British Army Royal Engineers on the J109 Trojan have won the Fastnet race of the Beaufort Cup returning to Cork Harbour after a 30-hour race.
Six boats competed in the first race of the Cup for International Inter-Service Sailing Regatta, being hosted by the Royal Cork Yacht Club and supported by the Irish Defence Forces and run as part of Cork Week.
The Cup has seven entries from the British army (x2), Irish defence forces (x2), a Royal Navy team, an RNLI crew and a team of US Marines. The Beaufort Cup pitches teams that have at least half the crew from Service or Voluntary Organisations.
The Beaufort Cup is at the heart of the week with €10,000 going to the chosen charity of the winning team for the series.
According to the live tracker, the line honours winner and second on IRC rating was Crosshaven RNLI on Nieulargo, a Grand Soleil 40, owned by Royal Cork's Denis and Annamarie Murphy.
“It is one big Crosshaven family racing in the Beaufort Cup on Nieulargo,” commented Ian Heffernan. “Four years ago, we did this, and it was a new experience for this team. We now know so much about the boat and each other, that despite going the wrong way for maybe three hours, we hung in there and took line honours. It is a testament to the crew and the boat to be an amazing combination, and all of that is based on the Beaufort Cup.”
Third was Royal Navy entry Jolly Jack Tar, another J109 design.
A Dehler 36 Indulgence crewed by the Irish Defence Forces retired from the race.