Evening cruiser-racing concluded in Cork Harbour with the final race of the August/September Whitesails League at the RCYC.

Evening cruiser and dinghy racing has also finished at Cove SC. Monkstown Bay Sailing Club dinghy racing is moving from evenings to Saturdays for September.

The June/July and August/September Friday whitesail leagues at the RCYC were both won by SCRIBBLER (Tom and Cormac MacSweeney). The dual success of the Sigma 33 was helmed respectively by the young brothers Oisin (June/July) and Rowan (August/September). They are also both Laser sailors at the RCYC.

Second in August/September was John O’Connor and John Hanley’s Impala FAST BUCK, and third Clive Doherty’s PHAETON. Second in the June/July League was Peter Webster’s, THISTLE and third was FAST BUCK.

Bob Bateman's RCYC Whitesails League and Prizegiving 2022 Photo Gallery

At the Royal Cork Yacht Club in Crosshaven, the August/September evening league has had three races and is being led in the Spinnaker Division under both IRC and ECHO handicaps by Ria Lyden’s X332 Ellida.

She is followed under both handicap systems, IRC and ECHO, by Denis Byrne’s Trapper, Cracker and Wan and Eric Waterman’s Saxon. In IRC Ellida has nine points, Cracker 11 and Saxon Senator 12. Close racing there.

In ECHO Ellida leads on six points, with Cracker and Saxon Senator both on 11. Paul O’Shea’s Sun Odyssey, Elegance, leads the whitesails fleet in the league series in both IRC and ECHO, followed by Kieran O’Brien’s Magnet and John O’Connor’s Fast Buck in IRC. Derry Good’s Exhale is second in ECHO, with Fast
Buck third.

Friday Whitesails league under IHS handicapping

The Friday Whitesails league which is sailed under IHS handicapping has also had three races and is being led by the Sigma 33 Scribbler (Tom and Cormac
MacSweeney), with Fast Buck second and Clive Doherty’s Phaeton third.

After a two-year hiatus, the National 18 British and Irish National Championships were hosted by the Royal Cork Yacht Club from Sunday 24 to Friday 29 July, with the Irish fleet bolstered by 20 boats entered from England, Scotland and the Isle of Man.

The practice race had been scheduled for the Sunday to warm up the competitors and iron out any creases of fresh or reunited teams. Unfortunately, with gusts of 30 knots forecast, the risk of broken boats or crews was too much so the day was cancelled.

Looking ahead at the week’s light forecast, OD Ciaran McSweeney decided to aim for four races of the 12-race series on the Monday, to minimise the risk of missing out on races later in the week.

Monday’s racing was greeted by 16 to 20 knots of northwesterly wind. Race one saw the victory going to Nacho Boat, helmed by Charles Dwyer and crewed by William O’Brien and Irish Laser Radial legend Harry Pritchard, followed in second by King Penguin from the Isle of Man, helmed by Phil Hardisty and crewed by Chris Hill and Peter Richardson, with Puss 'n' Boots — with Tommy Dwyer at the helm and crewed by Willie Healy and Richie Lestor — in third.

Over the next three races Nacho Boat showed their dominance with a second, fifth and then a win in the last race by a staggering 2 min 30 sec. Rupert White of the Nacra British Sailing Team, sailing The Shadow with crew Mary Henderson and Ed Gibbons, was the event favourite. However, The Shadow suffered rudder failure and missed the first three races of the day, eventually returning to the course for race four and delivering a ninth place.

Race two was won by an Isle of Man team on Shotgunn, helmed by National 18 newcomer Ben Batchelor and crewed by Mike Wilson and Donald Edwards, who showed incredible form in the fresh breeze and also scored a fifth and sixth during the day. In race three Aquadisiacs, sailed by Colin Chapman, Eric Lyons and Morgan O’Sullivan, managed to control the race in the fluky breeze to win the race.

Overnight the championship was led by Nacho Boat with a seven-point lead, followed by Puss 'n' Boots (3, 2, 8, 3 for the day) and King Penguin (2, 6, 4, 4).

ACE, helmed by Ollie Houseman

On day two (Tuesday) the breeze had dropped considerably, with the forecast for light and shifty winds. Out of the start line, The Shadow took a solid lead with their rig in as far forward as possible. With their solid lead they looked unstoppable — until the young team of Chris and Olin Bateman, sailing Blacklist, found their stride with their slightly older wireman Stefan Peretti.

They put the pressure on the The Shadow and showed their talent as the future of Irish sailing but narrowly missed out on catching them and had to settle for second in race five. The two boats were followed by Aquadisiacs in third and Herbie 2.0 (Colin Barry, Paul Cotter and Ronan O’Driscoll) in fourth.  

The forecast for day three looked very similar to the previous day with a 4-6 knots northerly swinging to the south over the middle of the day. There was some surprise as the OD instructed the fleet to launch, only for them to be met by a decent easterly of 10-12 knots outside the harbour.

Day three (Wednesday) managed to produce two races before the breeze dropped completely. Race six delivered another bullet for The Shadow followed by #3 with Paddy Crosbie at the helm, Ewen O’Keefe and Conor Kelly crewing. Team #3 was managed by Conor Kelly Jr for the week which proved instrumental as the week progressed.

Nacho Boat struggled for the day due to the loss of their middleman and secret weapon, Harry Pritchard, to a mild illness. With only seven races, no discard was yet in play. Nacho Boat was still leading followed closely by #3 lying second and Herbie 2.0 in third.

Day four (Thursday) kicked off with a bullet for #3 in a nice 10-14 knots breeze outside the harbour, followed by The Shadow and Herbie 2.0, helmed by Colin Barry and crewed by Paul Cotter and musician Ronan O’Driscoll, who recently released his new single Cages, named after the harbour channel mark with the same name.

Blacklist representing the home club

Race nine was won by The Shadow with Nacho Boat in second and #3 in third. Race 10, the final race of the day, gave The Shadow another victory with #3 finishing second. Herbie 2.0 and King Penguin battled it out for third, with Herbie 2.0 taking it at the finish.

At the end of day four (races eight, nine and 10 and all discards now in play) the championship was still wide open, with #3 on 24 points and Nacho Boat on 26 points, both with a mixture of results and discards.

The Class Dinner Dance was held on Thursday night with a special presentation to Jeremy Vines who is still racing 18s in his 85th year.

On day five (Friday) the breeze picked up and came in from the south, clocking slightly right over the course of the day to a solid southwesterly of 13-16 knots.

Race 11 started down towards the shore by Cuskinny House. Nacho Boat and #3 started the race in close proximity and headed towards the left side of the beat. Nacho Boat lead at the first mark followed by #3 and The Shadow. Downwind #3 took the lead only to lose it again up the next beat. As the race continued, Nacho Boat held the lead to the finish and The Shadow pipped Crosbie to put the two leaders on 27 points each going into the final race.

Race 12 started with #3 and Nacho Boat needing to finish in front of each other or with poor results to carry earlier discards. Again, the boats were glued to each other and headed for the left side of the beat.

As they tacked back to join the fleet the leaders came in from the right, leaving Nacho Boat and #3 mid-fleet. With unfortunate timing, #3’s main dropped a couple of metres only for Nacho Boat to tack directly on them as they resolved the issue and got back racing. Down the next run Nacho Boat took #3 away from the leeward gate to drag the pair down the fleet.

By the finish #3 had crept ahead of Nacho Boat but could only manage a ninth place and after applying new discards, Team Nacho Boat won the Nationals for the second year in a row — not counting the pause in 2020 and 2021 — on 33 points.

• Overall 1st: Nacho Boat; 2nd #3; 3rd: The Shadow; 4th: Aquadisiacs; 5th: Herbie 2.0 (full results attached below)
• Cock of the North – Nacho Boat
• Medway Bowl – The Shadow
• Family Trophy – Misfits, Stephen & Jonathan O’Shaughnessy and Mark O’Donovan from RCYC
• Youngest Team – Blacklist

Measurement and registration is underway at the Royal Cork Yacht Club in Crosshaven today (Weds) and tomorrow (Thursday) for the 505 World Championships, in which racing gets underway on Monday.

This is the fourth time the Championships will be held at the RCYC.

“80 boats, now fully carbon, have travelled from across the globe to compete,” say the RCYC organisers.

12 Irish boats are entered, including three Barry brothers under the Royal Cork & Monkstown Bay burgees; Peter Scannell and John Dunlea who currently live on the East Coast of the US but return to Cork for the event; Monkstown Bay Commodore Sandy Rimmington teams up with John Downey and an unmissable name on the list is Denis O’Sullivan with crew Jan Van Der Puil. The Irish fleet will be under pressure to beat Harold Cudmore and Chris Bruen’s podium finish in the 1969 Worlds in Argentina.

The entry list is a who’s who of World Sailing; Luke Payne of Australia joins us fresh from the Sail GP event in the UK, multiple World Champions and Rolex Yachtsmen of the year Mike Martin and Adam Lowry are here along with fierce rivals and fellow multiple World Champions Mike Holt and Rob Woelful, all round sailing legend Howie Hamlin has come from California, Olympic medallist Caleb Paine teams up with Olympian and Melges 24 World Champion Stu McNay from the USA.

There will be pre-Worlds sailing on Friday and Saturday.

The Championships will be raced on Monday and Tuesday, there is a Lay Day on Wednesday and racing will continue on Friday and conclude on Saturday of next week.

At the Royal Cork Yacht Club in Crosshaven in Cork Harbour, after three races sailed and three to count in the July League, Kieran Collins’ Coracle leads the Cruiser IRC SPIN Division from Antix (Anthony O’Leary), with Miss Whiplash (Ronan and John Downing) third.

Magnet (Kieran O’Brien) leads Whitesail IRC with Big Mc (McGrath family) second and Prince of Tides third.

There are less than two weeks until sailors gather for the 65th International 505 World Championships at the Royal Cork Yacht Club from 3-13 August.

Held every year since 1956, this is the first Worlds for the dinghy class since Fremantle in Australia in 2019, and 505 sailors will be more than keen to compete again.

This year’s event will be the fourth time the 505 Worlds have been hosted in Crosshaven since 1959 and the first in 40 years. Competitors can expect any range of conditions, with racing held offshore in the Atlantic to ensure fair courses.

Given the expected cool temperatures, competitors should anticipate gradient breezes, so shifty conditions and lots of pressure changes. Onshore they can expect the full gamut of Irish hospitality, including daily prize-giving and social events in a picturesque and beautiful location.

The International 505 is an iconic class, and a boat that generates fierce loyalty from all those that sail one. Famously, Paul Evstrom said: “The 5O5 is really my favourite class because it is so lively and responsive in all types of wind and sea conditions….after having sailed all types of dinghy and all types of keelboat I would like to tell you that no other boat is able to give one so much pleasure as this one.”

Designed by Britain’s John Westall in 1954, the 505 is a perfect combination of tactical, technical and speed sailing. There are faster boats than a 505, but none feel as fast and it can be sailed fast in all conditions.

Mastery takes many years as there is no end of controls you can adjust, allowing 505 sailors to develop very deep technical sailing knowledge. Also, little ground is lost when tacking or gybing a 505, meaning every tactical opportunity can be pursued.

The joy of sailing 505s attracts all types of sailors — Olympians, pros and club sailors alike. Despite reduced numbers because of the Covid effect, the fleet is packed with talent. Some highlights include:

• From Australia, Luke Payne will be coming straight from his duties on the Danish SailGP team to sail with Peter Nicholas. Together they have had a 4th and 2nd before; is this their year?
• Olympic bronze medallist Ian Brown sailing with Tom Olsen (US), two-time Star world champion and one-time Etchells world champ.
• From the US, four-time Olympian Stuart McNay sailing with Caleb Paine, bronze medallist in the 2020 Olympics in the Finn class.
• Mike Martin and Adam Lowry, defending champions and 2019 US sailors of the year. Plus, Mike is the only person to win the 505 World Championship as both a sailor and crew.
• From Germany, three-time Olympian, seven-time world champion (five in 505s) and the King of Kiel Week with a whopping 23 wins, Wolfgang Hunger will pair up with his original 505 crew and three-time world champ Holger Jess.
• Perennial threats Stefan Boehm and Gerald Roos are racing, as is Johannes Tellen this time pairing with champion sailor Lena Stuckl.
• From the UK, 2006 world champion Mark Upton-Brown teams up with Ian Mitchell, while 2008 champ Ian Pinnell is sailing with 2015 and 2017 champion Carl Smit from the US. Carl normally sails with three-time world champion Mike Holt, an Englishman who lives and races for the US. Holty is sailing with Rob Woelfel, with whom he won his first world title in 2014 and these two are the form boat coming into this event.

Ten races are scheduled for the Worlds from 8-13 August, with six for the pre-Worlds on 5-6 August. There is a maximum of three races each day.

Starting races in the 505 class is unique in that they utilise a gate start. A pathfinder boat will sail close hauled from the pin on port and the fleet must pass behind her on starboard. The advantage is that it is very rare for a race to have to be restarted, or for competitors to infringe the line. It does, however, put a premium on boat speed and the ability to hold a lane if you want a competitive start.

The other interesting element in 505 racing is that they sail with symmetrical spinnakers but race like they are asymmetrical. The moment crews are on trapeze, it is faster to sail downwind by high-speed reaching and sailing the longer distance. This leads to some very tactical and fast racing.

For more see www.int505.org/2022-world-championship-cork

At the Royal Cork Yacht Club, Fiona Young’s Albin Express, North Star, is leading the IRC Spinnaker Division of the June League, with Michael McCann’s Etchells, Don’t Dilly Dally second and the Sunfast 32, Bad Company, of Desmond/Ivers/Keane, third.

The Club ECHO Spinnaker Division is led by Wan and Eric Waterman’s X37 Saxon Senator, with North Star second and Bad Company third.

IRC and ECHO White Sails leader is Pat Vaughan’s Contessa 33, Aramis, with Sean Hanley’s HB 31 Luas second and also holding third place in ECHO.

Kieran O’Brien’s Magnet is third in IRC. In ECHO White Sails Paul O’Shea’s Elegance, a Sun Odyssey, is in second place.

With many Royal Cork boats away competing at the Kinsale Yacht Club Spring league, as well as a large club contingent at the Ballyholme Youth Nationals this weekend, turnout was low for the opening white sail race of the 2022 season.

Four boats came to the line, however, in a brisk north easterly breeze.

Three 1720 sportsboats were also out from the Crosshaven club competing on their own harbour course.

The Royal Cork YC is hoping to re-establish the ‘Mixed Dinghies’ Class at the Crosshaven-based club in Cork Harbour.

“Having been very quiet for a few years, the mixed dinghy fleet is making a comeback this season,” the club has told its, members, with an appeal for more support: “We would like to hear from everyone interested in getting on the water in double-handed boats, from beginners to advanced, young and old, from Topaz to RS400 and everything in between.”

“This fleet offers a great blend of social sailing with the opportunity to race and participate in events also,” says Maurice Collins, RCYC’s Rear Admiral Dinghies.“With a wide range of boats and age groups accommodated, it brings all our sailors together. It is an opportunity to explore sailing with friends usually in a multi-handed dinghy, but not confined to multi-handed dinghies.

Maurice Collins, RCYC’s Rear Admiral Dinghies Photo: Bob Bateman

“There is a limited number of club boats available for those starting out and for those with a boat and maybe looking for a crew, this is a great opportunity. If you have your own single-handed dinghy. but there is not a class in the club to join, please join in and sail along with the mixed dinghies.”

To gauge the level of interest and to explore what RCYC dinghy sailors are interested in, the club is carrying out a ‘Mixed Dinghy fleet survey.’

A 49er skiff and a GP14 compete in a mixed dinghy handicap fixture at Royal Cork Photo: Bob Bateman

“For those eager to get sailing and racing, we have the very social Ramen PY1000 race on Saturday, March 26,” says Maurice Collins,” with the Round Island and Coolmore races coming up later in the season.

“If we have enough interest, we intend to set up a mixed dinghy club racing series during the Summer months.”

With several dinghy classes already in the club, it will be interesting to see what response the appeal gets.

With Irish sailing life struggling to return to normality, we find we are facing it without someone who could put it all into perspective.

Dermot Burns, Honorary Archivist to the Royal Cork Yacht Club for many years, passed away peacefully in February after a lifetime in which any spare moments were devoted either to sailing, or in placing the story
and memorabilia of Cork sailing and the maritime life of Cork Harbour in its proper historical context.

We first became aware of this special talent many years ago on one of several occasions when the Royal Cork YC became what was then the Mitsubishi Motors Sailing Club of the Year. The presentation party included people from Mitsubishi headquarters in Japan, and Dermot as ever rose to the occasion by giving them chapter and verse on how, in the 1860s, a shipbuilding company on the shores of Cork Harbour had constructed a 690-ton steamship for the Mitsu Bishi Company of Japan.

On other similar occasions, he always enriched the evening with his store of fascinating and appropriate facts which, quite rightly, put Cork Harbour at the centre of the maritime world. He was the "marine archivists' archivist", and while he will be much missed, what he achieved means he will always be remembered.

Our thanks to the Royal Cork YC for permission to publish this appreciation of Dermot Burns from their club website:

Former club Archivist Dermot Burns passed away peacefully on February 6th. Dermot served as club Archivist from 1991 to 2019, it’s said history was his passion and sailing his hobby.

Dermot’s enthusiasm for the club’s history was infectious and it was matched by a careful and meticulous approach to the cataloguing and care of any documents and items that came into the club. He delighted in discovering new aspects to the club’s history and left no stone unturned in trying to track down much-needed information.

He brought his skills as an engineer to his study of the archives and soon realised that there was wonderful material contained within and potentially more information elsewhere, all of which would be vital in telling the history of the club. So, the idea of publishing a book about the club began to take shape and over the ten years leading up to 2005 he worked closely with Dr. Alicia St. Leger, the author of the book. Peter Crowley, Admiral in 2005/2005, also realised that as Cork was to be European Capital of Culture, it would be appropriate to release a book on the history of the oldest yacht club in the world, and indeed gave his wholehearted support for the project. 

His own love of sailing and his knowledge of Cork Harbour was of huge assistance in compiling the history of the club. In fact, that publication would not have happened without his enthusiasm, dedication and sheer hard work. But his input certainly did not stop there. He continued to research the origins of the club and to interact with people (both within and outside the club) who shared his interest in the history of sailing.

He has left a remarkable legacy in the club Archives which he built up so carefully over the years and which will be a vital resource for future researchers. His role in the 2005 book and his ongoing contributions to publications, to interested individuals and groups, and to the media, have been immense and were rightfully acknowledged when he was made an Honorary Member of the Royal Cork Yacht Club.

Dermot will be greatly missed by all in the Royal Cork and our sympathies are with Fran and their wide circle of family and friends.