Cork Harbour tactician Mark Mansfield maybe setting his sights on the upcoming European Championships, as part of the JCup Ireland at the Royal Irish Yacht Club on Dublin Bay and the IRC European Championships the following weekend at the same venue.

With a strong early season showing at last weekend's Warsash Spring Championships, Mansfield aboard John Smart's Solent-based J/109 Jukebox is considered one of the leading UK contenders for both championship titles.

Competing against an IRC 2 fleet of J/109s, J/99s JPKs, J112e, A 35 and other designs, Jukebox emerged victorious in the four-day, 12-race series, counting seven first places and winning by a significant margin of 11 points from second-placed Arcus, an A 35 previously known as Fools Gold from Waterford Harbour. This marks the second consecutive year that Jukebox, with Mansfield as tactician, has won this event, having also won its class at Cowes Week 2023.

Despite varied conditions ranging from eight to 25 knots over the two weekends of racing, Jukebox and its crew proved to be a formidable force on the Hillhead plateau. The Solent-based boat is just one of a number of vessels from the region planning on heading to Dublin for the upcoming championships in September.

The potent J122E cruiser-racer Scottish 'El Gran Senor' from the Clyde Cruising Club will be renamed under new ownership when she embarks on her 2024 summer season, which includes next month's ISORA 2024 Offshore Series on the Irish Sea, Cork Week, the J Cup, IRC Europeans, ICRA Nationals, and the Pwllheli Challenge at the end of September.

Jonathan Anderson's navy blue-hulled 40-footer is now owned by former ISORA champions Peter Dunlop and Vicky Cox from Pwllheli. They are moving up from their all-conquering J109, Mojito.

The move was prompted by the trend towards an increasingly bigger, faster fleet that makes it more and more difficult to race in the same conditions in the smaller J109.

Anderson's last Irish waters foray in 'El Gran Senor' was his second overall in the offshore class at Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta 2023 last July, and before that, it was third overall in the Coastal Class at June's Sovereign's Cup off Kinsale in county Cork.

Cox explained it has been a busy start to the 2024 season for the 2022 ISORA Champions in changing boats "All focus has been on selling the J109, getting the J122e up to the spec we are used to on Mojito and of course transferring branding. We couldn’t really race out of Pwllheli with the Saltire emblazoned on the hull could we!"

Cox revealed their new boat will be renamed Mojito in keeping with campaign tradition. 

"It has been known for people to wave and hail ‘Mojito’ when they bump into us in town if they only know us through sailing, so we couldn’t really leave that name behind. In fact, the name has moved with us from the start. From a Bavaria 39 Cruiser when we first met, briefly through an Elan 350 to the J109", she explained. 

Cox concedes that while she didn’t "personally see the need to change our old friend, the 109, as we know how she works and know what she likes to perform, racing offshore against an increasingly bigger, faster fleet makes it more and more difficult to race in the same conditions". 

"I can’t deny that we have benefited many times when winds have died and we’ve found ourselves up level with them on the water and had some fine results in the process" she pointed out.

"Conversely, there have also been times when we’ve been left floating in the bay for the night whilst the crews of bigger boats were all ensconced in the bar enjoying full refreshments before the wind shut off", she acknowledged to Afloat.

"I must admit getting back to the space available on a 40-foot boat is very welcome, and the guys from Scotland have definitely shown us that the J122e is capable of a trophy or two," Cox said.

It will be a busy season for the Mojito crew with the ISORA races starting in April, the IRC Welsh Championships to defend in Pwllheli (17th to 19th May), Cork Week in Cork Harbour,  the J Cup, IRC Europeans and the ICRA nationals all from the Royal Irish on Dublin Bay before returning for the Pwllheli Challenge at the end of September.

"There’s no doubt that we’ll be starting on a learning curve this season, but we’re looking forward to having plenty of fun in the process", Cox admits.

The Irish J109 fleet is gearing up for an action-packed season on Dublin Bay with an early season IRC optimisation talk this month.

As Afloat reported previously, Dun Laoghaire's Royal Irish Yacht Club will host the ICRA Nationals and Key Yachting's Irish J-Cup, which incorporates the European Championships this August and September, featuring a strong J109 involvement.

Irish J109 class captain Cian Lynch has organised a J109-specific IRC optimization talk to be held at the Royal St George Yacht Club in Dun Laoghaire Harbour, as well as via Zoom. The event is set to take place on February 27th and will feature North Sails expert Maurice Prof O'Connell and IRC Measurer Brian Matthews as key speakers.

Lynch is not alone in his efforts to prepare the fleet for the upcoming event. The 2024 J109 committee includes Redmond Power, Sheena Bowers, Richard Goodbody, and Barry Cunningham, all of whom are working hard to ensure that the Irish fleet is ready to compete at the highest level.

ICRA Class I is billed as John Minnis's A35 Final Call II from Belfast Lough being in with more than a shout against the "monstrous regiment" of J/109s. But in the end today, she had to be content with reaching the evening in second overall, as Johnny and Suzy Murphy moved out on their own both in class and against their sister-ships, ending the day for the J/109 Outrajeous (Howth YC) on just 8 points from 1,3,2,2 against Final Call's 14pts from 2,1,3 and 8 (ouch!).

Class One leader J/109 Outrajeous (Howth YC) starts on port in race two of the ICRA Nationals at Howth....

...and gets an early advantage

John Minnis's A35 Final Call II from Belfast Lough goes downwind in the first race of the ICRA National Championships at Howth Yacht Club Photo: Afloat

Obviously, that fourth race is in line for the discard if we can get it tomorrow, but meanwhile, Saturday night sees defending champion Joker II (J/109, John Maybury, RIYC) third on 9,2,7,1, with Mighty Mouse, aka Mike & Richie Evans' J/99 Snapshot (HYC) in fourth after logging 6,8,1,3.

Downwind in class one of the ICRA Nationals 2023 at Howth, with the J109 Joker II (John Maybury) lying in third overall on port gybe Photo: Afloat

Racing continues on Sunday.

The Cowes-based J109 Jukebox crew, led by John Smart, sailed a smart race on Tuesday to take the lead in a highly competitive IRC 3 fleet at the 2023 Cowes Week Regatta. The team, which has Royal Cork's Mark Mansfield racing as tactician and the National Yacht Club's Alan Roche onboard, sailed a flawless race to beat out Ed Mockridge and the team on Elaine Again (ranked number 1) for the top spot.

The 14-strong IRC3 fleet saw Brita Van Rossum on the HOD35 Zarafa leading going into Tuesday's race. This team, which took third place at the European championship last year, is in top form, but the Irish crew on Jukebox managed to take the lead by a slim margin.

The quality fleet also includes Jamie McWilliam and Jamie Boag racing on the J109 Witchcraft, who are currently lying in fourth overall.

Despite the excitement on Tuesday, the race committee has made the decision to abandon racing for all classes on Wednesday due to the Met Office yellow wind warning in force for the south coast.

The results of Tuesday's race can be found here

At Schull Harbour Sailing Club's All-In cruiser ECHO racing in West Cork, the Windbourne Trophy was won by Kevin Daly's Jamaro.

The Geneveve Trophy winner was Tony O'Brien's J109 Tighey Boy, and Alan Dwyer's Joxer won the Rosbrin Trophy.

The Barnett Trophy is scheduled for this Saturday.

Summer League leader is John McGowan's Mackey G, with Barry Quinlan's Capella second and Tadg Dwyer's Brazen Husie third.

A first and a second scored in today's final races has given National J109 Champion John Maybury of the Royal Irish Yacht Club the overall Class One IRC title at the 2023 Simply Blue Sovereign's Cup off Kinsale.

Maybury's Joker II crew ended the six-race series with all their results in the top five, and with three race wins to boot, the RIYC crew were two points clear at the top. 

Camelot in Kinsale is how Afloat's WM Nixon described the scene on the first two days of the regatta, but the 2023 Cup concluded with 100% cloud cover and drizzle on Saturday afternoon.

Five times J109 National Champion (and top ICRA yacht at Cork Week 2022), John Maybury and his Joker II crew won the Sovereign's Cup Class One IRC division Photo: Bob Bateman

Defending Sovereign's Cup Champion, Mike Evans's J99 Snapshot finished as runner-up by virtue of a final race win to be on 10 points overall. 

The Howth J99 broke up a J109 stranglehold in IRC One, with five of the top six boats being 109s. 

Maybury's clubmates, Richard and Timothy Goodbody, on' White Mischief', took a well-earned third overall with no race wins but six top-four results to finish on 15 points.

Mike and Ritchie Evans's J99 Snapshot from Howth (above and prizegiving below) finished in second place in IRC One of the 2023 Simply Blue Sovereign's Cup off Kinsale Photo: Bob Bateman

Mike and Ritchie Evans's J99 Snapshot from Howth (above and prizegiving below) finished in second place in IRC One of the 2023 Simply Blue Sovereign's Cup off Kinsale

The 15th edition of the biennial regatta attracted 90 entries across all divisions and ran from 21st to 24th June and incorporated the 1720 European sportsboat Championships.

Results below

Read all Afloat's 2023 Sovereign's Cup Regatta coverage in one handy link here

National J109 Champion John Maybury of the Royal Irish Yacht Club has moved into the overall lead of Class One IRC on day two of the 2023 Simply Blue Sovereign's Cup off Kinsale.

Maybury's Joker II crew won race two, were third in race three and won the last race of the day, and found themselves quite at home in the light winds that prevailed on Thursday, moving up from fifth overall after Wednesday's opening single race.

Mike Evans's J99 Snapshot from Howth has moved up to second place in IRC One of the 2023 Simply Blue Sovereign's Cup off Kinsale Photo: Bob Bateman

The  J109 design continues to hold four of the top five places in IRC One but also moving up overall is defending Sovereign's Cup Champion, Mike Evans's J99 Snapshot, now in second place from yesterday's third. 

Mike Evans's J99 Snapshot from Howth leads into a mark on day two of the 2023 Simply Blue Sovereign's Cup off Kinsale Photo: Bob Bateman

Early leader Howth Yacht Club's Indian skippered by Simon Knowles, and Finbarr O'Regan's Artful DodJer have both dropped off the podium, letting Maybury's clubmate Richard and Timothy Goodbody's ' White Mischief' into third overall.

Finbarr O'Regan's Artful DodJer of the host club has dropped to fourth Sovereign's Cup Class One IRC after four races sailed Photo: Bob Bateman

This is the 15th edition of the biennial regatta, which has attracted 90 entries, runs from 21st to 24th June, and incorporates the 1720 European sportsboat Championships.

Southwesterly winds gusting to 30 knots are forecast for Friday's races.

Results below

Pat Kelly’s family crewed J109 Storm from Howth and Rush began this year’s Celtic Cup RC 35 series with a win at Kip Regatta, the first big event of the season.

Dad Pat Kelly skippered the very competitive Storm with three generations of Kellys; sons Paddy, Paul and Ronan, and grandson David Jnr and, Ronan tells me, the long-standing crew members Kevin Sheridan, Mark Ferguson and Nin O’Leary, who call the shots!

The 11-strong fleet at Kip Regatta run out of Kip Marina at Inverkip in the Clyde, had mainly five light weather races over two days, 13th and 14th May.

Storm came through a very enjoyable tricky regatta in tight racing. Storm won two of the five outings but, after finishing first in Race 3, had to swallow a DSQ for that outing. This left the event wide open with Charlie Frize’s

Corby 33 Banshee and Ben and Jono’s J109 Mocking-J were close on points. Storm fought back on the second day to win Race 4 and take fourth in Race 5. That was enough to snatch first overall by two points to bring home the prize to Rush and Howth.

The expected battle with John Minnis’s Archambault 35 Final Call II from Belfast Lough didn’t materialise.

Next up for Storm is next weekend’s Scottish Series at Tarbert on Loch Fyne in an expected large class of RC35s.

As well as the Kip regatta, the Tarbert event, the RC 35 Celtic Cup series includes the Bangor IRC and RC35 weekend, the Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta and Largs Regatta Festival.

With 25 entries already in two months before the first gun (compared to 26 racing in 2019), Class One IRC Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta (VDLR) looks like it's going to be a repeat of some of the hottest Irish Sea IRC action seen since before covid.

The regular Irish and Welsh boats in this class will be joined by some of the Scottish RC35 Class, which previously used VDLR as one of the Celtic Cup events, so it's no surprise to see a few of this number travelling to the hub of Irish Sea yachting, including the Celtic Cup Champion, John Minnis in his A35, Final Call II from Belfast Lough. 

RC35 Celtic Cup Champion, John Minnis in his A35, Final Call II will compete in IRC One at VDLR Photo: Afloat

Scottish RC35s

Scottish and Northern Ireland RC35s are due to race at Royal Ulster Yacht Club at an inaugural RC35 weekend ten days ahead of Dun Laoghaire, so the visitors should be fully warmed up if that dress rehearsal gets the numbers as Afloat's Betty Armstrong reports here.

Robin Young's J109 from the Scottish RC35 class is Dun Laoghaire bound from the Clyde this July Photo: RC35

Dublin J109s

14 J109s are currently entered (there were 16 in 2019) and are known to be potent across the wind range, as shown in 2019 when 1,2,3 went to the well-sailed Dublin class.

2019 winner John Maybury's Joker II has entered again, and after a successful foray at Cork Week 2022, now has a Cork Harbour tactician onboard. His Royal Irish runner-up clubmates Richard and Tim Goodbody in White Mischief are also in, but third-placed Storm II (Pat Kelly of Howth and Rush) is not entered yet.

2019 VDLR Class One winner, John Maybury's Joker II is a five-time J/109 Irish champion Photo: Afloat

The ISORA champion J109 Mojito is also entered in IRC One, and as regular Afloat readers know, she was the Cork Week Coastal Champion in 2022 but has opted to sail in VDLR IRC One rather than the regatta's dedicated Offshore Class, so it will be interesting to see how the North Wales crew perform inshore.

Richard and Tim Goodbody in White Mischief were Class One VDLR runners-up in 2019 Photo: Afloat

New Dun Laoghaire J109 entries for July include Bobby Kerr's new 'Riders on the Storm' and Barry Cunnigham's 'Blast on Chimaera', with North Sails' Prof O'Connell onboard, both from the RIYC.

The Shanahan family's J109 Ruth from the National Yacht Club has been an early performer in ISORA coastal in 2023 and will race to Dingle in June before the VDLR competition in July Photo: Afloat

Apart from the J109s, there are other possible front runners too, but that will depend greatly on wind strength, especially if it stays light for all four days of the regatta. 

A35

Minnis's A35 has just won the 2023 Spring Series in Belfast Lough, and as shown last year, with Gareth Flanigan driving, Final Call II saw them all off at Howth's WAVE Regatta with a dominant performance in a mix of conditions. Her ability to run square downwind with symmetric kites and gain on all the asymmetric boats proves especially effective in medium conditions on windward-leeward courses.

J111 and J99

There are a number of other J models competing, including a further optimised ICRA Boat of the Year, the J99 Snapshot, skippered by Mike and Ritchie Evans of Howth, along with their clubmate Norbert Reilly's brand new J111 Ghost Raider that saw her first action last Sunday in the second ISORA coastal of the season. 

ICRA Boat of the Year for 2023, the J99 Snapshot co-skippered by the Evans brothers, has been further optimised for the 2023 regatta season Photo: Bob Bateman

Corbys

Four Corby designs are competing, and they all are visitors to Dublin Bay. 

Carrickfergus's Brian and Ryan Wilson travel to Dun Laoghaire with their Corby 29E, Elixir. The Belfast Lough boat was the 2022 winner of the IRC One Bar Buoy Race at Strangford.

From Wales, Richard Fildes returns to the bay with his Corby 33 Imposter from South Caernavonshire Yacht Club and Pwhelli's Corby 36, Gelert, skippered by Brian Dixon, can show a turn of speed, again with the deadly use of a symmetric kite. 

Check out the entries so far here