Recently crowned National champion Anthony O'Leary had to be content with second in yesterday's coastal course of the Sovereign's Cup when Neil White's Independent Bear bested the Royal Cork champion in the opening race of the four day regatta. Ten boats are competing in Class Zero.

Gloves Off, third in Class Zero. Photo: Bob Bateman

Waterford Harbour's Shane Statham leads Cruiser TwoI IRC after the first two windward-leeward races. The opening races were sailed in 12-15 knot perfect north-westerly breezes allowing the Kinsale event to live up to its pre-event billing as the south coast's biggest and best sailing event of 2011. 23 boats are competing in Class two.

Tight racing with the J109s. Photo: Bob Bateman

In Class One, last weekend's Irish Cruiser Racing Association champion, Pat Kelly's J109 Storm from Howth, ended in fifth place. Rival Cork sistership Jelly Baby took the honours. 21 are competing.

Quarter ton action. Photo: Bob Bateman

In Class 3 IRC (the Quarter ton Class) Eamonn Rohan's Anchor Challenge has the lead from Aguilla (Rob Gray) with Tiger (Kenefick/Kenefick/O'Brien) now third. Racing continues this morning and continues through til Saturday. 12 are competing.

SOVEREIGNS CUP, Kinsale YC

Provisional (overall) results after day one – Class 0 IRC (Coastal): 1st Independent Bear (N White); 2nd Antix; 3rd Gloves Off (K Twomey).

Class 1 IRC (Coastal): 1st Jelly Baby (Nagle and O'Mahony); 2nd EOS (Dave Scott); 3rd Jetstream (Redden Bros). Class 2 IRC: 1st Slack Alice (Shane Strattan); 2nd Yanks $ Francs (Vinnie O'Shea); 3rd White Mischief (Timothy Goodbody).

Class 3 IRC (Quarter ton Class): 1st Anchor Challenge (Eamonn Rohan); 2nd Aguilla (Rob Gray); 3rd Tiger (Kenefick/Kenefick/O'Brien).

Class 5 IRC: 1st. Samba (John and Pat Downing) 2nd Orna (Philip Dilworth). 3rd. VSOP: (Donal McCarthy).

Waterford Harbour's Shane Statham leads Cruiser II IRC after the first two windward-leeward races of the Sovereign's Cup today. The opening races were sailed in 12-15 knot perfect north-westerly breezes allowing the Kinsale event to live up to its pre-event billing as the south coast's biggest and best sailing event of 2011. Here's Bob Bateman's photos to prove it: 

Kinsale Yacht Club's SCORA League Fastnet Race sponsored by CH Marine takes place this Friday at 8pm.

This 100–mile round trip to one of the most iconic ocean racing turning points presents all the challenges to competitors associated with classic offshore/coastal racing.

The many headlands along the track present major tactical decision points for skippers and navigators in their race to make the many tidal gates along the route. This coupled to the often fickle winds make the creation of a race winning strategy extremely difficult.

This now classic race on the South Coast typically attracts competitors from the host Club Kinsale Yacht Club along with competitors from the Royal Cork and Cobh Sailing Club. 

The inclusion of the Kinsale Fastnet in SCORA Jim Donegan Memorial Series enhances the standing of this race along the South coast and the very generous sponsorship of this race by CH Marine makes the race highly attractive for South coast sailors.

Intending competitors are reminded that this is a ISAF OSR Cat 3 race with life rafts. Safety checks may be conducted prior to the start.

A strong, unstable and blustery airflow produced exciting, and at times marginal racing conditions at the week end for the East Coast Dragon Championship hosted by the Royal Irish Yacht Club in Dun Laoghaire.

Despite Race Officer Jack Roy's skill and patience only four of the six race series was completed as a full gale swept through the bay on today.

In winds gusting up to 30 knots on the Friday and Saturday the tricky conditions produced four different winners, but Cameron Good and his team from Kinsale showed the most consistency to take the championship. Richard Goodbody from the host club was a close second, with Royal North of Ireland's Simon Brien third.

The Dragon focus now turns to Kinsale for the Nationals in August, and the last chance for visitors to check out the venue for the the Dragon Gold Cup in 2012'

Dragon East Coast Championship 2011 Results

1st Cameron Good, Simon Furney, Henry Kingston KYC
2nd Richard Goodbody, Rick Johnson, Rob Johnson RIYC
3rd Simon Brien, Mark Brien, David Good RNIYC
4th Andrew Craig RSGYC
5th Martin Byrne RSGYC

Sailing Preparations are well underway for The Sovereign's Cup that takes place from 22nd to 25th June 2011, as Kinsale Yacht Club is gearing up to welcome 140 boats and their crews for a fantastic four day sailing and social programme. Kinsale Yacht Club is delighted to announce that MGM Boats, Eli Lilly and Fáilte Ireland have come on board as partners for Sovereign's Week 2011.
"We are delighted to announce our partners for Sovereign's Cup 2011 as MGM Boats has opened a new brokerage office in Kinsale, Eli Lilly is a long-established multi-national and the support of Fáilte Ireland is a great measure of the impact the event has on local tourism," said Gary Horgan, Regatta Director.
Entries are rolling in each week, with both regular competitors and newcomers to the event from all over Ireland and the UK. This year welcomes previous Sovereign's Cup winner, Eamonn Rohan returning to defend his title on his Quarter tonner 'Anchor Challenge'. Also registered is previous Sovereign's Cup winner and team Captain of last year's victorious Rolex Commodore's Cup Team, Anthony O'Leary on his Ker 39 'Antix'.
There are a number of entries in the strong Quarter Ton fleet, including international professional yachtsman, Peter Morton who will race on 'Odd Job' as his wife Louise Morton (and Quarter Ton Class Secretary) will race on 'Espada'. Other Quarter tonners include 'Black Fun' from New Zealand, Neil Kenefick on 'Tiger', Rob Gray on 'Aquila', Ian Travers on 'Bandit' and Ken Lawless on'Supernova', to name but a few.
According to Regatta Director, Gary Horgan, "As well as the excellent sailing conditions, race management and social programme ashore, we are encouraging sailors and guests to start thinking about their travel and accommodation plans. We are delighted that the Cork Swansea ferry will enable more sailors to access Kinsale easily from the UK and Failte Ireland's website www.discoverireland.ie/cork is an excellent vehicle for checking out accommodation in Kinsale and surrounding areas," he added.
The social programme is based around providing a fun atmosphere after racing for people to enjoy and later in the evenings there will be some great music for a top party atmosphere. The event kicks off with a launch reception at Kinsale Yacht Club on Tuesday 21st June and the week will draw to a close following the prizegiving on Saturday 25th June with a Bar-B-Q and musical entertainment.
The Sovereign's Cup was established in 1995 and has been a very successful and hugely popular cruiser regatta. The biennial event attracts over 140 boats from all over Ireland and the UK who compete for the prestigious Sovereign's Cup for best all round score in IRC and The Portcullis Trophy for best ECHO handicap.
There are many Classes for entry; including Class 0, 1, 2, 3, 4 and two White Sails classes. Also, the Quarter Ton Class Championships will be taking place during the Sovereign's Cup, bringing many new visitors to Kinsale from the South of England and Wales in particular.

The John Corby designed 38 one off, Gloves off, was the winner in class zero of Kinsale Yacht Club's Spring Series League. In Class One, the X- yacht Eos skippered by David Scott had a 16-point winning margin over Dan Buckley's J109 Justus. In class two another Corby design, a 25-footer, Yanks and Franks skippered by Vincent O'Shea beat Brian Goggin's sister ship Allure. Provisional overall results are published below class by class. Photos of the event by bob Bateman are here. All the latest Kinsale news and photos including updates on June's Sovereign's Cup.

 

Kinsale's Spring Series Class IRC Zero Overall

Series Place	Sail No	Boat	Type of Boat	Owner	Handicap	Series Points
1	IRL2003	GLOVES OFF	CORBY 38 ONE-OFF	Kieran Twomey	1.115	8
2	IRL4477	FREYA	X-442	Conor Doyle	1.098	17
3	IRL4475	GODOT	Dufour 44	Godkin & O'Donovan	1.099	24
4	IRL4076-2	MERIDIAN	SALONA 45	Tom Roche	1.131	29

Kinsale Yacht Club Spring Series Class IRC One Overall

Series Place	Sail No	Boat	Type of Boat	Owner	Handicap	Series Points
1	IRL6695	EOS	X-362 SPORT	David Scott	1.022	10
2	IRL2067	JUSTUS	J 109	Dan Buckley	1.027	16
3	IRL1843	ANTIX BEAG	1720mod	Anthony O'Leary	1.005	27
4	IRL2805	INDULGENCE	DEHLER 36 [JV]	Aidan Heffernan	1.023	30
5	IRL1583	CHANCER	ELAN 40	Carroll Bros	1.033	39
6	IRL4430	SAMBA	SUNFAST 40.3	John Downing	1.030	41

Kinsale Yacht Club Spring Series Class IRC Two Overall

Series Place	Sail No	Boat	Type of Boat	Owner	Handicap	Series Points
1	IRL2525	YANKS & FRANKS	CORBY 25	Vincent O'Shea	0.938	14
2	IRL2506	ALLURE	CORBY 25	Brian Goggin	0.936	22
3	IRL4170	SLACK ALICE	GK 34	Shane Statham	0.953	26
4	IRL16859	BAD COMPANY	SUNFAST 32	Desmond-Ivers-Deasy	0.939	29
5	IRL4506	SEA HAWK	SIGMA 33ood	Clem McElligott	0.915	34
6	GBR7525R	Thunderbird	Corby25	Denis Coleman	0.940	43
7	IRL1121	MAC MAGIC II	First 31.7	McCarthys	0.956	62
8	IRL78	NO-GNOMES	NICHOLSON 30 mod	Leonard Donnery	0.910	67
9	IRL9732	Wicked	Sun Fast 32i	Mark Mendel	0.940	70
10	IRL692	GEMINI	FIRST 310	Salter/O'Regan/Minihan	0.930	82
11	IRL329	GUNSMOKE 11	FIRST 32	Sammy Cohen	0.910	89
12	IRL3492	BIG DEAL	DEHLER 34	Derek Dillon	0.925	90
13	IRL6676	Y KNOT	FIRST 32S5	Barrett_Conlon	0.933	95

Kinsale Yacht Club Spring Series Class IRC Three Overall

Series Place	Sail No	Boat	Type of Boat	Owner	Handicap	Series Points
1	GBR506R	ANCHOR CHALLENGE	Farr 1/4 tonner	Eamonn Rohan	0.917	13
2	IRL1771	Shillelagh	BLAZER 23	John Twomey	0.868	15
3	IRL9600	IMPACUNIOUS	IMPALA	Eddie Rice	0.888	21
4	IRL4206	POWDER MONKEY	SIGMA 33	Liam Lynch	0.909	31
5	IRL6002	STAGEFRIGHT	FORMULA 28	STAGEFRIGHT	0.912	47
6	IRL6564	MONKEY BUSINESS	Formula28	Bill McConnell	0.912	49
7	IRL152	CHAMELEON	FASTNET 34	Padraig O'Donovan	0.896	52

Kinsale Yacht Club Spring Series Class IRC Four Overall

Series Place	Sail No	Boat	Type of Boat	Owner	Handicap	Series Points
1	GBR9625R	SUNDANCER	DYNAMO 25	Alan Mulcahy	0.841	8
2	148	SHELLY D	MOODY 30	Mick Murphy	0.859	16
3	A191	LA MARAQUITA	ACHILLES 24	Eddie Higgns & Kevin Morrisson		32

Kinsale Yacht Club Spring Series Class IRC White Sail Overall

Series Place	Sail No	Boat	Type of Boat	Owner	Handicap	Series Points
1	IRL3450	Val Criss	First 345	Murphy Hennessy Dann	0.965	13
2	IRL4004	OBJECTION	SUN ODYESSY 35	Kevin & Celia Murray	0.953	17.5
3	IRL7880	Windrose	Nicholson 26	Bill Joyce	0.850	20
4	IRL1176	MAGIC ELFIN	Hanse 371	Peter Kelly	0.992	22
5	IRL6006	CIMARRON VI	OCEANIS 42.3	Dave O'Sullivan	1.009	33
6	IRL4369	Charisma	Sigma33	Des Lyons & Aine Dunne	0.957	35
7	IRL7305	Delos	First 305	Dave Cullinane	0.914	40
8	IRL2123	WHEELS	SUN ODYESSY 42	John Whealan	1.013	40
9	IRL3910	Sonas	Sun Odyssey 39i	David Ross	1.011	44
10	IRL1424	Roloco	Oceaniis 343	Brian Rose	0.917	45
11	IRL109	Ragtime	GK 24	John Alexander	0.811	57
12	IRL4003	Aoife	Oceanis 350	John O Mahony	0.911	62

The first of the 2011 Irish Squib Class Regional Championships is being held in Kinsale over the May Bank Holiday Weekend. Boats from Dublin and Ulster are joined a local Munster fleet for some great racing today. Scroll down for photos below by bob Bateman. Big Seas!

Wind over tide and a 25-knot Easterly breeze meant it was always gonig to provide a great end to Kinsale's Spring Series Cruiser League. Scroll down for Bob Bateman's action shots from this afternoon's Cruiser course off Kinsale. Provisional overall results here.

Photographer Bob Bateman captured the sailing action from the final day of Kinsale's April league this afternoon and what a finale it turned out to be. Big seas, big winds for a classic Kinsale finish. The Squib class joined for good measure and are racing today and tomorrow for South Coast championship honours.  Scroll down for Bob's photos.

More final day Cruiser photo action from Kinsale HERE

More Squib South Coast photo action from Kinsale HERE

An appropriately named house for a sailing setting is on the market in Kinsale, County Cork. The Chart House is a 7-bed period house currently operating as a luxurious Bed and Breakfast.

The property is situated in the heart of Kinsale and within walking distance of Kinsale Yacht Club. It's on the market for €650,000. More here.

Click this link for the latest in Irish waterfront property