Awareness of Cork Harbour’s long and colourful history of sailing has become so widespread and generally acknowledged that there’s a risk that the Irish and global sailing community will take it all for granted. Equally, the wonderful natural harbour of Cork, intertwining so peacefully and naturally with the handsome countryside about it, is such a constant in life that the ready opportunities it offers for sailing and boating of all sorts may not be getting used to their full potential. Volvo Cork Week 2016 – which gets under way this weekend – is primarily about sailboats up to the top international level going out racing. But the organisers are well aware of what a special opportunity this major regatta provides to re-energise the long-established links between Cork Harbour’s sea and land with the communities within their interaction, and they have planned accordingly. W M Nixon takes up the story.

For the very sea-minded community of Crosshaven, Volvo Cork Week 2016 is going to be an event in tandem. Naturally the headlines will be grabbed by the results of each day’s racing, which goes into full-ahead mode on Monday and continues through Friday. But while the boats are at sea, Crosshaven finds itself a different role as a bustling village which will be providing a variety of entertainment and attractions ashore.

The fleet’s in port. Crosshaven during Volvo Cork Week. Photo: Robert Bateman

The Royal Cork YC’s clubhouse at Crosshaven has expanded over the years Photo: Robert Bateman

In fact, so keen is the village to get on with this side of things that they’re gearing up for it this morning, with Volvo Family Day getting started at noon in the area around Crosshaven Village Square. There really is something for everyone of every age, with the Volvo Classic Car Display in town for that essential element of big boys’ toys to inspect. And there are tickets on sale to win a new Volvo V40, for which the draw will be at 4.0pm. But meanwhile, in addition to a host of entertainments for kids of all ages, there’s an intriguing twist to the ongoing programme with livewire TV personality Dermot Bannon of “Room to Improve” live in the Village Square Marquee at 2.00pm for a Q & A session which, let’s face it, could go in any direction when there’s a lively weekend audience.

Through the week, while the focus will be increasingly on the Royal Cork YC’s large and often music-filled compound where it will all culminate with the prize-giving and fireworks display on the Friday night, another part of the harbour will be involved on Tuesday when teams competing for the Beaufort Cup (of which more anon) will be hosted at a black-tie Gala Dinner at the Naval Base in Haulbowline.

The variety of boats racing in Volvo Cork Week is central to its attraction

Coming in from the sunny Cork sea…..the choice of courses includes in-harbour racing, but it’s the best of the sport outside the harbour which provides real champagne sailing
In fact, so well-filled is the shoreside programme that you wonder how chairman Kieran O’Connell and his team in the Volvo Cork Week 2016 Organising Committee found the time to create such a varied programme afloat. But they’ve done that too, with the waterborne areas in the overall care of Race Director Donal McClement, whose experience of regattas both in Cork and at other major international venues is surely unrivalled.

In addition to the trophies which have become synonymous with Volvo Cork Week (their incredible ages in many cases reflecting Cork Harbour’s unrivalled sailing history), this year’s Week, in addition to a strong emphasis on the ISA’s Try Sailing initiative, will include two new events, the European IRC Championship and the Beaufort Cup.

The Beaufort Cup is a stroke of inspirational genius, as it’s an international series within a series for maritime agencies, the military and marine emergency services of all kinds. Although one of the overseas competitors for the Beaufort Cup – The Royal Engineers Yacht Club from the UK – has been actively involved with ocean racing virtually since the first Fastnet Race of 1925, not all the maritime agencies have boats of their own such as the REYC’s J/109 Trojan of Upnor. But owners from home and abroad have volunteered to have their boat’s crew include personnel of whom at least 50% are involved in the maritime and emergency sphere, and thus we find that there are fourteen very competitive boats with noted owner-skippers such as John Maybury with the J/109 Joker 2, Frank Doyle with the A 35 Endgame, Simon Coveney with sister-ship Another Adventure, Tom Roche of Kinsale with the Salona 45 Meridien, and Conor Doyle with the X442 Freya, who are eligible for the Beaufort competition.

The Beaufort Cup series will include a race round the Fastnet, so it’s serious stuff, and with Frank Doyle’s Endgame team drawing on the talents of the famous Baltimore lifeboat crew, we get some idea of the standards involved, with the winning team receiving a €10,000 charitable donation in addition to the Beaufort Cup.

The Beaufort Cup is named in honour of Admiral Sir Francis Beaufort (1774-1857), the hydrographer and meteorologist who invented, among other things, the Beaufort Scales for measuring sea and wind conditions. He was born in Navan in County Meath, and it is many years now since the then Chairman of An Taisce’s Meath Branch, one Michael Boyd, unveiled a memorial in honour of Admiral Beaufort in the heart of Navan.

Michael Boyd, Commodore RORC, with Kieran O’Connell, Chairman of the Organising Committee, Volvo Cork Week 2016These days, Michael Boyd is best known as Commodore of the Royal Ocean Racing Club. Having taken an excellent third overall in IRC with the First 44.7 Lisa in the recent Volvo Round Ireland Race, he will be in new territory in Volvo Cork Week, as he’ll be racing for the first time with a JPK 10.80, in this instance the French-numbered Audrey.

The JPK 10.80s will be one of the special points of interest in Volvo Cork Week, as three are racing, the other two being Dream Pearls from France (Eric Mordret and Arnaud Delamara), which has been among the front-runners in this year’s RORC programme, and Paul O’Higgins’ Rockabill VI from the Royal Irish YC, which had her moments of glory towards the top of the leaderboard in the Round Ireland, but never fully recovered from being one of the handful of boats which got hung up in a local calm at Inishtrahull for three dreadful hours.

In the open competition for the European IRC Championship, many boats are forces to be reckoned with, and it should be remembered that in the same regatta in 2014, Michael Boyd and Niall Dowling with the Grand Soleil 43 Quokka ended up being top boat overall despite being up against the likes of the Ker 40 Catapult, which has since become Anthony O’Leary’s Antix.

Hanging in there. At Volvo Cork Week 2014, Quokka (Michael Boyd & Niall Dowling) is sailing in clear air and keeping station on the higher rated Catapult. By the end of the regatta, Quokka was overall champion. Photo: Robert Bateman

The Ker 40 Antix in her former existence as Catapult at Volvo Cork Week 2014. The next six days will see her making the challenge as Antix to be overall champion. Photo: Robert Bateman

Inevitably, though, the focus will be on the glamour girls of Class 0, where an epic battle is lining up with overtones of the Commodores Cup 2014, when Antix in her former existence as Catapult was often head-to-head with French Skipper Eric de Turckheim’s A13 Teasing Machine. The Machine – having since covered herself in glory in events as diverse as the Rolex Sydney Hobart and this year’s Volvo Round Ireland - has been on the hard in Crosshaven getting TLC in recent days (they kept her keel shape hidden, though the twin rudders were much in evidence), so it will be battle royal with Antix and Sir Richard Matthews’ new H39 Oystercatcher XXXI.

She is currently one of the most successful ocean racers in the world. Eric de Turckheim’s A13 Teasing Machine (above & below) on the hard in Crosshaven, with her twin rudders revealed, but her keel coyly hidden. Photos: Robert Bateman

Fresh out of the wrappers - Sir Richard Matthews’ new H39 Oystercatcher XX

But complete newness is no guarantee of success, and another favoured boat, rating at the bottom end of Class O, has to be Conor Phelan’s Ker 36.7 Jump Juice (RCYC), which may be of 2006 vintage, but she just keeps on winning.

As ever, there’s a goodly turnout of J/109s – nine of them this time round – and after her brief but successful existence as Dave Cullen’s Euro Car Parks to win Class 3 in the Volvo Round Ireland, Pat Kelly’s Storm is her old self again, complete with the abiding honour of having been an ICRA Boat of the Year in times past, and she’ll be fresh and ready for battle with noted J/109 newbies Tim & Richard Goodbody (RIYC) with White Mischief.

The J/109s will have nine boats racing

For those who like a taste of open water while returning to a very hospitable port each evening, there’s a Coastal Division in two classes where participants include the likes of Sheila & James Tyrrell’s J/112E Aquelina, and two of the leading Dun Laoghaire boats, George Sisk’s Farr 42 WOW and Chris & Patanne Smith’s J/122 Aurelia in Class 1, while Class 2 has strong west coast participation with Derek & Conor Dillon’s Dehler Nova Big Deal from Foynes, and Martin Breen’s Dehler 37 Port of Galway.

The fleet is so diverse that simply seeing the results emerging is going to give a fascinating overview of the contemporary cruiser-racer and offshore scene, and when it’s set in the context of Cork, you get all sorts of added dimensions brought to us through the extraordinary sailing history of this remarkable place.

Yacht racing as it was in 1852. The fleet at the Royal Cork YC regatta about to race from a moored start

Volvo Cork Week as we know it today as a biennial festival was established in 1978 when the late Archie O’Leary was Admiral of the Royal Cork YC, but there had been other weeks or at least four day regattas before that, a notable one being in 1970 when the Royal Cork was celebrating its Quarter Millennium.

Inevitably, with the Tricentenary in 2020 coming down the line, significant events in Cork sailing history are being high-lighted and re-examined, and one special “first” which Organising Chairman Kieran O’Connell hopes to mark by a re-enactment is possibly one of the first offshore races held anywhere in the world, from Dublin Bay to Cork Harbour in July 1860.

Navy days. Haulbowline as seen from Cobh at mid 19th Century
It was inspired by the then Admiral of the Royal Cork, Thomas G French. Following a week of regattas at what was then Kingstown, he put up a prize of 15 guineas or something similar, and sixteen boats raced to Cork Harbour, though few of them got under way with the urgency shown by Rambler 88 and Teasing Machine at the start of the Round Ireland Race three weeks ago.

However, it’s the finish which will be a matter for discussion at tomorrow night’s opening ceremony for the sailing side of Volvo Cork Week 2016. According to Kieran O’Connell’s report, the winner in 1860 was Cooper Penrose’s 90-ton schooner Kingfisher in a race without any handicaps being applied.

That may indeed be the report which appeared in some of the newspapers of the day, as Kingfisher was first past Roche’s Point at daybreak to enter Cork Harbour. Yet the later detailed report in Hunt’s Yachting Magazine in the following weeks made the claim that the yachts were in fact racing to a finish line well up the harbour, off the Royal Cork clubhouse at Cobh. In struggling up the harbour in light airs, the noted amateur helmsman Henry O’Bryen, sailing Sir John Arnott’s 39-ton cutter Sybil, outsailed both the big Kingfisher and the 80-ton cutter Peri (J W Cannon) to snatch the lead at the finish, the finish times being 0520 (Sybil), 0523 (Peri) and 0525 (Kingfisher).

The Royal Cork Yacht Club’s former clubhouse in Cobh when it still was the RCYC. Following the merger in 1966 of the Royal Cork with the Royal Munster YC, Crosshaven became the club headquarters. Today, the former clubhouse at Cobh is a Heritage Centre.

If boats racing from Dun Laoghaire to Cork manage times as close as that, they’ll have had a fine race of it, and it will be further encouragement to the Royal Cork to persist in this new-fangled sport of yacht racing, For, as has been frequently pointed out, racing played no role whatever in the early years of the Water Club of the Harbour of Cork from its foundation in 1720. The fleet’s function was to show that it could sail in close and disciplined formation like a naval squadron, and that provided them with enough excitement for the day – if anyone wanted a race, they could send their crews off in the gig for a rowing race, and the yachtsmen could wager on the results.

Thus it seems that the vulgarity of racing yachts in Cork Harbour was kept at bay until the 1780s, but quite when in the 1780s we don’t know. The earliest known mention of a race in connection with the Water Club come from July 1787 when a notice in the Cork Hibernian Chronicle of July 23rd stated that on Thursday July 26th “the Yachts of the Harbour of Cork are to sail from Roches Tower, exactly at eight o’clock in the morning, to go round Cable Island from thence to the Blockhouse at Hawlbowling (sic). The first yacht past the Blockhouse shall be deemed the winner, and the owner is entitled to the Anchor”.

The way this is stated seems to suggest that, by this time, races by the Water Club were nothing new in Cork Harbour sailing. As to what “entitled to the Anchor” precisely means, that muddies the water still further. The Anchor could have been a trophy of some kind. But on the other hand, “entitled to the Anchor” might have meant that after the finish, the winner could anchor wherever he wished in the harbour, with the rest of the fleet obliged to anchor near him in formation. As most of the yachts were kept moored off their owner’s houses, it would have been a matter of prestige to have the fleet come to your personal anchorage.

All of which reminds us that history, whether of sailing or whatever, should be registered as a controlled substance, to be administered by qualified medical staff in white coats in a clinical environment…

Volvo Cork Week 2016. Entries as of the 28th of June. Entries: 105

Sail No	Boat	Type of Boat	Owner	Class Entered	Handicap
GBR7005R	Trojan of Upnor	J109	REYC	Beaufort Cup	TBC
GBR8588R	Jungle Drum	J88	Stuart Southwick	Beaufort Cup	1.035
IRL1206	Joker 2	J109	John Maybury	Beaufort Cup	1.015
IRL2067	Justus	J109	Dan Buckley	Beaufort Cup	TBC
IRL3209	Endgame	A35	Frank Doyle	Beaufort Cup	1.026
IRL3511	Another Adventure	A35	Simon Coveney	Beaufort Cup	1.032
IRL4076	Meridian	Salona 45	Thomas W Roche	Beaufort Cup	1.120
IRL4477	Freya	X442	Conor Doyle	Beaufort Cup	1.090
IRL9834	True Penance	Projection 35	Martin Darer Colman Garvey	Beaufort Cup	1.018
IRL9876	Coast Guard	Benneteau 36	Conor McNally, John McLoughlin	Beaufort Cup	0.880
IRL??	Exhale	X43	Diarmuid & Hilda Good	Beaufort Cup	1.079
IRLMIT	Marine Institute		Marine Institute	Beaufort Cup	TBC
IRLPOG	Port Of Galway		Port of Galway	Beaufort Cup	TBC
IRL2820	Y'Dream	Beneteau First 36.7	Sean Riordan	Beaufort Cup	1.003
FR38757	Teasing Machine	A13	Eric De Turckiem	Class 0	1.169
GBR4321	Oystercatcher XXX1	H39	Sir Richard Matthews	Class 0	1.136
GBR8833R	Dark Angel	Dubois 37	Tony Ackland	Class 0	1.098
GBR11152L	Gladiator	TP52	Tom Wilson	Class 0	1.393
IRL708	Antix	Ker 40	Anthony O Leary	Class 0	1.215
IRL2007	Jump Juice	Ker 37	Conor Phelan	Class 0	1.104
FRA13220	Trilogy 2	One off Peterson 46	Jean Gabriel Samzun	Class 1	1.059
FRA38418	Audrey	JPK 10.80	Michael Boyd	Class 1	1.045
FRA43645	Dream Pearls	JPK 10.80	Eric Mordret & Arnaud Delamare	Class 1	1.045
GBR1385L	X Beat II	Beneteau 40.7	Andrew O'Sullivan/Peter Pope/Lain Wright	Class 1	1.054
GBR4031R	SAILPLANE	Beneteau First 40	Adrain McCarroll	Class 1	1.083
GBR4041R	Forty Licks	First 40	Jay Colville	Class 1	1.083
GBR5991T	Prime Suspect	Mills 36	Charlie Frize	Class 1	1.067
GBR6638R	Alice	Mumm 36	Simon Henning	Class 1	1.075
GBR8038R	Roxstar	XP 38	Murray Findlay	Class 1	1.084
GBR9380R	Forward Thinking	Reflex 38	Stephen Nicholls	Class 1	1.053
IRL7386	Lynx Clipper	Reflex 38	John Spottiswood	Class 1	1.049
IRL10800	Rockabill VI	JPK 10.80	Paul O'Higgins	Class 1	1.046
GBR37N	Antilope	Grand Soleil 37	Willem Wester	Class 2	1.033
GBR3135L	Jumbuck	J109	John Allison	Class 2	1.014
IRL1111	Team Stampede	Benneteau 36.7	Tony Purkiss	Class 2	1.017
IRL1242R	White Mischief	J109	Timothy & Richard Goodbody	Class 2	1.012
IRL3061	Fools Gold	A35	Robert McConnell	Class 2	1.022
IRL7991	Jigamaree	J109	Ronan Harris	Class 2	1.014
IRL9494	NowWhat	DIBOIS 33	Barry Heskin & Jim Grealish	Class 2	1.018
IRL9609	Jellybaby	J109	Ian Nagle	Class 2	1.026
IRL29832	Jump n'Shout	A35	James Crockatt	Class 2	1.028
IRL33000	w1Da Dulcibella	w1Da 33 OOD	Rory Staunton	Class 2	1.020
IRL35221	Alpaca	X34	Paul & Deirdre Tingle	Class 2	0.998
IRL44444	Magic Touch	First 34,7	Steve Hayes	Class 2	1.004
NED10922	vrijgezeilig	J109	Michel Hiesweiller	Class 2	1.009
IRL1141	Storm	J109	Pat Kelly	Class 2	1.014
FRA29340	CAVOK	JPK960	Patrick Farcy	Class 3	0.985
GBR1039	Aurora	Contessa 33	Oscar Chess	Class 3	0.927
GBR3663	Mischief of Mersea	Carter 36	Martin Sykes	Class 3	0.935
GBR4860T	Skyhunter	J35	Ronan Fenton	Class 3	0.974
GBR9653R	DayDream	X332	Stephen Cutford	Class 3	0.980
IRL1078	Jostler	J92	Patrick Beckett	Class 3	0.965
IRL1295	Lisador	Dehler 36	Henry Hogg	Class 3	0.969
IRL1484	Harmony	Half Tonner	John Swan	Class 3	0.948
IRL6021	Ellida	X332	Ria Lyden	Class 3	0.981
IRL16859	Bad Company	Sunfast 32	Desmond Deasy Ivors	Class 3	0.934
GBR4264	Afrita	Sigma 33	Andrew & Cheissie Laming	Class 4	0.912
IRL0000	Animal	Formula 28	Gerard O Sullivan	Class 4	0.912
IRL78	No-Gnomes	Nich 1/2 ton	Leonard Donnery	Class 4	0.907
IRL680	Ireland's Eye Kilcullen	J24	Cillian Dickson	Class 4	0.887
IRL3087	Anchor Challenge	Farr Quarter Tonner	Paul Gibbons	Class 4	0.917
IRL4506	SeaHawk	Sigma 33	Clem & Wendy McElligott	Class 4	0.913
IRL5098	YaGottaWanna	J24	Dave Lane & Sinead Enright	Class 4	0.886
IRL6564	Monkey Business	Formula 28 MOD	Bill McConnell	Class 4	0.910
IRL7071	Out Rigger	707 MOD	Jimmy Nyhan	Club Regatta Fleet	0.903
IRL1359	WishBone	Holman31	Joanne McKenna	Club Regatta Fleet	0.822
IRL3612	Sweet Dreams	Sun Odyssey 36i	Batt & Helen O Leary	Club Regatta Fleet	TBC
GBR7797T	Foxtrot	Beneteau 36.7	Hilary Davies	Coastal Class 1	1,010
GBR8911R	Ulula	Bermudian Sloop	Nick Ogden	Coastal Class 1	1.098
IRL1301	Kayachtic	Hanse 400	Mike Walker	Coastal Class 1	TBC
IRL1477	Saxon Senator	X37	Eric & Wan Waterman	Coastal Class 1	1.035
IRL1507	Aquelina	J-112E	Sheila & James Tyrrell	Coastal Class 1	1.060
IRL3207	Aris	Bermudan Sloop	Wolfgang Kallenberg	Coastal Class 1	0.997
IRL4208	WoW	Farr42	George Sisk	Coastal Class 1	1.123
IRL35950	Aurelia	J122	Chris & Patanne Power Smith	Coastal Class 1	1.077
GBR380	Rioja	J80	Dominic Baxter & Ernie Dillon	Coastal Class 2	0.953
GBR606	Jedi	J80	Fergus Coughlan	Coastal Class 2	0.958
GBR1317	Violet Flame	Benneteau 31.7	David Wilkins	Coastal Class 2	TBC
GBR4183	Poppy	Contention 33	John Roberts	Coastal Class 2	0.902
IRL816	Serifa	Saler 40	Rory Fitzpatrick	Coastal Class 2	0.910
IRL1975	Tambourine	Thomas One Off	Kieran Collins	Coastal Class 2	0.878
IRL3492	Big Deal	Dehler Nova	Derek Dillon	Coastal Class 2	0.934
IRL5687	Port of Galway	Dehler 37 CR	Martin Breen	Coastal Class 2	0.952
IRL9992	Split Point	Dufour 34	Seamus Gilroy	Coastal Class 2	0.956
GBR1983C	Wildebeest 4	Brenta 24	Derek Buchanan	Mixed Sports	0.960
IRL1771	Cosmic	1720	Brian Jones	Mixed Sports	1.022
IRL1772	Heroes & Villains	1720	Gary Rhodes	Mixed Sports	1.022
IRL1804	Aquatack	1720	Denis Murphy	Mixed Sports	1.021
IRL2500	Elder Lemon	1720	Robert Dix	Mixed Sports	1.013
GBR1786Y	Thistle	Husler 25.5	Peter Webster	Non Spinnaker	0.803
IRL408	Julia B	She 33	Bill O Mahony	Non Spinnaker	0.854
IRL733	Thalia	Sigma 400	Aubrey Leggett	Non Spinnaker	1.028
IRL1033	Loch Greine	Hanse 311	Tom/Declan/Donal O Mahony	Non Spinnaker	0.916
IRL1523	Speedy Gonzales	26	Mark Reardon	Non Spinnaker	TBC
IRL1528	Beau Reve	Beneteau First 30	Paddy McNamee	Non Spinnaker	TBC
IRL2382	Xerxes	IMX38	Dan O Neill	Non Spinnaker	1.024
IRL3276	Roaring Forties	Beneteau First 35s5	Clodagh O Donavan	Non Spinnaker	0.983
IRL4004	Objection!	Sun Odyssey 35	Kevin Murray	Non Spinnaker	0.955
IRL4434	Minx 111	Sigma 33	Tom McNeice	Non Spinnaker	0.892
IRL7006Y	Ashanta	Thompson T31	Richard O'Halloran	Non Spinnaker	0.832
IRL7212	Phaeton		Clive Doherty	Non Spinnaker	0.830
IRL9515	Bonanza	Hunter Impala	Judy McGrath	Non Spinnaker	0.890
IRL1750	RCYC 2	1720	Richard Hayes	Try Sailing Challenge	1.022
IRL1760	RCYC1/NYC	1720	Helen Cooney	Try Sailing Challenge	1.022
IRL1768	RCYC3	1720	Voxpro	Try Sailing Challenge	1.022

The oldest boat competing in this year's Race is almost certain to be Thalia (Sail #11). Built in 1888, she was one of the last yachts by George Wanhill of Poole who was boatbuilding from the 1850s onwards.

In the 1890s Thalia was raced from the Royal Cork Yacht Club, returning to the south coast of England in 1918. After a more recent stint in the Caribbean, she was bought by David Aisher in 2010, and returned to England for a refit at the Elephant Boatyard in Hamble where a new mast was fitted with new standing and running rigging and sails. She was also re ballasted, rewired and replumbed.

David's Thalia won't easily be mistaken for another Thalia racing again this year; a Hanse 385 built in 2012. She is owned by Andrew Banks and there are five members of the family on board ranging from his 91 year-old father Ken down to his two sons aged 21 and 19.

A veritable powerhouse of racing experience and RTI know-how is the seemingly invincible Jock Wishart who describes himself as "Adventurer/America's Cup/Past Holder Round the World Powered Record/Rowed to North Pole/Winner Queens Cup Thames A- Raters". His 2015 JPK 10.80 boat Shaitan is entered for the Commodores Cup as part of the Celtic Team as well as for this year's RTI.

Jock has recruited some serious sailing talent including Thomas Lundquist as Helmsman, a Finn Gold Cup Winner & Olympic Gold Medallist, plus Julian Smith, co-Helm and the 2014 National Finn Champion; Andy Sinclair, Trimmer and Red Bull Youth America's Cup helmsman; Jamie Joel, rigger, instructor etcetera and then these three musketeers, Ruaridh Wright, Peter Cameron and Angus Grey Stephens, all three of whom are Scottish Student Sailing Champions.

Girls for Sail have entered two boats this year with all-female crews, many of whom have never raced before - and in some cases, have never even sailed before. Hot Stuff, a Beneteau 40.7 and Diamonds are Forever, an Elan 37 are competing. Celebrating their 16th Round the Island Race this year and with two all-female boat crews entered, Girls for Sail are hoping to encourage even more women to get involved with this wonderful Race.
Their youngest crew member is 18 and they will be joined by ladies of all ages and levels of experience. The most recent apprentice, Georgi, is training towards her RYA Yachtmaster Offshore ahead of starting a career in the sailing industry.

The death yesterday of Claire Bateman of Cork has deprived the world of Irish sailing and her own community of one of the kindest, most decent, obliging and quietly yet infectiously enthusiastic people, someone who put far more into our sport and the world of boats than she took from it.

Boats and the people around them were one of Claire Bateman’s great personal interests and pleasures, and her many contributions to Afloat.ie were always inspiring to receive. Yet somehow she also found the time to be a whole-hearted wife, mother, grandmother, and partnership supporter of her husband Robert in his uniquely dedicated and gifted approach to photography of all kinds, particularly on the water.

Claire gallantly took on the task of providing the words to go with the pictures, and became so adept at recording the Cork Harbour scene afloat that her narratives became every bit as important as Robert’s evocative photography. They were a marvellous team, and Claire’s generosity of spirit in giving freely of her time and talents way over and above any call of duty did much to tell the broader world what was going on in Cork sailing, thereby contributing greatly to the expansion of boating in all its forms.

Claire was Chair of the Irish Sailing Association's (ISA) Southern Branch for a five year period where her organisation of the annual meeting in Murphy Brewery at Ladyswell was a sailing highlight of the winter months. Claire also served as a member of the ISA's Olympic committee that selected the sailing team for the 1992 Barcelona OIympics.

The unique joint giving of their talents for the greater good of sailing saw Robert and Claire Bateman being made Honorary Members of the Royal Cork Yacht Club, a tangible and very well-earned recognition of the extremely high regard in which they have been held by the sailing community for many years.

Our heartfelt thoughts are with Claire’s husband Robert, her sons Robin and Roger and their wives Marcia and Ada, their families of eight grandchildren, and Claire’s many friends. We share their profound grief in a very personal loss.

WMN

There will be at least eight Irish registered yachts in a fleet of up to 1,599 when Britain's annual Round the Island Race, a one-day yacht race around the Isle of Wight in just over two weeks time. The spectacle event, to be held on July 2, is of the largest yacht races in the world and the fourth largest participation sporting event in the UK after the London Marathon and the Great North and South Runs.

From Royal Cork Yacht Club, Wan Waterman will compete in his X37 Saxon Sonata. Another Cork Harbour boat, Ben Daly's Quarter Tonner, Cobh Pirate, currently in Cowes at the Quarter Ton Cup, is also entered. 

Four Irish Cork Harbour 1720 designs are also entered but all are UK based but one; entry 'Pivotal' bears the sail number IRL1725.

Paul Colton's Cri–Cri from the Royal Irish was the Class three progressive ECHO winner at the recent ICRA National Championships in Howth

A return visitor to the Solent is Dublin Bay quarter tonner Cri–Cri, Paul Colton's Royal Irish YC entry, that bears an Italian sail number, is making its fourth appearance in the Round the Island Race.

Among other Irish entries on the massive list are a Hunter Impala, Trudi and an X50, Touché. 

Check out the entries here

Over 3 days and no less than 42 races it was all down to the last match between the Dutch and their great rivals from Royal Cork. It was one of those starts that one wants to forget, but the Dutch clearly down, gambled on banging the corners to great effect. Back in the action at the windward mark the four boats were all within a boat length then it all started to unravel for Cork.

2K Team Racing is two on two team racing, in keelboats, without spinnakers.

Twin penalties for Smit (NED) and Kingston(IRL) saw the game balanced. then Cudmore(IRL) collected a penalty for tacking too close... the Dutch are in the lead... a final Irish penalty and it is all over...as the Dutch move into their tried and tested tight defence mode for the final run to the finish.

Host team Rome had had a hard regatta, losing to a rookie British team from the Royal Thames and to the young Italians from 3CV sailing as Banana 2....but the final honours were to go to them as then outplayed the Dutch to the closest of finishes in the final match....but all too late for the podium.

1st Dutch Match and Team Race Association (NED)
2nd Royal Cork Yacht Club (IRL)
3rd Royal Thames Yacht Club (GBR)

The 2K Tour now moves to another Italian Yachting paradise in Gaeta.

The Rome 2K was hosted by the Platu 25 Class and the Reale Circolo Canottiere Tevere Remo at the club's Anzio base.

In a well-lived life in Cork in which he was exuberantly involved in several sports and long active in a pioneering role in business, he was known to everyone as Archie O’Leary. Yet properly speaking he was Arthur O’Leary, sharing his name with the historic and heroic figure of Art O’Leary (1746-1773). But this modern Arthur O’Leary, who has now gone from among us at the age of 86, was of more than enough significance to merit his own distinctive name.

It was as Archie O’Leary that he played rugby for Ireland, rising through the ranks of Cork Con (where he was Captain) and Munster, to win three caps in the national side in 1952. It was Mr & Mrs Archie O’Leary who became well known in racing circles, their most famous and successful horse being Florida Pearl. And it was as Archie O’Leary that he served as Admiral of the Royal Cork Yacht Club from 1977 to 1980, crowning a very long sailing career which was to continue until the1990s, when he changed his perspective afloat by moving into a Nelson 42 powercruiser, the kind of motoryacht which was designed with senior sailing people in mind.

His energies afloat and on the sports field were matched by his energy in business – in 1961 he founded the O’Leary Insurance Group which today, under the Chairmanship of his son Anthony, has expanded to become an all-Ireland force in the industry. The strength of family values within the O’Leary clan is also reflected by the fact that Anthony took on the demanding role of Admiral RCYC at a young age in 2000, just twenty years after his father had headed the club. And Anthony has of course carved his own distinctive and successful career in sailing (he’s currently the Irish Champion Helmsman), while his own sons in turn – Archie’s grandsons – include Olympic sailor Peter, Student World Sailing Champion Nicholas, and Irish Student Champion Robert.

Archie O’Leary, Admiral RCYC 1977 to 1980

Today, we honour the memory of the Patriarch of this remarkable family of sailing high achievers, for Archie O’Leary was an extremely successful owner-skipper in his own right. Like many of Cork sailing’s racing aristocracy, his first proper taste of the sport was with the National 18s. But by the early 1970s he found that offshore racers best suited his tastes, and he campaigned an S&S 34 for a couple of seasons, starting to build up friendships at home and abroad which well withstood the test of time.

By late 1973, the new blossoming of Cork sailing was becoming very apparent, and while the most active campaigner Hugh Coveney went for the peak challenge of the International One Ton Cup with the state-of-the-art one-off Ron Holland-designed, George & Killian Bushe-built 36ft Golden Apple, Archie O’Leary took a different tack by commissioning a new though standard Carter 37 from the board of Dick Carter. Carter had burst upon the scene in 1965 when his innovative 34-footer Rabbit won the Fastnet Race overall, and had subsequently won the One Ton Worlds with the Dutch-American owned Tina in 1966, Optimist of Germany in 1967 and 1968, and the Italian entry Ydra in 1973.

From today’s perspective, it is difficult to grasp the scale and enthusiasm of the One Ton Worlds at Torquay in 1974. Here were more than forty red hot boats around the 36ft mark from all over the world, and all competing absolutely level, sailed in many instances by Olympic-standard crews. Many were expensive purpose-built one-offs, yet there was also a small but significant group of production boats, tuned to the One Ton rating, which were expected to be little more than cannon fodder in a field of this standard.

The first Irish Mist of 1974 was a standard Carter 37, and she was clear winner of the Production Boat prize at the One Ton Worlds that year

But Archie O’Leary’s standard Carter 37 Irish Mist was definitely not cannon fodder. With the young Anthony O’Leary now very much an active member of his father’s crew, Irish Mist was at the races, and then some. She won the Production Boat prize by a very clear margin, and placed tenth overall with an entire host of extremely hot one-offs astern of her.

As his sailing career progressed and developed, Archie O’Leary was to win many other major prizes, both offshore and on the championship circuit. But in later life there was no trophy he cherished more than the fine cup he’d been given in perpetuity for that Production Boat win at Torquay, for he reckoned that was purer sport than the competition he was soon to experience at the very sharpest end of international sailing.

Yet the pace was now inevitably set, and for 1975 the O’Learys commissioned a one-off Ron Holland Two Tonner, the 40ft Irish Mist II, built at Rochestown by George and Killian Bushe. This superboat really did have all the bells and whistles, complete with a Bergstrom Ridder hyper-light mast. She lived up to all her billings, winning the 1975 RORC Channel Race as a member of the Irish Admirals Cup team, in addition to many other podium places, while the following year she was overall winner of the RORC Irish Sea Race and was also top boat in the biggest regatta in Ireland that year, ISORA Week 1976 at Cork.

In the mid-1970s, the Irish Sea Offshore Racing Association was at its most numerous, and if they brought their Race Week to some venue, it guaranteed big turnouts. But ISORA had at least half a dozen and more locations to choose between – they mightn’t be back for another ten years. However, by this stage Archie O’Leary was rising through the officer ranks in the Royal Cork, and by the time he became Admiral in 1977, he’d realized that a more regular regatta week was essential for the good health of Crosshaven, and he’d plans in shape for what would become Cork Week, run on a biennial basis with the first one in 1978.

To make it all happen, he drew on firm friendships made through his years of active campaigning on the RORC and Celtic Sea programmes, and thus people like Chris Dunning from the Solent and Rob Davies from South Wales could be relied on to beat the drum for their friend Archie and his regatta in Cork, and this was to be the start of something big.

But in the best Cork traditions, while working busily in the administration of the rapidly-expanding Royal Cork YC, Admiral O’Leary continued as a very active sailor, moving on from the timber-built Irish Mist II to the glassfibre Swan 39 Irish Mist III, the production version of the fabulously successful Ron Holland-designed Regardless, and from there he went on to a Lightwave 395.

Although he was best noted for his national and international achievements, Archie O’Leary was never happier than when involved in the notably high standard of club racing against old friends at Crosshaven, when the finest traditions of the world’s oldest yacht club are given a contemporary twist.

In fact for decades – with his actively sailing family spreading onto three generations – Archie O’Leary was the very expression of the Cork sailing spirit. And even when he’d reduced the pace by changing to the Nelson powercruiser, his taste for a spot of sport afloat was undiminished. My most abiding recent memory of Archie O’Leary was of a time one Spring some years ago when his beloved Cork Constitution Rugby Club (of which he was President in 1973-74) had won through to the Irish club final, to be played at Lansdowne Road in Dublin. Archie noted that the weather pattern was settling down nicely, so he suggested to his regular shipmates that they should go in style to Dublin with the powercruiser, and use her as a houseboat for the weekend of the match.

Then as the weekend approached, a wondrous and unseasonal calm settled over all Ireland. So what did the O’Leary crew do? They came to Dublin from the north. Bound for the rugby match, they left Cork heading west, streaked up the Atlantic seaboard, roared along the north coast, zoomed down the Irish Sea to take in the match, and then went on home by sea as though this was all part of a normal weekend away for rugby fans. That was how Archie O’Leary approached life. Our heartfelt condolences go to his family and very many friends.

WMN

With nearly 90 yachts already confirmed for the 2016 edition of Volvo Cork Week, an increase in entries from 2014 is highly likely for Ireland's most famous regatta writes Louay Habib. Hosted by the world's oldest yacht club, the Royal Cork YC, the regatta offers phenomenal racing conditions; boasting one of the world's largest natural harbours, a stunning cliff-lined coast and the Atlantic. Volvo Cork Week has the natural resources to provide some of the best racing anywhere and combined with the legendary 'craic' of Irish hospitality, and a concerted effort to drive down costs, Volvo Cork Week is a regatta not to miss.

2016 Volvo Cork Week will also host the first ever, IRC European Championship, the Irish Quarter Tonner National Championship and the inaugural Beaufort Cup.

Tony Langley's TP52 Gladiator is currently the fastest yacht competing at Cork Week.However, British entrepreneur Tony Langley will not be at the helm of Gladiator for Volvo Cork Week, as Team Gladiator Project Manager, Tom Wilson explains:

“Tony would love to be there but has other commitments. His son Bernard has taken up the challenge to lead the team. Much the same as our last regatta, which was Antigua Sailing Week, we will have a young team of talented sailors on board from Britain and also several local Irish sailors. The team is just being finalised but the youngsters will be joined by some very well known yachtsmen.”

Royal Cork's Anthony O'Leary has enjoyed tremendous success with his Ker 40, Antix, racing with his three sons, Peter, Nicholas and Robert and an all Irish crew. Anthony was the Irish Captain for both of Ireland's Commodores' Cup wins and his former boat, also called Antix, was the overall RORC IRC National Champion in 2014.

“The move to host the first IRC European Championship at Volvo Cork Week was an inspirational move by the sailing committee, the Royal Cork YC and the Royal Ocean Racing Club.” Commented Anthony O'Leary. “ To have the championship in Cork is fantastic and I am sure it is the perfect venue for what IRC is all about. There is a massive variety of courses; plenty of windward leeward but also reaching and running legs, and you never know what the Harbour Course has in store. If you sat down with a blank piece of paper to design the best courses for an IRC regatta, Volvo Cork Week has been providing it for years.”

“From the point of view of Antix, we are especially looking forward to racing against Teasing Machine. In the 2010 Commodores' Cup, in her former life as Catapult, the Ker 40 had a great battle with Teasing Machine and we look forward to that. There are similar battles right through all the classes and to have twice as many boats already entered compared to the same time in 2014, we are hoping for a large number of quality boats enjoying an outstanding regatta.

Laurent Pages has competed in the last two editions of the Volvo Ocean Race, winning the round the world race with Groupama in 2014 and will be tactician for Eric De Turkheim's French A13, Teasing Machine for Volvo Cork Week.

“With the intention to race around Ireland in June, Volvo Cork Week was really an option for us. The fact that IRC European Champion title will decided at Volvo Cork Week was also a key point.” commented Laurent. “Teasing Machine will come with a lot of ambition but we know the competition will be really fantastic ! It's a great challenge ! And always a great pleasure to come to Ireland !

To have a variety of racing conditions is absolutely great: mixing pure inshore races and coastal races gives so much interest and it all makes sense to contend an IRC European Title in that way. Irish sailors will be really hard to beat in their home waters and we also know that top British teams will be highly competitive, as always but we will defend the french chances with determination and passion!”

Oystercatcher XXXI is the third boat to be designed for Sir Richard Matthews by Tom Humphreys and should be launched 8th June, after fitting out at Fox’s Marina Ipswich. Oystercatcher XXXI will be making its debut at Volvo Cork Week, although Sir Richard has been coming for years.

“A return to a genuine dual purpose cruiser racer, a proper cockpit, berth for every crew, H&C water including a shower and a proper galley with an oven - all in less than 39 feet and 86 feet shorter than my ‘other’ boat!” laughed Richard. “Cork Week has always been friendly and it is even better now that it's more of a regatta and less of a pop concert and I prefer Murphy's.

The race courses are varied and interesting and I especially enjoy the Harbour Course. Oystercatcher's crew will be mostly our East Coast (UK) regulars (some of whom are still young enough to walk unaided!) and Eddie English our dear friend from Cobh, who has done the last 8 or 10 Cork Weeks with us. All of the crew are keen golfers and The Old Head of Kinsale is one of the best courses in the world and is a fine start or finish to the week.”

“I live just up the road, I have to come every regatta! I enjoy the competition, the professional race management, variety of courses on offer, the onshore entertainment and the camaraderie. This year I think that it is great that the IRC European Championship is part of it. Jump intend doing the Irish, UK and Welsh IRC nationals so it's a great fit to our programme.

It is really tough to win your class at Volvo Cork Week, because all the good boats and best sailors are there. Competition, varied conditions and courses and a lively social scene all mitigate against predictability. Not until the skipper and crew look each other up and down each morning can one make any presumptions. A lot depends on the night before! Having gone through the rock concert type event some years ago the event is firmly fun for sailors mostly on site. Expect great craic, late nights and sore heads.”

Simon Henning's British Mumm 36, Alice is returning to Volvo Cork Week after a long absence, as Simon explains: “We did Cork Week in 2006 and 2008 in Farr 45, Alice 2 but the Mumm 36, Alice was last at Cork Week in 2004, she has had a major refit and is much more competitive, the first IRC European Championship is the big attraction to come back this year and we are looking forward to a very competitive week. Also Cork is a great place to sail with a variety of conditions and it is rare you get a windless day. For me personally, the older you get, the more you need to grab the opportunities that come along.”

The IRC European Championship is attracting new teams from overseas of a very high standard and the Beaufort Cup is bringing new faces to Volvo Cork Week. The Beaufort Cup invites sailing teams from their associated national services, 50% of each team must be active in the service they represent. Racing will take place over five days in a mix of offshore and inshore courses. The winning team will also have €10,000 donated to a nominated charity.

With the early entry discount for Volvo Cork Week running out on May 1st Royal Cork Yacht Club organisers have been keen to point out innovations for the 2016 edition such as the first ever IRC European Championship and the Beaufort Cup as part of this summer's line–up.

'RCYC has always listened to competitors comments about Cork Week and has never been afraid to make improvements whenever possible', the club say in its latest mail out to competitors

Kieran O'Connell, Chairman of Volvo Cork Week, spoke candidly about the changes to this year's event, brought about by talking to competitors, the real cost of coming to Cork Week is being reduced by pro-active measures.
“When talking to people in Ireland and the UK." commented Kieran O'Connell. "We have been making a big effort to keep the cost down for visiting teams, we have been setting guide prices for local accommodation in Crosshaven and local home owners have been listening and reducing their expectations. For example a 3 bedroom house that sleeps 6 - 8 crew for the week is averaging at €1250 - €1500 or B&B for €50 per night. In 2016 there will also be camping options with toilet and shower facilities.

The committee have undertaken to keep food and beverage costs at normal club rates. Helly Hansen, the Official Clothing Partner to the event will have a retail shop in the regatta village, alongside other notable retailers such as CH Marine and Union Chandlery.

The entertainment line-up is fantastic this year with the event open to the public on Thursday and Friday nights with big name bands performing. The management team is putting a big effort into the apres-sail slot from 4.30 to 7pm, with live music creating the right sort of atmosphere, as the sailors come off the water.

The IRC European Championship is attracting new teams from overseas of a very high standard and the Beaufort Cup is bringing new faces to Volvo Cork Week. The Beaufort Cup invites sailing teams from their associated national services, 50% of each team must be active in the service they represent. Racing will take place over five days in a mix of offshore and inshore courses. The winning team of the Beaufort Cup will also have €10,000 donated to a nominated charity.

For yachts entering before the end of April, there is a prize draw for sailing gear and a weekend 40ft bareboat charter.
Including the one design 1720 and Viper Sportsboats, a wide variety of yachts have already entered Volvo Cork Week, with a significantly higher number of early entries compared to this time in 2014. For yachts entering before the 1st May 2016, there are two prize draws. Volvo Cork Week will be giving away, sailing gear and a weekend 40ft bareboat charter, kindly sponsored by Sovereign Sailing Kinsale.”

The early entry discount for Volvo Cork Week runs out on May 1st.

The recently-formed maritime association SOAR (Sailors Of A Republic), which claims to have a nationwide membership, today outlines its plans to reclaim the yacht and sailing clubs of Ireland into a truly republican spirit.

“In view of the successful and generally peaceful nature of the Easter Rising celebrations this week,” a spokesman told Afloat.ie, “we feel the opportunity has been provided to reveal how we will give Irish sailing organisations a completely new image in keeping with the re-born spirit of the times.”

“We would point out” the spokesman continued, “that when the Water Club of the Harbour of Cork was founded in 1720, despite the connections to English royals of some of the founding members, there was none of this royalty nonsense in the title of the new club. And it cannot be claimed that there was no precedent for such a thing. Several scientists – who were to include Robert Boyle of Cork – had got together to found the Society for Improving Natural Knowledge in November 1660, and it very quickly was given the title of the Royal Society.”

“Yet even through its quieter years on Cork Harbour in the late 1700s, the pioneering group of sailors in Cork was always proud to be known simply as the Water Club. It was only many years after the last of the original founders had died that the club contemplated re-titling itself, and it was in the beginning of the era of new yacht club formations in the early 1800s that it allowed itself to become the Royal Cork Yacht Club”.

“At its most simple” the SOAR spokesman said, “what we are seeking is a re-branding exercise. But we are mindful of the recent public annoyance caused by the re-branding of Eircom as Eir, which cost something in the region of €16 million. Thus our special SOAR Nomenclature Sub-Committee has been looking at ways of minimising the cost of a changeover, particularly as it could mean Ireland’s royal yacht clubs would feel they are being discriminated against.”

“Their boat owners would understandably have a special grievance if badly thought-out recommendations put them to extra expense in changing the initials of their club on the transoms of their boats.

But fortunately the words “royal” and “republic” both begin with the letter “R”. So with some foresight, the only expense would be in the detail of club letterheads, in-house notices and so forth, which we fell the truly republican-minded sailors of Ireland will be happy to bear as a group”.

“In order to ensure there is no unnecessary change in the lettering of club initials on boats, our Committee have decided that the Royal Irish Yacht Club will become the Republic of Ireland Yacht Club, or alternatively the Real Ireland Yacht Club. As for the Royal St George Yacht Club, it will become the Republican St George YC. And a real flash of imagination is being shown towards the pioneering spirit of south coast sailing - the Royal Cork Yacht Club will in future be known as the Rebel County Yacht Club”.

However, it is understood that there will be one exception to the proposed name changes. Another source has revealed to Afloat.ie that the Royal Western Yacht Club of Ireland in Kilrush will be allowed to keep its current title. “We are of the opinion that County Clare’s links with Brian Boru provide a royal connection to a real Irish king, a connection which long pre-dates any foreign incursions. We are entirely in favour of keeping the royal titles if we can find a link to our own royalty, and in Brian Boru country, that is easily done.”

The Royal Ocean Racing Club (RORC) is promoting its inaugural European IRC Championship as part of Cork Week. The London club says the event will 'bring countries together'. 

The International IRC Rating Rule, jointly owned by the Royal Ocean Racing Club (RORC) and l’Union Nationale pour la Course au Large (UNCL) will be attracting boats from all over the world to the port of Crosshaven in Ireland this year. From 10th to 15th July 2016 the Inaugural European IRC Championship will be take place during the already well-established and popular Volvo Cork Week hosted by the Royal Cork YC, the world’s oldest yacht club.

This exciting addition to the global IRC racing calendar promises to bring boats together from all corners of Europe, where over 4300 boats are IRC rated annually, but is open to all 6000 boats IRC rated worldwide. The Championship invites entries from boats with a valid 2016 IRC rating between 0.850 and 1.320 and the RCYC is expecting entries from 'around the globe'. Early entries include boats from Ireland, Northern Ireland, the UK, France, the USA and Australia, with interest from South Africa, making it a truly international event.

Back in 1990 Cork Week was the first regatta in the world to use the now ubiquitous windward/leeward race format, but even then the regatta included an innovative and varied mix of racing and 2016 is no exception: courses at the European IRC Championship will include Olympic, trapezoid, slalom and windward/leeward buoy courses plus an 8 hour coastal race, so every boat has a chance to shine on their preferred course type. Results will be calculated using the simple time-on-time IRC time corrector, so competitors can easily see how they are performing around the course.

Another addition to the Week this year is the inaugural International Inter Services Sailing Competition, the Beaufort Cup. Volvo Cork Week 2016 is shaping up to be another unforgettable regatta, and if you have a 2016 IRC rating you can be part of it!