Both crews competing for the Royal Irish Yacht Club at The Admiral's Cup reported positive progress today (Tuesday 22nd) as the inshore racing phase of the event got underway on the Solent close to the Cowes base for the 15 teams.
Two laps of a single windward-leeward course were sailed in the morning with a 2.4 nautical mile beat set for the AC1 bigger boats and 1.8nm for the AC2 fleet in moderate wind and rain.
Although Ron O'Hanley's Privateer and Tom Kneen's Sunrise IV continue to hold 14th place overall, both crews enjoyed the day as they meshed into the challenge presented by the newer boats of the more established teams.
"It was a cracking day, not too one-sided and plenty in it tactically," said Ian Walker, strategist on Privateer. "Tomorrow will be shifty and light so we'll hopefully get better starts and go the right way."
Privateer had a 12th then an eleventh in the three-hour around the cans race that followed and were pleased to beat French entry Teasing Machine in the second race that saw a spectacular reach eastwards along the Solent to finish off the Royal Yacht Squadron.
RIYC member Lauren Donaghy was pleased with how the communication within the crew for manoeuvres is proving very smooth which in turn improves their handling skills on deck. However, the challenge of the results isn't lost on her either.
"It was a tough day in terms of competition," she admitted after racing ended. "One of our class boats (Red Bandit for Bayersreicher Yacht Club, Germany) snapped their mast. We were just in front of them going up the beat but thankfully we heard on the radio that nobody was injured so we now have one boat that's out."
Tom Kneen's Sunrise IV is competing for the Royal Irish Yacht Club in the 2025 Admiral's Cup Photo: James Tomlinson
Meanwhile, Sunrise had a 13th and a 12th, similarly matching their teammates in gradually improving their scores.
"The teamwork on board was amazing - we sailed the boat really well and made very few mistakes," said Kneen. "We said at the beginning of the day that when we reflect that we'd done a good job and we definitely achieved that goal and we've learned a lot about the boat and made progress."
In terms of goals for Wednesday's second day of inshore racing, Kneen has a goal of beating one of the other two JPK1180's racing and he recognises that there have been moments when Sunrise has been better than them and making gains. The task now is how to consolidate those gains.
Sunrise crew-member Maurice "Prof" O'Connell agrees that the results don't reflect the fun the crew is having.
"It's the Admiral's Cup at the end of the end, the unofficial world championship of big boat sailing and back on The Solent after 22 years... it's a privilege just to be here," he said. "They (the other JPK's) have a headstart on us and have been here for a long time and in the water longer than us but we're getting better and better every day."
Sunrise crew-member Fiona Mulcahy also reckons their best has yet to come. "We're still trying to figure out crew dynamics where everyone works but we're getting there by the end of the day and a lot more trust that everyone can do all their roles."
Racing continues at 1100 with another Windward-Leeward and an around-the-cans course for Wednesday, though with lighter winds forecast.
