The first race of Royal Cork Yacht Club's June Thursday league, sponsored by Union Chandlery, was held last night in balmy light winds of six or seven knots writes Bob Bateman.

The course was from a Committee boat start to No. 5 back to Cage, then out to No. 6, back to Cage across to Corkbeg with a finish back at Cage.

Scroll down for a photo gallery

It was a reaching start but only Dara O'Shea's J70 Wildcard could fly her asymmetric which she did for the first two legs.

The J70 'Wildcard' managed to fly the kite for the first two legs Photo: Bob Bateman

Mel Collins in Coracle IV started well at the pin end followed by three generations of the MacSweeney family sailing together with members of the RCYC Topper squad.

Close racing to Cork Harbour's No.6 buoy Photo: Bob Bateman

Mary O'Keefe's X362 started well and got the better of Ria Lyden's X362, Ellida. However, during the beat to  No.6 Lyden's light air skills allowed Ellida to get the upper hand and she took the lead from Tux.

X362 Tux Photo: Bob Bateman

The 2018 Royal Sprints Championship, double-handed dinghy regatta, was held last weekend at the Royal Cork Yacht Club writes Clayton Kohl. This first annual regatta, as previously reported by Afloat.ie here, attracted double-handed dinghy sailors ranging in age from 12 to 21 from all over the country including Cork, Kerry, Wexford, Baltimore, Dublin and Newcastle, Northern Ireland. The two-day 29er, RS 200 and RS Feva event featured short sprint-style races on a nested course. Cork Harbour served as the beautiful backdrop with brisk winds on Saturday at 14 with to 18 knots while Sunday calmer with winds 10 to 14 knots.

29er Triple Crown

The Royal Sprints Championship was the first of three regattas being held across Ireland to determine Ireland's 29er Triple Crown winners. The 29er class's first regatta of 2018 started with a thud, the sound of one skiff's long daggerboard hitting a now newly discovered sandbar. The resulting pitchpole forced the retirement of Lola Kohl & Johnny Durcan's skiff and a race course move. Once adjustments were made, the 29er fleet successfully completed 10 races during the 24-hour period. 

Atlee Kohl & Chris Bateman in the 29er Photo: Simon McIlwaine

Atlee Kohl & Chris Bateman earned first with straight bullets followed by Dawson Kohl & Chris McDonnell in second, Rory O'Sullivan & Rob Keal in third, Adam Doyle & David Jones in fourth and Erin McIlwaine & Dan Thompson in fifth. The Triple Crown series highlights Ireland's top 29er helms and crews. The next Triple Crown event will be held at the Royal North of Ireland Yacht Club followed by the final event at Dublin's Royal St. George Yacht Club. The 29er class has been embraced by serious sailors with the winners of this year's 4.7 Laser Nationals and Topper Nationals competing for the Triple Crown last weekend.

With the introduction of highly advanced youth skiffs like the 29er, the need for new and innovative safety practices is paramount. A new safety measure implemented at this event was the use of a 'rescue sailor'. A rescue sailor is a fully proficient wetsuited individual ready to step onto a struggling skiff in a moments notice. At this event, the rescued sailor swapped places with an exhausted crew to get a struggling skiff into port on Saturday and helped a couple novice teams with on-the-water spinnaker issues on Sunday. Having an experienced sailor on standby to jump onboard a distressed dinghy really improves fleet safety by keeping RIBS on the race course, coaches dry and sailors happily competitive on the water.

"Having an experienced sailor on standby to jump onboard a distressed dinghy really improves fleet safety"

The RS 200 class had two great days of racing with the short course keeping the competition close and exciting. Short courses require more manoeuvres and often result in more opportunities for sailors to overtake competitors. After completing eleven races, Cian Jones & Luke McGrath finished first, Adam Power & Jack Young in second, Mia Murphy & Jennifer O'Shaughnessy in third, Jamie Tingle & Ronan O'Driscoll in fourth and Rosa Lyden & Jane Bolger in fifth.

The RS Fevas battled it out over twelve races, the most of any class. In the end, Harry Pritchard & Niel O'Leary came in first followed by Elysia O'Leary & Lily Dwyer in second and Griff Kelleher & Kate Neville in third. Congratulations to all the sailors who fought challenging conditions and gave up some study time to be on the water competing with their friends in their favourite double-handed sailing class.

"This weekend was a major milestone for the 29er fleet"

This weekend was a major milestone for the 29er fleet as it marked the first official event for the newly formed Irish 29er Class Association. The new association, spearheaded by Jarlath O'Leary, represents 29er sailors from all parts of the island of Ireland. If current participation is any indication, the future of the 29er programme and its position as a feeder of great sailors into 49er programme looks very promising for Ireland!

At the International Council of Yacht Clubs (ICOYC) World Forum 2018 in San Francisco, the Royal Cork Yacht Club was selected to host the ICOYC World Forum in September 2019. Vice Admiral, Colin Morehead, and Club General Manager, Gavin Deane, represented the Club at this prestigious event which was attended by most of the thirty-nine member clubs.

The ICOYC World Forum is a unique opportunity to engage in discussion with fellow representatives from the world’s leading yacht clubs on areas of interest to yacht clubs and the sport and to share experiences to the mutual benefit of all in attendance. The theme of this year’s conference was "Evolution vs. Revolution... the art of managing change", a subject that evoked much thought and discussion.

At the closing ceremony for the forum, Andy Anderson, President of the International Council of Yacht Clubs, officially announced the Royal Cork Yacht Club as hosts of the ICOYC World Forum in September 2019. Commenting at the closing ceremony held in St Francis Yacht Club, San Francisco, Colin Morehead, Vice Admiral of the Royal Cork and Chairman of the Royal Cork's Tricentenary celebrations in 2020 said, “It is an honour for the Flag Officers and Members of the Royal Cork Yacht Club that it has been chosen to host the ICOYC World Forum in 2019. Cork Harbour has been home to the world's oldest yacht club since its founding in 1720 and has been welcoming sailors from across the globe throughout that time. Be assured all intending to travel will receive an especially warm welcome as the harbour and its communities are busy preparing to mark the 300th anniversary of the founding of the Royal Cork in 2020”.

"Cork Harbour has been home to the world's oldest yacht club since its founding in 1720"

Royal Cork General Manager, Gavin Deane said “the Royal Cork are delighted to have been chosen to host this prestigious forum and look forward to welcoming fellow council members from Canada, New Zealand, Australia, the USA, Hong Kong, and from many countries around Europe. Many of the attendees will stay on after the four day conference and visit the tourist attractions around Cork City and County and beyond. The Club is extremely grateful of the support from the Cork Convention Bureau, and the Cool Route project, which is co-financed by the Interreg Northern Periphery and Arctic Programme.”

The yacht clubs that form the Council are the leading clubs in each region of the world, all with an international orientation, sharing similar advantages and facing similar issues. By working together the Council clubs can present a common face to the increasingly commercial world of yachting, reflecting their significance within the sport. Membership of the ICOYC can be summarised as ‘The Leading Yacht Clubs … Working Together … Sharing Experience’.

The first annual 'Royal Sprints Regatta' will be held in just two weeks on May 19th & 20th at the Royal Cork Yacht Club.

Featuring three double-handed dinghy classes, the event will provide the sailor with numerous short, fun, sprint races over a 24-hour period in Cork Harbour.

Perfectly suited for the traveling competitor, first gun isn’t until 2:00 pm on Saturday and the final race won’t start passed 12:30 pm on Sunday. Prizes go five deep in all classes giving the sailor the best opportunity to show off their skills. A social with submarine sandwiches, cookies and drinks will be served to sailors in Royal Cork’s Youth Sailing Dinghy Centre on Saturday evening after racing.

If you are a 29er, RS200 or RS Feva sailor, this is an event you won’t want to miss! Visit RoyalSprints.com for more information and registration.

The Royal Cork Yacht Club at Crosshaven in Cork Harbour has decided on a change in the format of racing for the coming season which will reduce the number of starts and re-define the sailing classes.

In cruiser racing out of the club just two classes will sail under Spinnakers. This change met with general approval at a meeting of racing boat Skippers in the RCYC where the new handicapping arrangements were outlined by Mel Collins, Keelboat Committee Sailing Secretary. They will reduce Class bands 1, 2 and 3 to Spinnaker 1and Spinnaker 2.

Whitesail will continue, possibly with two classes, depending upon boat numbers.

"The changes are radical, as Skippers commented, but necessary it was generally felt, to bring more competitive interest back to racing"

IRC handicapping is controlled by the RORC, but ECHO handicapping will be administered by the RCYC Committee, with monthly changes. That could cause some controversy. Manual adjusting of handicaps of boats did so prior to the introduction of computer-based racing programmes which administered handicapping changes. That was pointed out at the meeting. However, the changes were approved, so it’s largely a ‘wait-and-see what happens’ attitude.

Handicapping changes have, in recent years, been automatically made by the computer-operated racing system after each race. Computer assessment will be available to the Committee, but it is a potential area of difficulty, as experienced Skippers pointed out.

However, as the numbers in cruiser racing have gradually moved upwards, this change and basically, it seems, amalgamate Class1 and the top of Class 2, with other former Class 2 boats mingling with Class 3.

More work will be done on the allocation of handicaps prior to the seasonal start and when boat owners submit their handicaps.

Friday night white sailing at the club will continue under the HIS in-house system.

There is a provision in the new arrangements to prevent ‘sandbagging’ – the first time I saw this publicly and clearly identified in pre-racing arrangements, to prevent those who might try to ‘massage’ their handicaps by slowing boat performance to gain advantage for specific events!

Podcast below: 

The fourth running of the Horizon Energy PY 1000 at Royal Cork Yacht Club in Crosshaven today saw James McCann and Harry Whitaker sailing a 420 dinghy win €700 first prize writes Bob Bateman.

Racing on the Owenabue river opposite the RCYC clubhouse, there was a perfect ENE wind about 16 knots for the river race but there were plenty of capsizes too.

The PY1000 Race Officer was John Crotty assisted by David Barry.

McCann and Whitaker got a great start and led at the first mark in the mixed fleet of dinghies. 

Nigel Young and his youngest son James, aged 11, were second in the RCYC PY Horizon 100 in a boat built by Nigel’s father, Don Young. The Young Family have a long association with the YWDB Class, as Don built his first boat back in the 60’s and since that time has built about six more boats. The UK based class are all cold molded smooth skin boats and all varnished, no painting allowed! Nigel’s current boat PaPa 2 has now won the YW Dayboat Championships three times Photo: Bob Bateman. See full photo gallery below

Second place (and a prize of €200 went to father and son combo of Nigel (of North Sails Ireland) and James Young racing the family's vintage Yachting World Day Boat (above).

Kinsale Yacht Club's Darragh O Sullivan sailing a Laser was third. Photo Bob Bateman. See full photo gallery below

Third (€100) went to Kinsale Yacht Club's Darragh O Sullivan sailing a Laser (full rig), a previous winner of the event in 2016.  On form O'Sullivan recently won Monkstown Bay's Laser Yard of Ale Winter League, also saield in Cork Harbour. 

With a prize fund at stake, locally based International Judge Michael O'Connor was drafted in to police the Racing Rules of Sailing but there were no incidents to report.

The largest competing fleet was the 4.7 Lasers. The Mirror dinghy class made a determined effort to attend as their were none last year. Eoghan Duffy of Lough Ree Yacht Club (LRYC) and Cathal Langan Clontarf Yacht and Boat Club (CYBC) sailed as did Ben Graf and Hannagh Smyth of LRYC. And from Cove Sailing Club father and son Kieran and Sam Dorgan competed.

Again this year, return visitors Simon and Evie Crowe from Villiarstown on the River Blackwater in a GP14 competed.

Horizon Energy PY 1000 Race Photo gallery below by Bob Bateman

An Tánaiste, Simon Coveney, TD, launched, Volvo Cork Week, today on Haulbowline Island in Cork Harbour, following the cancellation of the original launch last Friday due to the arrival of Storm Emma.

Royal Cork Yacht Club has reconfigured its biennial regatta with a number of novel new features. The event takes place this year in Crosshaven from July 16th to July 21st.

Speaking at the launch Minister Coveney said: “It is always a pleasure to be asked to officially launch an event like Volvo Cork Week. Events like this are very important for Ireland, showcasing, as they do, the beautiful marine resource we have, particularly here in Cork Harbour, the second biggest natural harbour in the world. Competition for The Beaufort Cup will see teams from many different national and international defence forces, RNLI, Coast Guard, Welsh and Northern Ireland Police, and other service teams, competing against each other and this year it again includes an overnight race around the famous Fastnet Rock. It is great to see Volvo Cork Week being the first Irish Regatta to take an active approach on the fight against plastics. It is a subject that is very close to my heart and I will do all I can to assist them in their effort this year. Cork is truly at the forefront of sustainability and renewable energy, with MaREI (Centre for Marine and Renewable Energy) located here in Cork Harbour.”

All photos by Bob Bateman

2016 Beaufort Cup winner, Commandant Barry Byrne, Commander Brian Matthews and Pat Harte, Hon Secretary of Royal CorkIrish Sailing President Jack Roy with Captain William Roberts and David Thomas of Volvo Captain William Roberts, Jack Roy,, Pat Farnan and Darragh ConnollyCaptain William Roberts, Mayor of Cork County Cllr Declan Hurley, Deputy Mayor Kieran McCarthy and David ThomasPat Farnan, David Thomas and Captain William Roberts in front of the Irish Navy Ship, LE William Butler YeatsRCYC Admiral Pat Farnan addresses the gathering on Haulbowline IslandJack Roy of Irish SailingDavid Thomas of VolvoAn Tánaiste Simon CoveneyA great turnout at HaulbowlineCork Week Chairman Kieran O'Connell, with Jack Roy (who will be the event's Chief Race Officer) Admiral Pat Farnan and Cove Sailing Club's Joannna MurphyVolvo's David Thomas, Mayor of Cork County Cllr Declan Hurley, An Tanaiste Simon Coveney, Deputy Mayor Kieran McCarthy and Royal Cork CEO Gavin DeaneRoyal Cork's Ross Deasy with Commander Brian Matthews and Royal Cork's Darragh Connolly(From right) Cork Week Chairman Kieran O'Connell, with Volvo's David Thomas and An Tanaiste Simon Coveney

David Thomas, MD Volvo Car Ireland, said that Volvo Car Ireland, in partnership with Johnson & Perrott, are proud to sponsor Volvo Cork Week for the third time: "since coming to Ireland, I have seen and appreciate the importance of the water as an island nation. The Volvo brand is synonymous with sailing across the world and we believe in the importance of supporting, and partnering, with sports and communities where our customers live, work, and play." 

Kieran O’Connell, Chair of Volvo Cork Week, welcomes the growing awareness of the plastics issue amongst the public and particularly amongst sailors. He intends to put an emphasis on reducing Volvo Cork Week’s impact on the environment. Amongst the initiatives being proposed is that all competitors will be asked to use reusable drink containers and there will be water coolers/fountains available. Suppliers will be asked to reduce their use of plastic and use compostable materials. “Each year, 8 million tonnes of plastic enters our seas and if no action is taken there will be more plastic than fish in the ocean by 2050, every bit of plastic ever made still exists somewhere. Care to the environment is a core value at Volvo Car Ireland and we intend to play our part during Volvo Cork Week 2018. Education and outreach activities will be facilitated by MaREI during the event."

The first of a series of beach clean ups took place during the launch. Schoolchildren from Crosshaven took part in an initial clean up of the beach on Haulbowline Island. This is the first in a series of nationwide beach clean ups Volvo have planned to help raise awareness of the #TurnTheTideOnPlastics initiative.

The Royal Cork Yacht Club is the NMU Marina of the Year and is a Gold Anchor Awardee from the Yacht Harbour Association. It is committed to minimising the impact of its activities on the environment and has created a Green Events Policy which will be applied during Volvo Cork Week 2018.

While retaining many of the successful elements of previous events Volvo Cork Week 2018 has a completely redesigned format which gives competitiors various options to choose whilst still enjoying the world class racing that is on offer. Entries have already been received from Ireland, England, France, Dubai and Australia and this year. The SB20 sportsboat class will host its Southern Championships on the two days before Cork Week (14/15 July) and the Dragon Class will host their championships at Volvo Cork Week for the first time.

The loss of young sailors to the sport is an issue that has been identified by many clubs around the country and at national level.

Other sports can be more attractive to younger age groups, particularly it seems as teenagers enter the early 20s and there are increasingly more all-year-round possibilities for young people, male and female - and without the rigours of an uneven playing field, as the water is described, compared to land-based sports.

This was discussed at a ‘think-in’ at the Royal Cork in Crosshaven late last year when the cruiser racing section reviewed the past season.

Now the club has announced the setting-up of an Under 25s Keelboat Academy.

The intention is to try to get more young people interested in cruiser racing from the age of 16 years onwards and it’s an attractive alternative to losing them from the sport altogether

An invitation has been sent out through the club’s system to those between the ages of 16 and 25 to join the Keelboat Academy….. the age limits are 16 by the age of May 1 this year and not over 25 by the same date.

The club's 1720s boats will be used for training, learning boat maintenance and tuning keelboats and there will also be opportunities to go to events around the country representing the Club on other boats such as J24s and J80s.

The RCYC is entering a team for the Irish Cruiser Racing Association Nationals in Galway from August 15 to 18 to race against six other U25 teams from clubs around the country and the Crosshaven establishment says it will also be looking at putting teams in for some match racing events at the Wave Regatta in Howth Yacht Club in Dublin, at Volvo Cork Week, in the Youth Regatta and the 1720 National and European Championships.

Within a short time of announcing the Academy, fourteen younger sailors had signed up. It’s a good initiative. RCYC Keelboats Rear Admiral, Kieran O’Connell, who is also Commodore of the South Coast Offshore Racing Association, says the plan is to get the Academy “up and running as soon as possible.”

• Podcast here

With only ten weeks to go to the start of the 2018 sailing Season, Royal Cork Rear Admiral Kieran O'Connell has announced some new and exciting changes to the Keelboat committee structure that has well–known keelboat expert Mel Collins serving as a dedicated Sailing Secretary for the Cork Harbour club.

'We have decided that the current committee structure does not lend itself to properly supporting all aspects of the Keelboat community', O'Connell writes on the club website.

'We are no longer using the class captains rolls to form the structure of the committee, instead we will have one Keelboat Sailing Secretary, who will in turn have a sub committee of Class reps.

The rest of the committee will then be formed by people to oversee areas of activity like, communications, social and prizegivings, race officer roster, club 1720s, results, and epecial events. Each committee member will then form a small sub committee to assist in their roll.

This new structure should see a much more focused commitment to the continued development of keelboat racing and all the associated elements within in our club, it also will involve a lot more volunteers which will hopefully in turn drive involvement in Keelboat Racing.

The new Keelboat Committee is: 

1. Keelboat Sailing Secretary Mel Collins

2. Results officer Wendy McElligott

3. Communications and social media Daragh Connolly

4. Race officer Roster Sean Hanley

5. Social and prize givings Mary Jones

6. Special events, things like Ballycotton race coastal league and Sunday mornings. Clem McElligott

7. Oversight of Club 1720 Fleet Brian Twomey

Last night in Crosshaven in Cork Harbour, Royal Cork Yacht Club elected its new Admiral and flag officers writes Bob Bateman 

As previously reported by Afloat.ie, Pat Farnan was elected Admiral of the club to lead it in to its tricentenary in 2020.

Former Cork Port Harbour Master Pat Farnan, who had previously served as Vice-Admiral, takes over from John Roche. Farnan's term will take him to January 2020, the year of RCYC's 300th anniversary.

Other members of Farnan's committee are: Pat Harte Treasurer/Secretary, Colin Morehead, Vice Admiral. Back Row. Simon Brewitt, Chairman of the Marina and Facilities Committee, Mike Rider Rear Admiral Cruising, Kieran O'Connell Rear Admiral Keelboats, Brian Jones Rear Admiral Dinghies and Annamarie Fegan Bar Catering House and Communications.

Plans have been drawn up for refurbishment of the RCYC club premises which members partially approved last night.

Work is underway on refurbishing and improving dressing rooms areas at present.