A battle of Olympic proportions ensued at the top of Class One IRC of the O'Leary Life sponsored Sovereign's Cup off Kinsale today with two former Olympic Star helmsmen on the top two rivals overall writes Bob Bateman.
There should be no surprise that in this nine-boat fleet, J109s occupy the top three places given eight of the fleet are J designs.
Leading with a 1,2 scored in today's first two races is Howth Yacht Club's new J109 campaign Outrajeous (Richard Colwell and John Murphy).
Onboard is Mark Mansfield, the four-time Olympian calling the shots. In second place is the four-time winner of the ICRA Championships, John Maybury's Joker II who has brought in Beijing and London Star helmsman Peter O'Leary for tactical support.
In third place, is Brian Jones's Jelly Baby from Royal Cork.
Somewhat unusual easterly breezes for Kinsale and a lumpy sea with 16-knots provided Principal Race Officer Jack Roy with testing conditions for day one of the Cup across three courses.
Racing is scheduled to continue tomorrow morning at the Cup but easterly winds are forecast as gusting as high as 40 knots.
Results are here. All provisional and subject to protest.
Scroll down for photo gallery from Day One of the Sovereigns' Cup Class One action by Bob Bateman below