The sense of land and sea interacting dynamically always seems much stronger around Cork Harbour than in most other places in Ireland, and never more so than in Cork Week with the Royal Cork Yacht Club in Crosshaven. There, the sailing history is globally unrivalled, yet they wear it lightly and are living for the present and the future, rather more than for the distinguished past, under the experienced guidance of their 44th Admiral, Denis Byrne.
Thus it seemed entirely appropriate that the current President of the Council of the European Union, Taoiseach Micheal Martin, should officially declare the regatta open on the evening of Sunday July 5th, even if - in strong sunshine – he is starting to look disconcertingly like the Week’s Senior Race Officer Con Murphy.
Taoiseach Micheál Martin officially opens Cork Week 2026 at the Royal Cork Yacht Club in Crosshaven ahead of a week of racing enjoyed in exceptional summer conditions. Photo: Bob Bateman
KNOWING WHO’S WHO AND WHAT
Be that as it may, so long as everybody knew who was totally in charge afloat, and who was similarly positioned ashore, then that too was okay. That said, we have been wondering since if the Taoiseach/President can somehow manage to be a dab hand with the photography and acute powers of observation while also getting on with his main duties, as is so effortlessly achieved by Con Murphy.
On the social side, it has been as ever hectic only more so, with the height of it all at mid-week, when the pace re-focused and accelerated with the Ladies Lunch, fund-raising for the lifeboat service and other deserving causes.
Velvet summer night in Crosshaven for the Mother of all Motherships. Sam Laidlaw’s 100ft sloop in RCYC’s new East Marina, providing all home comforts for the crew of his Quarter Ton Champion BLT (below).
LIFEBOAT BUILDING?
As one weather-worn skipper remarked on returning to port after racing, and observing the ongoing impact of this awesome ladies event, if the participants could be persuaded to forego the wondrous hairdos and stylish new outfits that they consider essential for such an affair, then they could instead make a donation that would buy an entire lifeboat, rather than just provide a boost for the service.
But enough of such gybes. Or jibes. When we remember what some Cork Weeks have produced in the way of weather in times past, and indeed what Ireland generally can sometimes try to claim is summer, the fact is that the weather was sensationally good, with the bonus of each day coming up with a useful sailing breeze – albeit sometimes after a bit of a wait - to stylishly provide sparkling sport.
MULTIPLICITY OF CLASSES
And it as also became a test of the SailWave system, which seemed able to parse results every which way for an extraordinary multiplicity of classes, even if – for the time being anyway – Cork Week continues to be an ORC-free zone, despite the media receiving regular trumpet calls that the system is steadily spreading throughout the land, the X-Rated Incident of Denmark notwithstanding.
MULTI-PURPOSE EVENT
As it is, Cork Week was re-imagined into a multi-purpose event, as it included the Inter-Services Beaufort Cup, the European Championship of the Etchells 22, the Irish Cruiser-Racer Nationals, and the Quarter Ton Championship, to name only three.
A mind-absorbing weekend can be spent looking at the results every which way, we’ll try here to hop from peak to peak.
Gate-crashing, 2026 style? We may not know what global warming will bring, but for most of the competitors the sailing weather of Cork Week 2026 was a once-in-a-lifetime experience.]
BEAUFORT CUP
The beautiful Beaufort – it’s an idea of Simon Coveney that just works so well, and has a bit of beef to it as it includes an overnight race round the Fastnet. Yet thanks to Rob O’Leary of Baltimore (not to be confused with the other West Cork Rob O’Leary who organises the Baltimore Woodenboat Festival in May), the Baltimore Lifeboat has a close link to Rush SC, and Rush SC is Pat Kelly’s all-singing, all-dancing, all-winning J/109 Storm.
So although defender Coveney had got together a hot team representing the cream of the Crosshaven waterfront services, Baltimore lifeboat crew got together with the privateering-ancestored sailors of Fingal from Rush with Storm, and the job was done and dusted – Beaufort goes to Baltimore.
Bringing it all back home in a magnificent alliance . Beaufort Cup winner Storm from Rush sailed for the Baltimore Lifeboat. Photo: Robert Bateman
CLASS 0 IRC
Comfort and class. Mike and Richie Evans' J/112e The Big Picture on her way to securing the IRC 0 title after a successful debut Cork Week campaign. Photo: Bob Bateman
Mike & Richie Evans of Howth wanted to move on from their super-successful J/99 The Big Picture to the greater comfort of a J/112e, but had to do a bit of scouting to find one. It says much about modern Europe that they found what they wanted in Estonia, but the move from the EU’s eastern outpost all the way across to its ultra-Atlantic island has taken none of the edge off the boat, and she wins IRC 0 on minimum points from Chris Britten’ former One Tonner Hero from Portishead in North Somerset on the Bristol Channel.
CLASS 1 IRC
Setting the pace. Barry Cunningham's J/109 Chimaera powers around the course en route to victory in the highly competitive IRC 1 fleet. Photo: Bob Bateman
Our header photo says it all. Chimaera is the boat that puts the bejaysus into J/109. Barry Cunningham of the Royal Irish YC and the Royal Cork is keeping up the standards set by previous owner Andrew Craig (he won the Scottish Series overall in 2019), and discarding a first for the final total says it all, with clubmate John Maybury’s sistership Joker 2 (tutored betimes by Mark Mansfield) coming second.
The Big Picture slices it right, and right at the mark too.
CLASS 2 IRC
This is where the classic Half Tonners flourish, and the SAS focus all their attention. Not the parachuting crowd, however. Au contraire, SAS is the Swuzzlebubble Appreciation Society, and this glorious 1976 Bruce Farr creation - when he was but a boy in New Zealand - is now sailed by Cork’s own James Dwyer, who so dazzles the organisers that have listed him as Dwyer James whereas everybody else has their name the right way round. But either way, Swuzzlebubble absolutely ran away with it ahead of Ronan Downing’s Andrieu Half Tonnner Miss Whiplash, with David Eddowes’ First 31.7 Quattro from Abersoch third.
Visual treat for the SAS – the Swuzzlebubble Appreciation Society sees what they like.
CLASS 3 IRC
Quarter Ton queen. Sam Laidlaw's BLT completed a clean sweep of IRC 3, underlining the enduring appeal of Quarter Ton racing at Cork Week. Photo: Bob Bateman
Here be Quarter Tonners, and here be Sam Laidlaw’s BLT from Cowes leading them with a clean sheet, second going to the re-born Symmetry (Anton Korshunov) of Howth, while third is yet another Quarter Tonner, Colman Garvey and Kieran Kelliher’s Crosshaven/Kinsale team in Illegal.
BLT (we reckon it’s bacon, lettuce & tomato, but invent your own obscene twist on the acronym if you wish) was in the slightly absurd position of berthing each night alongside one of owner Laidlaw’s other boats, the hundred foot Mother of All Motherships, which took up most of the Royal Cork’s new East Marina.
One the one occasion when we were asked to be Mothership to a decidedly anarchic class prowling around West Cork many years ago, we concluded that you’re titled as the Mothership because the Mother is Always The Last To Know. But on this particular beast, it’s reckoned they know everything and then some.
COASTAL FLEET 1
Distance master. Robin Young's J/109 Jings from the Clyde claimed Coastal Fleet 1 after an impressive week of offshore racing. Photo: Bob Bateman
For those who like to stretch their legs with a decent distance to be raced without getting bewildered by mark-rounding, the Coastal Fleet is just the job, and Robin Young’s J/109 Jings from the Clyde liked it so much she came out tops with a second and three firsts to the 1,3,2,2, of Frank Whelan’s zippy Sydney 43 El Syd from Greystones, third place going to Jim Donegan’s J/109 Jalapeno of Cork.
COASTAL FLEET 2
Coastal charge. George Radley Snr and Jnr's Sun Fast 32 Tuco heads for victory in Coastal Fleet 2 at Cork Week. Photo: Bob Bateman
Coastal Fleet 1 may have featured the legendary Cork offshore racing name of Donegan on the podium, but Coastal Feet 2 matched it by having the Radleys of Cove there too, and they - the Georges Senr and Jnr, but probably we’re talking George Radley VI and VII – took first with the Sunfast 32 Tuco, ahead of Pat Tanner’s Castro Three-Quarter Tonner Bataleur 88 (RCYC) and Paddy Kyne’s X-302 Maximus from Howth.
NON-SPINNAKERS
They may have done without chutes, but the NS classes saw some renowned sailors and boats showing how it’s done, with John Twomey of Kinsale winning IRC with his Blazer 23 Shillelagh, ahead of Ian Hickey’s former Round Ireland winner Cavatina and Sean Hanley’s notably attractive HB31 Luas, both from Crosshaven.
No kite, no problem. John Twomey's Blazer 23 Shillelagh sailed to IRC honours in the competitive Non-Spinnaker fleet. Photo: Bob Bateman
The NS Echo fleet deserves attention, as it included an extraordinary variety of boats, and was won by Brendan Egan’s distinctive Dutch U Class Boekanier, a Hans de Voogt classic of gleaming varnish. Rob Foster’s Beneteau Oceanis 311 Four Seas was second, while another classic, Simon O’Keeffe’s Lady Min from Schull where she was designed and built by Maurice O’Keeffe in 1902, taking third overall.
Varnish delight. Brendan Egan’s Dutch U Class Boekanier making speed towards the overall win. Photo: Robert Bateman
SPORTSBOATS
Northern dominance. Trevor D'Arcy's Viper Sheep Dawg from Carrickfergus led a clean sweep of the Sportsboat podium by Northern Ireland crews. Photo: Bob Bateman
Oddly enough, there was only one Cork 1720 in this class, which was dominated by northern skippers racing Vipers of one sort or another, the winner being Trevor d’Arcy of Carrickfergus ith Sheeo Dawg, second was Ian Patterson from Larne with Sid, while third was Carrickergus again, Matthew McClemon with Blur.
ETCHELLS EUROPEANS
European champion. Australia's Chris Hampton mastered the varied Cork Week conditions to claim the Etchells European Championship title. Photo: Bob Bateman
The far-travelled Chris Hampton of the Royal Brighton YC in Melbourne, Australia found his journey well worthwhile as he won in almost embarrassingly total style, second going to Shaun Frohlich from the Solent while Alan Crosbie brought another legendary Cork sailing name centre stage by taking third overall in a decidedly hot fleet.
VOLUNTARY EFFORT
The Cork Week Committee chaired by Rob Deasy had set everything in place for the best use to be made of a week of mostly idyllic sailing conditions, and in time we expect that a celebratory dinner will be laid on to show appreciation of their efforts, which were heroic.
But then, post-regatta thank-you dinners do have their own heroic quality. One evening in late summer we dropped into the much-missed Casino restaurant in Kilbrittain to find most of the place heaving with familiar faces having a fine old time. It was the Sovereigns Committee from Kinsale YC making the most of their just rewards.
SENSIBLE DEAL
And way back in the day when ISORA Week was quite the thing, sponsors Chubb through their effervescent MD Sean Flood gave us all on the Organising Committee an October dinner in the Royal St George YC, all this in the days when the beautiful people ultimately and inevitably gravitated towards one of the better Leeson Street night clubs.
Thus it came about that around four o’clock in the morning in a classy Leeson Street dive, I bought a boat from one of the beautiful people. Most sensible deal I ever made. Yet somehow I don’t think that you could now do the same in Copper’s. But you never know what might be possible in Cork.
