North Sails Ireland was to the fore at Volvo Cork Week with NS Ireland–powered boats claiming victories and podium positions across most of the IRC and one-design classes.

Nigel Young, Maurice "Prof" O'Connell and Shane Hughes from the North Sails Ireland team were all afloat assisting their customers around the racetracks. Service manager Richard Marshall worked late into the evenings in the sail loft assisting customers overnight with minor repairs and service work.

North Sails Nigel Young (sitting second from right) on board the Half Tonner Harmony Photo: Bob Bateman

Speaking at the event in Crosshaven, North Sails Ireland's Nigel Young said, "once again, Cork Week delivered the weather and our clients delivered the results! We were delighted to see so many fast North Sails-powered boats going so well. Well done guys for a fantastic week".

The North Sails powered J109 Juggerknot competing in the Beaufort Cup Photo: Bob Bateman

North Sails-powered results below:-

Beaufort Cup winner Joker II - J109 - Barry Byrne - Irish Defence Forces Photo: Bob Bateman

Beaufort Cup

1. Joker II - J109 - Barry Byrne - Irish Defence Forces
2. Juggerknot - J109 - Youen Jacob - Baltimore RNLI
4. Nieulargo - GS 40 - Denis & Annemarie Murphy - Crosshaven RNLI

IRC One Winner, Eleuthera. Frank Whelan's Greystones SC Grand Soleil 43 Photo: Bob Bateman

IRC 1

1. Eleuthera - GS 43 - Frank Whelan - Greystones SC
2. Forty Licks - First 40 - Jay Colville - East Down YC
3. El Gran Senor - J122E - Jonathan Anderson - Clyde Cruising Club
4. Dark Angel - Dubois 37 - Tony Ackland - Swansea YC
5. Jump Juice - Ker 37 - Conor Phelan - Royal Cork YC

IRC 2 winner – Mojito - J109 - Peter Dunlop / Vicki Cox - Pwllheli SC Photo: Bob Bateman

IRC 2

1. Mojito - J109 - Peter Dunlop / Vicki Cox - Pwllheli SC
2. Jigamaree - J109 - Ronan Harris - Royal Irish YC
3. Jelly baby - J109 - Brian Jones - Royal Cork YC
5. Aquelina - J112E - james 7 Sheila Tyrrell - Arklow SC

IRC 3 Winner – Miss Whiplash Photo: Bob Bateman

IRC 3

1. Miss Whiplash - 1/2 Tonner - Ronan and John Downing - Royal Cork YC
2. Harmony - 1/2 Tonner - Jonny Swan - Howth YC
4. Alpaca - X34 - Paul & Deirdre Tingle - Royal Cork YC
5. Kodachi - Corby 27 - Wrights et al - Howth YC

IRC 4

2. Diamond - 1/4 Tonner - James Matthews - Kinsale YC
3. Cracker - Trapper T250 - Denis Byrne - Royal Cork YC
5. Cartoon -1/4 tonner - Ken Lawless & Sybil McCormack - Royal Irish YC -

Non-Spinnaker 1

3. Roaring Forties - B35s5 - Clodagh O'Donovan - Royal Cork YC
4. Supergroove - Dibley 8m - Ronan Stack - Arklow SC

Coastal IRC

3. Prima Luce - Patrick Burke - First 35 - Royal Irish YC

Dragons

1. Serafina - Daniel Murphy - Kinsale YC
2. Phantom - Peter Bowing - Royal St George YC
3. Little Fella - Cameron Good - Kinsale YC

1720 second overall Dark Side - Brian Twomey - Royal Cork YC Photo: Bob Bateman

1720

2. Dark Side - Brian Twomey - Royal Cork YC
3. Luvvly Jubbly - Andrew Brook & Eleri Griffiths - SCYC & PSC

North Sails Ireland-powered Sigma 33's had weekend success at their recent UK & Irish Championships hosted by the Royal St. George YC on Dublin Bay.

Seven out of the top 10 boats had North Sails in their inventory including the overall winner "Leaky Roof II" who flew their North Sails PX15T No. 1 Genoa and Norlon 75 spinnaker to seal their overall win with a scoreline that including three race wins.

Maurice "Prof" O'Connell from North Sails Ireland was on the water that week helping set-up Dick Lovegrove's "Rupert" with her new 3Di NorDac mainsail and no. 1 genoa.

Sigma 33 Rupert flying their new 3Di NorDac Upwind Sails Photo: North Sails Ireland

Sigma 33 Rupert 3Di NorDac No. 1 Genoa Photo: North Sails Ireland

NSI colleague Shane Hughes was also afloat assisting "Meltemi" from Dunmore East with a new 3Di NorDac No. 1 genoa.

Speaking after the event, North Sails Ireland's Nigel Young said, "we were delighted to see so many North Sails Sigma 33 customers afloat over the weekend. North Sails Ireland, UK South Coast and Scotland all look after Sigma 33 clients to deliver them the fastest and most durable sail technology at an affordable price. Congratulation to the Sigma 33 fleet on a successful event".

The North Sails Ireland team were at WAVE Regatta in Howth Yacht Club over the weekend supporting their customers on and off the water.

North Sails Ireland supplied the event with over 150 premium laminated skipper packs for the competitors. Nigel Young was in the RIB providing video support and analysis. Maurice "Prof" O'Connell was tactician on "Jump Juice" in IRC 0 and Shane Hughes raced on Jonny Swan's "Harmony" in IRC 2 on Friday.

Maurice "Prof" O'Connell was tactician on "Jump Juice" in IRC 0 Photo: Afloat.ie

Service manager Richard Marshall was in Howth too for any overnight repair and service requests.

Nigel Young was in the North Sails RIB providing video support and analysis Photo: Afloat.ie

North Sails powered boats emerged victorious across numerous classes in the tricky and variable conditions.

J109 Juggerknot Photo: Afloat.ie
In the uber-competitive IRC 1 fleet, Andrew Algeo's "Juggerknot" continued her winning ways powering to victory with a sizable margin. Speaking after the event, Algeo said, "Prof, as I hope you know, your support is invaluable - we wouldn't be at the races without it."

J109 Storm Photo: Afloat.ie

2nd (the Kelly's J109 "Storm II") , 3rd (John Maybury's J109 "Joker II") , 4th (Colin Byrne's Xp33 "Bon Exemple") and 5th (Tim and Richard Goodbody's J109 "White Mischief") were also taken by North Sails-powered boats flying 3Di / 3DL upwind inventories and V-Series downwind sails.

Half Tonner Harmony Photo: Afloat.ie

In an equally competitive IRC 2 fleet, the half-tonner shoot-out was won by Dave Cullen's "Checkmate XV". Cullen's team were pushed hard by Jonny Swan's "Harmony" in 2nd and Mike and Richard Evans' "The Big Picture" in 3rd. 4th in this tough class was Stephen Quinn's J97 "Lambay Rules". All four boats were powered by North Sails flying 3DL / 3Di / V-Series sails. Speaking after the event, Dave Cullen said "We have worked with Prof in North Sails Ireland ever since we acquired "Checkmate". Our new 3Di RAW main is a thing of beauty and we were flying at the weekend!".

"Our new 3Di RAW main is a thing of beauty and we were flying at the weekend!"

The one-design Puppeteer fleet raced the Lambay Race on the Saturday with 1st and 2nd taken by North Sails-powered "pups". Colin and Kathy Kavanagh in "Blue Velvet" won the race, They were in the lead from start to finish flying their new GN-1B genoa. Neil Murphy and Conor Costello's in yellow "Yellow Peril" took the silver medal spot, also flying a full NS inventory.

In the non-spinnaker IRC 4 division, Colm Bermingham's Elan 333 "Bite The Bullet" took the spoils, flying their 3DL carbon aramid upwind (and indeed also downwind!) sails. After sailing on Sunday Colm said, "Cheers Prof....Delighted to win the class overall (against all the bigger boats) and to get a win each day too, in quite different conditions. Guess that shows the versatility of the North 3DL's!!".

In IRC 5 (non-spinnaker), Windsor Laudan and Steffi Ennis' lovely Shamrock "Demelza" took 2nd overall with their full NS inventory. Speaking after the event, Windsor said, "our new No. 2 genoa was amazing, even in lighter airs, we still had plenty of power".

Royal Hong Kong entry Signal 8 on her way to winning IRC 0 Flying her North Sails A3 Asymmetric and Spinnaker Staysail 1 Photo: North Sails Ireland

North Sails Ireland Manager Nigel Young, speaking from Howth said, "the first WAVE regatta was a great success for Howth YC. North Sails Ireland worked with the regatta organising team since it's inception and we were delighted to provide the skipper's packs for the event. It was really great to see so many of our clients sailing fast. Well done and congratulations to all the teams involved!".

North Sails Ireland-powered race-boats took three podium places in the just-concluded Scottish Series raced in majestic conditions on the beautiful waters of Loch Fyne.

In IRC 2, the Kelly family's heavily IRC-optimised J109 "Storm II" from Rush SC won her class with a four-point margin. Speaking after racing in Tarbert, David Kelly said, "the boat felt as if it was doing eight knots at times upwind, our new Code 2 jib is giving us unbelievable upwind speed". Her downwind performance is also exceptional - "Storm II" is the only J109 in Ireland or the UK fitted with symmetric spinnakers - supplied by North Sails Ireland.

Johnny Swan's classic half-tonner "Harmony" was second in Class Three. Photo: Marc Turner/Scottish Series

In IRC 3, Johnny Swan's classic half-tonner "Harmony" from Howth YC, finished an incredibly close 2nd in her class, losing out by only a single point. "Harmony" was only launched for the season four days before the event and unveiled her new suit of North Sails 3Di upwind sails and V-Series symmetric spinnakers for Scotland.

"Jump Juice" flying her 3DL 860 inshore mainsail and V-Series 0.6oz symmetric spinnaker at 2018 Scottish Series Photo: Marc Turner/Scottish Series

In IRC 1, Conor & Denise Phelan's Ker 37 "Jump Juice" from Royal Cork YC, with North Sails Ireland's Maurice "Prof" O'Connell sailing aboard as tactician, finished 3rd overall. Speaking after the event, Prof commented, "we made some pretty drastic rig adjustments which seem to have improved the boat's upwind performance. Our electric backstay failed on the Sunday which resulted in two bad races that day so I guess we have to be happy with a close third overall!".

Speaking from the recently concluded Dragon event in la Baule, France, North Sails Ireland's Nigel Young said, "we are delighted to see our customers delivering exceptional performances in Scotland. Well done to you all. The North Sails Ireland team will be at Wave Regatta next weekend in Howth so we are looking forward to getting the low down on Scotland then".

Maurice 'Prof' O'Connell reports that North Sails Ireland powered race boats had a 'stunning' weekend's success on both sides of the Irish Sea.

Kip Regatta

Firstly, in Kip Regatta in Scotland in the competitive 12 boat RC 35 division Pat Kelly's J109 literally 'stormed' the event scoring 2,2,1,1 over the four race series sailed in very light airs.

With input from Nigel Young from North Sails Ireland, "Storm II" is IRC-optimised with both symmetric and asymmetric spinnakers. For Kip Regatta, she was flying a newly designed 3Di mainsail and Code 2 jib plus a very special new A3 reaching kite in high tenacity polyester woven fabric.

1st in RC35 Division (IRC) and Boat Of The Regatta J109 "Storm II" Pat Kelly Rush Sailing Club

Speaking after the event, "Storm II" helmsman Marty O'Leary said "she was going like a rocketship, the new main is noticeaby quicker than the old one and the new A3 is mint - nearly a Code Zero. Once we had the lads on the rail, we were gone!".  Download results below.

"she was going like a rocketship, the new main is noticeably quicker than the old one"

ISORA

Secondly, In the 50–mile ISORA race on Saturday, North Sails-powered boats won all three IRC classes and the overall race.

Prof O'Connell of North Sails Ireland at the helm of Aurelia en route to winning ISORA

As Afloat.ie previously reported here, Prof was aboard Chris and Patanne Power-Smith's "Aurelia" which took both the overall and IRC 0 win flying their new 155sqm composite A2 asymmetric.

Aurelia's new composite A2 Asymmetric

1st Overall - J122 "Aurelia" - Chris & Patanne Power-Smith

1st IRC 0 - J122 "Aurelia" - Chris Power-Smith

1st IRC 1 - J109 "Mojito" - Peter Dunlop & Vicky Cox

1st IRC 2 - J97 "Windjammer" - Denis Power & Lindsay Casey

North Sails Ireland have announced a sponsorship package for the two Irish J109 class events in 2018. The package will cover the J109 East Coast Championships in the Royal Irish Yacht Club on May 19th & 20th and the National Championships on October 6th and 7th in Howth Yacht Club.

The package will included "North U" style on the water support, video analysis and de-brief after racing and prizes and goodies for competitors.

A race start at the 2017 J109 Nationals on Dublin Bay Photo: Afloat.ie

Maurice "Prof" O'Connell from North Sails Ireland said, "North Sails have worked closely with J-Boats, going all the way back to the launch of the J24 in 1975. Our 3Di upwind sails and "V-Series" downwind sails are proving to be a fantastic investment for J109 sailors and are more durable and faster than ever. We look forward to supporting the class at this year's Nationals and East Coasts".

Speaking at the announcement, Irish J109 Class Captain Andrew Craig said, "the Irish J109 class are delighted to continue our partnership with North Sails. Last year's "post-match" de-brief by Prof and Nigel Young was both informative and entertaining and the North goodies were very much appreciated by all competitors."

North Sails Ireland are reporting an 'epic' start to the Dublin Bay Sailing Club season with a fine turnout for the third Saturday race in medium southerly winds and a good Dublin Bay chop. The sailmaker recorded the following IRC and cruiser class results: IRC 1: 1, 2;  IRC 2: 1,2; B21.7: 1,2,3;  IRC 0: 2, 3 and B31.7: 2, 4 Here Maurice 'Prof' O'Connell of North Sails Ireland, who was racing aboard Brendan Coghlan's SunFast 3600 "YoYo", brings this update:

Tim Goodbody, on "White Mischief" flying his new new 3Di mainsail, his three year old 3Di Code 2 jib and V-Series asymmetric stamped another win in IRC 1 and the J109 class Photo: Afloat.ie

Tim Goodbody, on "White Mischief" flying his new new 3Di mainsail, his three year old 3Di Code 2 jib and V-Series asymmetric stamped another win in IRC 1 and the J109 class. Prof spent an afternoon with the "White Mischief" team on Friday helping set the boat up for their new sails. After his DBSC race, Tim said, "We went like a rocket, over four minutes ahead of the next J109 in a 100–minute race – not bad!"

Colin Byrne's XP33 "Bon Exemple" flying his 3DL main, 3Di Code 2 jib and V-Series asymmetric spi Photo: Afloat.ie

Colin Byrne on "Bon Exemple" flying his 3DL main, 3Di Code 2 jib and V-Series asymmetric spi chased "White Mischief" hard around the course and finished second giving North-Sails powered boats 1,2 in the class.

Jim McCann racing his evergreen Mustang 30 "Peridot" flying his 3DL upwind sails won IRC 2 by over two minutes. The North-Sails-powered J97 "Windjammer" (Denis Power and Lindsay Casey) finished 3rd.

Rockabill VI (Paul O'Higgins) with her 3Di upwind sails Photo: Afloat.ie

Paul O'Higgins "Rockabill VI" flying her 3Di upwind sails, finished 2nd in IRC, beating Vincent Farrell's "Tsunami" flying her 3DL upwind sails and V-Series Symmetric spi into 3rd giving North sails-powered boats two podium finishes in the class.

Prof is keen to stress that North Sails do more than just 3D sails though! They were delighted to supply sails to all manner of craft on Dublin Bay.......

Hugh Kelly and Jacqueline McStay on "Small Wonder" flying their new North panelled laminate main and all-purpose jib won in the Beneteau 21.7 class. "By the end of last season we felt that our 2010 North Sails jib had more than done it's work. So during the winter we talked to Prof again in North Sails and upgraded to a new polyester laminate main and aramid laminate jib. We've had three out of three DBSC wins so far this season so, needless to say, we're absolutely delighted with the performance of the new sails", Kelly said.

In the Shipman 28 class, the North-Sails powered "Barossa", flying her NorDac main and No. 3 jib won by over 90 seconds - a large margin in any one-design class.

In the Beneteau 31.7 class, the North-Sails - powered "Levante" flew his new North panelled laminate no. 3 to take 2nd in class.

The Beneteau 31 Levante flying her 3–year–old 3DL upwind sails Photo: Afloat.ie

All in all, a great bank holiday Saturday day for North Sails-powered boats on Dublin Bay!

Shane Hughes from North Sails Ireland is the sailing team manager and a trimmer onboard the Swiss Club Swan 50 ‘Mathilde’.

Hughes has been working with the team since the boat arrived new from Nautor in early 2017. The project is exciting, a brand new One Design 50 footer, designed by Juan Kouyoumdjian (Multiple Volvo Ocean Race winning designer) that has gained instant traction with 20+ boats already sold. 

Monaco was the first event in the Swan One Design Mediterranean League and while all the teams were dusting off the boats for the first time in 2018 the competition was extremely close with multiple place changes making for compelling racing. Mathilde lost out on victory by a single point in the end but to very deserving victors in ‘Cuordileone’. Result here 

All 5 CS 50’s at the event used exclusively North Sails Inventories, with 3Di Raw used for upwind sails and a mixture of North Sails laminates and Nylon downwind.

Mathilde took delivery of a new J2 (medium Jib) and A1 (Light Asymmetric) for the event. The development process within the North Sails group is ongoing in classes like this, with multiple North Sails representatives competing in the class, so both sails had significant upgrades applied from the previous years specification. Hughes says this kind of internal collaboration allows them to push design limits and refine material choices and cosmetics detailing. 

The next class event is Palma Vela in Early May where up to 10 teams are expected which will add even more to the competition and close racing. 

The North Sails Ireland team of Nigel Young, Maurice 'Prof' O'Connell and Shane Hughes (scroll down for sailmaker details below) were busy at three sailing events last weekend, each winning races with clients on the Irish Sea, Howth and Kinsale.

As the sailing season gets into full swing, Shane Hughes was a part of Frank Whelan's ISORA winning team on "Eleuthera" taking victory overall and in Division 0. Shane was trialling a new North Sails 3Di Code 2 jib that day and says 'the boat flew upwind'. Read the Afloat.ie report of ISORA's first race of 2018 here.

Shane Hughes is the spinnaker trimmer on the ISORA winner, the Grand Soleil 44, Eleuthera above and below an onboard view of the new J2 medium jib used in the race win

Howth Yacht Club Spring Warmer

Nigel Young raced on Mike Evans half tonner "The Big Picture" on Saturday. Nigel was trialling a new 3Di mainsail, Code 2 jib and SuperLite Code S1.5 spi and took a 2nd and 3rd in their class.

Mike Evans half–tonner, 'The Big Picture' flying their new 3Di upwind sails

Prof was on the water in Howth also providing coaching support from the RIB. Prof's HYC coaching movie is below:-

Kinsale Yacht Club April League

On Sunday, both Prof and Nigel were racing in Kinsale Yacht Club's April Series.

In owner Conor Phelan's absence, Prof steered "Jump Juice" to victory in Race one but a headfoil problem dropped the team down the standings in Race two.

Prof steered Jump Juice in Kinsale. Photo: Bob Bateman

Nigel was racing aboard Denis Murphy's Grand Soleil 40 "Neulargo" and they pounced on the "Jump Juice" headfoil issue to win race two, following up on their second in race one.

"Neulargo" flying her new North Sails 3Di Endurance mainsail and Sk75 S2 kite. Photo: Bob Bateman

Read Afloat.ie's report of the April League with lots more photos by Bob Bateman here.

North Sails Ireland sailmakers Shane Hughes and Maurice "Prof" O'Connell were afloat in the coaching RIB at the first day of the Key Capital sponsored Spring Warmer Series in HYC on April 14th.

Also in Howth was NS colleague Nigel Young who was on Mike Evans half-tonner "The Big Picture". They were trialling both new 3Di upwind sails and a magnificent new S4 kite logo'd up by North Graphics.

16–20 knots southerly breeze blew with a short chop kicked up due to the ebb tide. Shane and Prof got around to all boats on the water, offering advice on rig setup, sail trim, helming technique and crew work.

They shot plenty of live video for use in the de-brief afterwards in HYC. Shane's drone took to the sky too for one start which was enthusiastically received!

See below some short video clips of the day:

Start Race 1 

J97 "Lambay Rules" Upwind

Maximus Broach

Corby 27 Kodachi Downwind in 20 Knots TWS

Drone Footage

The North Sails Ireland team will be on the water again in HYC next weekend for Day 2!