Ideal sailing conditions in Cork Harbour graced the first day of the fourth edition of Royal Cork Yacht Club's 2019 DinghyFest Regatta today writes Bob Bateman. 

The regatta comprises a number of end of season dinghy class championships including a 'Worlds' event for the local historic Rankin class.

After four races sailed in the 29er Southerns, locals Harry Twomey and Harry Durcan are the clear leaders with three race wins. 

Swords Sailing Club's Patrick Wyatt and Patrick BillingtonIrish lead the Multihull National Championships fleet of ten boats. 

Eoghan Duffy and Cathal Langan of Lough Ree Yacht Club continue their domination of the Mirror class this season and lead the 12-boat fleet racing for Southern Championship honours at Crosshaven.

Full results after day one in all classes here. 

See photo gallery by Bob Bateman below.

The Royal Cork Yacht Club team skippered by Anthony O'Leary is in fourth place going into today's final round of the 2019 Rolex New York Yacht Club Invitational Cup.

As Afloat reported previously, O'Leary's RCYC crew is: Cliodhna Connolly, Emma Geary, Sophie Browne, Clive O'Shea, Robert O'Leary, Nicholas O'Leary, Ben Field and Tommy Murphy. All this week, the Crosshaven sailors have only been going one way on the New York Yacht Club leaderboard and have moved up from sixth after the first race to fifth and stayed in fourth place yesterday so a podium remains a possibility today despite a 7 point gap.  Currently, the Royal Canadian Yacht Club is third on 55 points with Royal Cork Yacht Club fourth on 62 points. Full results are here

As with the previous day, danger lurked around every corner on the penultimate day of the Cup, the premier one-design keelboat championship for amateur sailors. Today, however, the risk came not from the gear-busting wind and waves that tested sailors and equipment on Day 3, but from the capricious breeze which jumped around like a cat on a hot tin roof and varied in velocity from the high single digits to the high teens. Passing lanes abounded, no one was ever truly out of a race and no lead was safe until crossing the finish line.

"It was very tricky because of where the top marks were in relation to [Gould Island]," said Tom King, tactician for the Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron, which won the day again and now sits just one point behind overall leader San Diego Yacht Club. "You had current going down both sides of the island and wind going down both sides of the island and it was really shifty in the middle. We enjoyed it, got ourselves out of trouble on a few shifts after some fairly average starts. We were pretty lucky and pretty happy with where we ended up."

After Day 3's brutish easterly, which was accompanied by strong rain and a steep, malicious chop, today's conditions were a welcome respite for a weary fleet of Corinthian sailors. The moisture cleared out overnight leaving behind some cotton-ball clouds, cool temperatures and a moderate northeasterly breeze. The race committee also moved the fleet back inside Narragansett Bay where the waves were rarely more than a foot or two high.

The change in venue and breeze mixed up the results a bit more than in previous days. The Yacht Club Costa Smeralda (sail No. 17) team started off the day on a sour note finishing 17th in the first race. But rebounded nicely with a second and fourth, which leaves them in eighth overall and in the hunt for fifth.

Skipper Antonio Sodo Migliori was unequivocal about the difference between the first race and the latter two.

"The start, absolutely the start," he said. "The first race we tried to start at the pin, had a plan, but were closed out by another boat and had a disastrous start. We tried to recover, but it was very hard to come back. It was a fantastic day, it's very fun to have a tricky course where you can lose but you can recover a lot. Sometimes people who were 15th came second or third, because there was a good chance to recover."

The YCCS team wasn't the only one that fought hard to get the best start at the favoured end of the line and then pushed hard into one corner or another on the first beat, looking for a home-run shift. But judging by the final results, the more conservative approach favoured by the Royal Sydney team was the long-term winner.

"[For the] the starts, we were just trying to get clear where we had options to be playing the shifts," said King, who won a gold medal in the Men's 470 class in the 2000 Olympics. "As much as anything, it was trying to link the pressure and the shifts together up the beat. We were sailing the breeze, not the fleet so much, and that mostly put us in the middle. Most of the [upwind legs] you didn’t end up with one side favoured, it was favoured to be in the middle just picking away at it."

King said that after winning his gold medal nearly two decades ago, he took a break from the sport. While he's dabbled in keelboat one-design sailing in the years since, he hasn't done a lot of it recently.

"I haven’t been in the back of a boat for a number of years now," said King. "It’s been a great event to do, the boats are awesome, and it’s really nice to race in a proper one-design fleet. The other guys on the team who came [in 2017] really twisted my arm. They told me about the lawn and the lobsters and the parties and that the sailing was pretty good too. It’s got to be up there with the best regattas I’ve ever done."

No one needs to tell Barry Sampson that. The Itchenor Sailing Club skipper is competing in the Rolex New York Yacht Club Invitational Cup for the fourth time. For the previous three he brought his Swan 42 Long Echo over from Europe. With the event having moved on to the IC37 by Melges, he's now the owner of one of those boats as well, which he's calling Short Echo. After a trying day offshore, Sampson and his crew put together their three best results of the regatta and were the big mover of the day, jumping from 15th to 12th.

"Today was lovely sailing," said Sampson (left, with his team). "I sail far better in flat water than out in the gnarly stuff [on Rhode Island Sound]. We'd sorted our boatspeed and my starts were getting better. We were up on the line at the gun and held our lane out of the starts. We made more good decisions upwind than we did downwind, which was a bit of a shame. But all in all, a very satisfying day."

Sitting in 12th place with an even 100 points, the Itchenor team will go into tomorrow playing defense as 11th place is 22 points ahead, but the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron is just one point behind.

The Rolex New York Yacht Club Invitational Cup is a biennial regatta hosted by the New York Yacht Club Harbour Court in Newport, R.I. Since the event was first run in 2009, it has attracted top amateur sailors from 43 of the world’s most prestigious yacht clubs from 21 countries. After five editions in the Swan 42 class, the 2019 event will be sailed in the IC37 by Melges, designed by Mark Mills and built by Westerly Marine in Santa Ana, Calif., and FIBRE Mechanics in the United Kingdom. The strict one-design nature of this new, purpose-built class combined with the fact that all 20 boats are owned and maintained by the New York Yacht Club, will ensure a level playing field never before seen in amateur big-boat sailing. The regatta will run through September 14. A broadcast on Facebook Live and YouTube will allow fellow club members, friends, family and sailing fans from around the world follow the action as it happens. Twenty teams from 14 countries and five continents will compete in the 2019 Rolex New York Yacht Club Invitational Cup.

Anthony O'Leary's Royal Cork team Yacht Club has moved up to fourth overall after yesterday's heavy weather races on Day 3 of Rolex NYYC Invitational Cup.

O'Leary represented the Royal Cork Yacht Club at the first Invitational Cup in 2009, winning two of the first three races sailed in this event. He's been a fixture ever since, bringing along one or more of his three sons to each edition. For the sixth Rolex New York Yacht Club Invitational Cup, Anthony O'Leary has sons Robert and Nicholas with him and the familial dynamic in heavy air was apparent as they were one of the fastest boats on the water all day.

As Afloat reported yesterday, O'Leary's crew for the Big Apple event is: Cliodhna Connolly, Emma Geary, Sophie Browne, Clive O Shea, Robert O Leary, Nicholas O Leary, Ben Field and Timmy Murphy

"It was very enjoyable, plenty of breeze," said the elder O'Leary. "It was a bit like our season at home: dull, the odd bit of rain and plenty of wind. We had a poor start to the first race because there was a lot going on and we were a bit late to get to the line. We didn’t do too badly overall, we pulled ourselves back very well to get to fifth because I think we were worse than 10th at the top mark. Second race, we had a very good start and things just went right for us. We were able to sail our own race for most of it."

RCYC team in New York includes Cliodhna Connolly, Emma Geary, Sophie Browne, Clive O Shea, Robert O Leary, Nicholas O Leary, Ben Field and Timmy Murphy

On the final run of the day, the Royal Cork team (with team mum Sally O'Leary in red above) put on an impressive display of downwind power, turning a solid lead at the final mark into an overwhelming one by the finish. Unfortunately for the Royal Cork crew, there are no bonus points for the margin of victory in sailing. But the speed the team showed today, says O'Leary, is a good sign for the final two days.

"We’re getting used to the boat a bit more every day," he said. "We’ve sailed similar boats, but we’ve not sailed the 37, other than one day at home. We’re getting the knack of it. There’s plenty of races left in this competition."

The IC37 by Melges sailboat may be new to them, but the breezy and lumpy conditions on Rhode Island Sound for Day 3 of the Rolex New York Yacht Club Invitational Cup were old hat for the teams from Australia's Royal Sydney Yacht Club, Ireland's Royal Cork Yacht Club and the Royal Canadian Yacht Club. Those three teams shined brightest on a gloomy, overcast day that saw many crews struggle to keep their feet and their keels under them. Among those licking their wounds this evening at the mid-regatta Lobster Bake were Day 2 leader San Diego Yacht Club, which blew apart their spinnaker on the first downwind leg of the day's second race and struggled to 16th place without the crucial downwind horsepower. As a result, what was a developing blowout yesterday is now a very competitive regatta. San Diego still leads, but by just four points, while only eight points separates first from fourth.

The Rolex New York Yacht Club Invitational Cup is a biennial regatta hosted by the New York Yacht Club Harbour Court in Newport, R.I. Since the event was first run in 2009, it has attracted top amateur sailors from 43 of the world’s most prestigious yacht clubs from 21 countries. After five editions in the Swan 42 class, the 2019 event will be sailed in the IC37 by Melges, designed by Mark Mills and built by Westerly Marine in Santa Ana, Calif., and FIBRE Mechanics in the United Kingdom. The strict one-design nature of this new, purpose-built class combined with the fact that all 20 boats are owned and maintained by the New York Yacht Club, will ensure a level playing field never before seen in amateur big-boat sailing. The regatta will run through September 14.

Guido Belgiorno-Nettis' team representing the Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron  didn't have an emphatic win today, but the Squadron's 3-2 scoreline won the day and significantly strengthened the team's second-place position in the overall standings. Belgiorno-Nettis finished fourth in his first Invitational Cup in 2015 and second in 2017. His rather average start to this regatta—an 11th and ninth—seemed a bit out of character. Since then it's been nothing but top-three finishes for the Aussie crew, and they can now see a clear path to the first overall victory in the regatta for a Southern Hemisphere club.

"This boat is quite an easy boat to handle in heavy air," said Belgiorno-Nettis. "We're comfortable with that and we just keep fiddling around with what makes the boat go faster. We have a great dynamic between the trimmers, main sheet and even our tactician who is working the runners, just trying to figure out what is the mode that the boat is going to go best in as the breeze builds. And we've just been able to find it. Our scoreline in the last few races in this heavier air indicates we've at least been as fast as the other teams and been able to get around the course."

The third star of the day was the Royal Canadian Yacht Club, a two-time winner of the Rolex New York Yacht Club Invitational Cup, which won the first race by a strong margin. In Race 2, the Canadian crew ground back to fifth after a tangle at the pin end of the starting line left skipper Terry McLaughlin and his team staring at a lot of transoms on the first beat. The Canadians are currently third, four points behind the Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron and one point in front of the team from Royal Cork. Rounding out the top five is Japan Sailing Federation, with 40 points.

Former champion Royal Thames Yacht Club, in sixth with 50.4 points, leads a knot of five teams within five points of one another, each with designs on cracking the top five or even making the podium.

Racing for the 2019 Rolex New York Yacht Club Invitational Cup will continue through Saturday, September 14

Anthony O'Leary's Ireland team from Royal Cork Yacht Club are up to fifth after a good showing in the second day of the New York Invitational in the new Mark Mills-designed IC 37s.

O'Leary's crew for the Big Apple event are: Cliodhna Connolly, Emma Geary, Sophie Browne, Clive O Shea, Robert O Leary, Nicholas O Leary, Ben Field and Timmy Murphy

It may be a different year, a different boat, but so far it is still the same outstanding performance for San Diego Yacht Club. Through four races in the Cup, the premier Corinthian one-design keelboat championship, the West Coast team has shown the blazing boatspeed, precision teamwork and tactical acumen that qualified them for this prestigious international championship a year ago. With a first, third and first today, San Diego skipper Tyler Sinks has staked his crew to a 17-point lead after just four races. There's a lot of sailing left in this event—up to eight more races over three days—but the early marker by the San Diego Yacht Club (SDYC) has put the rest of the fleet on notice: either find a way to keep Bow No. 7 in the rearview mirror, or start fighting for second place.

Since the event was first run in 2009, it has attracted top amateur sailors from 43 of the world’s most prestigious yacht clubs from 21 countries. After five editions in the Swan 42 class, the 2019 event will be sailed in the IC37, designed by Mark Mills and built by Westerly Marine in Santa Ana, Calif., and FIBRE Mechanics in the United Kingdom. The strict one-design nature of this new, purpose-built class combined with the fact that all 20 boats are owned and maintained by the New York Yacht Club, will ensure a level playing field never before seen in amateur big-boat sailing. The regatta will run through September 14. 

"We just tried to sail our own boat, keep the boat moving fast," said Sinks of today's sterling performance by the San Diego Yacht Club team. "The team did a great job at minimising mistakes, and our tactician Jake LaDow kept us heading the right direction. The team was sailing really well. It was one of those days we felt the conditions played in our favour; windy, but also very shifty. We just connected the dots and ended up having a really good day."

Thanks to 10 days of practice and racing in the IC37 by Melges over the summer, the San Diego Yacht Club came into the regatta confident in their boat handling and boatspeed, and with a good feel for the local conditions.

"I think when you have speed, you really don’t need to push it," said Sinks. "We feel comfortable starting anywhere on the line so if we have to win a side, we feel good about that. But, in general, we’re just trying to get off the line with speed and have the ability to do what we want."

Three solid, if unremarkable starts today, gave LaDow the ability to play the variable breeze, which he did to perfection.

"It was extremely head out of the boat," says LaDow, who showed wisdom beyond his 26 years during today's sailing. "My head was on a swivel. Also doing runners, I was balancing how much I had to be tuned into the speed versus looking at puff and shift. There were an infinite amount of decisions to be made today with puff and shift on the racecourse, and the current. I was just constantly evaluating other boats, where they’re going fast, where the breeze is and all that."

In the last race, San Diego didn't take over the lead until the final moments of the race.

"That was all Nick Martin, who was trimming the kite and the jib for us all day," said Sinks. "We had a good shift that allowed us to sail up to the top group, and I think we had a couple of better jibes than the other teams. That was really the difference in the end. We were barely able to get across Southern, who was right behind us and got caught up with the other boats, and we were able to shoot out ahead. It’s not how you start the race, it’s how you finish. I think the only point in the race where we were leading was at the very end of the race. So it worked out for us."

While it's hard to find fault in their performance today, LaDow said that legendary sailor Vince Brun, a SDYC member who is serving as the team's coach, won't let them get too cocky.

"Vince has an eye that most people don’t have, and he can always find something we can improve on," said LaDow. "All the teams are good and getting better, so we've got to keep that learning curve steep for us as well. Vince has been a huge part of that, refining our sail shape, crew work on the boat, everything. It’s been huge having his input."

Behind San Diego is a knot of five teams separated by five points. And just 15 points separates 11th from second, where Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron (RSYS) sits after finishing the day with a first and a third.

"It was a really good day," said RSYS skipper Guido Belgiorno-Nettis. "We were very happy with the crew work. We’ve only just stepped onto these boats last week, so we’re still learning. [The IC37 by Melges] is a great boat. Compliments to the New York Yacht Club coming up with this design and commissioning it and doing everything they've done and getting it so even. It really is about crew work and that’s a lot of good fun."

Racing for the 2019 Rolex New York Yacht Club Invitational Cup will continue through Saturday, September 14, with a live broadcast of each race via Facebook and YouTube. Racing is scheduled to start at 11 am each day.

1. San Diego Yacht Club, 2, 1, 3, 1; 7 points; 2. Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron, 11, 9, 1, 3; 24 points; 3. Japan Sailing Federation, 1, 4, 9, 11; 25 points; 4. Royal Canadian Yacht Club, 7, 3, 12, 5; 27 points;. 5. Royal Cork Yacht Club, 6, 6, 14, 2; 28 points; 6. Yacht Club Italiano, 4, 12, 5, 8; 29 points; 7. Yacht Club Costa Smeralda, 3, 7, 13, 9; 32 points; 8. Royal Thames Yacht Club, 5, 5, 6, 19; 35 points; 9. New York Yacht Club, 8, 14, 7, 7; 36 points; 10. Royal Swedish Yacht Club, 9, 2, 8, 18; 37 points; 11. Southern Yacht Club, 14, 19, 2, 4; 39 points; 12. Yacht Club Argentino, 13, 15, 4, 16; 48 points; 13. Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club, 19, 8, 15, 6; 48 points; 14. Itchenor Sailing Club, 16, 13, 10, 10; 49 points; 15. Royal New Zealand Yacht Club, 12, 11, 11, 17; 51 points; 16. Real Club Náutico de Barcelona, 15, 10, 17, 13; 55 points; 17. Norddeutscher Regatta Verein, 10, 18, 18, 15; 61 points; 18. Royal Yacht Squadron, 17, 16, 19, 12; 64 points; 19. Royal Freshwater Bay Yacht Club, 18, 17, 16, 14; 65 points; 20. Yacht Club de France, 20, 20, 20, 20; 80 points.

Full Results here

Although the New York Yacht Club was founded as “recently” as 1844, it’s regarded in the senior yacht club in the USA, as is the Royal Cork in Ireland - and the world too, come to that, with the RCYC’s unrivalled foundation in 1720 writes W M Nixon. But in England things aren’t so simple (as we’ve been learning only too well during the past three years), for although the Royal Thames in London dates back to 1775, it’s regarded as the senior club, while the ever-so-grand Royal Yacht Squadron in Cowes – not founded until 1815 – is regarded as the premier club.

Be that as it may, when the New York YC set up its International Invitational Series for amateur crews six years ago, it cast around to make it truly international and simply went straight to the senior clubs in each country for the crew selection, though the lineup would suggest there’s some flexibility in the final assembly.

In recent years, the NYYC Invitational Series used Club Swan 42s
The outcome is that today in Newport Rhode Island there are 20 crews from almost every continent taking to the water off the NYYC’s rather splendid out-station of Harbour Court. And after some years of racing in the relative comfort of Club Swan 42s, for the first time they’re going to be sailing the new Melges IC37, pretty much an out-and-out raceboat designed by Mark Mills of Wicklow, and now well into a building programme with Westerly Marine in California, and FIBRE Mechanics in the UK.

Anothny O’Leary was already one of Ireland’s top sailors when he became one of the youngest-ever Admirals of the Royal Cork in 2000, but since then he has continued to notch many successes afloat, including captaining two International Commodore’s Cup team wins

The Royal Cork’s crew will be headed by Anthony O’Leary, who became the one of the youngest-ever RCYC Admirals back in 2000, but has put in much prodigious sailing achievement ever since. Although he’s best known these days for 1720 campaigning – both in the straight class and with the “cruiserfied” version Antix Bheag for IRC racing – he has cut the mustard internationally with major success in larger craft.

So who knows, but maybe the next five days of top end international Corinthian sport off Newport might be one of the first steps towards getting an IC37 class off the ground at Crosshaven, although we’d expect advocates of that notion to have been busy already.

The O’Leary-led RCYC crew in mid-gybe during 2018’s NYYC series with a satisfactory number of renowned international clubs tucked in astern

The world of sailing in Ireland and internationally is much diminished by the sad passing of Douglas “Dougie” Deane of Crosshaven at the age of 82, after a very fully-lived life in which he contributed much to the sports with which he was involved, both in personal involvement and in several administrative roles, while at the same time being a life-enhancing and active member of the larger Crosshaven community in which he and his wife Liz had an extraordinarily generous family role.

Dougie Deane was the embodiment of all that is best in Cork life. He was excellent company with an infectious enjoyment of the moment, he was an able performer both as an individual and team player, and he quietly did much good work as he progressed through life.

Like many of his friends and family, he was deeply into sailing and rugby. His father Harry was Vice-Admiral of the Royal Cork Yacht Club from 1973 to 1975, and President of the legendary Cork Constitution Rugby Club, so-called because it was founded by staff members of the now long-defunct Cork newspaper of that name. But while Dougie was sufficiently involved with rugby to become a founder and later President of Crosshaven Rugby Club in which all of his five sons played, sailing was his special passion.

Dougie Deane crewed by Donal McClement racing Dusk in Cork Harbour in 1960

He became a junior member of the Royal Munster YC in Crosshaven in 1952, racing the IDRA 14 Maybe with Donal McClement, who was one of his many good friends - in Donal’s case, it was a lifelong camaraderie. They soon realised that while the O’Brien Kennedy-designed IDRA 14s were theoretically one-design, some boats were undoubtedly “more one-design than others”, and when they managed to move on from the appropriately-named Maybe to the legendary Dusk, major prizes started coming their way, with the prestigious Dognose Trophy being taken by the pair in 1959.

Leading Crosshaven sailors Sam Thompson (left) and Charlie Dwyer, with the new winners of the Dognose Trophy in 1959, Douglas Deane and Donal McClement (right)Dusk as she is today, restored in a WEST project by the father-and-son team of Tom and David O’Brien, and being raced here by Andy Sargent in the 2016 IDRA 14 70th Anniversary Race at Clontarf, when she finished second. Photo: W M Nixon
But the young Dougie’s talents had already been well-recognised as early as 1955 when, with George Henry, he formed part of the Ireland team in the International Junior Regatta at Dun Laoghaire, a pioneering effort at a time when junior sailing as a category on its own was only beginning to be developed in Ireland.

Dougie Deane (right) with George Henry of Dun Laoghaire preparing to race in Mermaids at the International Junior Regatta in Dun Laoghaire in 1955.
Press cutting from Baltimore in 1964 – it took the Cork Examiner a day or two to recover from that spelling of Dinghy Week……  
His dinghy interests went on to take in busy campaigns as an owner with an International 505 and a National 18. But in classic Crosshaven style, his sailing abilities were readily transferred to cruising and offshore racing, and in 1965 he became a member of the Irish Cruising Club mainly on the strength of a voyage to Spain with Stan Roche, Joe Fitzgerald and Charlie Howlett on Stan Roche’s characterful 29-ton ketch Nancy Bet.

Stan Roche’s 29-ton ketch Nancy Bet, in which the young Dougie Deane cruised to Spain
Offshore sailing, with any hardship minimized by appropriate medication…(left to right) Dougie Deane with Charlie Howlett almost invisible behind him, Joe Fitzgerald and Stan Roche at sea on board the latter’s Nancy Bet.
In the work side of life, he had started early with what was to become Irish Distillers in their Cork administrative centre, where he went on to become Manager, and those managerial and administrative skills were quickly recognized in the sailing world, where he was a youthful member of the Royal Munster committee, rising to become Rear Commodore in 1965.

Then when the Royal Munster and the Royal Cork amalgamated in 1966-67 to become the Royal Cork Yacht Club in time for the Quarter Millennium in 1970, he was on the new RCYC General Committee when it first met in March 1967.

Thus he was to play a key role in the complex yet very successful Quarter Millennial Celebrations of 1969-70, and was much looked up to, as one who had actively been there for the Quarter Millennium, in order to give highly-valued advice for the up-coming Royal Cork Tricentenary next year. When his final illness struck with extreme rapidity, this made his sudden loss particularly painful in Crosshaven, where his eldest son Gavin is CEO of the Royal Cork YC, and had already been drawing on his helpful father’s exceptional experience in planning the very special year ahead.

For Douglas Deane - in addition to his many other attributes - was a wonderful father and family man. He married Liz Lucey in 1972 with Brian Cudmore as his Best Man in a perfect example of the inter-linking of Cork sailing families - when Brian in turn went on to marry Eleanor, Douglas was their Best Man.

A wonderful couple – a recent photo of Liz and Dougie Deane
Douglas and Liz went on to have five sons and a daughter Lucy, Crosshaven youngsters through and through, yet with a much larger breadth of vision than their strong sense of belonging to one locality might suggest.

And there was generosity and love too – when Lucy was 16 and their family virtually raised, Dougie and Liz were faced with the sudden death of Liz’s sister who left two sons younger than Lucy - Andrew and James. They were simply taken into the generous Deane household in Crosshaven, and in the end Dougie and Liz raised a family of eight.

They were a wonderful pair together, yet Dougie was able to continue his sailing, going into cruiser-racer ownership for a while with a share in the 37ft Dalcassian, and then being a regular member of the O’Leary crew on several boats with the family name of Irish Mist, particularly the two Tonner Irish Mist III which, under a subsequent owner, was seriously damaged on a stranding in the entrance to Cork Harbour after a steering failure. When she was beautifully restored by Jim McCarthy, Dougie transferred to the McCarthy crew, and stayed with him when he sought a new direction with an X99.

When the new 26ft 1720 Cork Sportsboat concept to a design by Tony Castro was being developed in time for the 1994 season, Dougie Deane was an enthusiastic supporter, so much so that he was able to persuade his directors in Cork Gin to back him in buying 1720 Sportsboat Hull No 1, which very conspicuously became Cork Dry Gin, for this was a quarter of a century ago, and such advertising seemed the most natural thing in the world.

Today, Gavin Deane vividly remembers his first sail with his father in this new boat. While his father was not particularly athletic in appearance, like Dennis Conner he became something different at the helm of a sailing boat, particularly one with a performance edge. All his experience with IDRA 14s, the 505, and the National 18 came to the fore, and the new sports machine zapped across Cork Harbour at a prodigious speed with Dougie Deane serenely at the helm and everything under control.

Pioneering in 1994. The new Cork 1720 Sportsboat Cork Dry Gin – No 1 out of the hull mould – at smooth speed in Cork Harbour with Dougie Deane at the helm. He liked all his boats, but this was a special favourite.

It was a metaphor for the way he lived his life. Donal McClement says of him: “He was a gentleman in every possible sense of the word. Quiet spoken yet effective in communication, and very highly-respected and well-liked by all who knew him. And they were many”.

For the last ten years of his life, Dougie owned a Sea Ray 22 fast power-cruiser, built in Cork, capable of 20-25 knots, with a couple of bunks in a little cabin should the urge come on him for a night or two of convenient cruising, and handy for viewing the occasional race. But sailing continued to be his favourite way of being afloat, and he was day sailing with friends and family well into the summer of 2019.

Then there was a family holiday in the south of France, where at the age of 82 he was seen diving with enthusiasm into the blue Mediterranean, to the amazement of his grandchildren. On returning home, his illness quickly manifested itself, and for his friends, he was gone in five weeks. It was a shock, a great sadness, but with the healing help of time, we can see that here was a truly great man who led an exemplary life.

Our heartfelt condolences are with his extensive family and his many close friends.

WMN

Ronan and John Downing's Half Tonner Miss Whiplash was the winner of the IRC Spinnaker Division of Royal Cork Yacht Club's 'At Home' Regatta on Sunday writes Bob Bateman.

The two-day event featured light winds on both days. Keelboats had two races on Saturday and one on Sunday. The National 18s, Mixed Dinghies, Lasers, Toppers and Optimists all raced on the Curlane Bank.

In the White Sail IRC division, Ria Lyden's X332 Ellida was declared the overall winner in the 11-boat fleet.

Full results in all divisions are here

Former Admiral’s attended for the RCYC 'At Home' Boules match. (from left to right) John Roche, Michael McCarthy, Bill Walsh, Current Admiral Pat Farnan, David O’Brien, Paddy Mc Glade, Barry Rose, Bill O’Mahony, Tony O’Connor and Ted Crosbie. (Hugh Mockler was also present but absent due to RNLI shout).

Mike McCarthy Winner IHS receives the trophy from Admiral Pat Farnan

George Radley, Winner, Club Echo Spinnaker Division

The Downing Family, Miss Whiplash, overall winner of IRC overall IRC division

Mary Jones, Jelly Baby, second overall in the IRC Spinnaker Division

Ria Lyden and crew Winner of both IRC and Echo Divisions

Ewan Barry winner of Saturday's National 18’s race

It is with great sadness that we announce the death of Douglas Deane of Crosshaven, for many years one of Cork Harbour’s best-known sailing figures afloat and ashore.

His funeral will take place tomorrow (Tuesday) at 11.30am in St Brigid’s Church, Crosshaven.

Afloat will publish a full appreciation of Dougie Deane in due course, meanwhile, our thoughts are with his family and many friends, and particularly with his son Gavin, CEO of the Royal Cork YC

Claiming to be the 'largest stand-alone dinghy festival event in the country', the official launch of Cork Dinghy Fest took place in the Royal Cork Yacht Club last week.

Royal Cork Yacht Club Rear Admiral Brian Jones was joined by volunteers and sailors as they marked the announcement of the continued sponsorship and support from CH Marine and the Port of Cork for the popular biennial event.

As Afloat reported previously, Event chairman Alex Barry is looking forward to another great event and was very excited to announce that DinghyFest ’19 will play host to three national championships, four Southern Championships and even a world championships.

2019 is gearing up to be a great event, according to Barry, who says it was great to have such support from our sponsors this year. Barry is a strong advocate for dinghy sailing of any type, recently moving to a GP14 in advance of the Worlds in Skerries in 2020.

This year’s event will see boats of all shapes and sizes race over the two days with National Championships for Multihulls, National 18’s and RS Fevas, Southern Championships for RS 200s, 400s, 29ers and Mirrors and a world championships for the clinker-built Rankins of Cork Harbour. Strangely enough, the international entries have been slow to date for the Rankin, says Barry, but he’s holding out hope.

The event will take place on September 14th and 15th in the Royal Cork Yacht Club with entry and NOR available on the website here

There were jubilant scenes at Royal Cork Yacht Club on Sunday evening when Paul Smith, President of the Mermaid Sailing Association presented the Foynes Yacht Club triplets Darragh, Noel and Mark McCormack with the National Championship trophy writes Bob Bateman.

The trio successfully defended their title on the last day of the Championships coming from third overall with two races left to sail in the ten race series, as Afloat reported here.

It was the first time the Mermaid Class has raced for National Honours in Cork Harbour.

The Under 25 winners trophy was presented by Patrick Finucane to Oisin Finucane, Chris McDaid and Sean Finucane. They were also winners of the Designer Trophy (below) for the biggest improvement in the fleet

Daphne Trophy Winner (Jill134) Roisin McCormack presents to Paul Smith and crew Anne Smith and Pat Mangan

See all Bob Bateman's reports and photos on the 2019 Mermaid Championships in one handy link here

The Championship prizegiving in the RCYC dining room also included day prize presentations by RCYC Rear Admiral Dinghies, Brian Jones and MSA President Paul Smith. See selection of photos below

MSA President Paul Smith...

...with Race Officer Scorie Walls

RCYC Rear Admiral Dinghies, Brian Jones addresses the Mermaid fleet