Strong winds prevent play on opening day of Coutts Quarter Ton Cup 2017. 23–boats are entered for the event with a single Irish boat in the line up of exquisitely prepared classic race boats – along with some of the world's best sailors – have gathered in Cowes for the 13th edition of the Cup.

Paul Gibbons and the Anchor Challenge crew (including four–time Olympian Mark Mansfield onboard ) from Royal Cork Yacht Club are in the high–end fleet with competitors drawn from four countries.

As regular Afloat.ie readers will recall ICRA Champ Gibbons was in warm up mode late last month at his Cork club's At-Home regatta taking the top prize in Crosshaven. The RCYC sailor is also an inaugural IRC Euro champ, earning that honour at Cork Week 2016.

As ever, there's a diverse variety of sailors, ranging from members of Ben Ainslie's 2017 Land Rover BAR America's Cup team, through seasoned trans-Atlantic solo racers, to long-standing Solent gurus. However, parachuting in a team of hot-shot experts is no guarantee of winning this event - it's often the crews that have practiced and raced together over a longer period that have the consistency to come out on top.

Cork Harbour sailors has won the revived 'Corinthian' division of the Cup three times since 2005. Royal Cork's George Kenefick won it twice in 2011 and 2012 (and earned him Afloat Sailor of the Year award) and in 2014 Cork Harbour's Illes Pitiuses sailed by Dominic and Jason Losty were also winners.

The opening day dawned with blue skies and a brisk 20-25 knot westerly breeze. However, with the wind forecast to increase during the morning, the fleet was held ashore while two mark laying RIBs ventured out at 1100 to check on conditions first hand, which led to a decision to abandon racing for the day.

"We've been out on the Hill Head Plateau, where there's 22-25 knots of wind, with a sharp Solent chop and broken water," explained Principal Race Officer, Robert Lamb of the Royal Southampton YC, "...and there's no prospect of the wind dropping before the tide turns to the west later this afternoon, when the wind against tide will kick up an even worse sea state."

With the two Quarter Tonners that broke rigs during this year's Cowes Week serving as a fresh reminder of the relatively fragile nature of these boats, there was overwhelming support for the decision from owners and sailors. "I think everyone will be pleased, especially at this stage of the regatta, where you don't want to risk damage," said Tom Hill, owner of the newly restored Belinda.

Hill is a long-standing Quarter Ton owner, having sailed Runaway Bus for several years, before buying and refitting Belinda. "The standard is very high in the fleet," Hill says, "so you have to keep improving and you learn a lot by sailing against the strongest teams. Belinda is a fairer shape than Runaway Bus and is a much better boat in stronger breezes. John [Corby] did a fantastic job - the boat is now very rigid and feels really solid in a way that's lacking in some older boats."

Tomorrow the forecast is for a west-north-westerly breeze averaging 15 knots, but with significantly strong gusts. The intention is to complete four 45-minute races, with the first warning signal for the 23-strong fleet at 1100.

Anthony O'Leary's fifth time a the New York Yacht Club Invitational Cup at Newport, R.I has opened with a fourth overall position for the Royal Cork Yacht Club entry. After three races in a fresh southwesterly breeze, Southern Yacht Club and Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron stand first and second in the regatta, with five and seven points, respectively.

Click here for the overall results.

Amateur sailors representing 14 yacht clubs from eight countries from around the globe have converged on Newport to race in the ultimate one-design, big-boat competition. The boats and sails are provided and the rig tune is standardized across the fleet. 

After qualifying by winning last September's Resolute Cup, Southern Yacht Club has spared no expense nor effort to prepare its team for the Rolex NYYC Invitational Cup. The Club syndicate purchased a Swan 42 and competed in a number of regattas this past summer. The results of this hard work were immediately obvious today as Southern Yacht Club, with Marcus Eagan at the helm and 2004 Olympic silver medalists John Lovell calling tactics, took second in the first race, second in the second and then added a first in a third.

"We have a good team," said Lovell, a four-time Olympian in the Tornado class. "We’ve been practicing. Andrew [Eagan]’s trimming the jib really well. We’re really excited and hoping to stay in that top group. I’m sure we’re going to have one of those days where we get in the back a couple times. We had a couple crosses where we barely made it, and if we hadn’t we would have been pack in the pack. So everything just seemed to go right today."

On the other hand, Guido Belgiorno-Nettis, the helmsman for the Royal Sydney team, hadn't laid a hand on the wheel of the Swan 42 for two years when he showed up for the first day of practice on Saturday. And his team hasn't spent a lot of time sailing together. But that didn't stop them from winning the first race and then adding a pair of thirds for a comfortable second place in the overall standings.

"It’s so nice to have a group of guys to come together," said Belgiorno-Nettis. "They were all sailors for a long time, but we had hadn’t actually sailed together as a team. They just dug deep, and we figured out the way pretty quickly by the looks of things."

But the wiry Australian—of Italian descent—was quick point out that prior success is no indication of future performance. And that there are four days left in this event.

"I'm sure we’re going to go backwards in other races because it’s natural," he added. "You can’t do great work every day in every regatta. I've been to too many. I think for us it was a good moral lift to be able to be successful today, we’re happy to end out in the front end. The guys are enjoying it. The New York Yacht Club puts on one of the best regattas in the world, if not the best."

Eastern Yacht Club finished strong with a second in the the third race and currently sits third, with 13 points. Rounding out the top five are Royal Cork Yacht Club—a five-time Rolex New York Yacht Club Invitational Cup competitor—and the defending champions from Royal Thames Yacht Club.

The biggest cheer in the tent today, however, went to a team that currently sits sixth. After 45 races over four regattas, the Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club team finally won its first Invitational Cup race in the day's second contest. Few teams have matched the passion of the RHKYC, which always shows up determined to have a good time and has succeeded each time, no matter the final results.

Royal Cork Yacht Club has shaken up the format of its 2018 Volvo Cork Week Regatta following an exit survey of competitors at the 2016 event.

A brand-new format for the regatta that runs from 9th – 14th July 2018 offers cruiser–racers the option to choose from the multi–series format of the new event.

The new event will feature 12 competitive classes in IRC and ECHO handicaps. There is racing for the Volvo Cork Week Cup, Club Regatta Day, Inshore Races, the Beaufort Cup, plus a new 'Offshore and Wrecks' series. 

Dublin Bay JPK10.80 Rockabill competing in 2016's Cork Week Harbour Race Photo: Bob Bateman

'We are always looking for new and exciting ways to make the regatta better for you the competitor. This year is no different, RCYC's Kieran O'Connell, the Cork Week Chairman, told Afloat.ie

'On receiving the results of the survey carried out after the regatta in 2016, one thing became very clear to us. Every individual competitor’s needs and wants are very different', O'Connell explained.

Using the survey as a guide, the Volvo Cork Week committee spent a lot of time looking at how best to offer a tailored experience to as many competitors as possible. We have always said that Volvo Cork Week is a regatta run by sailors for sailors, so we decided adhere to this mantra and create a regatta built by sailors.

O'Connell says some of the possibilities at the 2018 regatta are:

· If you as the competitor enjoy coming to Cork Week for 5 days of world class racing and great entertainment then that is on offer.
· If you as competitor enjoy coming to Cork Week but find it hard to get five days off, then we have a three-day series and that is on offer.
· If you enjoy just doing the longer offshore style racing both fully crewed or shorthanded, then that is also on offer.
· If you would like to hold your class championships finishing on the Saturday then, you said it, that is on offer too. 

Download the advance notice of race below

All Afloat.ie's Cork Week coverage in one handy link here

The CH Marine Autumn Series at Royal Cork Yacht Club is rapidly approaching, one of the premier highlights of the sailing season on the south coast, that always attracts large numbers of sailors from a wide variety of clubs from around Ireland.

CH Marine have sponsored this event for a number of years and have enabled the club to stage the popular event which is continuing to grow year after year and comes straight after the end of RCYC's September series, report here.

This year the CH Marine Autumn Series will commence on Sunday, October 1st with the first two races and will follow with two races each Sunday in October finishing on Sunday October 29th. Racing will commence each day at 1055hrs, and will be followed each day by food, music and daily prize giving.

Notice of Race and Entry forms are downloadable for the CH Marine Autumn Series below.

Over the last few years there has been a great 1720 fleet building for the CH Marine Autumn Series, with 13 boats competing last year.

This year is looking like the 1720 class will not disappoint with a large number of early entries.

On the final day of racing the CH Marine Autumn Series dinner and overall prize giving will be held at the club commencing at 19.30hrs. 

Subject to availability, complimentary berthing on swinging moorings or marina berths will be provided to yachts visiting.

For marina berthing arrangements contact Mark Ring at Royal Cork office +353(0)214831023.

Royal Cork Yacht Club's Fitzgerald Menswear sponsored August/September League finished last night in autumnal conditions with most boats finishing in the early darkness! The westerly breeze was up and down throughout the race, averaging 14knts. High tide allowed the fleet to use the full inner Cork harbour.

PRO Dave Coveney used course 70, sending the fleet on a beat up to Cage buoy from Cork Beg. The fleet then freed sheets to no7. Some of the fleet hoisted their spinnakers. Then it was fetch down to 13, back to 9 and then a final beat and finish at Cage.

Bad Company Photo: Bob Bateman

Alpaca led the fleet from the start and finished first on corrected time thus moving her to first overall for the IRC All In six race series. Bad Company finished second in the race to maintain her second overall for the series. Denis Byrne’s ‘Cracker’ finished 4th on corrected time and finished third overall in IRC.

Cracker Photo: Bob Bateman

Denis won the ECHO handicap series overall with Richard Leonards ‘Bandit’ second and Ria Lyden's ‘Ellida’ third overall.

The White Sail IRC and Echo league was won by ‘Scribbler’ with the MacSweeney family crewing throughout the six race series. Second overall IRC went to Peter Webster’s ‘Thistle’. Peter and crew also finished third overall in Echo. Aramis (Pat Vaughan) came in third in IRC and Elegance (Paul O’Shea) finished second overall in Echo.

The Friday Night Whitesail Fitzgerald Menswear League concluded evening racing and was also won by Scribbler with Thistle second and Upstart (Barry Crockett) third.

The new offshore racing entity, 'Ireland Ocean Racing', that will put Royal Cork Yacht Club's Nicholas O'Leary (31) at the helm of the IMOCA 60 Hugo Boss on the 2020 Vendée Globe start line is sailing off Cork Harbour.

As Afloat.ie reported previously, the demo sails are part of the launch of the world–girdling project that will arrive into Dun Laoghaire Harbour on Wednesday or Thursday. O’Leary, son of Royal Cork's Anthony and Sally O'Leary, wants to be the first Irish sailor to complete the non–stop round the world challenge. He'll be following in the wake of plucky Enda O'Coineen's ill–fated Kilcullen that was dismasted in the last race off New Zealand in December.

(Above and below) The Ireland Ocean Racing Team onboard Hugo Boss. Photos: Bob Bateman

O'Leary's team say he is expected into Dublin Bay on August 30. 

Read more in WM Nixon's blog: How Much in the Sponsorship Pot for all These Irish Offshore Sailing Superstar Hopefuls?

Paul Gibbons launched his immaculately–prepared Quarter–Tonner Anchor Challenge in order to use the weekend's Royal Cork Yacht Club's 'At Home' Regatta as a training run for his Quarter Ton Cup challenge in Cowes in a fortnight's time. In the three–race regatta, Gibbons produced three wins with an average winning margin of over three minutes per race.

As Afloat.ie reported previously, Anchor Challenge also won the ICRA Nationals this year (Afloat.ie's June report here) and before that was crowned IRC Euro Champion as part of Cork Week 2016. 

Anchor Challenge (on port tack) won all three IRC races of the RCYC 'At Home' Regatta. Photo: Bob Bateman

The predominantly light airs 'At Home' regatta suited the swift 25–footer in the three in–Cork Harbour races with RCYC race officer Kieran O'Connell.

For more on the 'At Home' read Bob Bateman's report and photo gallery here

Sole Irish Entry for Quarter Ton Cup 

Anchor Challenge will be sailed at the Quarter Ton Cup by Paul Gibbons, Joe Bruen, Grattan Roberts and 2004 Star class Olympians, Mark Mansfield and Killian Collins, all of RCYC.

This is a pretty strong RCYC team but they will come up against teams in Cowes who will have three or even four professionals on board and who have been competing as a team in events all season.

The favourite for the event would be Sam Laidlaw's Aguila which has won most of his regattas this year. Last year's winner Bullet owned by Louise Morton should be well to the fore especially in stronger wind conditions.

Anchor Challenge has undergone some IRC modifications this year to improve her strong wind performance under the direction of Mark Mansfield but it will not be fully known how these will affect her until she does her first race at the Quarter Tons, the only Irish Cup entry this year.

Light airs gave a gentle start to Royal Cork Yacht Club's first day of the 2017 'At Home' Regatta in Cork Harbour yesterday writes Bob Bateman. 

Scroll down for photo gallery below

Toppers, RS Fevas, Optimists, National 18s, Mirrors, RS 200s, Mangos, Topaz dinghies and a single 29er skiff plus a mix of cruiser–racers made up a good turnout for craft took part in the first day of racing in the “At Home’ sponsored – for the second year – by The Maher Private Hospital Cork.

Over twenty cruisers got a start outside White Bay and for the first race had a course of E2, no.7 P, No3P, No.7P Finish at No.3. In the All–in IRC cruiser division, the quarter–tonner Anchor Challenge is currently leading the scoring with two wins. Racing continues today. 

The National 18’s were sailing for the South Coast Championship and seven of the Ultra boats were vying for honours in this class.

Two other courses were laid on the Curlane Bank, a thirty strong fleet of Optimists were sailing closer to the shore off Luk Beach.

Another Course was set for Lasers, Toppers and mixed dinghies including Mirror,Fevas, RS 200. Mango, Topaz and 29ER. 

Results are HERE

As the Irish Laser Championships started so did it end with consistent sailing rewarding day one leaders with overall victory at Royal Cork Yacht Club this afternoon.

Scroll down for Bob Bateman's prizegiving gallery.

A mix of mist and downpours brought the championships to a close at Crosshaven, where the prizegiving marked the special contribution of Belfast's Ron Hutchieson who retired as Class Secretary after forty years service to the class. 

Two final races were sailed outside Cork harbour today. However, the Radial fleet's second race was abandoned as the wind died. It was expected to fill in again but did so from a different direction thereby bringing backmarkers up to the leaders and so it was abandoned.

The National Yacht Club's Finn Lynch put Tokyo 2020 rival Liam Glynn, the former Topper World Champion, to the sword in the standard division with a string of wins. Third was Ronan Walsh of the host club. See the standard rig results here. 

Royal Cork's Luke McGrath stayed top of the Radials and he had 22–point margin over Sean Craig, a recent Radial rig convert, who took second place. The Royal St. George multi–champion was seven points clear of Dingle Sailing Club's Cunnane. Read the Radial results here.

In the 4.7 fleet, Jack Fahy also maintained his overall lead with a five point cushion and in a show of strength for the Royal St. George Yacht Club, another George helmsman, Tom Higgins, was second overall. Third was Michael Carroll from Kinsale YC. 4.7 results are here.

(Above and below) Bowing out – Ron Hutchieson (right) bids farewell to the Irish Laser class after forty years serviceA Laser Championships raffle prize was presented by Conor Mowlds of the National Maritime College to winner Cathal O'Regan

Second youth in the Standard Rig Johnny Durcan (above) shares a lighter moment (below) after his serious capsize incident in California this monthMolly Murphy, third Lady Radial Ella Hemeryck, second lady in the RadialsFrances Fox, first lady and fifth overall in the Radial fleetRoyal Cork's Chris Bateman - sixth in the RadialDingle's Paddy Cunnane third in Radial and second youthRoyal St. George's Sean Craig was second in the RadialRoyal Cork's Luke McGrath was Radial winner and first Youth too
Eddie Rice was the Standard Fleet Master winnerRoyal Cork's Nick Walsh was second in the Master divisionRonan Walsh was the standard youth winner and third overall Ballyholme's Liam Glynn Standard was runner up in the Standard RigRoyal St. George's Tom Higgins was second in the 4.7 FleetKinsale's Michael Carroll was third in the 4.7 fleetThe National Yacht Club's Clare Gorman was the 4.7 Lady winner and fourth overall

Keep up to date with Irish Laser Racing News in one handy link here

The scoreline's impressive but it belies the fact that on the water the National Yacht Club's Finn Lynch is not getting things all his own way at Royal Cork Yacht Club's Laser National Championships. A string of wins came to an end in race six this morning when Tokyo 2020 rival Liam Glynn, the former Topper World Champion, took the gun but it was business as usual in races seven and eight as Lynch built a six–point advantage over the Ballyholme YC man. Royal Cork's own Nick Walsh is third but some 17–points off Glynn.

Although Johnny Durcan made the tough decision to sit out the Laser Radial Worlds in Medemblik, Holland after day two (he was lying thirteenth after the first day) the Cork helmsman, who is recovering from injury after a capsize in California, was in fact back in action at the Nationals today, on the third day of competition in the full rig division, and counted a 3,4,2 to be right up there with Olympic trialists, Lynch and Glynn. See the standard rig results here. 

Race officer Peter Crowley sailed the combined fleets in a westerly breeze outside Cork Harbour today.

Sean Craig moves up to second overall in the 32-boat Radial fleet after eight races sailed Photo: Bob Bateman

Royal Cork's Luke McGrath stays top of the Radials and he has 20–point margin over Sean Craig, a recent Radial rig convert, who has moved into seconf place. The Royal St. George multi–champion is now four points clear of club mate Patrick Cahill on 36 points. Read the Radial results here.

In the 4.7 fleet, Jack Fahy also maintains his overall lead with a seven point cushion and in a show of strength for the Royal St. George Yacht Club, another George helmsman is second with Tom higgins counting 18–points. Third is Michael Carroll from Kinsale YC. 4.7 results are here.