Ewen Barry, Stan Browne, and Mark O'Donovan emerged as the victors of the Royal Cork Yacht Club's annual end-of-season River Race for National 18 dinghies held at Crosshaven on September 29th, Friday night.

A total of eight National 18s participated in the Cork Harbour race, which proved to be quite challenging as it took place in the light breeze that prevailed on the Owenabue River.

Light breeze prevailed on the Owenabue River for the National 18 River Race Photo: Bob Bateman

In addition, five mixed dinghies also started an evening race over the same course.

Vid below by Mary Malone

The Race Officer, Peter Crowley, took full advantage of the high tide to bring the boats into the bar on the second mark of the course.

National 18 Race Official team at Royal Cork Yacht Club (from left) - Andy Jenkins, Peter Crowley, Tom Dwyer, Joanne O'Brien and Richard Mc Glade Photo: Bob Bateman

The National 18 River Race drew some spectators to Royal Cork's marina, including the National 18's Hon Sec Adam McCarthy and class member Rory Fitzpatrick Photo: Bob Bateman

Ciana Barry (daughter of National 18 sailor Alex Barry) presents the Barry trophy for the 2023 River Race prize to Ewen Barry, Stan Browne and Mark O'Donovan 

The runners-up of the race were Harry Pritchard, Charles Dwyer, and Michael Crosbie. The Davy O'Connell crew were third.

Next up for the National 18s is the 2023 laying up supper at RCYC on November 11th. 

2023 National 18 River Race at Royal Cork Yacht Club Photo Gallert by Bob Bateman

The National 18 dinghy class in Cork Harbour enjoyed a good turnout and good sailing breeze for its annual Dognose Trophy race, which concluded in a convivial gathering at Rosies Bar in the village of Aghada on Saturday afternoon.

First home was Royal Cork's Charles, Kate and Brendan Dwyer, with Alex Barry, Peter Hasset, and Ronan Kennealy in second place and Colin Barry, Paul Cotter and Andrew Moynihan in third place.

Bouncing back from a disqualification in the second race of six sailed, Charles Dwyer, Harry Pritchard and John Coakley sailing 'Nacho' retained their National 18 Irish Championship crown at Royal Cork Yacht Club on Sunday evening. 

The Cork Harbour-based championships featured a range of excellent conditions, with Sunday's finale sailed in up to 20 knots of wind on the Curlane Bank course.

The winning trio concluded the series four points clear of Howlin' Mad crew Ritchie Harrington, Ronan O'Driscoll, and Richard Leonard, having won three races.

The National 18 Irish Championship fleet at Royal Cork Yacht Club line up for a start on Sunday Photo: Bob Bateman

Third in the 11-boat fleet was Aquadisiacs, sailed by Colin Chapman, Dave Lane and Mike Wren.

National 18 2023 National Champions results at Royal Cork Yacht Club

 National 18 Championships at Royal Cork Photo Gallery by Bob Bateman

With Kinsale Yacht Club cruiser racing, Cove Sailing Cub racing and Royal Cork 29er Skiff racing all cancelled on Wednesday evening (May 3rd) due to strong winds, the only fleet taking to the water on the Irish south coast last night was the National 18s.

The three-man dinghy class ventured out from Crosshaven into Cork Harbour for one fo their first league races of the 2023 season. 

Seven boats raced on the Curlane Bank race area, with plenty of thrills 'n' spills with several capsizes in the 20-knot winds.

Bob Bateman captured the action below.

National 18 Class Race at Royal Cork, May 2023, Photo Gallery by Bob Bateman

A strong 15-boat out for the National 18s at Royal Cork Yacht Club for the River Race on Friday evening, September 30, saw Nacho (hull number 427 but sail number 41) win a tight battle on the Owenabue.

Sailed by Harry Pritchard, Ronan Kenneally, and William O'Brien, regular Afloat readers will know this RCYC trio were also the winners of August's 12-race National 18 British and Irish Championships at the same venue.

The annual fixture typically represents the last race of the season for the 18 fleet.

An evening westerly breeze was perfect for the river race start in front of the RCYC clubhouse, and there was a bunched offwind start under spinnaker captured in the video below.

According to the latest results handed to Afloat, ILCA champion Nick Walsh was in second place, sailing with Eddie Rice and Rob Brownlow in Peaky Blinders.

Nick Walsh was second with Eddie Rice and Rob Brownlow in Peaky Blinders in the National 18 River Race at Royal Cork Yacht Club Photo: Bob Bateman

While the wind softened at the start, it built again nearer the weather mark.

Third was Virtual Misfits sailed by Stephen O'Shaughnessy, Mark O'Donovan and Jonathan Horgan.

Virtual Misfits (left) sailed by Stephen O'Shaughnessy, Mark O'Donovan and Jonathan Horgan was third in the National 18 River Race at Royal Cork Yacht Club Photo: Bob Bateman

Videos by Bob Bateman and Mary Malone

Bob Bateman's National 18 River Race Photo Gallery below

After a two-year hiatus, the National 18 British and Irish National Championships were hosted by the Royal Cork Yacht Club from Sunday 24 to Friday 29 July, with the Irish fleet bolstered by 20 boats entered from England, Scotland and the Isle of Man.

The practice race had been scheduled for the Sunday to warm up the competitors and iron out any creases of fresh or reunited teams. Unfortunately, with gusts of 30 knots forecast, the risk of broken boats or crews was too much so the day was cancelled.

Looking ahead at the week’s light forecast, OD Ciaran McSweeney decided to aim for four races of the 12-race series on the Monday, to minimise the risk of missing out on races later in the week.

Monday’s racing was greeted by 16 to 20 knots of northwesterly wind. Race one saw the victory going to Nacho Boat, helmed by Charles Dwyer and crewed by William O’Brien and Irish Laser Radial legend Harry Pritchard, followed in second by King Penguin from the Isle of Man, helmed by Phil Hardisty and crewed by Chris Hill and Peter Richardson, with Puss 'n' Boots — with Tommy Dwyer at the helm and crewed by Willie Healy and Richie Lestor — in third.

Over the next three races Nacho Boat showed their dominance with a second, fifth and then a win in the last race by a staggering 2 min 30 sec. Rupert White of the Nacra British Sailing Team, sailing The Shadow with crew Mary Henderson and Ed Gibbons, was the event favourite. However, The Shadow suffered rudder failure and missed the first three races of the day, eventually returning to the course for race four and delivering a ninth place.

Race two was won by an Isle of Man team on Shotgunn, helmed by National 18 newcomer Ben Batchelor and crewed by Mike Wilson and Donald Edwards, who showed incredible form in the fresh breeze and also scored a fifth and sixth during the day. In race three Aquadisiacs, sailed by Colin Chapman, Eric Lyons and Morgan O’Sullivan, managed to control the race in the fluky breeze to win the race.

Overnight the championship was led by Nacho Boat with a seven-point lead, followed by Puss 'n' Boots (3, 2, 8, 3 for the day) and King Penguin (2, 6, 4, 4).

ACE, helmed by Ollie Houseman

On day two (Tuesday) the breeze had dropped considerably, with the forecast for light and shifty winds. Out of the start line, The Shadow took a solid lead with their rig in as far forward as possible. With their solid lead they looked unstoppable — until the young team of Chris and Olin Bateman, sailing Blacklist, found their stride with their slightly older wireman Stefan Peretti.

They put the pressure on the The Shadow and showed their talent as the future of Irish sailing but narrowly missed out on catching them and had to settle for second in race five. The two boats were followed by Aquadisiacs in third and Herbie 2.0 (Colin Barry, Paul Cotter and Ronan O’Driscoll) in fourth.  

The forecast for day three looked very similar to the previous day with a 4-6 knots northerly swinging to the south over the middle of the day. There was some surprise as the OD instructed the fleet to launch, only for them to be met by a decent easterly of 10-12 knots outside the harbour.

Day three (Wednesday) managed to produce two races before the breeze dropped completely. Race six delivered another bullet for The Shadow followed by #3 with Paddy Crosbie at the helm, Ewen O’Keefe and Conor Kelly crewing. Team #3 was managed by Conor Kelly Jr for the week which proved instrumental as the week progressed.

Nacho Boat struggled for the day due to the loss of their middleman and secret weapon, Harry Pritchard, to a mild illness. With only seven races, no discard was yet in play. Nacho Boat was still leading followed closely by #3 lying second and Herbie 2.0 in third.

Day four (Thursday) kicked off with a bullet for #3 in a nice 10-14 knots breeze outside the harbour, followed by The Shadow and Herbie 2.0, helmed by Colin Barry and crewed by Paul Cotter and musician Ronan O’Driscoll, who recently released his new single Cages, named after the harbour channel mark with the same name.

Blacklist representing the home club

Race nine was won by The Shadow with Nacho Boat in second and #3 in third. Race 10, the final race of the day, gave The Shadow another victory with #3 finishing second. Herbie 2.0 and King Penguin battled it out for third, with Herbie 2.0 taking it at the finish.

At the end of day four (races eight, nine and 10 and all discards now in play) the championship was still wide open, with #3 on 24 points and Nacho Boat on 26 points, both with a mixture of results and discards.

The Class Dinner Dance was held on Thursday night with a special presentation to Jeremy Vines who is still racing 18s in his 85th year.

On day five (Friday) the breeze picked up and came in from the south, clocking slightly right over the course of the day to a solid southwesterly of 13-16 knots.

Race 11 started down towards the shore by Cuskinny House. Nacho Boat and #3 started the race in close proximity and headed towards the left side of the beat. Nacho Boat lead at the first mark followed by #3 and The Shadow. Downwind #3 took the lead only to lose it again up the next beat. As the race continued, Nacho Boat held the lead to the finish and The Shadow pipped Crosbie to put the two leaders on 27 points each going into the final race.

Race 12 started with #3 and Nacho Boat needing to finish in front of each other or with poor results to carry earlier discards. Again, the boats were glued to each other and headed for the left side of the beat.

As they tacked back to join the fleet the leaders came in from the right, leaving Nacho Boat and #3 mid-fleet. With unfortunate timing, #3’s main dropped a couple of metres only for Nacho Boat to tack directly on them as they resolved the issue and got back racing. Down the next run Nacho Boat took #3 away from the leeward gate to drag the pair down the fleet.

By the finish #3 had crept ahead of Nacho Boat but could only manage a ninth place and after applying new discards, Team Nacho Boat won the Nationals for the second year in a row — not counting the pause in 2020 and 2021 — on 33 points.

• Overall 1st: Nacho Boat; 2nd #3; 3rd: The Shadow; 4th: Aquadisiacs; 5th: Herbie 2.0 (full results attached below)
• Cock of the North – Nacho Boat
• Medway Bowl – The Shadow
• Family Trophy – Misfits, Stephen & Jonathan O’Shaughnessy and Mark O’Donovan from RCYC
• Youngest Team – Blacklist

Royal Cork Yacht Club's National 18 class continues to grow at Crosshaven in Cork Harbour and thanks to existing class members ordering three new boats, three used boats are on the market.

With a 12+ fleet sailing every Wednesday night from May to September, multiple epic harbour races such as the Ballinacurra Cup, the Championship in Cork in 2022, a South Coasts and Nationals annually and all the craic that goes with it.. this is your chance to join this legendary class, says the National 18 Class Captain Charles Dwyer.

More details on the National 18s for sale are here

Meanwhile, Roger Bannon is upgrading a classic National 18 as Afloat reported here.

More on National 18 activity in Afloat's dedicated N18 page here

2004 Athens 470 Olympic partnership Ger Owens and Ross Killian teamed up again to win the 2021 All Ireland Sailing Championships in convincing style at Royal Cork Yacht Club this afternoon. 

After three wins put Owens, representing the GP14 class, firmly into Sunday's final, the dinghy champion then scored another unassailable 3, 3, 1, 1 into today's breezy final raced inside Cork Harbour.

Owens of the Royal St. George Yacht Club in Dun Laoghaire Harbour previously won the silver salver trophy 21 years ago, as WM Nixon reports here.

Squib representative Ross Kearney was runner up

Squib representative Ross Kearney finished second overall, a point behind with Owens clubmate Laser Radial sailor Sean Craig taking third place in the eight boat final raced in National 18 Ultras.

As per the forecast, Sunday's final certainly lived up to its heavy air billing, putting a premium on a 90kg wireman.

There was at least one capsize among the borrowed fleet of N18s in the strong winds.

There was also a disappointing retiral from ICRA 2 rep Nigel Biggs.  "We just found our 148kg insufficient to race the boat competitively in 20 knots in the first race today", Biggs told Afloat.

Biggs concluded that there was not much point in thrashing a borrowed boat just to get around the course, so he took the difficult decision not to participate in the remainder of the day.

"Pretty gutted as we were quick yesterday, but at least we live to fight another day", he said.

Sean Craig representing the Radial class was third overall Photo: Bob Bateman.

All Ireland Sailing Championships 2021 Overall 

All Ireland Sailing Championships 2021 Overall 

 All Ireland Sailing Finals Photo Gallery By Bob Bateman

Six sailors from a fleet of sixteen have secured their places in tomorrow's All Ireland Sailing Championships at Royal Cork Yacht Club and there have been some surprises on those filling the repechage ranks now looking for two remaining places in Sunday's finals. 

Ger Owens of the GP14s took three wins from three races to secure his place. Hammy Baker of the Flying Fifteens, equally consistent with three seconds, and Ross Kearney of the Squibs both go through with Owens to the final from the second eight boat flight. 

Ewen Barry of the host class, Nigel Biggs of ICRA Class Two and Sean Craig of the Radials qualified from the first flight.

There were ideal racing conditions inside Cork Harbour that prevailed for the annual competition being sailed in National 18 Ultras. 

Finalist Sean Craig of the Laser Radials sailing with Tadhg Donnelly Photo: Bob Bateman

The regatta consisted of two qualifying flights, a repêchage and a Final. The top 3 from each flight will qualify for the Final. Those placed from 4 to 7 in a flight will be invited to compete in a 2-race repêchage series to determine who fills the last two places in the Final.

Those fighting for a place in the final tomorrow include a local favourite Robert O'Leary of the 1720 class, sailing with brother Peter, and the defending champion Michael O'Connor of the SB20 class.

All Ireland Sailing Championships 2021 - Day One Results

Flight One - All Ireland Sailing Championships 2021

Flight Two - All Ireland Sailing Championships 2021

See Bob Bateman's All Ireland Sailing Photo Gallery below

BYOW - Bring your own wireman, that's the call for this weekend's All Ireland sailing championships that puts a premium on a 90kg trapeze crew in the National 18s for what looks likely to be a breezy edition of the two-day event at Royal Cork Yacht Club. 

The 16 invited helmsman will be racing in the National 18 Ultras, the brand new version of the three-man dinghy that was totally redesigned by Phil Morrison in 2012.

"The idea of donating our boats for the competition is to show them off", National 18 class captain Charles Dwyer told Afloat.

The boats are all built by the class boat builder White Formula of West Mersea, so are very evenly matched.

Dwyer says the fact that invited helms are bringing their own dinghy trapeze crews with them rather than using 'yacht crews',  means the class will deliver a 'closer' performance across the event.

As the National 18 sails with three, the third crew is an owner's representative.

National 18 Ultras racing in Cork Harbour Photo: Bob Bateman

Racing will consist of two “flights” or heats. The top three from each flight go straight into the final.

The remaining competitors who placed 4th, 5th, 6th and 7th compete in a 2-race qualifier or “repêchage”, and the top two then enter the Final also.

Sunday's final will have eight teams competing.

As Afloat reported in 2013, the N18 Ultra prototype named ‘Odyssey’ was trialled extensively in UK and Ireland for nine months. The new boats, says Dwyer, are sleeker, lighter, faster and great to sail. 

That's not to say that the fleet does not accommodate its older designs too in regular club racing.

There are now four categories of National 18s. The Ultra joins the Ultimate, Pen­ultimate and Classic and the class says it "likes to think they coexist quite happily and makes the effort to be all-inclusive".

And as Afloat mentioned this week, it looks like an 'original of the species' will be making a return to the water soon as Roger Bannon gets to work on the 1957-built National 18 Fingal.

In more good news for the class, the early weekend forecast for strong winds on Saturday now appears to show more sailable conditions at Crosshaven.