Displaying items by tag: Royal Cork Yacht Club
Royal Cork Trio Take SB20 Lough Derg Yacht Club Freshwater Keelboat Title at Dromineer
Royal Cork Yacht Club's Mel Collins, Aidan MacSweeny and Harry Pritchard sailing GoldDigger beat the SB20 national champions for overall honours at Lough Derg Yacht Club Freshwater Keelboat One Design Regatta on Sunday.
The Crosshaven trio lifted the trophy after finishing on the same four nett points as 2023 Irish champions Michael O'Connor, Davy Taylor, and Owen Laverty from the Royal St George, who discarded an expensive disqualification from the fourth race.
Four races were sailed on Saturday with one discard, but racing was abandoned on Sunday by Race Officer John Leech due to a lack of wind at Dromineer.
Greystones Sailing Club trio Marty O'Leary, Rachel O'Leary and Conor Galligan finished third.
Ten SB20s competed.
Vintage racing yachts hold the overall lead in Cork Harbour after a single light air race was held on the second Sunday of Royal Cork Yacht Club's Autumn League 2023.
Favourable 'summer' weather continues to bless the League even if winds were never over five knots for today's single race, ultimately shortened for all classes by Race Officer Richard Leonard.
Anchor Challenge, Conor Phelan's Quarter-Tonner, who won the first two races last weekend, added another race win in the eight-boat IRC Two Spinnaker Division. The vintage yacht beat Michael McCann's Etchells 22 Don't Dilly Dally, which lies second overall while Stephen Lysaght's Elan 333 Reavra Too from Kinsale is third.
David Dwyer's Farr Half Tonner, Swuzzlebubble, who was lying third after the opening races in IRC One Spinnaker Division, is now the overall leader of a nine-boat fleet. Annamarie and Denis Murphy's Grand Soliel 40 Nieulargo is second, with the J122 JellyBaby (Jones Family) in third place.
Results in all classes below
Anchor Challenge, Conor Phelan's Quarter-Tonner, won the first two races of the Royal Cork Yacht Club's Autumn League 2023 in the 17-boat IRC Spinnaker division on Sunday.
The vintage yacht beat Michael McCann's Etchells 22 Don't Dilly Dally, which secured second overall with a four and a two, while David Dwyer's Farr Half Tonner, Swuzzlebubble, is lying third.
Despite the previous week's bad weather, favourable 'summer' weather prevailed on October 1st for an auspicious start to the 2023 league off Cork Harbour.
Race Officers, Anthony and Sally O'Leary, managed the race course well to make the best of the variable light winds and an ebb tide that meant the first race was shortened to one round with a mark laid off the Dutchman Rocks off Fennells Bay.
The compact size of the 2023 fleet still has some notable visitors, including the J109, Tighey Boy skippered by Tony O'Brien from Schull in West Cork and Dunmore East regular, David Marchant in his Sigma 33, Flyover.
The second race saw the weather mark positioned more to the east, with about 10 knots of wind.
The only setback for the 33-boat fleet was waiting for lower-rated whitesail boats to finish to get the second race underway for the spinnaker fleet.
Alan Mulcahy from Kinsale Yacht Club leads the 16-boat IRC White Sail division with two wins in the Albin Express Apache, while Kieran O'Brien's MG335 Magnet is in second place, and Aidan Heffernan's Dufour 36, Indulgence, is in third place.
Results in all divisions below
Royal Cork Yacht Club's Autumn League 2023 Photo Gallery by Bob Bateman
The 1720 Sportsboat Class in Ireland has a certain something, which means that when its annual championship comes around, it often attracts stars from other classes for this peak of sportsboat sport. And though the 2023 1720 Nats at Dunmore East with Waterford Harbour SC in September may not have attracted the significantly large numbers seen at some other venues in recent years, there was some very hot talent battling it out on the Waterford Estuary and the nearby Atlantic.
This time round, David Kenefick of Royal Cork came through the lineup of multi-class superstars to take the title ahead of a Who’s Who of 1720 talent, and he gets a clear place in September’s Roll of Honour with it.
Royal Cork Yacht Club Presents Its Summer 2023 League Winners at Crosshaven Awards Evening
Royal Cork Yacht Club Rear Admiral of Keelboats Paul Tingle led the celebrations at the 2023 Summer League winners' prizegiving in Cork Harbour on Thursday evening (September 28th).
There was a great turnout for the Crosshaven event that featured double Olympian Peter O'Leary, who won the Admiral Doyle Plate sailing his Star keelboat 'Archie' in the May Spinnaker IRC League.
O'Leary was presented with his perpetual trophy by the club's Vice Admiral Annamarie Fegan, who was on hand to congratulate all the RCYC prizewinners at the world's oldest yacht club.
As regular Afloat readers will know, O'Leary finished sixth overall this month at the Star Worlds in Italy, sailing with Belfast Lough's Stephen Milne.
In June and July's IRC spinnaker leagues, Michael McCann's Etchells 22 one-design keelboat 'Don't Dilly Dally' was the overall winner.
For a full list of the prizewinners and photos from the event, see the below listing.
Royal Cork Yacht Club League Winners List (Summer 2023) Prizegiving Photos by Bob Bateman
Cork Harbour ILCA 6 Sailor Races from Blackrock to Crosshaven in 90 Minutes to Win Royal Cork's Passage Race
As part of this summer's Royal Cork Yacht Club RCYC 'At Home' regatta, the ILCA/Laser fleet took on the Blackrock to Crosshaven passage race in Cork Harbour.
The ILCAs launched at Cork Boat Club and headed downriver with a falling tide and following wind to cover the more than ten-mile course in under ninety minutes.
The fleet had 18-20 knots directly behind them all the way across Lough Mahon, which caused several boats to flip, but the next leg through Passage was significantly more friendly.
The ILCA 4s were allowed to go inside Spike Island, while the ILCA 6s and 7s had to go the long way round as part of the handicap.
The leading ILCA 4, Craig O'Neill, was more than halfway across Curlane Bank when the leading ILCA 6s of Robert Jeffreys and Joe O'Sullivan got around Spike.
The final beat to the club against the tide and the usual trickiness at the Coveney Pier finally sorted out a winner, with Joe O'Sullivan making it to the RCYC marina in one hour, and thirty-six minutes which, given the favourable tide and wind conditions, may be setting a very difficult time to beat in future years.
'Jelly Baby' and 'Cavatina' are Royal Cork Yacht Club Naval Race Winners
The Royal Cork Yacht Club held its annual Naval Race on a windy day in Cork Harbour, bringing together a fleet of 16 boats.
The race course started with a grassy start, followed by a run to the south of Trabolgan and a beat back, leaving No.3 to port and upriver to finish between the flagstaff on the Naval Base at Haulbowline and No.20 buoy.
The cold northeast air throughout the race starkly contrasted the previous weekend's 30-degree temperatures and light airs.
In the Naval Race IRC Spinnaker division, Jelly Baby (Jones Family), the newly crowned ICRA National Champion, emerged as the winner of the six-boat division. Annamarie and Denis Murphy's Grand Soliel 40, Nieulargo, secured second position, followed by Paul and Deirdre Tingle's X4 Alpaca in third.
Ian Hickey's Granada 38, Cavatia, emerged as the winner in IRC White Sails, with Ronan Twomey's First 40.7, Rosmarina, securing second position, and Kieran O'Brien's Magnet finishing third.
The 16-knot breeze throughout the race made for a thrilling sail, and commendations were awarded to the winners in both divisions for their performances.
Royal Cork Yacht Club Naval Race 2023 Photo Gallery by Bob Bateman
Evening Yacht Racing Concludes in Lively Sailing Conditions in Cork Harbour
The overall Cork Harbour league winner in the Thursday August-September league in the IRC Spinnaker Division was Michael McCann’s Etchells Don’t Dilly Dally, with Sean Hanley’s HB 31, Luas, second and Ria Lyden’s X332 Ellida third.
Under ECHO handicap Ellida was first, with Luas second and Don’t Dilly Dally third.
IRC Whitesail Division Thursday overall was won by Kieran O’Brien’s MG335 Magnet, with Pat Vaughan’s Contessa 33, Aramis, second and Ian Hickey’s Granada, Cavatina, third.
In ECHO handicap Whitesail, Aramis was the winner, with Cavatina second and Paul O’Shea’s Sun Odyssey 36i, Elegance, third.
Gusting wind to over 22 knots at times, heavy rain and wind over tide all contributed to testing conditions on the last night of the Friday August-September Whitesail league, the heavy conditions, reduced the fleet to a turn-out of four boats which had a lively evening’s sailing.
The overall league winner was the MacSweeney Family’s Sigma 33, Scribbler, with Kieran O’Halloran’s Stingray second and Rob Foster’s Clodagh third.
Royal Cork Congratulates ILCA Team's Three in a Row at Howth
The Royal Cork Yacht Club (RCYC) won the team trophy at last month's ILCA National Championships for the third year running, held at Howth Yacht Club, as Afloat reported here.
Although the championship had to be limited to two days of racing due to storm Betty, 14 sailors from RCYC competed in the three ILCA fleets under the guidance of coach André Granadeiro.
RCYC successfully beat off competitors Howth Yacht Club and the Royal St. George Yacht Club to claim the trophy with the best result across the three fleets. This year, Liam Duggan finished second in ILCA4, Michael Crosbie came third in ILCA6, and Jonathan O Shaughnessy came third in ILCA7, and their names will be inscribed onto the trophy.
The Irish Laser Association (now ILCA Ireland) team championship trophy was first awarded in 1977 to Susan Gray, Ruth Barrington, and Tansey Millerick.
ILCA Sprint Series
On September 17th, the Royal Cork Yacht Club will host the final round of the ILCA Cork Summer Sprint Series, where boats throughout Munster will compete for the title. The sprint series events were held in Glandore, Kinsale, Bantry, and Iniscarra throughout the summer. Interested participants may still enter the single-day sprint event, which is open for entry on the RCYC website under the ILCA Summer Sprint Series.
Royal Cork and Howth Yacht Clubs Ready to Do Battle at New York's Invitational Cup
Royal Cork Yacht Club and Howth Yacht Club both compete in tomorrow's Rolex New York Yacht Club Invitational Cup.
Racing will take place off of Newport, either offshore on Rhode Island Sound or inshore on Narragansett Bay, and up to 12 races are planned for the series, with as many as four on any given day.
In the 2021 edition of the Cup, Howth finished 18th, and RCYC were fourth.
As previously reported by Afloat, sailing for Howth is Gary Cullen, Graham Curran, Johnny Durcan, Carla Fagan, Colin Kavanagh, Diana Kissane, William Maguire, David Maguire and Luke Malcolm.
The Royal Cork lineup is: Shawn Bennett, Cliodhna Connolly, Harry Durcan, Ben Field, Mark Hassett, Tom Murphy, Sally O Flynn, Robert O'Leary and Anthony O'Leary.
Of the many illustrious clubs from around the world that have competed in the Cup, the premiere fleet regatta for Corinthian crews, two have most consistently demonstrated the slick boatspeed and smooth crew handling that are the hallmarks of winning one-design crews: Southern Yacht Club of New Orleans and Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron (above) of Australia. One of the two has placed first and/or second in the past three editions, dating to 2017.
The two teams’ run of success began six years ago, when Southern Yacht Club posted a 12-point victory over Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron for its first victory in the prestigious regatta. Two years later, in 2019, it was Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron’s turn to win its first Invitational Cup, posting a four-point victory that went down to the final day of racing, while Southern Yacht Club placed fifth.
Yearning to defend their historic title—Royal Sydney was the first team from the Southern Hemisphere to win the coveted trophy—in 2021, helmsman Guido Belgiorno-Nettis and crew were “very disappointed” when they were denied the opportunity due to travel restrictions resulting from the Covid-19 pandemic. Instead, Southern Yacht Club, helmed by 2004 Olympic Silver medalist (Tornado) John Lovell, posted a 10-point victory for its second title in three editions.
“We watched the 2021 Invitational Cup with fascination, jealousy and frustration,” said Belgiorno-Nettis. “Sitting on the couch, my team were sure we could’ve given the 2021 competing teams a good run for their money. But I know that reality will set the record straight when we turn up at the start line. Then the talk stops and the action will begin.”
So, when racing for this year’s regatta begins tomorrow, the Invitational Cup will in effect have two defending champions. The two teams are returning the same helmsmen from 2021 and 2019, Lovell for Southern Yacht Club and Belgiorno-Nettis for Royal Sydney, and each crew has been on the water the past couple of days practicing. Both helmsmen feel more practice is needed.
“We’ve been working the kinks out the past couple of days,” said Lovell “I think our crew work is pretty good, but time and distance is what we’ve been struggling with and working on. Hitting the start line at full speed within three to four meters of the start line and being able to sail straight for two minutes is critical. If you can do that, you’ll be in the game.”
“We’re very rusty. We haven’t done any sailing as a team since 2019,” said Belgiorno-Nettis. “You have to be good sailors; you have to have a great team. A quiet team is a fast team. Most important, you have to be consistent. You don’t have to win every race, but if you have good results eventually it comes your way, I think.”
Nineteen teams from 14 countries are on hand to race the eighth Rolex New York Yacht Club Invitational Cup, a biennial regatta hosted by the New York Yacht Club Harbour Court in Newport, R.I. Since the event was first run in 2009, it has attracted top amateur sailors from 51 of the world’s most prestigious yacht clubs from 22 countries.
After five editions in the Swan 42 class, the 2023 event will be the third sailed in the IC37, designed by Mark Mills. The strict one-design nature of this purpose-built class, combined with the fact that each boat is owned and maintained by the New York Yacht Club, will ensure a level playing field not seen in any other amateur big-boat sailing competition. The regatta will run from Saturday, September 9, through Saturday, September 16, with racing starting on Tuesday, September 12.
Of the 19 teams entered this year, 17 have previous experience in the regatta. The two first-time entrants are the Corinthian Yacht Club of Marblehead, Mass., and Yacht Club Punta del Este of Uruguay.
Two of the 17 returning clubs, New York Yacht Club and Royal Cork Yacht Club of Ireland, have raced each edition of the Invitational Cup. And two sailors in this year’s fleet have also raced in each edition of the Invitational Cup: Royal Cork helmsman Anthony O’Leary and Royal Canadian Yacht Club crewmember John Millen.
“The standard of competition goes without saying, but what we really have great confidence in is the ability of the Technical Committee to prepare boats of equal standing for each competing team at the Invitational Cup,” said O’Leary, who has helmed the Royal Cork entry at each previous event. “This is important for competitors and gives us all a belief that we are as close to a ‘level playing pitch’ as is possible for an event of this nature.”
“This regatta, you have people who come to it from all around the world,” said Millen, who has raced with Royal Canadian six times and the New York Yacht Club once. “Racing in Swan 42s was fantastic. With the IC37s, the modern boats, even practicing racing, is incredibly tight. The importance of being consistent, the margins of victory and loss are so tiny, and so it can be incredibly satisfying or painful, and that makes it fun.”
The following yacht clubs will compete for the 2023 Rolex New York Yacht Club Invitational Cup: Corinthian Yacht Club (Marblehead, Mass.), Howth Yacht Club (IRL), Itchenor Sailing Club (GBR), Japan Sailing Federation, New York Yacht Club, Norddeutscher Regatta Verein (GER), Nyländska Jaktklubben (FIN), Royal Canadian Yacht Club, Royal Cork Yacht Club (IRL), Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club (CHN), Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron, Royal Swedish Yacht Club, Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron (AUS), Royal Vancouver Yacht Club (CAN), Southern Yacht Club (New Orleans), Yacht Club Argentino, Yacht Club Costa Smeralda (ITA), Yacht Club Punte del Este (URY)