The ISAF Women's Match Racing Worlds Circuit arrives in Cork Harbour from June 3rd to 8th, 2014 and will be hosted by Royal Cork Yacht Club writes Claire Bateman.

What a prospect both exciting and daunting lies ahead for Royal Cork Yacht Club, organisers of the prestigious Women's Match Racing Worlds June 3rd to 8th, 2014. Not that the club is any stranger to such events having hosted the ISAF Nations Cup Grand Final in September 2006 with huge success and also the European leg of the ISAF Match racing circuit in the nineties. The event is part of the tour for the Women's International match Racing Association (www.wimra.org) 

Match Racing is one of the more intensely exciting forms of racing and the pace never slows. Race Officers tasked with the running of racing for the sixteen teams in this event are Peter Crowley (IRO) assisted by Alan Crosbie (IRO) who incidentally also officiated at the 2006 Nations Cup Grand Final. The event is being run in the Sailfleet J80's. It will certainly be nice to see these boats back in Cork.

Numerous detailed site inspections and high level consultations took place before Cork was chosen ahead of all other venues such as such as Long Beach California to host the competition. Both Cork County Council and the Port of Cork have agreed to be joint title sponsors of the world rated event.

The planned sailing in the waters of Cork Harbour, close to shore and under Camden Fort Meagher, offers unrivalled viewing to the competitors' families, friends, supporters and general public, who can also avail of the magnificent facilities at the refurbished historic fort to enjoy close up viewing of the competition.

The ISAF Women's Match Racing Worlds is an annual event that was first held in Genoa in 1999. Sailors are invited to attend based on their world ranking. Invitations will be issued by ISAF and the organising authority in February based on world rankings at that time. The 2013 Match Racing Worlds took place in Busan, Korea where 2012 Spanish Olympic Gold Medalist Tamara Echegoyen took the 2013 world match racing title.

Of course the event will also have a lighter side and an excellent entertainment plane is in place. On Friday, June 6th, a unique event is planned for the city. It is planned to hold a "Sailing in the City" day on the river in front of Kennedy Quay. An event will be held on the city quays followed by an early evening entertainment programme. This will provide the people of Cork with a wonderful opportunity to see and meet Olympic standard sailors close up and bring unparalleled top notch racing into the heart of the city. There is a match race planned for the sailors (watch out for fun on the river) and also an exhibition race where local schoolchildren could have the opportunity of sailing with these unrivalled top quality sportswomen.

The Women's Match Racing Worlds is a world sailing event of the highest calibre and is an opportunity for everybody to come to Crosshaven and enjoy the carnival atmosphere of the village for the event and experience a feast of intense sailing viewing from the world ranking surrounds of the magnificent Camden Fort Meagher.

#storm – December storms provided Cork harbour boatbuilder Safehaven Marine with the perfect test bed for sea keeping trials with winds of Force 12 and near 30ft waves off the coast of Cork Harbour. On test was Safehaven's Interceptor 48, a self-righting pilot/ Search and Rescue vessel.

Almost the ultimate conditions prevailed for the test, storm force winds of a sustained duration and fetch creating mountainous seas nearly 30ft high, a strong ebb tide running out against the waves creating a maelstrom of steep breaking waves over the harbour rock at the entrance to Cork Harbour, all combined with perfect visibility.

Safehaven Managing director Frank Kowalski told Afloat, 'I think this video portrays the immense power and danger of the sea'. It certainly does and it also shows the seakeeping abilities of Safehaven's Interceptor pilot and rescue designs.

The Cork Harbour based Safehaven Marine, specialist builders of pilot boats and rescue vessels have undertaken probably an industry first, by capsizing their latest Interceptor 48 Pilot / S.A.R. vessel in a live condition with two crew inside during the roll over.

In the ultimate expression of confidence in the vessels design and integrity, Safehaven's managing director and designer, Frank Kowalski, volunteered to be inside the vessel during the roll over. Strapped in with a full harness at her helm position he commented "it was a bit stressful when she was over at 90 degrees about to go over, and the motion past 180 during recovery was pretty violent, but it went off without a problem"

The above youtube video Safehaven made with multiple cameras both inside and outside during the test makes very interesting viewing in clearly showing the forces involved.

Look closely and you can see her crew inside at the time.

#MarineResearch - Up to 77 jobs may be be supported by a new €29 million research centre that's set to put Ireland at the cutting edge of the marine energy sector, as The Irish Times reports.

The SFI Research Centre, Marine Renewable Energy Ireland (MaREI) at University College Cork (UCC) will be part of the Irish Maritime and Energy Resource Cluster (IMERC), which had its annual conference in Cork Harbour last month.

Funded by €19 million from the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation via the Science Foundation Ireland (SFI), with €10.5 million more coming from industry partners, the new centre has the potential to make Ireland "an international focal point for the marine renewable industry", according to Research Minister Sean Sherlock.

Scientists at the centre will be working on the likes of new offshore wind, wave and other marine energy devices and related infrastructure, as well as new technology and materials to survive tough ocean conditions.

This summer Taoiseach Enda Kenny helped turn the sod on the Beaufort Building at UCC, which will be the flagship development of IMERC and brings together the Hydraulics and Maritime Research Centre (HMRC), Coastal Marine Research Centre (CMRC) and the Sustainable Energy Research Group (SERG) under one roof.

#royalcork – Cork Harbour was alive with boats today with dinghies and cruisers writes Claire Bateman. On the water the Optimists were sailing their Cobbler League, the Lasers were sailing as were the 420's and also the Toppers and it was even possible to watch the Phil Morrison designed new National 18 prototype.

In the third day of the CH Marine League Race Officers were indeed fortunate to get in two races for the competitors as light winds were the order of the day with about 6 knots from the North. With a 3.5m tide and racing starting at the top of the tide it was essential especially for the Class 1, 2 and 1720 fleets sailing outside the harbour to sail the best course to get to the weather mark. But then it is factors like this that make sailing interesting.

Rob McConnell in Fools Gold did not have it all his own way in IRC 1 to day posting a second and a fourth but was able to discard the fourth while Jump Juice had a good first race taking the gun and is lying second overall, with Freya lying third.

Things are very tight at the top of IRC2 with Bad Company on 9 points with Waterford raider Shane Statham in Slack Alice just one point adrift but Paul Tingle got Alpaca going well today and took the gun in the first race in that class.

IRC 3 and Sigmas sailed the inner harbour course today and Kieran Collins' Tambourine leads from Finbarr Dorgan's No Half Measures while in the Sigmas Wendy and Clem McElligott had two firsts today and now top the leaderboard in that class.

1720 racing. More photos below. Photo: Bob Bateman

The eight boat 1720 fleet is led by Denis Murphy's Aquatack on 9 points, while Salve Marine Racing, with a little bit of help from tactician Anthony O'Leary, is just one point adrift . In Class 4, Alan Mulcahy's Sundancer leads on 5 points from Shelley D while the positions are reversed in ECHO. Finally, in IRC Whitesail Michael Wallace's Felix is getting the better of Conor O'Donovan's Xtension but it was Tom McNeice who took the two wins today.

Racing continues next Sunday with FG at 11.55

#portofcork – The Port of Cork welcomed MV Albatros, the final cruise liner of the 2013 season to Cobh today following what the Port of Cork confirmed as the 'busiest cruise season on record for Cork'.

In total, 62 cruise liners called to the Port of Cork, home to Ireland's only dedicated cruise berth, carrying a record 123,000 passengers and crew. These guaranteed visitors are a welcome treat for Cork, bringing a much needed boost to the local economy for eight months of the year. In 2013 eight liners made their maiden calls to the Port of Cork, highlighting the continuing growth of this business and the commitment from cruise companies to introduce new ships to the region.

While some of these cruise calls stay overnight, many stay for a full day allowing their passengers ample time to enjoy the many exciting shore excursions on offer or simply time to experience Cork City and region independently. According to Irish Rail, statistics for the cruise season showed up to 28% of cruise passengers took the train from Cobh to Cork City. For all of the larger liners, Irish Rail offers extra trains to ensure passengers can get to Cork City without delay. This works well for passengers, with many deciding to take the train from Cobh to Cork in the morning and spend the afternoon in Cobh or take one of the ship's shore excursions in the afternoon.

It is imperative that passengers are offered a choice of shore excursions, both full and half day, so they tailor what is offered to suit them. The more choice there is for passengers the better, as this works in favour particularly for repeat passengers. It is well noted within the cruise industry that it is incumbent on all ports, destinations and shore tour operators to reinvent themselves occasionally, to attract both new and repeat passengers. The same must be done for Cork and the Port of Cork continues to work with City and County Councils, Irish Rail, Tour Operators and attractions to ensure Cork continues to meet the demand of cruise lines and their passengers.

Speaking about the busiest cruise season on record for Cork, Mr John Mullins Chairman of the Port of Cork said: "This has been an excellent year for Cork and we have seen a huge jump in passenger numbers this year. This increase is down to the dedicated cruise berth and the number of calls of large cruise ships. For example Princess Cruise's ship, MV Caribbean Princess called seven times this year, each time bringing over 4,000 passengers and crew to Cork. The fact that people can just walk on and off the ship to go shopping or touring increases the economic impact to the region. The passengers are offered the option of taking a tour and then come back on the ship to change before going out again on their own to do some shopping, eating or drinking and avoiding the repeated hassle of tendering or shuttle buses."

With these ambitious plans however, the Port of Cork cannot achieve them alone.

Mr Mullins continued: "There are also a great amount of activities and attractions on offer in Cork and the region for cruise passengers, and we remain fully committed to increasing our calls from 62 this year to 80 in the next five years. To do this, we need the continued support of Irish Rail to offer more trains with added incentives, the tour operators need to design and offer new shore excursions at competitive prices and we need the continued support from both City and County councils to encourage the promotion of the region, so that everything Cork has to offer is utilised to its full potential."

Over the years, the Port of Cork has invested in the cruise business and this is something the Port is committed to continuing. As cruise ships get larger, cruise companies are searching the globe for suitable ports capable of handling such vessels. Cork has a huge advantage over other Irish ports in that it is a naturally deep-water port with no restrictions; however, Cork needs to enhance the facilities in Cobh to be able to handle even larger liners and to have the option of accommodating two liners at one time.

Following this excellent cruise season, the Port of Cork would like to express their thanks to all their Cork Cruise members, Irish Rail, TEAM, tour operators, bus companies, travel agents and the many different attractions around the region for their continued support and cooperation with the cruise business. The Chairman thanked the board of directors at the port, management team and staff for realising the potential of this business for both the Port and the local economy, and their commitment to provide future infrastructure to support the business.

#jobs – The potential of disruptive innovation to positively effect job creation in the maritime sector will be explored at the IMERC Annual Conference which takes place at the National Maritime College of Ireland in Ringaskiddy, Co. Cork on Monday 7th October. A disruptive innovation is an innovation which disrupts, improves and replaces an existing product, process, approach or idea over time in unexpected ways. IMERC, the Irish Maritime and Energy Resource Cluster, is a partnership between University College Cork, Cork Institute of Technology and the Irish Naval Service.

Speaking in advance of the conference, IMERC Director, Dr Val Cummins said: "Ireland currently derives just 1% of its GDP from the maritime sector. To put that figure in context, the UK derives 5%, Denmark 11% and Norway 20%. Ireland aims for 2.4% by 2030. The ideas and plans that will emerge from the IMERC Conference will be an important opportunity to drive growth in the figures for Ireland."

Ireland has the largest maritime area to land mass in the EU and is the third largest territory in the EU when its seabed is included. The maritime sector has huge growth possibilities for the Irish economy. This Conference is set to make a tangible contribution to the realisation of this potential by bringing together speakers and guests from North America and Europe from a range of backgrounds including industry, government, and academia, to discuss the role disruptive innovation can play in driving this sector. The conference will have an innovative format with audience engagement central and social media playing a vital role. IMERC is already making a big contribution to this sector with advanced plans for the development of a research and commercial campus in Ringaskiddy.

Dr Cummins continued, "There is a huge opportunity for Ireland to really benefit from its ocean resources in a planned manner for the first time in our history. The construction of the Beaufort Research Centre and the continuing ability of IMERC to attract new business are demonstrable indicators that IMERC is contributing to these aims."

IMERC's vision is to become a research and commercial cluster of world standing by realising Ireland's potential in the global, maritime and energy markets of tomorrow. See www.imerc.ie

#rcyc – Cork photographer Suzanne Ravenhill captured this amazing incident from Cobh waterfront yesterday when CH Marine Autumn League competitors Manzantina (IRL 2076) with blue and white spinnaker and Chancer (IRL 1583) met in the first race of the Royal Cork league in Cork Harbour. No one was hurt in the incident, according to Suzanne. We understand only a spreader was broken but a thorough rig inspection on both boats is to be carried out.

Amy McCarthy, crew member on Chancer, adds:

The incident occurred when Manzanita was on a run towards Chancer who was on a beat.

Both boats were on port. As Manzanita was closest to the wind she had to give way to Chancer.

Manzanita came up to avoid us but as they passed us they may have heeled over more than expected for the room given; we are unsure. Resulting from this the top of their rigging got caught in the starboard sidestay above the upper spreaders on Chancer.

This resulted in the two boats rotating together in which Manzanita's bow raised up significantly (see photo)and their transom was buried in the water. At this point there was silence as both boats spun together. Manzanita's bow then went across our transom at which Brian Carroll, skipper, had to push it off.

We de-powered our sails and at that point the rigging sprung clear, ripping the sidestay from our spreader. Manzanita's pit was completely immersed in water at which
point the skipper was quickly bailing.

All crew were safe and unharmed.

Both boats retired from the race. Chancer has had to withdraw from part or all of the league depending on the level of damage done to the rigging. I am unaware of any damage done to Manzanita.

#rcyc – Today was a day that weather wise did not appear to promise a whole lot for the first day of racing in the CH Marine Autumn league in Cork Harbour writes Claire Bateman. It was raining on in the early morning and there was low cloud and fog about. Yet for all that a grand day of racing was had. To be fair, it was mild with a nice easterly wind of about 14 knots and with the experience of Race Officers Peter Crowley and Barry Rose they were able to make full use of the inner harbour for the entire fleets using two committee boats. It was a good size fleet of approximately sixty boats. There were competitors from Waterford and a welcome strong contingent from Kinsale and, as usual, the entry was boosted by boats from Cobh, Monkstown and Schull.

Peter Crowley and his team on board the Committee vessel Sparetime set up a start line at Cage with a beat to Dognose and a reach into the harbour before the boats went on a windward/leeward course up and down the Cobh Roads.

The first incident spotted was when Class 2 were heading for the weather mark and Shane Statham with Bad Company and Magnet close on his heels was coming into the mark on starboard while Cavatina tried to slide in on port resulting in a Murray Walker Formula One expression, there was a "coming together"! !

Happily the rain had disappeared, leaving a very grey dull day, but one doubts if the crews had time to look around them as they were busy hauling and dropping spinnakers, tacking, and generally dodging other boats before Peter Crowley eventually brought Sparetime into No. 13 with a shortened course and finished the race at that point. His ingenuity knew no bounds and he set up the committee boat off Cobh and proceeded to give the boats another course beating and running before sending them on a reach out the harbour before finishing them near the harbour mouth. One incident that happened in this race was John Molloy in Manzanita with his Schull crew was running at Cobh when Chancer from Class 1 was beating in the opposite direction and unfortunately their shrouds touched and tangled giving Manzanita a nasty fright by submerging her stern before the spreader broke and released the boats from one another.

Class Three had two sub divisions, Impalas and Sigmas. The Sigmas mustered four boats and strong competition arrived from Waterford in the shape of David Marchant sailing Flyover. In Race Two Wendy and Clem McElligott's Sea Hawk was seen to be performing graceful pirouettes as their spinnaker got wrapped around the top of the mast.

Meanwhile the Whitesail fleets were racing close by, Barry Rose and his team doing the honours for Whitesail One and Two and Class Four and here he had the full expanse of the eastern bank to play with and with a very good breeze during the day and mild weather the competitors were mightily pleased with the day's sailing.

Racing continues next Sunday with FG at 11.55.

#Astrid - The West Cork Times reports that the wreck of the tall ship Astrid is to be transported to Cork Harbour for scrapping.

Last week the Dutch training brig was recovered from her final resting place on rocks at the mouth of Kinsale Harbour using specialist lifting equipment brought over from the UK.

Though the hull of the 95-year-old ship was in remarkably good condition after she grounded close to the Sovereign Islands, it was decided early on that the severity of the damage she sustained would render her repair and restoration unlikely.

All 30 crew on board Astrid were brought to safety in a major rescue operation on 24 July last when the sail training vessel was blown onto rocks in high wind and quickly took on water.

In the weeks after the incident, items including the ship's bell and compass were recovered from the wreck by divers after they were initially thought to have been stolen in a night-time raid.