Displaying items by tag: Royal Cork Yacht Club
No Crew Limit for ICRA Nationals, IRC Rule 22.4 Stays Deleted for Royal Cork Championships
There will be no crew number limitations or crew weight limitations at this year's Irish Cruiser Racer (ICRA) Nationals at Royal Cork Yacht Club.
The rule had been 'under review' following discussion at March's ICRA Conference in Limerick where it was shown different regattas deal with crew weight limits in different ways.
Yesterday, ICRA Commodore Simon McGibney confirmed to Afloat.ie, 'There is no change to point five of the Notice of Race for this year's Championships'.
Point five says: Crew Limitations IRC Rule 22.4 is deleted. There is no crew number limitations. There is no crew weight limitations.
IRC Rule 22.4 says: “The Crew Number printed on each boat’s certificate shall not be exceeded or the crew weight shall not exceed 85kg multiplied by the Crew Number printed on the certificate.”
The decision brings clarity to a situation six weeks after a healthy debate on the issue at the national conference and six weeks before the championships is set to sail in Cork Harbour.
It means competing skippers are now free to invite as many crew as they wish and book accommodation at Crosshaven accordingly.
The focus of conversation at the conference, under guest speaker Mike Urwin of the RORC, was the disposal of crew limits at events such as the ICRA National Championships.
As the rule does not apply at the ICRAs, boats had an option to take less crew on a light wind day and stack the rail in breeze.
Traditionally, fun regattas like Calves Week, did not have crew limits, so that late crew members could be recruited from the quayside and children could also be accommodated as required.
The move to delete the limit rule followed significant consultation with sailors and ICRA surveys found overwhelming support for its withdrawal.
However, the meeting heard that for 'serious regattas', such as a national championships, not having a crew limit can lead to advantages to those who bring a large crew pool to an event, thus upping overall costs of participation.
Some delegates believed championships should stick to the IRC certificate crew limit or maybe the 'cert plus one'. Others thought a stipulation in the Sailing Instructions requiring the same crew numbers in every race would be helpful.
An Afloat.ie reader poll following the conference (running from March 9 to April 25) recorded answers from eight countries, with 45% of respondents from Ireland.
The poll asked: 'Should there be a crew limit at ICRA 2017?' Answer options: No – Let them all race! or Yes – Reinstate IRC Rule 22.4. There was a strong result (73%) for the reinstatement of IRC Rule 22.4.
Results are below:
Dwyer Reigns at National 18 Easterns at Howth Yacht Club
Six relatively light wind races completed at Howth Yacht Club gave Charles Dwyer and his crew Nin O'Leary and Richie the overall win of the inaugural six–boat National 18s Eastern Championships in Dwyer's new boat.
A tie break behind them saw Tommy Dwyer, Peter O'Donovan and Charlie Moloney take second with Colin Chapman, Morgan O'Sullivan and Ronan Walsh taking third.
The National 18s continue racing in Cork Harbour with Wednesday leagues already in operation and Saturday racing beginning at the start of May.
Lift in for ICRA Nationals, Crane Hire Options in Cork Harbour
ICRA has issued a notice to all Cruiser Racers attending June's Royal Cork Yacht Club National Championships this year in Cork Harbour that full lifting facilities will be available through the following suppliers:
· Salve Marine is right beside the yacht club in Crosshaven and has a full working boatyard facility as well as a lifting Crane. The Crane has a lifting limit of 4.5ton. Contact Wietze at 087 2601755. Rates vary depending on number of lifts required but in general it would be €175 per boat and and mast lift. Boat only lift €100.
· Paul Murphy Crane Hire. Paul works out of Kinsale also and so could do the lift in Crosshaven and the lift out at Kinsale. Paul’s rate would be €170 per lift per three boats together. €150 if there were more than three boats. Contact Paul at 087 2659970.
· Crosshaven Boatyard. There is a full yard facility available with varying rates and times of lifts. Please contact Matt at 021 4831161 for further information.
ICRA is asking sailors to make direct contact with these to finalise specific lifting requirements.
Royal Cork Yacht Club pairing Harry Durcan and Harry Whitaker last were bronze medalists in the 29er class at the British Youth Sailing National championships sailed last week on the Solent. In a fleet of 70 boats the Royal Cork duo sailed 18 races in five days to give themselves a boost before the World Championships in America later this Summer.
The RYA youth nationals for under –19s (totalling a massive fleet of 450 boats and boards) was held in Hayling island sailing club, the British version of the current ISA regatta being sailed in Ballyholme YC.
Sailing in a wide range of conditions, the 29er fleet was split into two flights. Each day consisted of three to four races with each lasting 30 minutes for the lead boat. The Cork Harbour teens finished eighth place in the qualifying series and then slowly climbed up to third place overall in the Gold fleet series after sailing very consistently.
'We are the current 29er British national champions and while we can't complain about a medal, we would have liked to have won but we hadn't raced in seven months', helmsman Durcan told Afloat.ie
Next up for the pair is the USA national championship and then the following week the 29er World Championship in Long Beach, California in July where a top 10 finish is the aim after last year's 23rd.
'Until then it's working on the last few pieces of the puzzle and spending time in the gym to be fully prepared. We are the only Irish boat in Ireland and the only Irish boat heading to the Worlds'.
Results are here
ICRA Sponsor Offers 'Free Model Truck' As Entry Incentive for Royal Cork National Championships
As ICRA ramps up its promotion for the Cruiser–Racer National Championships at Royal Cork Yacht Club in June, fleet sponsor WD40 is offering a free 'collectors item' model truck to the next six entries received.
The RCYC entry list is certainly hotting up. 2016 ICRA National Class Champions Jump Juice, Joker II, Checkmate XVII and Cartoon will all be back defending their national titles in Crosshaven in June.
Red more about how the coming season is shaping up in Class zero and one here and class two here.
Enter online for the ICRA Nats here.
Sailing with Dutch sail numbers Anthony O'Leary has won all six races of the Sportsboats April League at Royal Cork Yacht Club writes Bob Bateman.
Sailing a 1720, the former Afloat Sailor of the Year leads Cork Harbour club–mates Clive O' Shea and Tom Durcan in another of the Royal Cork's own 1720 designs.
Third in the seven–boat fleet is a J80, Rioja, sailed by Ernie Dillon and Dominic Baxter. Full results downloadable below.
Five Irish Optimist sailors were in the top five of the UK's Spring Championships last weekend. IOCA UK and The Royal Torbay Yacht Club hosted IOCA UK's first championship of the year in Torquay.
119 sailors competed in the main fleet over the two days, including a team of 24 sailors from Ireland. The sailing conditions were deemed "exceptionally tricky", with gusts of over 25 knots and waves of up to two metres.
Overall winner was Jamie Cook of Cardiff Bay Yacht Club, winning five out of the six races, followed by Finley Dickinson in 2nd place and William Pank in 3rd place. Top girl was India Page-Wood in 5th place. First Junior was Luke Turvey from Ireland, who finished a respectable 20th overall.
Top Irish boat was Justin Lucas of Royal Cork in eigth place and his clubmate Killian O'Regan was ninth. Full results are here.
Jamie Cook said: "It's nice to do more events on the sea in a great venue like Torbay and the conditions were awesome. I think that the sea is the best place to sail. It was a good weekend and hope to sail there again soon."
29 regatta fleet sailors completed 10 races over the weekend with Noah Evans from Royal Victoria Yacht Club finishing in 1st place.
IOCA's Claire Mueller added: "A special mention must also be made of Michael Crosbie from Royal Cork Yacht Club, who finished in 15th place and was competing in his first major competition since breaking both legs last year. Well done Michael." In recognition of this achievement Michael received a sailing watch from one of IOCA UK's class sponsors IBI Sailing.
2017 is a special year for IOCA UK, as it has recently been announced it will host a Champion of Champions Race at its 2017 British Nationals in celebration of 70 years of the Optimist Dinghy. To be held at the Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy, those battling it out for the ultimate glory will be past National Optimist Champions, Olympic sailors, Optimist coaches and the top current sailors.
ICRA Nationals Launched in Royal Cork Yacht Club
A full programme of races for nine national titles at this year's ICRA National Championships was launched this week at the Royal Cork Yacht Club by Minister Simon Coveney.
Admiral John Roche and ICRA Chairman Simon McGibney were also present as was newly elected ISA President Jack Roy. The national event will be held in the Crosshaven club from Friday June 9th to Sunday June 11th and will be officiated by international race officers Jack Roy, Alan Crosbie and Peter Crowley.
Minister Coveney spoke of his delight in seeing Crosshaven and Kinsale (Sovereigns Cup) hosting major sailing events this summer and he wished both clubs every success. He encouraged all sailors to partake in the regattas and keep the sport at the forefront of the international sailing calendar which in turn will bring visitors from overseas and other Irish ports to the local area.
Royal Cork Admiral John Roche thanked event chairman Paul Tingle and his committee for running the event on behalf of the club and wished them every support and success.
Entry to the ICRA National Championships is now available on-line (royalcork.com and cruiserracing.ie) with a very reasonable entry fee of €150 per boat.
Royal Cork Yacht Club got an idyllic day for its fourth Horizon Energy PY 1000 event with sun and eight knots of breeze with spells of about 10 writes Bob Bateman.
42 boats entered but 50 were counted on the startline.
Entries included Nat 18s Rs 400 and 200, RS Fevas,Lasers all rig sizes, Toppers Vago, Europe, 49er, 29er, and an Omega. A welcome visitor Simon Crowe and his daughter Ella Rose travelled from Villiarstown. The winner of the first prize was youth champion Johnny Durcan in a Laser Radial.
The wind was from the east and so a windward leeward course of four rounds was set in front of the clubhouse on the Owenabue river. Race Officer John Crotty got the fleet away with just an individual recall.
SCORA Honours Memory of Sailing Journalist Claire Bateman
The South Coast Offshore Racing Association (SCORA) honoured Claire Bateman at its annual general meeting held in the Royal Cork Yacht Club last night writes Tom MacSweeney. Claire, who died last year, was a stalwart of sailing journalism for Cork Harbour and coastal racing sailors. Her coverage of cruiser and dinghy racing was comprehensive and her dedication to the sport charted its development. With photographer husband, Bob, the couple were ever-present at sailing events. Their coverage spanned from major events to the smaller ones, providing an unrivalled level of sailing reportage on Afloat.ie in national and local media and was the foundation of the RCYC website.
Members expressed appreciation of the dedicated work which Claire had done for sailing, as she was remembered by the presentation of a memorial award to the “most enthusiastic boat in SCORA.” This was a photograph of the winning boat, Dave Lane and Sinead Enright’s J24 ‘Ya Gotta Wanna’.
Making the presentation Claire’s son, Rob, recalled how his mother had been encouraged by well-known Cork Harbour sailor Michael Wallace into the role which she adopted with the dedication and commitment which marked her approach to whatever task she undertook.
That commitment benefited sailing for very many years and was much appreciated by SCORA sailors. Her death has been a huge loss to the sport.
Her husband, Bob’s photography, once again recorded the success of the top sailors in SCORA whose awards for their victories during the season, presented at the AGM, were framed photographs of their boats in racing action. Taken by Bob, these are treasured prizes. He continues the work of recording sailing and racing in Cork.
The newly-elected SCORA Commodore, Kieran O’Connell, is Rear Admiral for Keel Boat Racing at the RCYC.
There was a big attendance at the annual meeting which agreed that a review of SCORA and its racing programme was needed. This follows a year when “SCORA dropped off the map” the members were told. More co-operation between South Coast clubs is needed, delegates agreed, with an emphasis on “bringing the fun back into sailing”.
Falling numbers participating in events and the urgent need to change that, by bringing newcomers into the sport, particularly younger people, were identified as crucial issues.