Volvo Cork Week 2022 at the Royal Cork Yacht Club - Day 3
by Louay Habib 13 Jul 14:47 PDT
11-15 July 2022
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. The majority of the 192 teams competing were racing inside Cork Harbour today, forming a riot of colour from spinnakers in the picturesque harbour.
The two Non-Spinnaker Classes and IRC One started their long race in Ringabella Bay. The Cape 31 Class and Dragons had windward leeward races off Roaches Point.
IRC Racing Classes and One-Design Race winners on 13 July at Volvo Cork Week: Cape 31 Antix, Cape 31 Shotgunn, Mills 39 Zero II, J/109 Joker 2, Quarter Tonner BLT, 1720 Rope Dock Atara, Ker40+ Signal 8.
Dragon and Echo Non-Spinnaker winners 13 July: Peter Bowring's Dragon Phantom, Cameron Good's Dragon Little Fella, Batt & Helen O'Leary's Sweet Dreams, Clodagh O'Donovan's Roaring Forties
Results from Volvo Cork Week: www.sailwave.com/results/VolvoCorkWeek2022.htm
Classic Class
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.
Non-Spinnaker Echo One
Teams from the Royal Cork Yacht Club occupied the podium for today's race in Non-Spinnaker Echo One. Batt & Helen O'Leary's Sweet Dreams won the race by 88 seconds after time correction from Ronan Twomey's Rosmarina. Mike MacCarthy Jolastan was third.
Frank Caul's Prince of Tides was fourth today but still leads the class for the regatta but only by virtue of countback from Rosmarina and definitely in the mix is Paul O'Shea's Elegance, which is just a point off the class lead.
Non-Spinnaker Echo Two
Teams from the Royal Cork Yacht Club also filled the podium for today's race in Non-Spinnaker Echo Two. Clodagh O'Donovan's Roaring Forties from the Royal Cork won today's race by over five minutes from Kieran O'Brien's Magnet. Frank McGrath's Big Mac was just 12 seconds behind Magnet.
Daily Prizes
A special award at today's daily prize-giving was to the all-women team racing on Kerri Ann Boylan's Cisco from the Skerries Sailing Club. Cisco received a 500 Euro voucher from Volvo Cars. Kerri Ann is an experienced coach having taught in both Nantucket USA and Ireland. The team have grown up sailing against each other right through the early years in Optimists.
"We literally got the team together for Cork Week and we are improving our performance with each race," commented Kerri Ann. "Cork Week is a great regatta, very friendly with lots of people that love to race. We hope to encourage more women and girls to race in keelboats. It has been fantastic to get the girls back together because we come from all over Ireland."
IRC One
Nick Burn's Royal Hong Kong YC had a great day on Mills 39 Zero II winning today's race by over 10 minutes after IRC time correction. Class leader for the regatta, Louise Makin & Chris Jones' J/111 Journeymaker 11 from the Royal Southern YC was second. Richard Fildes Corby 37 Impostor from Abersoch Wales was third into today's race
IRC Two
John Maybury's J/109 Joker 2 from the Royal Irish YC won today's 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.
"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.
"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."
IRC Three
Sam Laidlaw's Quarter Tonner BLT from the Royal Yacht Squadron won their fifth race in a row and have a big lead in IRC Three. Dorgan, Marshall & Losty's Quarter Tonner Illegal from Cove Sailing Club was once again second and is five points behind BLT with two days of racing to go. Marcus Ryan's Irish youth team racing J/24 HeadCase put in another great race to finish third, just a point behind Illegal.
Coastal Class
Jamie McWilliam's Royal Hong Kong YC team racing Ker40+ Signal 8 was today's winner. Tactician Andrew McLelland was also celebrating his birthday! "We were not sure which way to go on the first beat, so we hedged our bets and stayed in the middle of the course, which was a low risk strategy," commented McLelland, a Chartered Surveyor, but also a J/24 World Champion.
"Later in the race, we got a couple of shifts spot on and just accelerated away from the fleet, which we have to do as the scratch boat."
Signal 8 won the race by over three minutes after IRC time correction from Steve Hayes' Magic Touch from Greystones SC. Liam Madden's Dexterity from Foynes YC was third. Signal 8 now leads the class for the regatta from Royal Cork's Paul & Deirdre Tingle's racing X4 Alpaca. Robert Rendell's Grand Soleil 44 Samatom from Howth YC is third.
Cape 31 Irish Nationals
The Cape 31 Class was once again racing on the national championship windward leeward course off Roaches Point. Anthony O'Leary's Antix from the Royal Cork YC scored a 1-3-1 to take the lead in the series. Dan O'Grady's Aja from Howth Yacht Club scored a 4-2-2 and drops to second. Michael Wilson's Shotgunn scored a 5-1-4 to finish the day in third for the series.
Beaufort Cup Fastnet Race
The Beaufort Cup started their inshore racing today inside Cork Harbour. The Crosshaven RNLI team racing Grand Soleil 40 Nieulargo, owned by Annamarie Fagen & Denis Murphy, won today's race by over four minutes after IRC time correction. The Royal Navy Team racing J/109 Jolly Jack Tar, skippered by David Warwick was second. Third was the Defence Forces Ireland team skippered by Tom Roche racing Solona 45 Meridian.
1720 Class
The 1720 Class had a stand-alone Cork Harbour Race today. Rope Dock Atara with Ross McDonald on the stick, representing Royal Cork YC & Howth YC, scored a solid race win, leading the race from start to finish. Fionn Lyden's Spiced Beef from Baltimore SC was second and Peter O'Leary's Royal Cork team racing Ricochet was third.
Racing at Volvo 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.
For more information go to www.corkweek.ie