After missing out on Day 2 of the 1720 Irish championship entirely due to inclement weather, OOD Peter Crowley and his team were on the water at Kinsale before 09:00 this morning and managed to complete a full programme of races for the 1720 National Championships writes Peadar Murphy. The wind today was light and shifting, but four highly competitive races were still squeezed in and had everyone ashore just before the rain swept in again.

After the first four races on Friday, Anthony O’Leary on “Antix” led from the Byrne and Wilson outfit on “ZING” and Aoife English on “Atara”. However today, the next generation of O’Learys shot to the fore on “Dutch Gold” (newly arrived from Holland!) with Peter on the helm and Robert midship providing the fleet with a masterclass in 1720 sailing in light airs. Three bullets and a second place finish rightly crowning them as the 1720 National Champions for 2016 and bringing the title to Baltimore Sailing Club, capping off a memorable week for that part of the world!

Though never quite at the front of the fleet today, Padraig Byrne and Don Wilson on “ZING” had done enough on Friday to ensure that their lesser results today still merited a second place overall. The lighter airs today seemed to suit a number of boats that hadn’t been quite in the running in strong stuff on Friday; Fionn Lyden on Baltimore Sailing Club boat “Live Wire” had a strong showing today, and might have been pushed a bit by fellow Baltimore boat “Smile n’ Wave”, though their challenge ran out of steam later in the day. Also prominent today were Paul Gibbons’ “Wahoo” and Dun Laoghaire visitor Kenneth Rumball on “Team INSS”. However, despite an off day today - Anthony O”Leary’s “Antix” came home in third overall with five points to spare over “Wahoo”.

However, the undoubted winner of the Blacks of Kinsale 1720 National Championships was Peter O’Leary.

The Irish Sailing Association is inviting class associations to make nominations for the ISA All Ireland Sailing Championship and ISA All Ireland Junior Sailing Championships 2016.

The ISA All Ireland Junior Sailing Championships on September 24th – 25th at Fastnet Marine & Outdoor Education Centre, Schull, Co. Cork. The event will be sailed in FMOEC TR 4.2 class two person dinghies.

The ISA All Ireland Sailing Championship on October 1st – 2nd at Royal Cork Yacht Club, Crosshaven, Co. Cork. The event will be sailed in National 18 three person dinghies.

The ISA is seeking three nominations from each of the senior classes. The junior and youth classes will be advised on the number of places allocated for that class as per notice of race.  Nominations will be only accepted from classes whose affiliation fee is paid for 2016.

Class associations are also invited to suggest candidates for a wild card place; these would be members who have excelled at an International competition in the class during the year.

The age limit for the Junior Sailing Championships is under 19 years on December 31, 2016. If a class holds a junior/youth national championship for eligible sailors they may nominate to the Junior championship in the same way and enclosing a copy of the relevant Notice of Race. Please see the Notice of Race for both events below.

The ISA says its policy of a National Race Officer managing racing at a class’s national championship will be strictly applied.

The deadline for nominations is: ISA All Ireland Junior Sailing Championship is 1500hrs on the 12th of September, 2016 and 1500hrs  on the 19th of September for the ISA All Ireland Sailing Championships

The final day of Royal Cork Yacht Club's 'At Home' was a day to remember writes Bob Bateman. With temperatures in the mid–twenties, there was plenty of activity afloat and ashore. Adults and children alike soaked up the party atmosphere on the club lawn that followed two days of dinghy and keelboat racing on the water.

The cruiser fleet featured racing that included courses from bygone days. Classes one, two and raced out to the Cork buoy while the White Sail fleet took a scenic course around Ringabella Bay.

Rear–Admiral Kieran O’Connell took a hands–on approach to Race Officer duties, alternating between Harmony as starting vessel and a club RIB when he was required to finish the various fleets.

Meanwhile, former Admiral David O’Brien acted as PRO for the Irish National Championships of the National Eighteen class which included nine of the new Ultra designs. On Sunday, sailing in Cork Harbour on the Eastern Bank, the 18s got a much more comfortable day than was experienced on Saturday. Comfortable maybe, but no less competitive, it’s a fleet in which no quarter is expected or given on the water. The three–man dinghy fleet got in three good races in the north westerly wind. Nobody could match Ewen Barry, Stan Browne and Dion Barrett for consistency and they took the National title. See report here.

The Optimists and mixed dinghies were out in force on the Curlane Bank with hardworking race officers Andrew Crosbie and Robert Foster running the show. This was no easy task with moe than one general recall.. The Optimist Copper fleet were also out and it was great to see so many up and coming sailors getting to race. The Flipper club were taking to sea in club ribs to watch the racing and a bit of wave hopping was reported too.

Back on shore, the crab competition was underway for the under–tens, and there was a rush for the dining room was made when it was announced that the Lady Admiral Gwen Roche was about to serve afternoon tea.

Following this, there was a dignified Boules match compèred by Dave Power. Much to the delight of the spectators, Ted Crosbie emerged as winner.

After face painting, a bouncing castle and treats for the children a  tug–o–war competition was supervised by Doctor McCarthy. At the prizegiving Admiral John Roche welcomed sponsors Mater Private Cork and Doctor Oisin Powell and Mr. Paul Kiely, of The Mater Private, presented the 'At Home' prizes for 2016.

Conor Phelan’s Ker 37 Jump Juice defended her 2015 Abersoch Keelboat Week title in some style on Friday winning both the penultimate and the final races.

The Royal Cork yacht finished the regatta a whopping 11–points clear.

As Afloat.ie previously reported, despite the margin of victory, “Jump Juice” was pushed all the way by regular ISORA competitor Peter Dunlop and Vicki Cox’ J109 “Mojito” and John Batson’s Dehler 36 “Wombat”.

“Jump Juice” team for the week was:-

Bow: Ewan O’Keefe
Mast: James Coulson / Fergal McGrath / Tom Soar
Pit: Mary Barrett
Pit Assist: Selina Thomas
Trim 1: Dave Rowland
Trim 2: John Sisk / Jerry Ibberson
Trim 3: Adam Hyland
Float: Noirin Phelan
Mainsheet / crew boss: Maurice “Prof” O’Connell
Helm / Skipper: Conor Phelan
Tactician: Mike Budd

Results here

Royal Cork's Harry Durcan and Harry Whittaker have won the UK 29er National Championship in Torbay. After six days racing and 19 races in all, it all came down to the final race which they secured with a bullet giving them a two point lead over the rest of the fleet. Full results here. Conditions today were shifty at best and the Race Officer did well to get four races in to finish the final series.

After five races, Caolan Croasdell and Alexander Farrell from Lough Ree Yacht Club lead the 2016 Mirror European at Royal Cork Yacht Club after five races.

The 19–boat event concludes tomorrow. Results here. Bob Bateman's photo gallery is below.

The ‘Real Admiral’ of The RCYC Has Died – The description in the announcement sent to Royal Cork Yacht Club members said it all. Enda O’Riordan was known to everyone who crossed the threshold of the RCYC in Crosshaven, from members to visitors from around Ireland and overseas. Her father, Ned, worked in the club bar in the 1960s and Enda continued the family tradition in the early 1970s, helping her mother who also worked in the club.

Described as ‘the ‘font of all knowledge’ about the club, curator and seller of club merchandise, provider of the legendary ‘Tripe-and-Drisheen’ for the Stag night supper of which her recipe was a secret known to few, she made her mark on every aspect of club life. When reporting on RCYC activities, I was sold a club jumper to suit the purpose. It was at least one size too large, but “wash it and it might shrink to fit.” I wasn’t sure what the manufacturers would think of that exhortation but, like all club members, I knew that Enda knew what was good for me!

Kindness to young sailors, looking after visiting sailors, “so many stories can be told and the void she has left can never be filled,” the RCYC says, “She will be remembered with the greatest affection by colleagues past and present - and Flag Officers that she controlled, whether they knew it or not.”

Rear Admiral and Chairman of Volvo Cork Week, Kieran O’Connell, described her death as “a day of sadness as we remember a true club friend and a member in more ways than we could imagine.”

Enda died in Marymount Hospice in Cork after a short illness.

Tom MacSweeney

Afloat.ie’s W M Nixon won’t divulge when he first sailed into Cork Harbour, but he claims to have taken part in an early version of Cork Week as long ago as 1970. And he also claims that, at the Week of 1992, when ashore he never went beyond the RCYC’s Regatta Compound. He was overnighting aboard his boat which was a competitor, and after racing the whole sailing world and all facilities were to be found right there in the compound. There was no need to go any further. Here, he casts an eye over Volvo Cork Week 2016, and reflects on the extraordinary story of the hosting club.

There was a time when most histories of sailing were based on the idea that yachting as we know it didn’t really begin until 1815, when the final defeat of Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo provided peaceful seas off Europe to allow recreational sailing to develop into what ultimately became many forms, involving boats and rigs of all types.

It’s a process which continues today. But while the change in circumstances in 1815 was undoubtedly a major force in accelerating the development of the sport, anyone in Cork will be only too happy to tell you that by the time of Waterloo, the Water Club of the Harbour of Cork had been in existence for all of 95 years.

The great pioneers. The yachts of the 1720 Water Club of the Harbour of Cork, as recorded by Peter Monamy in 1738. Courtesy RCYC

And up Athlone way, they’ll determinedly assert that Lough Ree YC came into being in some form or other in 1770, so it was looking at 45 years by the time of Waterloo. But on Lough Ree, you could be reasonably confident that your day’s sailing wouldn’t be spoilt with an attack by French privateers. Yet the Privateer threat was a fact of life in the seas off Cork in the turbulent times as the 1700s drew to a close, and the cheekier ones even came right into Cork Harbour itself.

Nevertheless although the 1720-founded Water Club had a tenuous-enough existence at times, as soon as peace broke out it reasserted itself, a notable instance being in 1802 after the Peace of Amiens, and again in 1806 when the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805 had greatly reduced the French threat at sea.

The quiet years. A lone yacht of the Water Club shown in a panting by Nathanael Grogan in the upper harbour of Cork at Tivoli in the late 18th century

With each revival, names of “Old Members” would be added to the lists of new people who wished to keep the club going. And though there may have been times when Annual General Meetings weren’t held – a requirement for any club’s continuing validity today – the old Water Club always seems to have been part of the warp and weft of the great fabric of Cork Harbour, where they’d a much more relaxed attitude to the necessity for an AGM in the dim and distant past.

It became the Royal Cork Yacht Club in 1830 when sailing was being re-structured at national level, and it was always enumerated as Club No 1 in the official listings, even if the Royal Yacht Squadron tended to be listed above it. Yet if you were at the opening party of Volvo Cork Week at the Royal Cork in Crosshaven last Sunday evening, you could have been forgiven for thinking that this was a happening being organised by the newest club on the block.

The fact is the Royal Cork is not merely ageless – it is eternally young. In this era of outdoor festivals, at events like Sunday’s opening party they showed themselves ahead of the curve in having world-standard sound systems which provide a welcome and easily-audible intimacy for speakers, enabling them to put through an informative programme of crisp speeches in comfortable time as the party buzz built steadily among the gathered multitude, whose friendly attention was duly rewarded by the arrival of a sunny evening.

The atmosphere was of one great big happy family gathering. And if this seemed to be a family with many members holding high military rank with decorations to match, it’s because the occasion was taken to launch the Beaufort Cup in all its official glory, and there were more naval and other military attaches present than you’ll see at many a National Day parade.

Naval presence. The successful staging of the first Beaufort Cup series within Volvo Cork Week 2016 saw increased naval activity in Cork Harbour, including this Royal Navy Supply Ship. A highlight of the Beaufort Series was a black-tie dinner for all competing crews in the Naval Base on Haulbowline Island on Tuesday night. Photo: Bob Bateman

But far from parading military might, the Beaufort Cup is all about comradely sailing competition, providing sport afloat for people who normally look on being at sea in a very different light. And it was not just between people in the armed forces, but between agencies of all kinds – life-saving, fisheries supervision, port inspection or whatever – where I suppose the only common denominator is that at some stage the people involved might wear a uniform.

The trophy commemorates Meath-born Admiral Sir Francis Beaufort (1774-1857) whose achievements in hydrography and marine science were many. The idea of commemorating him in this way certainly captured the Volvo Cork Week imagination, with people readily making their boats available to agency crews who did not have access to craft of their own.

The spirit of it all was exemplified by the first boat and crew to the Fastnet Rock in the Beaufort’s long opening race. It was Conor Doyle of Kinsale’s X442 Freya, crewed by the Police Service of Northern Ireland. And then the overall winner of this special Fastnet race on corrected time was John Maybury of Dun Laoghaire’s champion J/109 Joker 2, sailed by an Irish Defence Forces crew skippered by Commandant Barry Byrne.

Barry Byrne and his crew on Joker 2 continued their success through the week as the varied fleet was put through a programme of equal variety, and it was singularly ironic that Class 0 in the Combined Fleets Harbour Race for the Hugh Coveney Trophy – surely the ultimate combination of a sailing come-all-ye and a festival of local knowledge – should be won by Eric de Turckheim’s A13 Teasing Machine, which is rightly recognised as one of the greatest offshore racers currently active on the planet, but arguably not a boat the smart money would have backed to win her class in a crowded race in the winding waters of Cork Harbour.

Teasing Machine revelling in a breeze at the start of the week. Yet she won Class 0 in lighter airs in the Harbour Race. Photo: Tim Wright

And as for the alleged benefits of local knowledge, perhaps the Cork sailors were being just too clever in using their supposed experience in the weird ways of the tides and winds within this historic natural harbour, for the overall winner of the Harbour Race was Charlie Frieze’s Mills 36 Prime Suspect from Scotland, which made a good start in clear air, and continued to build on it.

In a sense, it was a double victory, as the breeze freshening towards the end naturally favoured the smaller boats over those already finished, despite Tony Langley’s TP52 Gladiator having zapped round the course in less than two hours. But although Prime Suspect was clearly mid-fleet in size, she put in such a neat showing she stayed ahead of Quarter Tonners and the like to take the prize.

Tony Langley’s TP52 Gladiator took line honours in the Harbour Race. Photo: Bob Bateman

In fact, the view that smaller boats would be favoured by the freshening breeze doesn’t really stand up to examination, as second overall was taken by Richard Matthews’ new H39 Oystercatcher XXXI, a notably handsome boat in a very distinctive shade of blue. And as for assertions that an excess of local knowledge can sometimes be a drawback, Oystercatcher XXXI proved otherwise, as her crew included Eddie English who probably knows more of the sailing ways and wiles of Cork Harbour than anyone else on the planet.

A bit of local knowledge didn’t go amiss…..with Eddie English of Cobh on board, Richard Matthews’ new Oystercatcher XXXI took second overall in the Harbour Race. Photo: Bob Bateman

An unrivalled learning environment – the Irish National Sailing School of Dun Laoghaire’s Reflex 38 Lynx in action in Cork. Photo: Bob BatemanThird slot overall went to John Swan’s Half Tonner Harmony from Howth, continuing her dominance of Class 3 where she’d already logged six bullets in eight races by the time they took on the points-free harbour melee.

Whether sailing for fun in the Harbour Race, or competing with a real edge for points gains in races included in the European IRC Championship, there can be absolutely no doubt that this Volvo Cork Week is all about high-pitched racing, and as such is light years away from the Admiral Sailing in formation which was at the core of the sea-going activities of the Water Club in its early days.

Or is it? At mid-week I’d a very amiable discussion with Royal Cork YC archivist Dermot Burns as to whether or not the original Club of 1720 included racing in its activities. He reckons a form of competitive sailing - beyond that of showing your ability to maintain station relative to the Admiral while moving along in formation - is suggested in the Sailing Orders which were re-published in 1765 after the club had gone through one of its regenerations in 1760, though it does involve assuming that the Orders of 1765 reflected the original orders of 1720.

The many orders are un-numbered, but down around what would be number 17 we find:

“WHEN the Admiral will have the whole Fleet to Chace, he will hoist Dutch colours under his Flag, and fire a Gun from each Quarter; if a single boat, he will hoist a Pendant, and fire as many guns from the side as the Boat is distanced from him. WHEN he would have the Chace given over, he will hawl in his Flag and fire a Gun”.

Dermot’s very reasonable contention is that “Chace” is in the same sense as Steeplechasing for horses, and that these are straightforward orders for either fleet races or a match race, the start simply being made by piling on the speed from whatever position you’re in when the Admiral gives his signals.

It’s a long way from today’s precisely-laid committee boat starting lines. And it boggles the mind to think of your average modern crew trying to decide what Mr Big means when he starts firing guns from every quarter and sending all manner of flags aloft. But it’s part of the joy of studying the long history of the Royal Cork Yacht Club that such gems for interpretation come our way.

Admiral’s orders? Former RCYC Admiral Anthony O’Leary racing top contender Antix off the Cobh waterfront. Photo: Bob Bateman
And who knows, but with further tangential study it may still be possible to find out who actually won those earliest races. For though we soon find notices of a up-coming races of the Water Club being advertised in the local press, accounts of what actually happened, if they appear at all, can be confused in the extreme as the reporter is often too giddy with listing the names of the great and the good who are present, and how fashionable the gathering is, to give us the hard facts of yacht race results.

Meanwhile, Dermot was also able to put me right on the notice advertising the forthcoming Water Club Race of 1787 as entitling the winner to an Anchor. Far from being a complex right to decide where the fleet should anchor, the word is that an Anchor is a substantial measure of brandy. I should have known that.

Some histories can evoke happy memories combined with entertaining and friendly debates among friends. Such is the story of the Royal Cork Yacht Club. And with the prospect of the RCYC 300th Anniversary in 2020 coming steadily down the line, the good news is that there was across-the-board political representation at a very high level at the Crosshaven events on Sunday July 10th. So much so, indeed, that it’s reasonable to expect that whatever government is in power in 2020, there’ll be proper official support for the celebration of this unique Tricentenary for an ever-young club which could only have been founded in Ireland, and only in Cork at that.

At last! The summer comes in from the sea at Volvo Cork Week 2016. Photo: Bob Bateman

Volvo Cork Week's Harbour Race highlight for the combined 100–boat fleet took place today.

Bob Bateman captured the action for Afloat.ie in the gallery below:

There were separate IRC and ECHO handicap divisions

Awareness of Cork Harbour’s long and colourful history of sailing has become so widespread and generally acknowledged that there’s a risk that the Irish and global sailing community will take it all for granted. Equally, the wonderful natural harbour of Cork, intertwining so peacefully and naturally with the handsome countryside about it, is such a constant in life that the ready opportunities it offers for sailing and boating of all sorts may not be getting used to their full potential. Volvo Cork Week 2016 – which gets under way this weekend – is primarily about sailboats up to the top international level going out racing. But the organisers are well aware of what a special opportunity this major regatta provides to re-energise the long-established links between Cork Harbour’s sea and land with the communities within their interaction, and they have planned accordingly. W M Nixon takes up the story.

For the very sea-minded community of Crosshaven, Volvo Cork Week 2016 is going to be an event in tandem. Naturally the headlines will be grabbed by the results of each day’s racing, which goes into full-ahead mode on Monday and continues through Friday. But while the boats are at sea, Crosshaven finds itself a different role as a bustling village which will be providing a variety of entertainment and attractions ashore.

The fleet’s in port. Crosshaven during Volvo Cork Week. Photo: Robert Bateman

The Royal Cork YC’s clubhouse at Crosshaven has expanded over the years Photo: Robert Bateman

In fact, so keen is the village to get on with this side of things that they’re gearing up for it this morning, with Volvo Family Day getting started at noon in the area around Crosshaven Village Square. There really is something for everyone of every age, with the Volvo Classic Car Display in town for that essential element of big boys’ toys to inspect. And there are tickets on sale to win a new Volvo V40, for which the draw will be at 4.0pm. But meanwhile, in addition to a host of entertainments for kids of all ages, there’s an intriguing twist to the ongoing programme with livewire TV personality Dermot Bannon of “Room to Improve” live in the Village Square Marquee at 2.00pm for a Q & A session which, let’s face it, could go in any direction when there’s a lively weekend audience.

Through the week, while the focus will be increasingly on the Royal Cork YC’s large and often music-filled compound where it will all culminate with the prize-giving and fireworks display on the Friday night, another part of the harbour will be involved on Tuesday when teams competing for the Beaufort Cup (of which more anon) will be hosted at a black-tie Gala Dinner at the Naval Base in Haulbowline.

The variety of boats racing in Volvo Cork Week is central to its attraction

Coming in from the sunny Cork sea…..the choice of courses includes in-harbour racing, but it’s the best of the sport outside the harbour which provides real champagne sailing
In fact, so well-filled is the shoreside programme that you wonder how chairman Kieran O’Connell and his team in the Volvo Cork Week 2016 Organising Committee found the time to create such a varied programme afloat. But they’ve done that too, with the waterborne areas in the overall care of Race Director Donal McClement, whose experience of regattas both in Cork and at other major international venues is surely unrivalled.

In addition to the trophies which have become synonymous with Volvo Cork Week (their incredible ages in many cases reflecting Cork Harbour’s unrivalled sailing history), this year’s Week, in addition to a strong emphasis on the ISA’s Try Sailing initiative, will include two new events, the European IRC Championship and the Beaufort Cup.

The Beaufort Cup is a stroke of inspirational genius, as it’s an international series within a series for maritime agencies, the military and marine emergency services of all kinds. Although one of the overseas competitors for the Beaufort Cup – The Royal Engineers Yacht Club from the UK – has been actively involved with ocean racing virtually since the first Fastnet Race of 1925, not all the maritime agencies have boats of their own such as the REYC’s J/109 Trojan of Upnor. But owners from home and abroad have volunteered to have their boat’s crew include personnel of whom at least 50% are involved in the maritime and emergency sphere, and thus we find that there are fourteen very competitive boats with noted owner-skippers such as John Maybury with the J/109 Joker 2, Frank Doyle with the A 35 Endgame, Simon Coveney with sister-ship Another Adventure, Tom Roche of Kinsale with the Salona 45 Meridien, and Conor Doyle with the X442 Freya, who are eligible for the Beaufort competition.

The Beaufort Cup series will include a race round the Fastnet, so it’s serious stuff, and with Frank Doyle’s Endgame team drawing on the talents of the famous Baltimore lifeboat crew, we get some idea of the standards involved, with the winning team receiving a €10,000 charitable donation in addition to the Beaufort Cup.

The Beaufort Cup is named in honour of Admiral Sir Francis Beaufort (1774-1857), the hydrographer and meteorologist who invented, among other things, the Beaufort Scales for measuring sea and wind conditions. He was born in Navan in County Meath, and it is many years now since the then Chairman of An Taisce’s Meath Branch, one Michael Boyd, unveiled a memorial in honour of Admiral Beaufort in the heart of Navan.

Michael Boyd, Commodore RORC, with Kieran O’Connell, Chairman of the Organising Committee, Volvo Cork Week 2016These days, Michael Boyd is best known as Commodore of the Royal Ocean Racing Club. Having taken an excellent third overall in IRC with the First 44.7 Lisa in the recent Volvo Round Ireland Race, he will be in new territory in Volvo Cork Week, as he’ll be racing for the first time with a JPK 10.80, in this instance the French-numbered Audrey.

The JPK 10.80s will be one of the special points of interest in Volvo Cork Week, as three are racing, the other two being Dream Pearls from France (Eric Mordret and Arnaud Delamara), which has been among the front-runners in this year’s RORC programme, and Paul O’Higgins’ Rockabill VI from the Royal Irish YC, which had her moments of glory towards the top of the leaderboard in the Round Ireland, but never fully recovered from being one of the handful of boats which got hung up in a local calm at Inishtrahull for three dreadful hours.

In the open competition for the European IRC Championship, many boats are forces to be reckoned with, and it should be remembered that in the same regatta in 2014, Michael Boyd and Niall Dowling with the Grand Soleil 43 Quokka ended up being top boat overall despite being up against the likes of the Ker 40 Catapult, which has since become Anthony O’Leary’s Antix.

Hanging in there. At Volvo Cork Week 2014, Quokka (Michael Boyd & Niall Dowling) is sailing in clear air and keeping station on the higher rated Catapult. By the end of the regatta, Quokka was overall champion. Photo: Robert Bateman

The Ker 40 Antix in her former existence as Catapult at Volvo Cork Week 2014. The next six days will see her making the challenge as Antix to be overall champion. Photo: Robert Bateman

Inevitably, though, the focus will be on the glamour girls of Class 0, where an epic battle is lining up with overtones of the Commodores Cup 2014, when Antix in her former existence as Catapult was often head-to-head with French Skipper Eric de Turckheim’s A13 Teasing Machine. The Machine – having since covered herself in glory in events as diverse as the Rolex Sydney Hobart and this year’s Volvo Round Ireland - has been on the hard in Crosshaven getting TLC in recent days (they kept her keel shape hidden, though the twin rudders were much in evidence), so it will be battle royal with Antix and Sir Richard Matthews’ new H39 Oystercatcher XXXI.

She is currently one of the most successful ocean racers in the world. Eric de Turckheim’s A13 Teasing Machine (above & below) on the hard in Crosshaven, with her twin rudders revealed, but her keel coyly hidden. Photos: Robert Bateman

Fresh out of the wrappers - Sir Richard Matthews’ new H39 Oystercatcher XX

But complete newness is no guarantee of success, and another favoured boat, rating at the bottom end of Class O, has to be Conor Phelan’s Ker 36.7 Jump Juice (RCYC), which may be of 2006 vintage, but she just keeps on winning.

As ever, there’s a goodly turnout of J/109s – nine of them this time round – and after her brief but successful existence as Dave Cullen’s Euro Car Parks to win Class 3 in the Volvo Round Ireland, Pat Kelly’s Storm is her old self again, complete with the abiding honour of having been an ICRA Boat of the Year in times past, and she’ll be fresh and ready for battle with noted J/109 newbies Tim & Richard Goodbody (RIYC) with White Mischief.

The J/109s will have nine boats racing

For those who like a taste of open water while returning to a very hospitable port each evening, there’s a Coastal Division in two classes where participants include the likes of Sheila & James Tyrrell’s J/112E Aquelina, and two of the leading Dun Laoghaire boats, George Sisk’s Farr 42 WOW and Chris & Patanne Smith’s J/122 Aurelia in Class 1, while Class 2 has strong west coast participation with Derek & Conor Dillon’s Dehler Nova Big Deal from Foynes, and Martin Breen’s Dehler 37 Port of Galway.

The fleet is so diverse that simply seeing the results emerging is going to give a fascinating overview of the contemporary cruiser-racer and offshore scene, and when it’s set in the context of Cork, you get all sorts of added dimensions brought to us through the extraordinary sailing history of this remarkable place.

Yacht racing as it was in 1852. The fleet at the Royal Cork YC regatta about to race from a moored start

Volvo Cork Week as we know it today as a biennial festival was established in 1978 when the late Archie O’Leary was Admiral of the Royal Cork YC, but there had been other weeks or at least four day regattas before that, a notable one being in 1970 when the Royal Cork was celebrating its Quarter Millennium.

Inevitably, with the Tricentenary in 2020 coming down the line, significant events in Cork sailing history are being high-lighted and re-examined, and one special “first” which Organising Chairman Kieran O’Connell hopes to mark by a re-enactment is possibly one of the first offshore races held anywhere in the world, from Dublin Bay to Cork Harbour in July 1860.

Navy days. Haulbowline as seen from Cobh at mid 19th Century
It was inspired by the then Admiral of the Royal Cork, Thomas G French. Following a week of regattas at what was then Kingstown, he put up a prize of 15 guineas or something similar, and sixteen boats raced to Cork Harbour, though few of them got under way with the urgency shown by Rambler 88 and Teasing Machine at the start of the Round Ireland Race three weeks ago.

However, it’s the finish which will be a matter for discussion at tomorrow night’s opening ceremony for the sailing side of Volvo Cork Week 2016. According to Kieran O’Connell’s report, the winner in 1860 was Cooper Penrose’s 90-ton schooner Kingfisher in a race without any handicaps being applied.

That may indeed be the report which appeared in some of the newspapers of the day, as Kingfisher was first past Roche’s Point at daybreak to enter Cork Harbour. Yet the later detailed report in Hunt’s Yachting Magazine in the following weeks made the claim that the yachts were in fact racing to a finish line well up the harbour, off the Royal Cork clubhouse at Cobh. In struggling up the harbour in light airs, the noted amateur helmsman Henry O’Bryen, sailing Sir John Arnott’s 39-ton cutter Sybil, outsailed both the big Kingfisher and the 80-ton cutter Peri (J W Cannon) to snatch the lead at the finish, the finish times being 0520 (Sybil), 0523 (Peri) and 0525 (Kingfisher).

The Royal Cork Yacht Club’s former clubhouse in Cobh when it still was the RCYC. Following the merger in 1966 of the Royal Cork with the Royal Munster YC, Crosshaven became the club headquarters. Today, the former clubhouse at Cobh is a Heritage Centre.

If boats racing from Dun Laoghaire to Cork manage times as close as that, they’ll have had a fine race of it, and it will be further encouragement to the Royal Cork to persist in this new-fangled sport of yacht racing, For, as has been frequently pointed out, racing played no role whatever in the early years of the Water Club of the Harbour of Cork from its foundation in 1720. The fleet’s function was to show that it could sail in close and disciplined formation like a naval squadron, and that provided them with enough excitement for the day – if anyone wanted a race, they could send their crews off in the gig for a rowing race, and the yachtsmen could wager on the results.

Thus it seems that the vulgarity of racing yachts in Cork Harbour was kept at bay until the 1780s, but quite when in the 1780s we don’t know. The earliest known mention of a race in connection with the Water Club come from July 1787 when a notice in the Cork Hibernian Chronicle of July 23rd stated that on Thursday July 26th “the Yachts of the Harbour of Cork are to sail from Roches Tower, exactly at eight o’clock in the morning, to go round Cable Island from thence to the Blockhouse at Hawlbowling (sic). The first yacht past the Blockhouse shall be deemed the winner, and the owner is entitled to the Anchor”.

The way this is stated seems to suggest that, by this time, races by the Water Club were nothing new in Cork Harbour sailing. As to what “entitled to the Anchor” precisely means, that muddies the water still further. The Anchor could have been a trophy of some kind. But on the other hand, “entitled to the Anchor” might have meant that after the finish, the winner could anchor wherever he wished in the harbour, with the rest of the fleet obliged to anchor near him in formation. As most of the yachts were kept moored off their owner’s houses, it would have been a matter of prestige to have the fleet come to your personal anchorage.

All of which reminds us that history, whether of sailing or whatever, should be registered as a controlled substance, to be administered by qualified medical staff in white coats in a clinical environment…

Volvo Cork Week 2016. Entries as of the 28th of June. Entries: 105

Sail No	Boat	Type of Boat	Owner	Class Entered	Handicap
GBR7005R	Trojan of Upnor	J109	REYC	Beaufort Cup	TBC
GBR8588R	Jungle Drum	J88	Stuart Southwick	Beaufort Cup	1.035
IRL1206	Joker 2	J109	John Maybury	Beaufort Cup	1.015
IRL2067	Justus	J109	Dan Buckley	Beaufort Cup	TBC
IRL3209	Endgame	A35	Frank Doyle	Beaufort Cup	1.026
IRL3511	Another Adventure	A35	Simon Coveney	Beaufort Cup	1.032
IRL4076	Meridian	Salona 45	Thomas W Roche	Beaufort Cup	1.120
IRL4477	Freya	X442	Conor Doyle	Beaufort Cup	1.090
IRL9834	True Penance	Projection 35	Martin Darer Colman Garvey	Beaufort Cup	1.018
IRL9876	Coast Guard	Benneteau 36	Conor McNally, John McLoughlin	Beaufort Cup	0.880
IRL??	Exhale	X43	Diarmuid & Hilda Good	Beaufort Cup	1.079
IRLMIT	Marine Institute		Marine Institute	Beaufort Cup	TBC
IRLPOG	Port Of Galway		Port of Galway	Beaufort Cup	TBC
IRL2820	Y'Dream	Beneteau First 36.7	Sean Riordan	Beaufort Cup	1.003
FR38757	Teasing Machine	A13	Eric De Turckiem	Class 0	1.169
GBR4321	Oystercatcher XXX1	H39	Sir Richard Matthews	Class 0	1.136
GBR8833R	Dark Angel	Dubois 37	Tony Ackland	Class 0	1.098
GBR11152L	Gladiator	TP52	Tom Wilson	Class 0	1.393
IRL708	Antix	Ker 40	Anthony O Leary	Class 0	1.215
IRL2007	Jump Juice	Ker 37	Conor Phelan	Class 0	1.104
FRA13220	Trilogy 2	One off Peterson 46	Jean Gabriel Samzun	Class 1	1.059
FRA38418	Audrey	JPK 10.80	Michael Boyd	Class 1	1.045
FRA43645	Dream Pearls	JPK 10.80	Eric Mordret & Arnaud Delamare	Class 1	1.045
GBR1385L	X Beat II	Beneteau 40.7	Andrew O'Sullivan/Peter Pope/Lain Wright	Class 1	1.054
GBR4031R	SAILPLANE	Beneteau First 40	Adrain McCarroll	Class 1	1.083
GBR4041R	Forty Licks	First 40	Jay Colville	Class 1	1.083
GBR5991T	Prime Suspect	Mills 36	Charlie Frize	Class 1	1.067
GBR6638R	Alice	Mumm 36	Simon Henning	Class 1	1.075
GBR8038R	Roxstar	XP 38	Murray Findlay	Class 1	1.084
GBR9380R	Forward Thinking	Reflex 38	Stephen Nicholls	Class 1	1.053
IRL7386	Lynx Clipper	Reflex 38	John Spottiswood	Class 1	1.049
IRL10800	Rockabill VI	JPK 10.80	Paul O'Higgins	Class 1	1.046
GBR37N	Antilope	Grand Soleil 37	Willem Wester	Class 2	1.033
GBR3135L	Jumbuck	J109	John Allison	Class 2	1.014
IRL1111	Team Stampede	Benneteau 36.7	Tony Purkiss	Class 2	1.017
IRL1242R	White Mischief	J109	Timothy & Richard Goodbody	Class 2	1.012
IRL3061	Fools Gold	A35	Robert McConnell	Class 2	1.022
IRL7991	Jigamaree	J109	Ronan Harris	Class 2	1.014
IRL9494	NowWhat	DIBOIS 33	Barry Heskin & Jim Grealish	Class 2	1.018
IRL9609	Jellybaby	J109	Ian Nagle	Class 2	1.026
IRL29832	Jump n'Shout	A35	James Crockatt	Class 2	1.028
IRL33000	w1Da Dulcibella	w1Da 33 OOD	Rory Staunton	Class 2	1.020
IRL35221	Alpaca	X34	Paul & Deirdre Tingle	Class 2	0.998
IRL44444	Magic Touch	First 34,7	Steve Hayes	Class 2	1.004
NED10922	vrijgezeilig	J109	Michel Hiesweiller	Class 2	1.009
IRL1141	Storm	J109	Pat Kelly	Class 2	1.014
FRA29340	CAVOK	JPK960	Patrick Farcy	Class 3	0.985
GBR1039	Aurora	Contessa 33	Oscar Chess	Class 3	0.927
GBR3663	Mischief of Mersea	Carter 36	Martin Sykes	Class 3	0.935
GBR4860T	Skyhunter	J35	Ronan Fenton	Class 3	0.974
GBR9653R	DayDream	X332	Stephen Cutford	Class 3	0.980
IRL1078	Jostler	J92	Patrick Beckett	Class 3	0.965
IRL1295	Lisador	Dehler 36	Henry Hogg	Class 3	0.969
IRL1484	Harmony	Half Tonner	John Swan	Class 3	0.948
IRL6021	Ellida	X332	Ria Lyden	Class 3	0.981
IRL16859	Bad Company	Sunfast 32	Desmond Deasy Ivors	Class 3	0.934
GBR4264	Afrita	Sigma 33	Andrew & Cheissie Laming	Class 4	0.912
IRL0000	Animal	Formula 28	Gerard O Sullivan	Class 4	0.912
IRL78	No-Gnomes	Nich 1/2 ton	Leonard Donnery	Class 4	0.907
IRL680	Ireland's Eye Kilcullen	J24	Cillian Dickson	Class 4	0.887
IRL3087	Anchor Challenge	Farr Quarter Tonner	Paul Gibbons	Class 4	0.917
IRL4506	SeaHawk	Sigma 33	Clem & Wendy McElligott	Class 4	0.913
IRL5098	YaGottaWanna	J24	Dave Lane & Sinead Enright	Class 4	0.886
IRL6564	Monkey Business	Formula 28 MOD	Bill McConnell	Class 4	0.910
IRL7071	Out Rigger	707 MOD	Jimmy Nyhan	Club Regatta Fleet	0.903
IRL1359	WishBone	Holman31	Joanne McKenna	Club Regatta Fleet	0.822
IRL3612	Sweet Dreams	Sun Odyssey 36i	Batt & Helen O Leary	Club Regatta Fleet	TBC
GBR7797T	Foxtrot	Beneteau 36.7	Hilary Davies	Coastal Class 1	1,010
GBR8911R	Ulula	Bermudian Sloop	Nick Ogden	Coastal Class 1	1.098
IRL1301	Kayachtic	Hanse 400	Mike Walker	Coastal Class 1	TBC
IRL1477	Saxon Senator	X37	Eric & Wan Waterman	Coastal Class 1	1.035
IRL1507	Aquelina	J-112E	Sheila & James Tyrrell	Coastal Class 1	1.060
IRL3207	Aris	Bermudan Sloop	Wolfgang Kallenberg	Coastal Class 1	0.997
IRL4208	WoW	Farr42	George Sisk	Coastal Class 1	1.123
IRL35950	Aurelia	J122	Chris & Patanne Power Smith	Coastal Class 1	1.077
GBR380	Rioja	J80	Dominic Baxter & Ernie Dillon	Coastal Class 2	0.953
GBR606	Jedi	J80	Fergus Coughlan	Coastal Class 2	0.958
GBR1317	Violet Flame	Benneteau 31.7	David Wilkins	Coastal Class 2	TBC
GBR4183	Poppy	Contention 33	John Roberts	Coastal Class 2	0.902
IRL816	Serifa	Saler 40	Rory Fitzpatrick	Coastal Class 2	0.910
IRL1975	Tambourine	Thomas One Off	Kieran Collins	Coastal Class 2	0.878
IRL3492	Big Deal	Dehler Nova	Derek Dillon	Coastal Class 2	0.934
IRL5687	Port of Galway	Dehler 37 CR	Martin Breen	Coastal Class 2	0.952
IRL9992	Split Point	Dufour 34	Seamus Gilroy	Coastal Class 2	0.956
GBR1983C	Wildebeest 4	Brenta 24	Derek Buchanan	Mixed Sports	0.960
IRL1771	Cosmic	1720	Brian Jones	Mixed Sports	1.022
IRL1772	Heroes & Villains	1720	Gary Rhodes	Mixed Sports	1.022
IRL1804	Aquatack	1720	Denis Murphy	Mixed Sports	1.021
IRL2500	Elder Lemon	1720	Robert Dix	Mixed Sports	1.013
GBR1786Y	Thistle	Husler 25.5	Peter Webster	Non Spinnaker	0.803
IRL408	Julia B	She 33	Bill O Mahony	Non Spinnaker	0.854
IRL733	Thalia	Sigma 400	Aubrey Leggett	Non Spinnaker	1.028
IRL1033	Loch Greine	Hanse 311	Tom/Declan/Donal O Mahony	Non Spinnaker	0.916
IRL1523	Speedy Gonzales	26	Mark Reardon	Non Spinnaker	TBC
IRL1528	Beau Reve	Beneteau First 30	Paddy McNamee	Non Spinnaker	TBC
IRL2382	Xerxes	IMX38	Dan O Neill	Non Spinnaker	1.024
IRL3276	Roaring Forties	Beneteau First 35s5	Clodagh O Donavan	Non Spinnaker	0.983
IRL4004	Objection!	Sun Odyssey 35	Kevin Murray	Non Spinnaker	0.955
IRL4434	Minx 111	Sigma 33	Tom McNeice	Non Spinnaker	0.892
IRL7006Y	Ashanta	Thompson T31	Richard O'Halloran	Non Spinnaker	0.832
IRL7212	Phaeton		Clive Doherty	Non Spinnaker	0.830
IRL9515	Bonanza	Hunter Impala	Judy McGrath	Non Spinnaker	0.890
IRL1750	RCYC 2	1720	Richard Hayes	Try Sailing Challenge	1.022
IRL1760	RCYC1/NYC	1720	Helen Cooney	Try Sailing Challenge	1.022
IRL1768	RCYC3	1720	Voxpro	Try Sailing Challenge	1.022