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Royal Cork Yacht Club is planning a very special weekend for the club and its members at the Tricentenary At Home Regatta next month, from 28-30 August.

The weekend’s scheduled kicks off on Friday 28 August with keelboat racing and the 1720 Southern Championships.

Saturday 29 August will see all fleets racing in the morning, followed by the Tricentenary Parade and Admiral’s Salute in Cobh in the afternoon.

After the parade, members are invited to berth in Cobh and attend the opening of an exhibition on the history of the club at the Sirius Arts Centre, and/or attend the Quays Restaurant for an informal gathering and food. For more details see the expression of interest form.

Fleet racing resumes on Sunday morning 30 August, with the afternoon’s family fun activities featuring crab fishing, boules and a bring-your-own picnic ashore, and a parents’ Optimist race on the water.

Published in Royal Cork YC
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The National 18 crew of Colin Chapman, Owen O'Keefe and Eddie Rice were yesterday's winners of the AIB sponsored PY 1000 cash Prize at the Royal Cork Yacht Club in Cork Harbour.

With only the lightest harbour breeze available Race Officer John Crotty set the mixed dinghy fleet off on a course that involved all points of sailing from a beat,a run and reaches before heading home for refreshments on the RCYC lawn at Crosshaven.

Royal Cork Race Officer John Crotty had to contend with some fickle winds for the 2020 PY RaceRoyal Cork Race Officer John Crotty had to contend with some fickle winds for the 2020 PY Race Photo: Bob Bateman

The PY1000 2020 dinghy course set in Cork Harbour covered all the angles Photo: Bob BatemanThe PY1000 2020 dinghy course set in Cork Harbour covered all the angles Photo: Bob Bateman

Other cash prizes went to second overall to Tom, Cloe and Patrick Crosbie. Third place went to Andrew Crosbie, all sailing National 18s.

AIB PY 1000 Winners AIB PY 1000 Winners - Colin Chapman, Owen O'Keefe and Eddie Rice Photo: Bob Bateman

Chris Bateman won the Lasers and Shane Collins, the Topper division.

Knox Kohl was the youngest sailor and first female home was Sophie Crosbie.

The youngest crewed boat was sailed by Ethel and Olin Bateman and the oldest combined Crew was Tommy Dwyer and Willy Healy

RCYC AIB PY1000 Photos

See the full slideshow of images from the event below by Bob Bateman

Published in Royal Cork YC

The Royal Cork Yacht Club has confirmed that its hosting of this year’s Optimist Nationals will proceed as planned next month, and the Notice of Race is now available.

The AIB Optimist Irish National Championships 2020 run from 13-16 August as part of the Cork300 celebrations.

And with many top youth sailors unable to travel internationally, their competitive spirit is expected to make this year’s event one of the hottest ever.

Pre-registration is open until next Wednesday 22 July via the IODAI, and sailing instructions will follow shortly.

Published in Optimist
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The first big event of the Royal Cork Yacht Club’s Tricentenary saw members of all ages take part in the Admiral’s Chace on Saturday 4 July.

The Chace began in the vicinity of Cork Beg when, shortly after 3pm, the Admiral fired a signal shot from each quarter of Adrielle, the Cork300 House Flag was broken out and more than 25 craft weighed anchor in pursuit of the Admiral towards Cage.

Whether sailing, motoring or a combination of both, it didn’t matter as this was very much a relaxed affair with the intention of getting everyone out on the water while referencing some of the club’s 300-year-old rules, history and tradition.

The Royal Cork website has more on the story HERE.

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The Admiral’s Chace this Saturday 4 July marks the return to organised activities at the Royal Cork Yacht Club as coronavirus restrictions are relaxed this week.

And in celebration of Cork300, will take a more traditional approach to racing, with Royal Cork Admiral Colin Morehead leading the fleet in Adrielle on a harbour course, flying and sounding a number of signals along the way.

The event is open to all keelboats and motor boats. First gun will be at 15:00 in the vicinity of Cage and full instructions will be provided on the day.

After the chase, if time allows, boats will muster in a safe anchorage in the harbour and then return to the club for The Admiral’s Chace Supper, where a burger and a beverage will be served for €5.

Booking for the chase and for the supper are required via the form available HERE.

Published in Royal Cork YC

Royal Cork Yacht Club Admiral Colin Morehead has recorded a special video message for club members upon the wider return to sailing in phase two of Ireland’s roadmap to recovery from coronavirus.

Giving thanks to members or their patience and support in adhering to both club and Government guidelines, the admiral welcomed the return of staff to the club this week to get things back up and running.

As previously reported on Afloat.ie, among their roles this week was to celebrate the retention of the club's Blue Flag – one of 10 marinas nationwide to hold the distinction this year.

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Junior sailing is under way once again, and keelboat fun events will resume from tomorrow, Sunday 14 June.

Youth sailing will also be to the fore in August with the Optimist Nationals, while the Laser Nationals are also still scheduled to take place that month.

The Tricentenary At Home will now be a three-day regatta, Morehead says, from Friday 28 to Sunday 30 August, including a big flotilla commencing in the Cobh Roads on the afternoon of Saturday 29 August.

It’s also hoped the weekend will see the opening of a special exhibition on the Royal Cork Yacht Club’s history at the Sirius Arts Centre in Cobh — which occupies the Royal Cork’s previous clubhouse.

Subsequent Cork300 events include the All Ireland Sailing Championships, the Sutton Book and the Irish Team Racing Nationals.

And the Autumn League is set to take on a greater significance as the largest keelboat event on the South Coast this year.

The latest updates from the Royal Cork are included in its regular email newsletter. If you do not currently receive this, send your details to [email protected]

Published in Royal Cork YC
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The 2021 International Topper World Championships come to Cork Harbour next year when they’re hosted by the Royal Cork Yacht Club from 24-30 July 2021.

With over 200 sailors from around the world expected, organisers say it will be a great opportunity for Ireland’s younger sailors to compete on the world stage — as well as a showcase of the Royal Cork and its facilities.

Ireland’s Topper prospects will also have a chance to prove their mettle the following weekend at the other end of the island, as Ballyholme Yacht Club hosts the UK Topper Nationals from 2-6 August 2021.

The news will also come as a boost to Topper sailors disappointed by last month’s cancellation of the National Series due to coronavirus restrictions, though it’s hoped a number of regional friendlies can be arranged for August.

Details on the official launch of next year’s Topper Worlds are coming soon.

Published in Topper
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The National 18ft Class Association has very reluctantly concluded that they must cancel the 2020 UK & Irish Championships sponsored by AIB.

The event was due to be held in the Royal Cork Yacht Club this August as part of the Cork300 celebrations.

However, the remaining Government restrictions against coronavirus, in particular those on foreign travel and social distancing, will make it impossible to run a successful event, the organisers said.

Many options were considered, including a deferred 2020 date. But to protect the health of all and the sailing and social integrity of the regatta, the decision has been made to cancel.

Despite the disappointment, plans for a domestic season both in Ireland and the UK are under way with a revised calendar will be issued in the coming weeks, and an announcement on the rescheduling of the Class Championships will follow.

The cancellation does not impact the AIB-sponsored Optimist Nationals or the Laser Nationals, which are also planned for August but later in the month.

Published in National 18
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Supervised sailing resumes for single-handed dinghies, as well as multi-handed dinghies crewed by single households, from Monday 8 June at the Royal Cork Yacht Club, with the beginning of Phase 2 of relaxing coronavirus restrictions.

Events being planned for the next three weeks in this new phase include a pop-up cruise in company within the Cork Harbour area, and possible overnight stays at anchor in places such as Oysterhaven and Kinsale.

Phase 3, which is scheduled for Monday 29 June, is expected to see the return of racing for single-handers and same household multi-handers, as well as keelboats, while national and regional events should be allowed to resume in Phase 4 in the second half of July.

Meanwhile, the Royal Cork has put two more trophies on display in the clubhouse for returning sailors to see. One was recently presented, that being the ICC Fastnet Award in recognition of the club’s tricentenary.

But the other comes from the club’s past — in the form of the restored Crosshaven Regatta Roche Perpetual Trophy, recently rediscovered in an attic clearcut. The Royal Cork has more on the story HERE.

Published in Royal Cork YC
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After a successful introductory webinar on tactics and strategy with Gonzalo ‘Bocha’ Pollitzer and Fernando Gwozdz last month, the Royal Cork Yacht Club is now offering members the opportunity to take part in a further four weekly sessions with the duo from this evening, Monday 1 June.

For €50 per household, members will have access to all four of the webinars which the club says leave you primed for when you get back on the water.

As the topics cross a number of classes, these webinars are aimed at all boats rather than being class-specific:

  • Monday 1 June at 7.30pm — Starts: Important concepts and priorities during each minute of the starting sequence
  • Sunday 7 June at 7.30pm — Key Moments & Communication: Decision making around the race course and “Calls” onboard
  • Sunday 14 June at 7.30pm — Upwind Tactics: a set of different scenarios to think about
  • Sunday 21 June at 7.30pm — Reaching/Downwind Tactics: Understanding the key factors for good decision making

For registration and more details, visit the RCYC website HERE.

Published in Royal Cork YC
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Irish Olympic Sailing Team

Ireland has a proud representation in sailing at the Olympics dating back to 1948. Today there is a modern governing structure surrounding the selection of sailors the Olympic Regatta

Irish Olympic Sailing FAQs

Ireland’s representation in sailing at the Olympics dates back to 1948, when a team consisting of Jimmy Mooney (Firefly), Alf Delany and Hugh Allen (Swallow) competed in that year’s Summer Games in London (sailing off Torquay). Except for the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City, Ireland has sent at least one sailor to every Summer Games since then.

  • 1948 – London (Torquay) — Firefly: Jimmy Mooney; Swallow: Alf Delany, Hugh Allen
  • 1952 – Helsinki — Finn: Alf Delany * 1956 – Melbourne — Finn: J Somers Payne
  • 1960 – Rome — Flying Dutchman: Johnny Hooper, Peter Gray; Dragon: Jimmy Mooney, David Ryder, Robin Benson; Finn: J Somers Payne
  • 1964 – Tokyo — Dragon: Eddie Kelliher, Harry Maguire, Rob Dalton; Finn: Johnny Hooper 
  • 1972 – Munich (Kiel) — Tempest: David Wilkins, Sean Whitaker; Dragon: Robin Hennessy, Harry Byrne, Owen Delany; Finn: Kevin McLaverty; Flying Dutchman: Harold Cudmore, Richard O’Shea
  • 1976 – Montreal (Kingston) — 470: Robert Dix, Peter Dix; Flying Dutchman: Barry O’Neill, Jamie Wilkinson; Tempest: David Wilkins, Derek Jago
  • 1980 – Moscow (Tallinn) — Flying Dutchman: David Wilkins, Jamie Wilkinson (Silver medalists) * 1984 – Los Angeles — Finn: Bill O’Hara
  • 1988 – Seoul (Pusan) — Finn: Bill O’Hara; Flying Dutchman: David Wilkins, Peter Kennedy; 470 (Women): Cathy MacAleavy, Aisling Byrne
  • 1992 – Barcelona — Europe: Denise Lyttle; Flying Dutchman: David Wilkins, Peter Kennedy; Star: Mark Mansfield, Tom McWilliam
  • 1996 – Atlanta (Savannah) — Laser: Mark Lyttle; Europe: Aisling Bowman (Byrne); Finn: John Driscoll; Star: Mark Mansfield, David Burrows; 470 (Women): Denise Lyttle, Louise Cole; Soling: Marshall King, Dan O’Grady, Garrett Connolly
  • 2000 – Sydney — Europe: Maria Coleman; Finn: David Burrows; Star: Mark Mansfield, David O'Brien
  • 2004 – Athens — Europe: Maria Coleman; Finn: David Burrows; Star: Mark Mansfield, Killian Collins; 49er: Tom Fitzpatrick, Fraser Brown; 470: Gerald Owens, Ross Killian; Laser: Rory Fitzpatrick
  • 2008 – Beijing (Qingdao) — Star: Peter O’Leary, Stephen Milne; Finn: Tim Goodbody; Laser Radial: Ciara Peelo; 470: Gerald Owens, Phil Lawton
  • 2012 – London (Weymouth) — Star: Peter O’Leary, David Burrows; 49er: Ryan Seaton, Matt McGovern; Laser Radial: Annalise Murphy; Laser: James Espey; 470: Gerald Owens, Scott Flanigan
  • 2016 – Rio — Laser Radial (Women): Annalise Murphy (Silver medalist); 49er: Ryan Seaton, Matt McGovern; 49erFX: Andrea Brewster, Saskia Tidey; Laser: Finn Lynch; Paralympic Sonar: John Twomey, Ian Costello & Austin O’Carroll

Ireland has won two Olympics medals in sailing events, both silver: David Wilkins, Jamie Wilkinson in the Flying Dutchman at Moscow 1980, and Annalise Murphy in the Laser Radial at Rio 2016.

The current team, as of December 2020, consists of Laser sailors Finn Lynch, Liam Glynn and Ewan McMahon, 49er pairs Ryan Seaton and Seafra Guilfoyle, and Sean Waddilove and Robert Dickson, as well as Laser Radial sailors Annalise Murphy and Aoife Hopkins.

Irish Sailing is the National Governing Body for sailing in Ireland.

Irish Sailing’s Performance division is responsible for selecting and nurturing Olympic contenders as part of its Performance Pathway.

The Performance Pathway is Irish Sailing’s Olympic talent pipeline. The Performance Pathway counts over 70 sailors from 11 years up in its programme.The Performance Pathway is made up of Junior, Youth, Academy, Development and Olympic squads. It provides young, talented and ambitious Irish sailors with opportunities to move up through the ranks from an early age. With up to 100 young athletes training with the Irish Sailing Performance Pathway, every aspect of their performance is planned and closely monitored while strong relationships are simultaneously built with the sailors and their families

Rory Fitzpatrick is the head coach of Irish Sailing Performance. He is a graduate of University College Dublin and was an Athens 2004 Olympian in the Laser class.

The Performance Director of Irish Sailing is James O’Callaghan. Since 2006 James has been responsible for the development and delivery of athlete-focused, coach-led, performance-measured programmes across the Irish Sailing Performance Pathway. A Business & Economics graduate of Trinity College Dublin, he is a Level 3 Qualified Coach and Level 2 Coach Tutor. He has coached at five Olympic Games and numerous European and World Championship events across multiple Olympic classes. He is also a member of the Irish Sailing Foundation board.

Annalise Murphy is by far and away the biggest Irish sailing star. Her fourth in London 2012 when she came so agonisingly close to a bronze medal followed by her superb silver medal performance four years later at Rio won the hearts of Ireland. Murphy is aiming to go one better in Tokyo 2021. 

Under head coach Rory Fitzpatrick, the coaching staff consists of Laser Radial Academy coach Sean Evans, Olympic Laser coach Vasilij Zbogar and 49er team coach Matt McGovern.

The Irish Government provides funding to Irish Sailing. These funds are exclusively for the benefit of the Performance Pathway. However, this falls short of the amount required to fund the Performance Pathway in order to allow Ireland compete at the highest level. As a result the Performance Pathway programme currently receives around €850,000 per annum from Sport Ireland and €150,000 from sponsorship. A further €2 million per annum is needed to have a major impact at the highest level. The Irish Sailing Foundation was established to bridge the financial gap through securing philanthropic donations, corporate giving and sponsorship.

The vision of the Irish Sailing Foundation is to generate the required financial resources for Ireland to scale-up and execute its world-class sailing programme. Irish Sailing works tirelessly to promote sailing in Ireland and abroad and has been successful in securing funding of 1 million euro from Sport Ireland. However, to compete on a par with other nations, a further €2 million is required annually to realise the ambitions of our talented sailors. For this reason, the Irish Sailing Foundation was formed to seek philanthropic donations. Led by a Board of Directors and Head of Development Kathryn Grace, the foundation lads a campaign to bridge the financial gap to provide the Performance Pathway with the funds necessary to increase coaching hours, upgrade equipment and provide world class sport science support to a greater number of high-potential Irish sailors.

The Senior and Academy teams of the Performance Pathway are supported with the provision of a coach, vehicle, coach boat and boats. Even with this level of subsidy there is still a large financial burden on individual families due to travel costs, entry fees and accommodation. There are often compromises made on the amount of days a coach can be hired for and on many occasions it is necessary to opt out of major competitions outside Europe due to cost. Money raised by the Irish Sailing Foundation will go towards increased quality coaching time, world-class equipment, and subsiding entry fees and travel-related costs. It also goes towards broadening the base of talented sailors that can consider campaigning by removing financial hurdles, and the Performance HQ in Dublin to increase efficiency and reduce logistical issues.

The ethos of the Performance Pathway is progression. At each stage international performance benchmarks are utilised to ensure the sailors are meeting expectations set. The size of a sailor will generally dictate which boat they sail. The classes selected on the pathway have been identified as the best feeder classes for progression. Currently the Irish Sailing Performance Pathway consists of the following groups: * Pathway (U15) Optimist and Topper * Youth Academy (U19) Laser 4.7, Laser Radial and 420 * Development Academy (U23) Laser, Laser Radial, 49er, 49erFX * Team IRL (direct-funded athletes) Laser, Laser Radial, 49er, 49erFX

The Irish Sailing performance director produces a detailed annual budget for the programme which is presented to Sport Ireland, Irish Sailing and the Foundation for detailed discussion and analysis of the programme, where each item of expenditure is reviewed and approved. Each year, the performance director drafts a Performance Plan and Budget designed to meet the objectives of Irish Performance Sailing based on an annual review of the Pathway Programmes from Junior to Olympic level. The plan is then presented to the Olympic Steering Group (OSG) where it is independently assessed and the budget is agreed. The OSG closely monitors the delivery of the plan ensuring it meets the agreed strategy, is within budget and in line with operational plans. The performance director communicates on an ongoing basis with the OSG throughout the year, reporting formally on a quarterly basis.

Due to the specialised nature of Performance Sport, Irish Sailing established an expert sub-committee which is referred to as the Olympic Steering Group (OSG). The OSG is chaired by Patrick Coveney and its objective is centred around winning Olympic medals so it oversees the delivery of the Irish Sailing’s Performance plan.

At Junior level (U15) sailors learn not only to be a sailor but also an athlete. They develop the discipline required to keep a training log while undertaking fitness programmes, attending coaching sessions and travelling to competitions. During the winter Regional Squads take place and then in spring the National Squads are selected for Summer Competitions. As sailors move into Youth level (U19) there is an exhaustive selection matrix used when considering a sailor for entry into the Performance Academy. Completion of club training programmes, attendance at the performance seminars, physical suitability and also progress at Junior and Youth competitions are assessed and reviewed. Once invited in to the Performance Academy, sailors are given a six-month trial before a final decision is made on their selection. Sailors in the Academy are very closely monitored and engage in a very well planned out sailing, training and competition programme. There are also defined international benchmarks which these sailors are required to meet by a certain age. Biannual reviews are conducted transparently with the sailors so they know exactly where they are performing well and they are made aware of where they may need to improve before the next review.

©Afloat 2020