The big boat IRC Class has a new Cork Week leader, Team Knight Build racing J/112 Happy Daize from the RORC, scored three straight bullets today (Thursday) to shoot up the leaderboard to pole position.

Louise Makin & Chris Jones’ J/111 Journeymaker 11 from the Royal Southern YC drop to second for the series.

Journeymaker II Photo: Bob Bateman

After three days of light and complex racing, a sea breeze kicked in on Day Four to spice up the action on the penultimate day

Jonathan Anderson’s J/122 El Gran Senor from the Clyde Cruising Club had a good day at the races, to claim third for the series.

Racing was tight in IRC One; El Gran Senor tied for second place in the last race of the day with Shaun Douglas’ Game Changer.

El Gran Senor Photo: Mary Malone

Racing at Cork Week concludes tomorrow on five race areas, in and outside Cork Harbour, organised by the Royal Cork Yacht Club. 

A number of protests are still to be heard, so results are provisional.

Sam Laidlaw’s Quarter Tonner BLT from the Royal Yacht Squadron made it six straight bullets in the first race on Thursday at Cork Week but came fifth in the second, proving that the team from Cowes is human!

BLT was back on track for the last race taking a seventh win and all but securing the class title. Marcus Ryan’s Irish youth team racing J/24 HeadCase moved up to second place having scored two podium race results today.

After three days of light and complex racing, a sea breeze kicked in on Day Four to spice up the action on the penultimate day

Marcus Ryan’s Irish youth team racing J/24 HeadCase Photo: Bob Bateman

Dorgan, Marshall & Losty’s Quarter Tonner Illegal from Cove Sailing Club, slips to third just two points behind HeadCase.

Quarter Tonner Illegal from Cove Sailing Club Photo: Bob Bateman

A number of protests are still to be heard so results are provisional.

Were it not for Jamie McWilliam’s stratospherically-rated Ker 40 Signal 8 managing to pull a miracle performance out of a frustrating day (Thursday), the results in the 21-strong Cork Week Coastal IRC Class would have been almost a reverse listing of the ratings.

The overall win went to Liam Madden of Foynes YC who got round the course in 4 hours and 6 minutes with his 0.966-rated Dexterity, but corrected into 3 hrs 56mins 22secs to take the win. 

Robert Rendell's Grand Soleil 44 Samatom lies third overall in the Cork Week Coastal Class Photo: Bob Bateman

Line honours winner by quite a way on 3hrs 14mins 50secs was Signal 8, and with that correcting to 4:01:59 she was still in the hunt at 5th on CT. But among those ahead of her but previously not up in the spotlight were Dennis O’Sullivan’s Aris from Bantry Bay SC (3rd on CT and rating 0.976), and Peter Hopps & Hilary Cooks’ Sam from London Corinthian SC, rating 0.976 and placing second to Dexterity.

Overall, Signal 8 is now showing ahead on 13 to the 15 of Peter Dunlop’s J/109 Mojito from Pwllheli which has to carry a 6th from today, while Robert Rendell’s Grand Soleil 44 Samatom from Howth slipped back to 8th today, but still lies 3rd overall on 24 accumulated points.

With a number of protests still to be heard, results are provisional. 

Following its 120 nautical miles Fastnet Race on Monday, the Beaufort Cup fleet for the inter-services sailing competition started their inshore Cork Week racing on Wednesday inside Cork Harbour.

The Crosshaven RNLI team racing Grand Soleil 40 Nieulargo, owned by Annamarie Fagen and Denis Murphy, won today’s race by over four minutes after IRC time correction.

The Royal Navy Team racing J/109 Jolly Jack Tar, skippered by David Warwick was second. Third was the Defence Forces Ireland team skippered by Tom Roche racing Solona 45 Meridian.

Irish champion Dragon Phantom skippered by Royal St. George's Peter Bowring leads after the first day of racing for Dragons at Volvo Cork Week Regatta.

Dun Laoghaire's Bowring counts a 2,1 in the seven-boat fleet to lead from Kinsale YC's Cameron Good in Little Fella one point behind on four.

The three-man class joined the action on the third day (Wednesday) of Volvo Cork Week and was blessed with sunshine and 8-10 knots of breeze from the north.

The Cape 31 Class and Dragons had windward-leeward races off Roches Point.

Racing at Cork Week continues tomorrow with the penultimate day of racing for the regatta. Five race areas, in and outside Cork Harbour, will be organised by the Royal Cork Yacht Club.

John Maybury’s J/109 Joker 2 from the Royal Irish YC in Dun Laoghaire won Wednesday’s Day three Cork Week IRC 2 race by nearly three minutes from Pat Kelly’s J/109 Storm from Rush/Howth YC.

The Evans Brothers racing J/99 Snapshot have broken the J/109 dominance in the class, finishing third today. The Snapshot team from Howth YC was just 23 seconds behind Storm.

The third day of Cork Week incorporating the ICRA National Championships was blessed with sunshine and 8-10 knots of breeze from the north. 

“So far so good,” commented Joker’s John Maybury. “We often race against Storm, Chimaera and Artful Dodjer, which are all well-sailed J/109s"

"To be honest I think that the weather and Cork Week’s courses really suit the design, but we have to make sure we don’t get wrapped up in a personal battle as there are plenty of good teams racing other types of boats", the RIYC J109 National Champion said.

"Today as we finished in front of Cobh, the race officer let off the gun and then threw us the spent cartridge as we sailed back past them. It was a lovely gesture… It’s great to be back at Cork Week”, Maybury added.

Racing at Cork Week continues tomorrow with the penultimate day of racing for the regatta. Five race areas, in and outside Cork Harbour, will be organised by the Royal Cork Yacht Club.

Nick Burn’s Royal Hong Kong YC had a great Volvo Cork Week day three on the Mills 39 Zero II winning the single race by over 10 minutes after IRC time correction.

The third day of  Volvo Cork Week incorporating the ICRA National Championships was blessed with sunshine and 8-10 knots of breeze from the north. 

Class leader for the regatta, Louise Makin & Chris Jones’ J/111 Journeymaker II from the Royal Southern YC was second.

Louise Makin & Chris Jones’ J/111 Journeymaker II Photo: Bob Bateman

Richard Fildes Corby 37 Impostor from Abersoch Wales was third into today’s race

Richard Fildes Corby 37 Impostor Photo: Bob Bateman

Let’s face it, most classics need a bit of a breeze to give of their best, and there’s nothing more disagreeable than rolling about in windless frustration under a rig that rattles. Thus for exactly half of the Classics Division, “Include Me Out” seems to have been the motto for the day.

Terry Birles Classic Erin from Royal Cork YC Photo: Bob Bateman

But somehow Dafydd Hughes’ vintage S&S 34 Bendigedig from Aberaeron (it’s south end of Cardigan Bay, and not be confused with Aberdaeron inside Bardsey) found enough wind power to get round the course and take the win, second going to Patrick Dorgan with the Cork Harbour OD Elsie, while the Tina Class Bilou-Bellle (J J Ollu) from France was third, which means she currently leads overall.

Patrick Dorgan's Cork Harbour One Design Elsie from Royal Cork YC Photo: Bob Bateman

Harold Cudmore at the helm of Cork Harbour One Design Jap of Royal Cork YC Photo: Bob Bateman

White Bay on the east side of Cork Harbour near Roches Point was the picture-perfect racing area for the Classic Class today. The elegant class includes boats that are over 100 years old, loving restored by their guardians. Terry Birles’ Fred Shepherd sloop Erin dates back to 1912 (on port) and was built in Maine USA. The 30ft gaff cutter Lady Min (B7) was launched in Schull in 1902 and is raced at Volvo Cork Week by Simon O'Keeffe, the grandson of the original owner Maurice O’Keefe.Photo: Rick Tomlinson

Yves Lambert’s 37ft Dick Carter sloop Persephone was launched in 1969 and is the sistership to the 1966 One Ton Cup winner Tina. Photo: Rick Tomlinson

Dafydd Hughes’ S&S 34 Bendigedig hales from Aberaeron, West Wales, and is a sistership to Ted Heath’s Morning Cloud. Dafydd intends to race Bendigedig, solo around the world in 2023. Photo: Rick Tomlinson

Around mid-afternoon today (Wednesday) the anemometers at Sherkin Island, Cork Airport and Roche’s Point were all showing quite decent sailing breezes. Grand day for a spot of steady yacht racing all along the magic Cork coast, you might reasonably think. Well, not quite……

For the wind being recorded at Sherkin was westerly. Up at Cork airport meanwhile, it was northerly. And almost within sight at Roche’s Point, where they’d the best breeze of all, it was t’other way completely – a straight southerly. Quite a challenge for the tacticians, and plain murder for race officers. Yet despite that, the interesting fleet in the Cork Week IRC Coastal Class got a result which – at this halfway-plus stage of the week – reflected the trends of earlier racing while shaking things up in a way that indicated there had been right and not-so-right and even wrong ways to go.

Jamie McWilliam of the Royal Fragrant Harbour YC was out of sight ahead at the finish with his Ker 40 Signal 8. But then with a rating of 1.242, he has to be if he’s going to be in the money, and that’s where he was, first by three minutes on CT ahead of Steve Hayes from Greystones with Magic Touch which rates only 0.979, while Steady Eddy, aka Peter Dunlop of Pwllheli with the J/109 Mojito, took third to stay in the top three overall, which at this stage has Signal 8 on 8pts, Mojito on 9, and Paul & Deirdre Tingle’s Alpaca from the host club on 15.

Paul & Deirdre Tingle’s X-yacht Alpaca from Royal Cork off Roches Point at the entrance of Cork Harbour Photo Bob Bateman

21 teams are racing in Cork Week's Coastal Class which is proving to be one of the most competitive classes.

Robert Rendell’s Grand Soleil 44 Samatom from Howth YC leads the class after winning today’s Harbour Race by just 32 seconds.

Robert Rendell's Samatom hoists her black and white spinnaker in today's Harbour race of the Cork Week coastal class. The Grand Soleil 44 was putting in a very businesslike performance, grabbing a two minute lead on corrected time from Signal 8, with Michael O’Donnell’s J/121 Darkwood third in a well spread class of twenty one boats Photo: Bob Bateman

Second after IRC time correction was Jamie McWilliam’s Royal Hong Kong YC team racing Ker40+ Signal 8. Wan & Eric Waterman’s Saxon Senator from the Royal Cork YC was third in today’s race by just 34 seconds after time correction.

Jamie McWilliam’s Royal Hong Kong YC team racing Ker40+ Signal 8 Photo: Rick Tomlinson

Alpaca (left) and Pata Negra racing downwind in the coastal class Photo: Rick Tomlinson

Samatom leads the series by a single point from three boats that are all tied on points. Peter Dunlop’s Mojito, Paul & Deirdre Tingle’s Alpaca, and Michael O'Donnell’s Darkwood.

Robert Rendell’s Samatom was new last year and the British owner loves racing with Irish crew. “The boat is based at Howth, and I love to race there, and we also raced in the Round Ireland. My crew said I would love to race at Cork Week, and they were right, it has been absolutely brilliant on the water and at the Royal Cork Clubhouse. We have really close racing in the class, and we are just delighted to be at the top of it, but we will have to sail well to stay there!”

Michael O'Donnell's J122 Darkwood Photo Rick Tomlinson