T-Bone Leads 1720 Southerns at Royal Cork

16th May 2026

Afloat.ie Team

Southern Charge — Clive O'Shea and Tom Durcan's T-Bone leads the Doyle Sails 1720 Southerns 2026 at Royal Cork Yacht Club after four races sailed off Crosshaven on Saturay. Credit: Bob Bateman

Clive O’Shea and Tom Durcan’s T-Bone holds the overnight lead after four races at the 1720 Southerns at Royal Cork Yacht Club.

Twenty boats contested the opening day of racing off Crosshaven on Saturday (May 16) in mixed conditions that produced tight leaderboard changes across the fleet.

T-Bone showed impressive consistency with two race wins and a second place in the opening three races before slipping to ninth in Race Four. Even so, the Royal Cork crew carries a four-point advantage into Saturday’s concluding races on 13 points overall.

Balltimore Yacht Club’s Robert O’Leary moved into second overall after a strong late charge. After scores of fourth and eleventh in the opening two races, O’Leary’s crew responded with back-to-back race wins in Races Three and Four to sit on 17 points overnight.

Third overall is Balltimore’s Fionn Lyden aboard Spiced Beef. Lyden recovered from an eighth-place start to post a second and a second-place finish later in the day, ending the opening series on 21 points.

Royal Cork’s Gary Rhodes and Heros & Villans occupies fourth overall after a steady set of scores that included a third and fourth place. Rhodes sits four points behind Spiced Beef on 25 points.

Fifth overall is Peter Fagan’s Gladiator from the Royal St George Yacht Club. The Dublin Bay crew delivered one of the most consistent scorelines of the day with four top-ten finishes to remain firmly in podium contention on 27 points.

Just outside the top five, Rob McConnell’s Fools Gold, a recent winner of the RCYC superleague, is sixth overall for WHSC on 33 points, while Brian Twomey’s Dark Side climbed to seventh after taking third in the final race of the day.

Race wins on the opening day were shared between T-Bone and O’Leary’s yet-to-be-named entry, with two wins apiece.

Sunday’s final races are expected to decide the championship, with only 14 points separating the top five boats after the opening day.

2026 1720 Southerns Photo Gallery by Bob Bateman

Top Five Overall After Day One

T-Bone (Clive O’Shea/Tom Durcan, RCYC) – 13 pts
TBC (Robert O’Leary, BSC) – 17 pts
Spiced Beef (Fionn Lyden, BSC) – 21 pts
Heros & Villans (Gary Rhodes, RCYC) – 25 pts
Gladiator (Peter Fagan, RStGYC) – 27 pts

Race Results

You may need to scroll vertically and horizontally within the box to view the full results

Published in 1720, Royal Cork YC

Published in 1720

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