Robert O’Leary’s Swiftie completed a final-day comeback to win the Doyle Sails 1720 Southerns 2026 at Royal Cork Yacht Club by a single point after seven races sailed off Crosshaven.
The Baltimore Sailing Club entry overturned overnight leaders T-Bone in a tightly fought championship that went down to the final race.
After ending Saturday four points adrift, O’Leary’s crew delivered a consistent Saturday scoreline of 4, 3, 2 to finish on 15 nett points overall.
Royal Cork’s Clive O’Shea and Tom Durcan aboard T-Bone had led after the opening day thanks to two race wins, but an eighth-place finish in Race Six proved costly. The local crew recovered with a race win in the final contest but fell one point short on 16 nett points.
Third overall went to Baltimore’s Fionn Lyden aboard Spiced Beef. Lyden remained in contention throughout the regatta and secured the final podium place on 27 points after seven races.
Royal Cork’s Brian Twomey produced one of the strongest final-day performances aboard Dark Side. Scores of first, sixth and sixth lifted the Cork helm to fourth overall on 33 points.
Howth Yacht Club’s Robert Dix completed the top five with Lemoncello. After recovering from an opening-race disqualification, Dix climbed steadily through the fleet and won Race Six on the way to fifth overall.
The championship attracted a 20-boat fleet representing clubs from Cork, Dublin, Belfast, Galway and Howth.
Top Five Overall
- Swiftie (Robert O’Leary, BSC) – 15 pts
- T-Bone (Clive O’Shea/Tom Durcan, RCYC) – 16 pts
- Spiced Beef (Fionn Lyden, BSC) – 27 pts
- Dark Side (Brian Twomey, RCYC) – 33 pts
- Lemoncello (Robert Dix, HYC) – 42 pts
