John Maybury’s J/109 Joker 2 from the Royal Irish YC in Dun Laoghaire won Wednesday’s Day three Cork Week IRC 2 race by nearly three minutes from Pat Kelly’s J/109 Storm from Rush/Howth YC.

The Evans Brothers racing J/99 Snapshot have broken the J/109 dominance in the class, finishing third today. The Snapshot team from Howth YC was just 23 seconds behind Storm.

The third day of Cork Week incorporating the ICRA National Championships was blessed with sunshine and 8-10 knots of breeze from the north. 

“So far so good,” commented Joker’s John Maybury. “We often race against Storm, Chimaera and Artful Dodjer, which are all well-sailed J/109s"

"To be honest I think that the weather and Cork Week’s courses really suit the design, but we have to make sure we don’t get wrapped up in a personal battle as there are plenty of good teams racing other types of boats", the RIYC J109 National Champion said.

"Today as we finished in front of Cobh, the race officer let off the gun and then threw us the spent cartridge as we sailed back past them. It was a lovely gesture… It’s great to be back at Cork Week”, Maybury added.

Racing at Cork Week continues tomorrow with the penultimate day of racing for the regatta. Five race areas, in and outside Cork Harbour, will be organised by the Royal Cork Yacht Club.

Nick Burn’s Royal Hong Kong YC had a great Volvo Cork Week day three on the Mills 39 Zero II winning the single race by over 10 minutes after IRC time correction.

The third day of  Volvo Cork Week incorporating the ICRA National Championships was blessed with sunshine and 8-10 knots of breeze from the north. 

Class leader for the regatta, Louise Makin & Chris Jones’ J/111 Journeymaker II from the Royal Southern YC was second.

Louise Makin & Chris Jones’ J/111 Journeymaker II Photo: Bob Bateman

Richard Fildes Corby 37 Impostor from Abersoch Wales was third into today’s race

Richard Fildes Corby 37 Impostor Photo: Bob Bateman

Let’s face it, most classics need a bit of a breeze to give of their best, and there’s nothing more disagreeable than rolling about in windless frustration under a rig that rattles. Thus for exactly half of the Classics Division, “Include Me Out” seems to have been the motto for the day.

Terry Birles Classic Erin from Royal Cork YC Photo: Bob Bateman

But somehow Dafydd Hughes’ vintage S&S 34 Bendigedig from Aberaeron (it’s south end of Cardigan Bay, and not be confused with Aberdaeron inside Bardsey) found enough wind power to get round the course and take the win, second going to Patrick Dorgan with the Cork Harbour OD Elsie, while the Tina Class Bilou-Bellle (J J Ollu) from France was third, which means she currently leads overall.

Patrick Dorgan's Cork Harbour One Design Elsie from Royal Cork YC Photo: Bob Bateman

Harold Cudmore at the helm of Cork Harbour One Design Jap of Royal Cork YC Photo: Bob Bateman

White Bay on the east side of Cork Harbour near Roches Point was the picture-perfect racing area for the Classic Class today. The elegant class includes boats that are over 100 years old, loving restored by their guardians. Terry Birles’ Fred Shepherd sloop Erin dates back to 1912 (on port) and was built in Maine USA. The 30ft gaff cutter Lady Min (B7) was launched in Schull in 1902 and is raced at Volvo Cork Week by Simon O'Keeffe, the grandson of the original owner Maurice O’Keefe.Photo: Rick Tomlinson

Yves Lambert’s 37ft Dick Carter sloop Persephone was launched in 1969 and is the sistership to the 1966 One Ton Cup winner Tina. Photo: Rick Tomlinson

Dafydd Hughes’ S&S 34 Bendigedig hales from Aberaeron, West Wales, and is a sistership to Ted Heath’s Morning Cloud. Dafydd intends to race Bendigedig, solo around the world in 2023. Photo: Rick Tomlinson

Around mid-afternoon today (Wednesday) the anemometers at Sherkin Island, Cork Airport and Roche’s Point were all showing quite decent sailing breezes. Grand day for a spot of steady yacht racing all along the magic Cork coast, you might reasonably think. Well, not quite……

For the wind being recorded at Sherkin was westerly. Up at Cork airport meanwhile, it was northerly. And almost within sight at Roche’s Point, where they’d the best breeze of all, it was t’other way completely – a straight southerly. Quite a challenge for the tacticians, and plain murder for race officers. Yet despite that, the interesting fleet in the Cork Week IRC Coastal Class got a result which – at this halfway-plus stage of the week – reflected the trends of earlier racing while shaking things up in a way that indicated there had been right and not-so-right and even wrong ways to go.

Jamie McWilliam of the Royal Fragrant Harbour YC was out of sight ahead at the finish with his Ker 40 Signal 8. But then with a rating of 1.242, he has to be if he’s going to be in the money, and that’s where he was, first by three minutes on CT ahead of Steve Hayes from Greystones with Magic Touch which rates only 0.979, while Steady Eddy, aka Peter Dunlop of Pwllheli with the J/109 Mojito, took third to stay in the top three overall, which at this stage has Signal 8 on 8pts, Mojito on 9, and Paul & Deirdre Tingle’s Alpaca from the host club on 15.

Paul & Deirdre Tingle’s X-yacht Alpaca from Royal Cork off Roches Point at the entrance of Cork Harbour Photo Bob Bateman

21 teams are racing in Cork Week's Coastal Class which is proving to be one of the most competitive classes.

Robert Rendell’s Grand Soleil 44 Samatom from Howth YC leads the class after winning today’s Harbour Race by just 32 seconds.

Robert Rendell's Samatom hoists her black and white spinnaker in today's Harbour race of the Cork Week coastal class. The Grand Soleil 44 was putting in a very businesslike performance, grabbing a two minute lead on corrected time from Signal 8, with Michael O’Donnell’s J/121 Darkwood third in a well spread class of twenty one boats Photo: Bob Bateman

Second after IRC time correction was Jamie McWilliam’s Royal Hong Kong YC team racing Ker40+ Signal 8. Wan & Eric Waterman’s Saxon Senator from the Royal Cork YC was third in today’s race by just 34 seconds after time correction.

Jamie McWilliam’s Royal Hong Kong YC team racing Ker40+ Signal 8 Photo: Rick Tomlinson

Alpaca (left) and Pata Negra racing downwind in the coastal class Photo: Rick Tomlinson

Samatom leads the series by a single point from three boats that are all tied on points. Peter Dunlop’s Mojito, Paul & Deirdre Tingle’s Alpaca, and Michael O'Donnell’s Darkwood.

Robert Rendell’s Samatom was new last year and the British owner loves racing with Irish crew. “The boat is based at Howth, and I love to race there, and we also raced in the Round Ireland. My crew said I would love to race at Cork Week, and they were right, it has been absolutely brilliant on the water and at the Royal Cork Clubhouse. We have really close racing in the class, and we are just delighted to be at the top of it, but we will have to sail well to stay there!”

Michael O'Donnell's J122 Darkwood Photo Rick Tomlinson

If you wondered how Harold Cudmore went to Saint-Tropez with the Royal Cork YC’s in-house Cork Harbour OD Jap last Autumn and duly came home with the glitziest classics prize, then the first two days of Volvo Cork Week 2022 have been providing an eloquent answer.

The Boy Harold and Jap have hit form again and notched two clear victories, while for good measure they’ve been coming home both times ahead on the water of a goodly selection of relative newbies from the likes of Dick Carter in his prime in the late 1960s.

Harold Cudmore helming Jap, the vintage Cork Harbour One Design Photo Rick Tomlinson

Of interest is the fact that Jap was not noted as a star in the class’s early days pre-World War I. But since then, she has been the only CHOD to get the complete Fairlie Restorations treatment from Duncan Walker and his team in order to optimize her for classics racing with Clayton Love Jnr, mainly on the Mediterranean circuit.

CHOD Jap (on left) racing in the Classics Division of Cork Week Photo: Rick Tomlinson

This has resulted in a boat which classics sailmaker and racing ace Andy Cassells has described as one of the most pleasant and rewarding yachts you could hope to helm. And even dead downwind, when the more modern craft are involved in the highly verbal hassle of setting mighty masthead spinnakers, Jap is already well on her way to the lee mark despite her relatively stumpy mast, having quietly swung out a mainsail which is the size of one very large barn door.

There is no stopping Sam Laidlaw’s Quarter Tonner BLT from the Royal Yacht Squadron, who kept their perfect scoreline on day two of Cork Week with an emphatic win in Race Three of the series to lead the class by four points.

Dorgan, Marshall & Losty’s Quarter Tonner Illegal from Cove Sailing Club was runner-up in today’s race to move up to second for the regatta.

Fiona Young’s North Star from the Royal Cork YC scored a podium race finish today, moving up to fourth for the series.

Marcus Ryan’s Irish youth team racing J/24 HeadCase was fourth today and is now third for the series, but only on countback.

BLT on her mooring in Crosshaven reveals the Jacques Fauroux-designed Bullit hull. The boat is a previous winner of the 1980 Quarter Ton Cup in New Zealand. In all just seven Bullits were built, three of which won consecutive Quarter Ton Cups in 1978, 1980 and 1981, and they have become increasingly sought-after. Photo: Bob Bateman

J/109 designs continue to dominate the 16-strong IRC Two Class on Day Two of Cork Week.

John Maybury’s J/109 Joker 2 from the Royal Irish YC won today’s race by under a minute on time correction from Finbarr O'Regan’s J/109 Artful Dodjer from the Kinsale YC.

Barry Cunningham’s Royal Irish YC team racing Chimaera was third.

After three races, Joker 2 has a three-point lead.

Pat Kelly’s J/109 Storm is second but only on countback from Chimaera.

Recent Bangor Town Regatta winner J109 Storm (Pat Kelly) is lying second in Cork Week IRC 2 Photo: Rick Tomlinson

Louise Makin & Chris Jones’ J/111 Journeymaker II from the Royal Southern YC in the UK won both of today’s light air races to lead Cork Week IRC One by four points.

Team Knight Build racing J/112 Happy Daize from the RORC have retained second place after three races.

J/112 Happy Daize Photo Rick Tomlinson

Nick Burn’s Royal Hong Kong YC had a great day on Mills 39 Zero II to snatch third, just one point ahead of Andrew McIrvine’s Ker 39 La Reponse and Jonathan Anderson’s J/122 El Gran Senor.

Andrew McIrvine’s Ker 39 La Reponse Photo: Rick Tomlinson

Classic racing is back at Volvo Cork Week and Royal Cork Yacht Club's Harold Cudmore was on the helm of the Cork Harbour One Design Jap for a victory on the first day.

1968 French entry Bilou-Belle Tina from the Atlantic Yacht Club is second with Dafydd Hughes Bendigedig in third place in the eight-boat fleet.

Simon O'Keeffe's 1902 restored Gaff Cutter Lady Min is racing in Cork Week's Classic division Photo Rick Tomlinson

Last October, Jap skippered by Harold Cudmore and with a crew that counted former club Admiral Colin Morehead among its number won Le Voile Saint Tropez Classic Regatta in the South of France.

Jap, built in Carrigaloe in 1897 and fully restored and sailing again as part of RCYC's 300th celebrations, took an unassailable lead in her class at the important classic regatta.

Cork Week Classics after one race sailed

1st Jap Cork Harbour One Design CHODMF CHODMF C4 Royal Cork YC
2nd Bilou-Belle Tina 1968 JJ Ollu FRA 4335 Atlantic YC
3rd Bendigedig S&S 34 Dafydd Hughes GBR 8383L Aberaeron