The 1720 Zing leads Royal Cork Yacht Club's May League (SPIN 1 IRC) in Cork Harbour. 

In an eight-boat fleet, the local sportsboat finished ahead of Michael McCann's Etchells 22, Don't Dilly Dally.

Third was the Jones Family's J122, Jelly Baby.

The nine boat White Sail division saw Ian Hickey's Granada 38 Cavatina win from Kieran O'Brien's MG335, Magnet. Third was the Dehler 34 Big Mc (McGrath Family).

Results below

Royal Cork Yacht Club's Alana Twomey and Chris Bateman have a one-point lead after four races sailed at the Irish 29er Southerns Championships in Cork Harbour.

Royal Cork skiff sailors also hold second and third places overnight in the 11-boat fleet.

A race start at the Irish 29er Southerns Championships in Cork Harbour Photo: Bob Bateman

Ben O'Shaughnessy and Ethan Spain (National Yacht Club) are second, and Rian Collins and James Dwyer lie third on ten points. 

The event is sponsored by Waterman Kelly Consulting Engineers.

Four more races will be sailed back to back on Sunday to complete the championships at Crosshaven.

29er Southern Championships at Royal Cork Yacht Club Photo Gallery By Bob Bateman

Royal Cork yachts raised over €5,000 for charity in a 'Darkness into Light Sail' at Cork Harbour this morning.

Admiral Kieran O’Connell led a 37-boat club flotilla to the mouth of the Harbour at Roches Point, where he hosted a pennant at daylight (5.55 am). 

The special charity event was organised by RCYC's Rear Admiral Cruising, Mike Ryder. 

Royal Cork Yacht Club Darkness into Light Flotilla Photo Gallery by Bob Bateman

Royal Cork’s Harry Durcan and Grattan Roberts were part of the J122 El Ocaso that were declared overall winners of Antigua Sailing Week.

Racing onboard Chris Body’s J122 El Ocaso, they led CSA 2 by a slim margin of a single point going into the last day.

The crew were awarded the Lord Nelson Trophy as the overall Antigua Week 2023 winner.

Chris Body’s J122 El Ocaso crew that includes Grattan Roberts and Harry Durcan from Royal Cork Photo: Paul Wyeth

Louay Habib caught up with them after racing on the final day, first Durcan, then Roberts in the audio below.

El Ocaso, GBR 4860, winners of the Lord Nelson Trophy 2023, at Antigua Sailing Week Photo: Paul Wyeth

Colman Garvey’s KH+P Nolde, with a team from the Royal Cork Yacht Club scored a perfect 12 race wins at Antigua Sailing Week to dominate the Bareboat 2 Division overall.

Garvey's crew include Roy Darrer (grinder), Ger Coakley (main trimmer), Paul O’Regan (strategist) and Kieran Kelleher (tactician).

The final day of racing at Antigua Sailing Week was held in the strongest wind of the regatta, with solid south easterly trade winds gusting up to 18 knots.

Second was Alexander Pfeiffer’s KH+P Nevis, and third was Thomas Sparrer’s KH+P Anguilla.

“It’s been a hard week, especially living with these guys for the last six days!” commented Coleman Garvey. “This is a great regatta, good fun, with close racing every day. We first came here in 2013 as a once-in-a-lifetime regatta, and this is our sixth! This is only our second class win, so that shows you how hard it is.”

On a day that suggested summer is coming, Royal Cork Yacht Club boats topped the Axiom Private Clients Spring Series 2023 in both Spinnaker One and Two divisions at Kinsale Yacht Club on Sunday. 

Half Tonner Swuzzlebubble (David and James Dwyer) won the first race in the Spinnaker One division.

Light winds prevailed for the first race that saw the J109 Artful DodJer (Finbarr O'Regan of the host club) in second and Stephen Lysaght's  Elan 333 Reavra Too in third.

The McCarthy brother's Swift Trawler Mac Eile is the Kinsale Yacht Club Axiom Private Clients Spring Series 2023 Committee Boat Photo: Bob Bateman

This event is the year's first event to count for SCORA season points.

Kieran Kelleher/Colman Garvey in the Royal Cork Dubois Quarter tonner Diamond were winners of the first race of the Axiom Private Clients Spring Series 2023 at Kinsale Yacht Club Photo: Bob Bateman

In the Spinnaker Two division on IRC, Kieran Kelleher/Colman Garvey were winners in the Royal Cork Dubois Quarter Tonner Diamond.

The RCYC crew beat the  Kinsale Yacht Club Kinsailor under-25 crew. Third was Dunmore East visitor David Marchant from Waterford Harbour Sailing Club.

Overall, there was a good turnout from visiting RCYC boats that included Jelly Baby, Nieulargo, Alpaca, Luas, Sweet Dreams, Magnet and the under 25 j24, Jambalaya. 

Axiom Private Clients Spring Series 2023 Main Fleet Photo Gallery Day One By Bob Bateman

Axiom Private Clients Spring Series 2023 White Sails Fleet Photo Gallery Day One By Bob Bateman

Saturday's 2023 Royal Cork Yacht Club PY1000 turned out to be a day for ILCA6/Radials, which took the top three prizes overall in breezy conditions for the ninth year of the competition, which saw entries topping 50 dinghies for the first time.

Chris Bateman sailing an ILCA 6, was a convincing winner in this year’s Crosshaven House-sponsored race, with 32 boats finishing the race. 

Second to fifth was hotly contested, with Portuguese Laser coach Andre Granadeiro taking second in his ILCA 6.

2021 winner Oisin MacSweeney was third, again in an ILCA 6. It was a year for the Lasers this year as they joined 29ers, N18s, 420s and RS400s as previous winners.

This year the race was run in a pursuit format with boats starting on a staggered basis in line with their handicaps; the first to cross the line then after 90 minutes is the winner.

Chris Bateman, overall winner, (centre and sailing below) with Stacey O’Sullivan from Crosshaven House and Alex Barry, event organiser. Chris took away the new trophy and a cheque for €700 Photo: Bob Bateman

The Toppers and RS Tera were first out of the blocks in the new pursuit format. Isha Duggan led for much of the race before eventually being hunted down by the faster boats.

The National 18s looked mighty at speed Photo: Bob Bateman

With gusts of over 30 knots forecast, race officer John Crotty set an interesting course with mark one upriver at Coolmore House towards Carrigaline and mark two off Crosshaven House near the boatyard. 

Oisin MacSweeney is at full speed on his way to third place this year, having won it in 2021 and been 2nd in 2022 in a 29er. Photo: Bob Bateman

The course raised some eyebrows when announced, but on returning to shore, the consensus was that getting a fair race in was great, given the conditions involved.

Staying upright in the gusty conditions was the aim of the game; not all could manage it, however!

Nick Walsh got a special prize for helping a capsized Topper Photo: Bob Bateman

The river course gave some reprieve from the strong gusts at times, but Laser champion Nick Walsh got a special prize for helping a capsized Topper.

Download results below

Royal Cork PY1000 Photo Gallery 2023 by Bob Bateman

Royal Cork's popular PY1000 Race takes place on Saturday, 1st April 2023, but this year in a twist to the annual fixture, the big prize money goes to the winner of a new first-passed-the-post format. 

Dinghies will start from the slowest to fastest, and the first across the line wins, with placings on the water being the final position.

This move emulates the UK's famous ‘Bloody Mary’ event in London in January of each year.

With racing at high tide, the plan is always to race in the river if conditions allow.

"For the last eight years, we have run an all-in PY race, but to make it more exciting, we want to try the first-passed-the-post approach", RCYC's Alex Barry told Afloat.

Royal Cork Yacht Club's PY1000 Perpetual Trophy

"A huge fleet of Toppers and ILCAs gives the younger sailors a better chance, given they will start before the big boats with clean air. The Bloody Mary fixture is such a great race, and we want to emulate that in Cork", Barry said. 

This year, the event is kindly sponsored by Crosshaven House in a new partnership which proprietor Noel Corcoran has kindly agreed to make long-standing.

This year, the €1,000 will be split with €700 for the winner, €200 for the second and €100 for the third. There will also be some great prizes available for the youngest sailor, first female helm, youngest combined crew age and oldest combined crew age.

Two top Irish sailing teams, one from Dublin and one from Cork, will contest the New York Yacht Club Invitational Cup this September off Rhode Island.

Howth Yacht Club and Royal Cork Yacht Club are in the line-up of twenty teams from 15 countries competing in the 2023 Rolex New York Yacht Club Invitational Cup.

2023 will be Royal Cork's eighth visit to the New York Invitational Cup, with experienced Cork Harbour skipper Anthony O'Leary taking bronze in the 2019 event. Howth Yacht Club return for a second time.

The seventh edition of the Rolex New York Yacht Club Invitational Cup, held in September 2021, had nearly everything a great one-design regatta should have: tremendous competitors, great social events, a polished race committee, fabulous sailing conditions and evenly matched boats. But it was missing one thing, a defending champion.

“We were very disappointed that we couldn’t defend our 2019 win as we were not allowed to leave Australia during the Covid lockdowns,” says Guido Belgiorno-Nettis of the Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron. “Of course, we watched the 2021 Invitational Cup with fascination, jealousy and frustration. Sitting on the couch, my team were sure we could have given the 2021 competing teams a good run for their money. But I know that reality will set the record straight when we turn up at the start line in 2023. Then the talk stops and the action will begin.”

So the 2021 event’s loss will be a gain for the eighth edition, scheduled for September 9 to 16. Among the 20 prestigious yacht clubs that will toe the line for Corinthian sailing’s premiere event will now be two teams hoping to carry forward the momentum from the last time they competed in this event: Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron and Southern Yacht Club from New Orleans, which claimed the title in 2021.

2023 will be Royal Cork's eighth visit to the New York Invitational Cup. In 2019 under skipper Anthony O'Leary, the Cork Harbour team took bronze Photo: Daniel Forster

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 48 of the world’s most prestigious yacht clubs from 21 countries on six continents. After five editions in the Swan 42 class, the 2023 event will be the third sailed in the IC37, designed by Mark Mills. The strict one-design nature of this purpose-built class combined with the fact that each boat is owned and maintained by the New York Yacht Club, ensures a level playing field not seen in any other amateur big-boat sailing competition. The regatta will run September 9 to 16, with racing starting on Tuesday, September 12. A live webcast of the regatta will allow fellow club members, friends, family and sailing fans from around the world follow the action as it happens. Twenty teams from 15 countries will compete in the 2023 Rolex New York Yacht Club Invitational Cup, which is brought to you by title sponsor Rolex and regatta sponsors Helly Hansen

Much to the delight of their enthusiastic membership, Southern Yacht Club has become something of a juggernaut at the Rolex New York Yacht Club Invitational Cup with two wins sandwiched around a fifth-place finish in the past three editions. John Lovell (top, at left) has been one of the constants. He called tactics in 2017 and 2019 and steered the boat in 2021.

“We have a big group that is very excited for the Invitational,” says Lovell, who won a silver medal in the Tornado class at the 2004 Olympics. “We are working on a budget and practice schedule.”

Both skippers agree that continuity is essential for success in the Invitational Cup. The IC37 is a challenging boat to sail well, and the unique format of the regatta hasn’t traditionally been kind to rookie teams. For the Royal Sydney team, it’s particularly acute since there are currently no IC37s in the Southern Hemisphere and the distance between Sydney and Newport prohibits the team from taking advantage of practice opportunities during the upcoming summer regatta schedule.

“Fortunately for our competitors, our team have not done any racing together since the 2019 Invitational,” he says. “We will just step on the IC37 [in September] looking to do only one thing—have fun among ourselves as a team while enjoying the fabulous camaraderie shared by the New York Yacht Club and all the competing invitational teams from the United States and around the world.”

While yacht clubs take this event very seriously, often investing significant time and money into training in advance of the regatta, staying true to the Corinthian nature of the Invitational Cup remains a priority. The participants are all amateur sailors taking time away from work and family responsibilities to compete, and the regatta is known as much for its competitive sailing as the amazing camaraderie ashore each evening.

“I think the key is sailing as much as possible but keeping it fun,” says Lovell. “I try to sail in many different classes and in as many local events as I can race in.”

While Southern and Royal Sydney may have the pedigree of being the only two clubs to win an Invitational Cup sailed in the IC37s, they are far from the only clubs with a strong chance of winning the trophy. Of the 20 clubs, 19 have previously competed in the regatta and many will be sailing in IC37 events this coming summer to prepare. There's every reason to believe that the eighth edition of the regatta will be the most competitive yet.

The following yacht clubs will compete for the 2023 Rolex New York Yacht Club Invitational Cup: The Corinthian Yacht Club (Marblehead, Mass.), Howth Yacht Club (IRL), Itchenor Sailing Club (GBR), Japan Sailing Federation, New York Yacht Club, Norddeutscher Regatta Verein (GER), Nyländska Jaktklubben (FIN), Real Club Náutico de Barcelona (ESP), Royal Canadian Yacht Club, Royal Cork Yacht Club (IRL), Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club (CHN), Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron, Royal Swedish Yacht Club, Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron (AUS), Royal Vancouver Yacht Club (CAN), Royal Yacht Squadron (GBR), Southern Yacht Club (New Orleans), Yacht Club Argentino, Yacht Club Costa Smeralda (ITA), Yacht Club Punte del Este (URY)

The 302nd Annual General Meeting of the Royal Cork Yacht Club was held in the Crosshaven clubhouse on Monday with the election of an Executive Committee for 2023.  

2023 will see the Topper World Championships hosted by the Royal Cork under a new Chair of Membership Communications and events, Yvonne Durcan. 

The full Royal Cork Yacht Club Executive is Pat Harte, Treasurer/Secretary; Kieran O'Connell, Admiral; Annamarie Fegan, Vice Admiral; Gavin Deane, General Manager; Paul Tingle, Rear Admiral Keelboats; Maurice Collins, Rear Admiral Dinghies; Mike Rider Rear Admiral Cruising, Yvonne Durcan, Chair of the Membership Communications and events, and Denis Byrne, Chair of Marina and Facilities Committee.

As Afloat reported, former Admiral Peter Crowley was honoured at the AGM with honorary membership of the world's oldest yacht club.