailing action, with a nod towards that other sailing event which leaves Cowes on the Isle of Wight on Saturday, heading for the Fastnet.
The four days of racing in Schull, sponsored by Frank Whelan’s “Gas Analysis Services” begins at midday on Tuesday, with a nightly presentation of prizes and live music on the main street.
Local regatta races on Saturday in Crookhaven and on Sunday in Schull, round off the extra-long week's activities which now extends to eight days.
With over 65 confirmed entries at present, representing fourteen clubs, ranging from Galway to Dublin, the 2019 Calves Week organised by Schull Harbour Sailing Club, is again shaping up to provide competitive and exciting racing for the annual West Cork festival of sailing writes Bob Bateman.
The event will see sponsor, Frank Whelan of Gas Analysis Services, hoping to make it three victories in a row in his Grand Soleil “Eleuthera”, following his excellent performance in Kinsale's Sovereign's Cup and more recently Dun Laoghaire Regatta.
This year’s event incorporates a race in the SCORA offshore series and will feature racing for six classes, with Principal Race Officer Alan Crosbie promising a variety of courses using laid Buoy’s and the many islands of Roaring water bay, together with in-harbour starts when possible.
The opening reception and registration takes place at the Fastnet Marine Centre on Monday, August 5th from 17.30 hrs, where the cream of the West Cork gourmet scene will serve a fantastic array of local food and wine to set the week in motion.
The first “round the islands” race fleet starts at 11.55 on Tuesday and on Wednesday the fleets will sail a variety of courses in Long Island Bay. Thursday will see the combined fleets head for the Fastnet Rock, where there is the possibility of meeting some of the backmarkers of the Rolex Fastnet Race.
The series finishes on Friday with racing in Roaring Water Bay, followed by the overall presentation of prizes and closing ceremony on Schull Main Street.
Local racing on Saturday continues with Crookhaven Regatta, and for those with still some stamina left, Schull Regatta Committee finish off the week in style on Sunday, with an all in Cruiser race and shore side fun activities together with a firework display at dusk.
Calves Week Regatta entries are here
In the performance of the Calves Week regatta so far, Frank Whelan's Grand Soleil 44 Eleuthera from Greystones Sailing Club took her third win of the week in the 13-boat class Zero/One class, this time in the event's Fastnet race on the penultimate day of racing writes Bob Bateman. Second to Eleuthera in IRC overall is the Royal St George Yacht Club J/109 Dear Prudence (Patrick Cruise O'Brien). Third overall is Black Velvet, the First 34.7 skippered by Calves Week regular Leslie Parnell of the Royal Irish Yacht Club.
There were superb conditions for the race with a westerly breeze with sunshine greeting the sixty-one starters. A short beat across the Harbour, a turn to port to bring the fleets on to a reach with some of the brave hearts trying spinnakers to another mark out the harbour which brought the various fleets on to a beat up the sound. All but Whitesail two took in Goat Island before heading for the Rock.
Class one continued around Cape Clear Island while the remainder of the classes returned to the Harbour via a variety of race marks and Inner islands. This resulted in the majority of yachts finishing close together on the inner harbour line much to the delight of the many holidaymakers watching from the shore.
In a nine-boat Class Two fleet, the Sunfast 32 Bad Company (Frank Desmond) of Royal Cork Yacht Club leads overall from clubmate Kieran Collins in the Olson 30 Coracle VI. Third is George Radley's Half Tonner Cortegada from Great Island Sailing Club.
In Class Three IRC, Dan O'Donovan's Seconds Count from Dungarvan Harbour Sailing Club leads Billy Burke's Sigma 33 Musketeer. Third from five starters is Padraig O'Donovan's Fastnet 34 Chameleon from Kinsale Yacht Club.
Full results are here
The weather gods continued to shine on PRO Alan Crosbie and his well-drilled team at sunny Gas Calves Week in Schull, West Cork as the large fleet lined up in a 15–knot westerly wind for another inner harbour start on day two of the event.
The various courses took the fleets on a scenic tour of four of the offshore islands, with the finish line off north harbour Cape Clear, where competitors had a chance to sample the recently completed pontoon facilities.
In Class One IRC, Frank Whelan's 'Eleuthera' scored another victory in the series, while the Echo trophy went to Gary Fort sailing 'Jaguar' from Tralee Sailing Club.
In Class Two, it was victory in both divisions for the Royal Cork's 'Bad Company' holding off fellow club member Kieran Collins 'Coracle' in IRC and Fergus Coughlan's 'Jedi' in Echo.
In Class Three, Dan O Donovan's 'Second Counts' revelled in the lively conditions to hold off the challenge of Great Island Sailing Club's 'Musketeer', while in class 4 IRC, the conditions again suited the Murphy families Moody 'Shelly D' to take podium position with Paul Taylor's Tralee based 'Sea Pslam' winning Echo, despite having an encounter with the Perch rock.
In White Sail One, Dennis Murphy's 'Nieulargo' continued her winning streak in both IRC and Echo while in WS 2 it was a win for local boat 'Dreamcatcher' sailed by Frank Murphy.
Full results are here
Following the celebrations at the opening ceremony on Monday evening, it was a far cry from Quail and Cork Dry Gin as the sixty-three boat fleet took to the water in Schull Harbour for race one in Calves Week.
The morning started bright and clear with the 10/12kt westerly wind allowing OD Alan Crosbie to start all the fleets off the eastern shore of the inner harbour with a dramatic short dash to the windward mark off the opposite shore. From there to the turning mark at the harbour mouth there was little to separate the competitors, however, the long beat up Long Island channel certainly separated the men from the boys, with the six fleets splitting on to a variety of courses at Goat Island.
A series of short rain squalls struck the spinnaker fleets as they crossed Long Island Bay, causing anxious moments as the clocks read 30kts, particularly for the crew of Musketeer from Cobh who had to act swiftly to recover one of their crew, who had an unexpected dip in the choppy water of the bay, however, they continued incredibly to finish second in IRC 3.
In class one Frank Whelan's Eleuthera had a first in both IRC and Echo ahead of Conor Phelan's Jump Juice, while in class two it was a clean sweep for the crew of Bad Company.
In class three it was a productive day for Dan Donovan's Seconds Count from Dungarvan S.C winning both divisions, while class four IRC went to local boat Shelly D sailed by the Murphy family with Rob O Reilys Bonjour from Monkstown S.C taking the Echo trophy.
In the White Sail division, it was a victory for local boats with Aidan Heffernan's Indulgence winning both divisions while Michael Hearn's Summerfly came home first in Echo.
At a packed presentation on main street Schull, the consensus among the various crew was that it was a superb day's racing dampened only by some strange ECHO results that appeared to bring the system into question with skippers, particularly from the Royal Cork, advocating the adoption of their current Sailwave Scoring Software for future events.
Full results are here
Calves Week Will Celebrate Sailing Enchantment of West Cork
West Cork, Ireland's own Lotus Land, should be designated a licensed substance writes W M Nixon. A licensed substance with a proper scientific code, to be administered only by highly-trained professionals. People in white coats. In a clinical setting. For West Cork is as much an induced state of mind as it is a place.
Geographically, it may be defined as somewhere down the road beyond Bandon or thought of as the coastline westward of the Old Head of Kinsale. Others insist it only really begins at Galley Head or even at the Stags. But either way, that's only West Cork as seen on maps or charts. Once you've inhaled it and lived it, it's in the mind and stays there – it's with you wherever you go.
It's a narcotic. A place beyond reality. An other-worldly coastline where the Fastnet Rock might be just another item of the furniture were it an ordinary rock, but that's to underestimate the mythos of the Fastnet Rock. Even when the Fastnet is seen every day, you don't take it for granted. Every time, it's as sacred and as special and as startling as Skellig Michael.
As for the coastline off which it is set, it's just glorious in its scenery and variety and selection of hospitable harbours. And they've crazy names to go with it. After all, when you think of it, who would knowingly select "Skibbereen" for the name of the main town? Crookhaven? No comment. And who, other than an author of works of absurd Paddywhackery, would choose "Ballydehob" as the name for a classic boat-building, culinary and cultural hotspot, yet it seems normal in West Cork.
As for one of the trendiest places on the entire seaboard, it's called Schull. But in times past, careless cartographers have now and again rendered it as Skull. No matter. As of yesterday evening, Schull's population was in the process of trebling as the August holidays arrived upon us. And if at times its ever-so-clever summer re-titling as Dublin 32 tries to take hold, rest assured that with the full West Cork treatment, everyone is a Schull sailor as the annual four-day GAS Calves Week gets underway next Tuesday.
For people from the other side of the planet, the word is the Calves are a trio of islands between Schull and Baltimore, out towards Cape Clear off Roaringwater Bay, which is so named because the Roaringwater River runs into a corner of it - the place itself has many areas of serene sea. Whatever the names, it's a great place to sail, and when they were trying to rationalise the traditional local pattern of local annual regattas in early August, the idea of a more compact basically Schull-based Calves Week for cruiser-racers came up.
Needless to say, those of us who had cherished the old West Cork Regattas in their original slightly anarchic form resisted the new name. After all, we have the fondest memories of great happenings in the vaguely eight-day programme of the old days, such as the extra-long week that included Schull Centenary Regatta of 1984.
That particular race looked like petering out entirely because of the onset of total calm when the leading boat on the water was the great Ron Holland-designed Imp, owned at that stage of her colourful career by Michael O'Leary of Dublin Bay. But this was the Centenary Regatta. A result was urgently needed. So the Race Committee simply moved the finish line to where Imp was sitting stopped, fired a finishing gun, and allocated places to the rest of the fleet accordingly. We had a result.
But times have changed. People prefer their sailing in manageable and digestible chunks, "Calves Week" is a handy brand name which is now well established. And who knows, but with the way the world is these days, Calves Week might still be going strong when Cowes and its Week is one with Nineveh and Tyre.
The fact that it's just a four day Week is something else which everyone takes comfortably in their stride, for four days of racing on the trot should be quite enough for anyone. The rest of the week's holiday can be given over to family and relaxation. Let us be clear, however, that when the racing is underway, it's quietly serious. Not gloomy, we hasten to add. But serious as in determined and competitive. For, in the end, quietly serious and determined racing is actually much more fun that so-called fun racing.
So the hosting Schull Harbour Sailing Club under Commodore Frank O'Hara have secured – for the first time – the services of renowned race Officer Alan Crosbie of Kinsale and his team, and the compact programme will test everyone's mettle within civilised limits. The fleet, which could well get up to the eighty mark with summer returning and a relaxed attitude to late entries now that everyone is in town, is to be divided into six classes today, viz Class 0/1, Class 2, Class 3, Class 4, White Sail 1 and White Sail 2.
The starts are at an easily-reached line within Schull Harbour mouth or at Copper Point, and while the starting sequence gets underway each day at a civilised time around noon, the programme rings the changes thanks to the varieties of courses, which the selection of islands combined with judiciously-place race marks can offer.
There are also acknowledgements to the regattas of yore. In times past in the old West Cork regatta series, the Wednesday saw Cape Clear regatta at which everyone won a prize – including boats, it emerged, which had not even put to sea from that quirky island's harbour. But eventually Cape Clear Regatta faded, yet the fondest memories have lingered, and this year's Wednesday's racing (August 8th) will finish off North Harbour, Cape Clear, where the recently much-upgraded harbour should be better able to cope with fleet numbers, and some hope to give it a larger role in future Calves Weeks.
Thursday also sees a very significant nod to the past with the annual race round the Fastnet Rock, starting and finishing in Schull. It's always magic, and after seeing the effect of the all-fleet-shared start of the Harbour Race at Volvo Cork Week at mid-July, there's a suggestion that the Calves Week Fastnet Race of Thursday, August 9th might see something similar.
Throughout all this, competition will be building as fleet leaders begin to emerge, and Friday's concluding around the islands and marks race will see the heat building to the final result in an interesting fleet which includes many of Ireland's top boats.
Defending overall champion is Paul O'Higgins' JPK 10.80 Rockabill VI from the Royal Irish YC in Dun Laoghaire, which had a great year in 2017, with the overall win in the Dun Laoghaire-Dingle Race under her belt before she scored in style at Schull. This year her fortunes have been more mixed. But when she leapt to centre stage last weekend to win the stormy ISORA Race and put herself right in the frame in the ISORA Points Championship 2018, any suggestion that she might forego Calves Week in order to amass further points in the ISORA Race of August 11th were dismissed out of hand – the August holiday at the family place in Schull with a family-and-friends-raced Calves Week is central to the Higgins way of life, and the ISORA Championship can wait until the James C Eadie Cup Race on September 8th.
At the sharp end of the fleet, Rockabill VI finds herself in company with Conor Phelan's Ker 36 Jump Juice from Crosshaven, which doesn't seem to have stopped moving between major regattas since turning up at the Scottish Series in May. And with the amalgamation of classes 0 and 1, they should find themselves shaping up to Frank Whelan's all-conquering Grand Soleil 44 Eleuthera from Greystones, one of the most interesting and attractive boats in the current Irish scene, as any follower of Afloat.ie will know.
A Judel/Vrolik design of 2002, she still looks as fresh as tomorrow, and when she made her debut in Ireland exactly a year ago at Calves Week, despite being already 15 years old, she still wasn't out of the wrappers. The French owner from whom Frank bought her had wanted a white boat. But instead of a re-spray job, he's had her coated in a dense white plastic sheet, and when that was removed last winter, there was Eleuthera as good as new again in her midnight blue livery, a potent machine which is a delight to sail.
Another boat with an interesting history making the Schull scene is a case of local-boy-made-good. Dermot Cronin first made an impression on Irish sailing in Schull, but his burgeoning career took him to Dublin, and for years he has been associated with sailing successfully at home and abroad under Malahide YC colours. The most notable achievement was when he and his son Paddy won the Two-Handed Division in the Rolex Middle Sea Race of 2015 with their First 40.7 Encore. So when the likes of Eleuthera, Encore, Jump Juice and Rockabill VI line up in Schull next week, the impression that this is a fleet for serious consideration is right on target.
It will, of course, include at least two J/109s in the form of DBSC Commodore Chris Moore and partners' Powder Monkey, and the Jones family of Crosshaven's Jelly Baby. There's a historical gem in the form of the 1996-vintage Mills 36 Raptor, originally built as Aztec by David Harte (now very much of Schull himself) working with Garrett Connolly for Peter Beamish, but now raced by Denis Hewitt and partners from the Royal Irish YC, and fresh from the overall win in the Coastal Class in Volvo Cork Week.
Another historically-interesting entry is the 1978-designed Olson 30 Coracle VI (Kieran Collins), a modified Californian sledge design which, despite being mainly designed for Pacific Ocean offwind speed, is a remarkably good all-rounder which usually manages to be in the frame even in IRC racing.
Also in the picture is a visitor from Foynes on the Shannon, Derek and Conor Dillon's Dehler 34 Big Deal, which had the kind of Round Ireland Race 2018 you would dream of. Having been at mid-fleet for much of the race, from north Donegal onwards they seldom put a foot wrong in taking full advantage of locally favourable conditions, zooming up the rankings to take fourth overall and win the Two-Handed Division going away.
But while race-oriented boats with an established track record will inevitably take attention, the bulk of the fleet will be family cruiser-racers which have tidied themselves up for race-tuning and will be giving of their sporting best during the day while keeping some energy in reserve for the social whirl ashore.
As ever, there are times when it will be crowded in Schull's colourful village. Even though the new landing pontoon immediately north of the pier wasn't due for official opening until yesterday, through this past week, it has already been well used, and one evening our eagle-eyed observer counted no less than 61 (that's sixty-one) RIBs and inflatable tenders secured to it one way or another.
There are times when Schull's bustling little main street seems every bit as crowded. Yet the contrast with the fresh and colourful scene out at sea during the day, with flocks of racing sails coming and going on blue seas between islands and shore, is all part of what Calves Week is about. It's very much an essential part of the fabric of our annual sailing programme. And always, near or far, dim in haze or bright in the sunshine, there is the eternal Fastnet Rock – unmistakable, mysterious, iconic, the very symbol and spirit of West Cork.