With over 60 confirmed entries at present, the 2010 Calves Week in Schull is expected to top the 80 boat mark for the annual West Cork festival of sailing. The week long sailing event is once again supported by the local business community together with sponsorship from Saab, Airtech Security and A&L Castors.
This year’s event will feature racing for eight cruiser classes, together with the growing West Cork 1720 fleet of sportsboats
Due to the dramatic increase in numbers, the White Sail fleet will be split into two, with a cut off point of approximately 35ft. Both fleets will begin the series in Kinsale, where they will start a daylight race to Schull at 8am on Saturday morning July 31st.
The cruiser fleets in Classes Zero, 1 and 2 will start the traditional Crosshaven/ Fastnet/Schull overnight race at an earlier time of 19.30 on Friday 30th from the Weavers Point line, while Classes 3 and 4 will sail a shorter course direct to Schull.
The opening reception and briefing has been moved from the event headquarters at the Fastnet Marine Centre to the Harbour View Hotel in Schull and will take place at 8.00 pm on Saturday 31st, and this venue will also host the final overall presentation of prizes on Sunday August 8th.
The first race from Schull will start on Sunday 1st August when the fleets will sail a variety of courses which will all finish in Baltimore in the late afternoon. Some of the boats will stay overnight for Monday’s regatta with the full fleet again resuming for battle in Schull on Tuesday morning where a costal race is scheduled.
On Wednesday the fleet will sail to Cape Clere Island for the fun regatta of the week. The racing boats will anchor in South Harbour while the support craft will tie up in North Harbour. This infamous event is run by the secret committee of the Cape Clere Yachting Association and has always proved to be the ideal location for the crews to “leave their hair down”
On Thursday the racing returns to Schull with a mid week presentation of trophies in the Courtyard on main street, while on Friday the fleet will round the Fastnet Rock with a finish in Crookhaven, where some of the boats remain overnight for the following days regatta.
The exhausting week will finally conclude on Sunday August 8th with Schull Regatta where racing will take place on a variety of courses in Roaring Water Bay, with the closing ceremony and overall presentation of trophies at 8.00 pm at the Harbour View Hotel.
