Waterford Harbour Sailing Club's Julian Hughes has leapt into the lead of the 1720 European Championships at the Sovereigns Cup in Kinsale.

The result, after three light air races sailed in ten knots or less, is quite an upset in the 24-boat fleet, given so many of the predicted top-ranked teams are not near the podium after day one. 

Hughes and his Root 1 crew scored an opening race win and followed it with two seconds to be on five points and four clear of the 'After Headcase' crew of Dickson, Mulloy, Ryan, Glynn and O’Byrne.

Tight racing in the 24-boat 1720 European Championships at the Sovereigns Cup off Kinsale Photo: Bob Bateman

Shane Hughes (no relation), Paris ILCA 7 Olympic trialist Ewan McMahon, Matthew Cotter and Flying Fifteener Charlie Boland are sailing with Hughes. 

In third place overall is defending European champion Ross & Robbie McBearla of Howth YC and Royal Cork YC on 14 points.

Anyone who might have thought that the Ross McDonald & Co on Atara would have an easy time of it defending their 1720 European Championship title will have to tear up that script based on the evidence of the first day’s racing off sun-soaked Kinsale. Julian Hughes and team on Root 1 may have set the pace with a bullet and two seconds, but seven different boats shared the nine available podium places today – such was the tight racing enjoyed by the fleet.

Rob O’Leary on Dutch Gold currently lies in sixth place by virtue of consistent performance, the only team in the top eight not to land a top-three finish in any race.

The forecast sea breeze filled in before the third race Photo: Bob Bateman

After a short postponement, racing got underway and out of the blocks, Root 1 took a commanding lead in Race 1. Waterford Harbour clubmate Rob McConnell came home second, and Donagh Good from RCYC claimed the final podium spot.

OD Ciarán McSweeney got Race 2 underway promptly, and the fleet headed up the beat to the windward mark off Black Head. This time out, After Headcase claimed the bullet and Fionn Lyden on Spiced Beef was snapping at the transom of Root 1, which came home in second place.

The forecast sea breeze filled in before the third race so the course was realigned allowing competitors time to admire the white sail fleet that was passing through on their way to the Sandy Cove mark.

Tight racing in the 24-boat 1720 Euro fleet Photo: Bob Bateman

A tightly-bunched fleet battled their way up to the first mark, where a mid-fleet schmozzle at the mark saw one of the veteran stalwarts of the class end up in the water. Thankfully, there were no serious injuries and up front the Atara team got their show on the road with a welcome bullet to wipe away the stress of finding themselves stranded on the side of the M8 motorway with Atara just north of Mitchelstown the evening before!

The Root 1 team were not letting them away - claiming their second consecutive second place. And the winner of the recent Southern Championships - Dave Kenefick on Full Irish – claimed the final podium spot.

The fleet returned en masse to Kinsale providing onlookers with the spectacular sight of 24 1720s flying their colourful spinnakers as they made their way up the harbour past the historic Charles Fort.

Racing continues tomorrow with a further three races scheduled and first gun at 10:55 with more sunshine and champagne sailing on the menu.

1720 Sportsboat 2023 Europeans Championships at Kinsale. Photo Gallery by Bob Bateman

This is the 15th edition of the biennial regatta, which has attracted 90 entries across all divisions and runs from 21st to 24th June and this year incorporates the 1720 European sportsboat Championships.

Results below

Royal Cork Yacht Club's Dave Kenefick crew have won the 1720 Southern Championships at Monkstown Bay Sailing Club from start to finish after five races sailed in Cork Harbour.

What a difference a day makes! Saturday's Mediterranean conditions gave way to a dull cloudy Sunday for the 20-boat sportsboat fleet.

Race Officer Ciaran MacSweeney made an early start to make up for the last race missed on Saturday, but it was not to be with a light flukey northeast breeze in play.

Patience was the order of the day, and after a two-hour delay, the expected east wind settled, and the course was set.

Two general recalls followed for the over-eager fleet, eventually followed by a black flag start for the first of three races on Sunday.

Dave Kenefick's Royal Cork Yacht Club crew lead the 1720 Southern Championships at Monkstown Bay Sailing Club Photo: Bob Bateman

Kenefick, who opened his account with a race win, finished on seven points with two more wins to his tally to be 13 points clear of clubmate Donagh Good on 20. 

Royal Irish visitor Kenneth Rumball of Dun Laoghaire, who won the second race on Saturday, was third overall on 22 points.

Royal Cork Yacht Club's Donogh Good finished second overall at the 1720 Southerns at MBSC Photo: Bob Bateman

Royal Irish Yacht Club's Kenneth Rumball took third overall at the 1720 Southerns at MBSC Photo: Bob Bateman

1720 Southerns at Monkstown Bay Sailing Club Photo Gallery by Bob Bateman

Results below.

Royal Cork Yacht Club's Dave Kenefick crew lead the 1720 Southern Championships at Monkstown Bay Sailing Club after two races sailed in Cork Harbour.

It was T-shirts and shorts weather for the sportsboats crews in a strong fleet of 20 boats representing eight different yacht clubs; five from the south coast, one from Galway and two from Dublin.

Dave Kenefick's Royal Cork Yacht Club crew lead the 1720 Southern Championships at Monkstown Bay Sailing Club Photo: Bob Bateman

Kenefick, who opened his account with a race win, sits on six points and is one point ahead of Royal Irish visitor Kenneth Rumball of Dun Laoghaire, who won the day's second race. 

Royal Irish Yacht Club's Kenneth Rumball is lying second overall at the 1720 Southerns at MBSC Photo: Bob Bateman

Waterford Harbour Sailing Club's Ben Scanlon lies third,

Racing continues on Sunday.

1720 Southerns at Monkstown Bay Sailing Club Photo Gallery by Bob Bateman

Results below.

Rob O'Leary and his Baltimore Sailing Club crew from West Cork returned to their winning ways at Howth Yacht Club when the North Dublin Club hosted the resurgent 1720s for the class’ first regional event of the 2023 season on Saturday and Sunday (29-30 April).

Conditions were challenging for the two-day event, and, as the ISORA fleet also found out off Dun Laoghaire during its coastal race, the light easterly Dublin breeze moved around a lot.

Second overall was Dun Laoghaire's Kenny Rumball, just one point behind O'Leary on ten points after five races sailed. Third was a second Baltimore boat, Aidan and Rory Lynch on 11 points.

See full results below

The 1720 Easterns saw a relatively small field of 13 boats competing, but they included past champions that punched above their weight in terms of action on the water.

Valuable ranking points will be up for grabs towards the new Joe English Cup, donated by the English family, which will go to the top-performing boat at the end of the season.

Professional coach Mike Richards was on hand to provide coaching throughout the weekend — including nuggets of wisdom during racing itself. The debrief was streamed live on the 1720 Facebook page.

Howth Yacht Club is hosting the resurgent 1720s for the class’ first regional event of the 2023 season this Saturday and Sunday (29-30 April).

The 1720 Easterns will see a relatively small field of 13 boats competing, but they include past champions and promise to punch above their weight in terms of action on the water.

Valuable ranking points will be up for grabs towards the new Joe English Cup, donated by the English family, which will go the top performing boat at the end of the season.

Professional coach Mike Richards will also be on hand to provide coaching throughout the weekend — including nuggets of wisdom during racing itself. The debrief will be streamed live on the 1720 Facebook page.

The Notice of Race and Sailing Instructions are also available from the HYC website.

The 1720 sportsboat crew of Optique, skippered by Colin Byrne of the Royal Irish Yacht Club, were the overall winners of the 2023 AIB DBSC Spring Chicken Series at the National Yacht Club today.

A final light race decider on Dublin Bay saw Byrne come from ninth overall to win overall by a single point under modified ECHO.

As Afloat reported previously, in a competitive climax to the series, the top 14 boats in the 37-boat mixed cruiser-racer fleet were separated by just ten points.

Just Jasmin, Phil Smyth's Bavaria Match 35, was second on 57 points with race two winner, the First 31.7  Avalon third on 59.

Final race and overall results are downloadable below.

As most readers will know, the Irish National Sailing & Powerboat School recently took the opportunity to change their existing keelboat fleet from the popular Irish 1720 design to the J80. There were many reasons for this shift, the primary being that the school could up its fleet from six to eight boats while keeping a one-design fleet. School principal Kenny Rumball, himself a competitive 1720 sailor, is keen to see the six boats back on the 1720 circuit after the significant resurgence in the fleet over the last number of years.

The six boats are all well-known boats from the 1720 heydays and the fleet includes Lemon, TewFrydEgz, Oi!, Ranelagh Consultants, Business Gold & Key Events. All of these boats were top performers before the unfortunate demise of the class in the mid-2000s.

The six boats are all well-known boats from the 1720 heydays

Since the boats entered service with the school, they have been kept in top condition and only require new forestays to be class legal. The only modifications made to the boats for work in a teaching environment were adding a roller furling head sail and a mainsail that had a reduced roach and slab reefing points.

Each boat went through two mini-refits annually with a dedicated maintenance team replacing any damaged items, usually within a 12-hour period. Most replacement parts were like for like Harken items or better.

The fleet did rest on moorings and as such all the boats are antifouled. Prior to the pandemic, all previous antifoulings were removed, and the boats were professionally brought back to gelcoat before being treated to the full Nautix hard matrix antifoul treatment of high build primer, then sanded back before A4 TSpeed was applied in two diluted layers. As experienced racers will know, this hard matrix antifoul can be wet sanded back to a mirror finish. Therefore, each boat can be competitive instantly with a bit of elbow grease.

Masts are a mixture of generation 1 and generation 2 Selden rigs on the six 1720s now for sale at the INSS

Masts are a mixture of generation 1 and generation 2 Selden rigs, all of which sport recent spreaders, running and standing rigging, all of which is less than five years old and class legal. Each boat rests on its own road trailer; however, as these trailers were primarily used for winter storage and did not travel, each trailer would require new tyres & brakes to make it road legal.

The INSS school are motivated to sell these six 1720s ahead of the season

Unfortunately, full suits of racing sails are not being sold with the boat as the old sails that came with the boats were recycled into bags and other items. However, many members of the 1720 class have full suits of sails that are available for purchase second-hand; however, each boat will be sold with a factional and masthead spinnaker.

The school are motivated to sell these boats ahead of the season. Prices are realistic and boat dependent with prices varying from €6k-€10k. Serious enquiries are only to be made directly with Kenneth Rumball [email protected]

The 1720 sportsboat Class has updated its 2023 calendar with a missing Dublin fixture now pencilled in for April.

As regular Afloat readers will know, the class confirmed three events for 2023, all on the south coast, but the sportsboat class spokesman, Julian Hughes, also told Afloat back in November there is a 'possible further event in August in Dublin on the cards also'.

This week the class announced an Eastern Championships that will sail from Howth Yacht Club, not in August but instead the first event of the year on April 29th and 30th. 

Hughes told Afloat: "the additional event was added to the calendar after positive feedback from the fleet looking for more events and a Dublin event to support the resurgence there".

The 1994-founded Irish designed class will stage their European Championships as part of the Sovereigns Cup at Kinsale Yacht Club from 21-24th June, building towards a 'big end-of-season event' in Dunmore East, the Irish Nationals at Waterford Harbour Sailing Club from 21st-23rd September. This venue hosted a cut-short Euros in 2021.  

The full 1720 2023 calendar is now: 

• 29 -30th April - Eastern Championships at Howth Yacht Club
• 27-28 May - Open event at Monkstown Bay Sailing Club
• 21-24th June - European Championships /Sovereigns Cup at Kinsale Yacht Club
• 21st-23rd September - Irish Nationals at Waterford Harbour Sailing Club 

The relatively new venue for the fleet of Monkstown Bay Sailing Club will host the first event of three confirmed fixtures for the 1720s in 2023, the recent well-attended AGM has heard.

The resurgent 1720s celebrated their 30th anniversary at Cork Week in July with a 42-boat fleet that was a centrepiece of Royal Cork's 300th celebrations.

The three confirmed events for 2023 are all on the south coast, but the sportsboat class spokesman, Julian Hughes, told Afloat there is a 'possible further event in August in Dublin on the cards also'.

As regular Afloat readers will know, Monkstown Bay previously co-hosted the Munster Championships in 2020 in conjunction with RCYC but is the only Cork Harbour host club next May.

The 1720 class is riding high after its 42-boat turnout at Cork Week 2022 Photo: Rick Tomlinson

The 1994-founded Irish designed class will stage their European Championships as part of the Sovereigns Cup at Kinsale Yacht Club from 21-24th June, building towards a 'big end-of-season event' in Dunmore East, the Irish Nationals at Waterford Harbour Sailing Club from 21st-23rd September. This venue hosted a cut-short Euros in 2021. 

'The fleet is pumped for the season ahead', Hughes told Afloat.

1720 Irish Sportsboat 2023 Calendar

• 27-28 May - Open event at Monkstown Bay Sailing Club
• 21-24th June - European Championships /Sovereigns Cup at Kinsale Yacht Club
• 21st-23rd September - Irish Nationals at Waterford Harbour Sailing Club 

1720 Irish Sportsboat 2023 Calendar

The march of the revived 1720 Sportsboats goes on despite their design origins at least thirty years ago. But even with all the fresh talent in the class, it was as if you were in the weekend's Championship at Baltimore, with the Crosshaven-Howth squad of Aoife English and brother
Rob, together with husband/brother-in-law Ross McDonald in Atara, winning overall as smoothly as they did in the super-championship at Cork Week in July.

They would have started as favourites. So just to lull the opposition into a deluded sense of new possibilities, Atara threw a 16th in the first race while the bullet was taken by local boat MO (Rory and Aidan Lynch). But thereafter, Atara showed her true colours and got all the
guns blazing to knock up a steady and sometimes sparkling scoreline which gave them the title by 18pts to the 22 of Royal Cork's Dave Kenefick in Full Irish.

Dave Kenefick's Full Irish crew finished second overall

Julian Hughes from Dunmore East racing Root 1 (we're told he's big in carrots, no comment) cooked it up nicely to place third overall and help give a healthy spread to the top places.

Julian Hughes's Root 1 crew finished third overall

Results are below