Saturday's much anticipated Monkstown Bay Sailing Club (MBSC) 'At Home' Regatta was cancelled due to high winds forecast for Cork Harbour.

Westerly winds are forecast to guest over 30 mph.

Monkstown Bay Sailing Club’s Tuesday night racing league continued with another spectacular evening’s racing in Cork Harbour last night.

The weekly league is a great event to get away from it all after the bustle of work, and last night was no different. The bay gleamed in the final rays of a sinking sun. The breeze was North Westerly, and an ebb tide was running. There was even a hint of strong wind, but in true Monkstown fashion, it came and went in the blink of an eye.

A light wind start at 7 pm in the shelter of the Sandquay, mixed things up for the competitors. Glassy conditions held the faster dinghies back. The PY race is an all-in race with a lovely variety of unusual dinghies that are not a common sight in Ireland.

MBSC Tuesday Night Photo Gallery by Chris Bateman

The tide had a dominating effect on the course and as a result, kept the racers tacking up the Blackpoint shoreline. This led to a few people running aground, shaking up the lead. Michael O’Brien and Ritchie Harrington in their 505 were having a great race, only to be stopped by the mud banks off the dockyard.

This allowed the Lasers and Aero’s to slip through, and there was no stopping them at that point. By this stage, the breeze had picked up.

In the end, Brendan Dwyer in his Laser, won what was a hard-fought race. Rob Howe came in second in his RS Aero, with Davy O’Connell taking third in his Laser after recovering very well from a capsize at the start line.

The evening’s race was great preparation for Monkstown’s At Home event, to be run this Saturday.

Great racing is promised, and a barbecue before prize giving will be the icing on the cake. Entry is free, and you can register online on MBSC’s website.

First gun will be at 2 pm.

Monkstown Bay Sailing Club (MBSC) will hold their ‘At Home’ annual regatta on Saturday with dinghy racing for National 18s, RS Fevas, Optimists and two classes for mixed dinghies offered in Monkstown Bay.

The First Gun for dinghies is at 1400 hours.

Cruiser racing is also offered in the schedule, with FG in the lower harbour for IRC, ECHO, Whitesail and Sportsboats at 1330.

Dinghy racing was cancelled at Monkstown last Friday evening due to the strong winds prevailing.

Veteran Laser sailor David O’Connell topped Monkstown Bay Sailing Club’s Class 1 June dinghy league, in which there were eight races, of which he won three, finishing with a total of 16 points.

The female crew of Judy Moynihan helming, crewed by Therese Loesberg, in their double-handed Laser II finished on 19 points, having won two races.

Another long-time Laser sailor, John Moynihan, was third on thirty-six points.

The smallest boat in Class 2, a Mirror dinghy sailed by Tom and Tim O’Connor, topped this section of the league with a total of 13 points, having won three of the races. That was a fine performance against the rest of the fleet composed of Fevas. They were led, in second place overall, by Daisy and Ruby Duggan, finishing on 17 points, followed in third by Barry and Ged O’Connor on 24.

David O’Connell racing a Laser/ILCA 7, has taken over the lead of Class 1 in Monkstown Bay Sailing Club’s June dinghy league in Cork Harbour.

He leads on 9 points after a hat-trick of successive first places.

Previous leaders Judy Moynihan and Therese Loesberg are in second place on 11. Third-placed Robert Howe is on 21 points.

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.

Lasers are dominating the May League at Monkstown Bay Sailing Club in Cork Harbour, where Simon Butler in a Laser 7 leads the dinghy league Class 1 on 15 points after seven races, with the Laser II duo of Judy Moynihan and Therese Loesberg in second place on 18 and John Moynihan in another Laser third on 25 in a 505.

Class 2 is headed by RS Feva XLS - Daisy and Ruby Duggan first; Lucy O’Connell and Kate O’Connor second; and Jack Horgan/Noah Joyce third.

Cove Sailing Club's Kieran Dorgan prevailed in the final race of the Monkstown Bay Sailing Club on Saturday in Cork Harbour to win the League and coveted Yard of Ale trophy. 

In a light air climax, Dorgan won two of the three races sailed today to be four points clear of Monkstown Bay's own Ronan Kenneally on 26 points. 

In third place was Kenneally's clubmate Arthur O'Connor on 49 points. 

Final Day of action at the MBSC Laser League in Cork Harbour

The league ran for six Saturdays and attracted a fleet of 14 boats and only lost one day due to lack of wind.

Typically, this winter series is run by the Laser sailors themselves, but this year, for the first time, it came fully under the burgee of MBSC. 

MBSC is one of a few clubs with their race area right on their doorstep. Race Officer Alan Fehilly (featured in Mary Malone's vid below) reviews the series.

MBSC Winter Laser League Prizegiving 2023

The prizegiving was held in the pleasant MBSC clubhouse at De Vesci Place, where Dorgan collected not only the 'Yard of Ale' but €150 in prize money.

Also up for grabs were CH Marine vouchers for second and third place in this open event.

Maritime times past in Cork Harbour

In a marking of times past for Cork Harbour, the conclusion of the dinghy league coincided this weekend with the 50th anniversary of the launching of the Rolf Jacob, a 50,000-ton bulk carrier into the river across from MBSC, as Bob Bateman's historic photo documents below 

The Rolf Jacob, a 50,000 ton bulk carrier is launched in Cork Harbour at Verolm Dockyard on February 10th in 1973 Photo: Bob Bateman

At Monkstown Bay Sailing Club in Cork Harbour, where eleven races have been sailed in the club’s Winter Laser League, racing resumed on Saturday when Kieran Dorgan from Cove Sailing Club just around the corner at Whitepoint, continued to lead the fourteen boats entered.

With three discards applied in the eleven races, he has a total of 18 points, but it is a narrow lead over the home club’s Ronan Kenneally, who is just one point behind on 19. There is a big gap then to third-placed Robert Scallan who is on 33 points.

So the battle for overall honours as the league enters its final stage this Saturday is between Dorgan and Kenneally.