The Coolmore Race is an old Cork Harbour yacht race that has been brought back to life by Royal Cork Yacht Club after many years.

After a day of torrential rain, the downpour stopped and sadly the wind died with it. After the dinghies were launched they were towed up the Owenabue River to the start at Coolmore Estate.

The 50 competing boats started at the top of the tide and had the benefit of the ebb for a race back to the RCYC clubhouse. However, the course was shortened and the first boat to finish was James Dwyer (Matthews) in a Laser 4.7 but close on his heels came JP Curtin in an Optimist and won the Trophy. 

Coolmore Photo slideshow by Bob Bateman below 

After three races of the Fitzgerald's Menswear sponsored August League at Royal Cork Yacht Club on Sunday, Ronan and John Downing's Half Tonner Miss Whiplash has an overall lead in the IRC spinnaker division for cruiser-racers.

Second overall is the Trapper, Cracker sailed by Denis Byrne. Third overall, and in her first appearance this season was Kieran Collins' Olson 30 Coracle IV who took a win in Sunday's race three.

Kieran Collins' Olson 30 Coracle IV

See results here.

Sean Hanly's HB31, Luas

Howth Yacht Club teen Johnny Flynn overtook local ace and regatta leader Ben O'Shaughnessy to clinch the AIB sponsored Optimist Nationals by a single point at Royal Cork Yacht Club today. 

After four days of racing on the Curlane Bank and outside Cork Harbour, the Dubliner finished the ten-race light-air event on a tally of 16 points to the Crosshaven boy's 17.

Anthony O’Leary was the Race Officer for the Main Fleet and Barry Rose officiated for the Regatta Fleet.

Second overall - Ben O'Shaughnessy of Royal Cork Yacht Club Photo: Bateman

Third overall Rocco Wright of Howth Yacht Club Photo: Bateman

Flynn's club mate, 14-year-old Rocco Wright, finished in third on 30-points in the 79-boat main fleet.

The National Yacht Club's Clementine van Steenberge was the first girl in fifth overall. 

The National Yacht Club's Clementine van Steenberge was the top girl in fifth overall Photo: Bob Bateman

The fight for gold in the 36-boat Junior Championships came down to who beat who in the final race and the NYC's Caoilinn Geraghty-McDonnell beat Des Turvey of Howth with Riona McMorrow Moriarty in third.

Junior National Champion is Caoilinn Geraghty-McDonnell of NYC

A 34-boat Regatta fleet was won by RCYC's Ethel Bateman who beat her brother Olin. Third place went to Henrietta Leech from Lough Ree Yacht Club.

Regatta champion Ethel Bateman of Royal Cork

Prizes were presented by Royal Cork Admiral Colin Morehead, event organiser Brian Jones and IODAI President Tim Lucas.

Overall results are here

Bob Bateman's 2020 Optimist Championship Prizegiving slideshow below

Ireland's Tokyo 2021 representative Annalise Murphy is set to rejoin the national Laser dinghy racing scene after a seven-year hiatus when she sails next week at the 2020 Laser national championships at Royal Cork Yacht Club.

The Rio Olympic silver medalist makes her return in Cork Harbour, the same venue she last sailed at a nationals in 2013, months before her European title win on her home waters at Dun Laoghaire Harbour.

Murphy is not the only Irish Olympic campaigner competing either as the battle for National honours heats up at Crosshaven from August 20th to 23rd.

As Afloat reported previously, due to COVID-19, the three fleet 2020 championships, one of the biggest dinghy events of the 2020 calendar, will now be split between two venues in the Harbour and be run separately.

The National Yacht Club ace will confront Aoife Hopkins and Eve McMahon, both unsuccessful rivals in the controversially cut-short trial for Tokyo 2021 who will also be competing in a mixed Radial fleet of 60 plus sailors. There is no entry – so far – however for Lough Derg's Aisling Keller, another 2021 trialist and the 2018 Irish champion who secured Ireland's berth for Tokyo.

Murphy's clubmate, Rio rep Finn Lynch, who is still bidding for a Tokyo nomination in the men's class will be in action in the 30-boat standard rig division as are other 2021 trialists Ewan McMahon of Howth and Belfast Lough's Liam Glynn.

The entry list is here

Royal Cork Yacht Club is leaving no stone unturned in its efforts to stage next week's Laser dinghy National Championships, one of the flagship events of its tricentenary celebrations in Cork Harbour.

With the postponement of Phase 4 COVID 19 restrictions, the hosts are not in a position to locate all sailors in the proposed format of three fleets.

In order to ensure that they can hold a safe event, the AIB Sponsored Nationals will, therefore, be split into two events, according to an update from the Laser class.

The position now for the event is that the Radials and Standards will be based in Crosshaven, while 4.7s will be based in Ringaskiddy, where a new slip will give easy access to the lower harbour.

• Standard and Radial Nationals hosted by the RCYC
• Laser 4.7 Nationals hosted by Monkstown Bay Sailing Club (MBSC)

"The 4.7 Nationals are now being hosted by MBSC, an entirely separate event with separate documentation, organisation committees, a separate venue (Paddys Point, Ringaskiddy) and a separate race course",  Royal Cork's Alex Barry told Afloat.

It is expected further details will be available in the next few days. The event starts on August 20th.

Excitement is building in the Royal Cork Yacht Club for this week’s AIB Optimist dinghy Nationals 2020 in Cork Harbour.

It will be the first time the Irish Optimist fleet will compete this year due to COVID and participant numbers at the event have been limited by organisers.

The event starts on Thursday but there has already been some pre-championship tuning going on at Crosshaven.

Photo slideshow below by Bob Bateman

A win for Michael McCann in tonight's fifth and final race of the Union Chandlery July League at Royal Cork Yacht Club gives him the overall win of the IRC Spinnaker Division. McCann sailing the Etchells, Don't Dilly Dally had a single point lead over Annamarie and Denis Murphy's Grand Soliel 40, Nieulargo in a 14-boat fleet.

In a 12-boat White Sail division, the Grand Soliel 37 Prince of Tides (Frank Caul and John Molloy) wins by two points overall from the Sun Light 30 Expression.

Full results are here. Bob Bateman's Photo slideshow is below

The National 18 crew of Colin Chapman, Owen O'Keefe and Eddie Rice were yesterday's winners of the AIB sponsored PY 1000 cash Prize at the Royal Cork Yacht Club in Cork Harbour.

With only the lightest harbour breeze available Race Officer John Crotty set the mixed dinghy fleet off on a course that involved all points of sailing from a beat,a run and reaches before heading home for refreshments on the RCYC lawn at Crosshaven.

Royal Cork Race Officer John Crotty had to contend with some fickle winds for the 2020 PY Race Photo: Bob Bateman

The PY1000 2020 dinghy course set in Cork Harbour covered all the angles Photo: Bob Bateman

Other cash prizes went to second overall to Tom, Cloe and Patrick Crosbie. Third place went to Andrew Crosbie, all sailing National 18s.

AIB PY 1000 Winners - Colin Chapman, Owen O'Keefe and Eddie Rice Photo: Bob Bateman

Chris Bateman won the Lasers and Shane Collins, the Topper division.

Knox Kohl was the youngest sailor and first female home was Sophie Crosbie.

The youngest crewed boat was sailed by Ethel and Olin Bateman and the oldest combined Crew was Tommy Dwyer and Willy Healy

RCYC AIB PY1000 Photos

See the full slideshow of images from the event below by Bob Bateman

At times of sadness, we are helped by ceremonial. For sure, no-one would dream of comparing the enormous grief visited upon those who have been and will be bereaved by COVID-19 with the quiet sense of loss caused the absolutely correct and timely decision to cancel Volvo Cork Week 2020. Yet it was to be the high point of the Club’s keenly-anticipated international Tricentennial celebrations. So at the beginning of the week in which it should all have been happening, something was needed to mark the moment, some small but poignant ceremonial to signal that the club and its members, while saddened by the cancellation, are capable of moving on, and are indeed moving on.

It happened at noon on Sunday. Key figures in the running of the club and the planning of the Tricentenary assembled in a small enough group on the club lawn to maintain social distance, and with them were two young Optimist sailors to symbolise the class whose National Championship at Crosshaven on August 13th to 16th will see the club return to national action after a month and more in which down-home club activity has been steadily building following the total Lockdown.

Daragh Connolly, Rear Admiral Keelboats, fired three cannon shots, and the Optimist sailors sent aloft the flags ’N’ over ‘A’ to signal that Volvo Cork Week 2020 was cancelled. It said everything that needed to be said. And then Admiral Colin Morehead and George Mills of Volvo Car agents Johnson & Perrott signalled the announcement that Volvo Cork Week 2022 will be staged from July 11th to 15th 2022. The Crosshaven tradition of superb events run ”by sailors, for sailors” is very much alive and well. And in the days and weeks ahead, the club will see a steady but measured continuing resumption of activities to mark the Tricentenary in a heartfelt yet subdued manner in keeping with the current circumstances.

Long live Volvo Cork Week 2022. RCYC Admiral Colin Morehead and George Mills of Johnson & Perrot launch the future. Photo: Robert Bateman=

Royal Cork's weekly league racing is underway with some fine sailing breezes to get the first races of the season underway last Thursday and Friday.

Among the fleet of mixed keelboats is a 'Cork300' branded RCYC 1720 sportsboat marking 300 years of club activity in Cork Harbour.

As Afloat's WM Nixon points out here the sheer joy of sailing re-asserting itself in Cork Harbour is a tonic for all involved at Crosshaven.

As well as sportsboats, other one-design keelboats that included an Etchells, there was a good turnout of cruisers for the round the cans racing format.

Photos below by Bob Bateman