The May League Trophy Winners at the Royal Cork Yacht Club (RCYC) evening league cruiser series in Cork Harbour in the Thursday League IRC Spinnaker division was Michael McCann's Etchells 22 Don’t Dilly Dally.

The ECHO Spinnaker division victor was the Sunfast 32, Bad Company, Desmond/Ivors/Keane. The IRC White Sails winners was the MG335 Magnet skippered by Kieran O’Brien.

The ECHO handicap White Sails victory went to Frank Caul's Grand Soliel 37B Prince of Tides. The IHS Friday Night White Sails was won by Labous Gewn, Darren O Keeffe.

Frank Caul's Grand Soleil 37B Prince of Tides won the First Sloop Flotilla Salver Photo: Bob Bateman

RCYC May Trophy winners

• IRC WhiteSail – ‘Magnet’ – Kieran O Brien. Trophy = Camden Challenge Cup.
• ECHO WhiteSail – ‘Prince of Tides’ – Frank Caul. Trophy = First Sloop Flotilla Salver.
• IRC Spinnaker – ‘Don't Dilly Dally’ – Michael McCann. Trophy = Admiral Doyle Silver Plate.
• ECHO Spinnaker – ‘Bad Company’ – Desmond/Ivors/Keane Trophy = Belville Cup.
• IHS Friday night WhiteSail – ‘Labous Gewn’ – Darren O Keeffe. Trophy = Sans Souci Cup.

Racing continues at RCYC for the Thursday night and Friday night Leagues starting at the Grassy Walk area.

The Royal Cork Yacht Club in Cork Harbour and the Royal Cornwall Yacht Club in Falmouth, England are delighted to announce that the historic race between the two ports, most recently run in the late ’90s, is to be revived this summer, starting at 2100hrs on 7th July 2022 off Pendennis Point.

THE PRINCE OF WALES’S 300TH ANNIVERSARY TROPHY

In 2022, the overall race winner will be the inaugural recipient of a specially commissioned perpetual trophy donated by His Royal Highness, The Prince of Wales, to the Royal Cork Yacht Club to mark its 2020 tricentenary and recognise the very close relationship between the sailing communities of the United Kingdom and Ireland.

Kieran O’Connell, Admiral of the Royal Cork Yacht Club

Commenting on the announcement, Kieran O’Connell, Admiral of the Royal Cork Yacht Club, paid tribute to his counterpart at the Royal Cornwall Yacht Club, Commodore Sarah Hancock and the members and volunteers at the RCYC in Falmouth who have been so generous with their support for the race.  He also expressed his deep appreciation to His Royal Highness for his commitment to the provision of an impressive trophy for the race, which will be delivered to Cork in time for the prizegiving.

His Royal Highness, The Prince of Wales

Royal Cork Yacht Club

Commodore Hancock of the Royal Cornwall Yacht Club said “I am personally delighted to see the race reintroduced as I was on the winning boat in the Falmouth to Cork race in 1984 and I am particularly pleased that the Royal Cork Yacht Club has decided that the winner of the race on this occasion will be the inaugural recipient of the Prince of Wales’s 300th Anniversary Trophy” – noting that His Royal Highness, The Prince of Wales, is Royal Patron to the Falmouth based yacht club.

Royal Cornwall Yacht Club

THE COURSE

The 180nm course will provide competitors with a mix of strategic coastal navigation and challenging open water sailing on the passage between Falmouth and Cork.

The race is set to start at Falmouth at 2100hrs on Thursday 7th July and competitors are expected to reach Cork late on Friday night, where they will be welcomed by the Royal Cork Yacht Club in Crosshaven.

VOLVO CORK WEEK 2022

It is anticipated that boats and sailors interested in the Falmouth to Cork race may also compete at Volvo Cork Week 2022, the latest edition of the biennial regatta run by the Royal Cork since 1978, which will be held in Cork Harbour from 11th to 15th July. Co-chairman of Volvo Cork Week 2022 and Regatta Race Director Ross Deasy commented that there has been strong interest from Volvo Cork Week entries in this exciting race from Falmouth and, given the attractions of a wonderful new trophy for the winner, he is sure that the standard of the fleet will be high.

Run by the Royal Cork Yacht Club for its junior and youth sailors, Sunday's fun Coolmore race for dinghies started off Coolmore House near Rabbit Island in Cork Harbour and finished in front of the RCYC clubhouse at high tide.

This year the race was sponsored by local handcraft furniture and kitchen company House of Coolmore.

The club’s particular interest in promoting ‘mixed dinghies’ racing was reflected as a section within the race which included Optimists, Toppers and Lasers.

There were three separate starts from 1730 hours in front of the Coolmore Estate. The first for 29ers skiffs and Fireflies, the second for Toppers and the third start for younger Optimist sailors.

The race is about 3 km long and boats usually get a tow up and come down with the tide. It's a very sheltered course leading to light spots in places.

For the first time, the event incorporated the inaugural Coolmore Kayak and SUP (stand up paddleboards) Run for adults and juniors.

The Carrigaline-Crosshaven walk and cycleway runs alongside the river and provided lots of race course observation points.

Coolmore Race 2022 Photo Gallery by Bob Bateman

Fresh from his IODAI Optimist Trials success at Ballyholme at Easter, Royal Cork's Oisin Pierse has taken the overall lead on home waters at the Optimist Munster Championships after four races sailed in the 46-boat senior fleet. 

119 boats in three fleets are contesting the Championships hosted by Royal Cork Yacht Club in Crosshaven this weekend.

On six points, Malahide Yacht Club's Conor Cronin lies second to Pierse with Royal St. George Yacht Club's Carolina Carra in third place on eight points. 

Both junior and senior fleets sailed the same course (with separate starts) on the Curlane bank in Cork Harbour.

Southwest winds of eight knots with gusts of 12/14 made for ideal sailing conditions for the youth sailors. 

Peter Crowley in his Committee Vessel Sparetime was in charge of both fleets with Race Officer Tom Crosbie in charge of the Regatta fleet and also racing on the Curlane Bank. 

Malahide Yacht Club's Juliet Ryan took two wins from four races ins the Junior fleet of the Optimist Munster Championships at Royal Cork Photo: Bob Bateman

In the Junior fleet, Malahide Yacht Club's Juliet Ryan leads on  5.0 points from Royal St. George Yacht Club's Max O'Hare Third is Royal Cork's Dougie Venner. 

Racing continues for all fleets on Sunday.

Results are here

Bob Bateman's Optimist Munster Championships Photo Gallery

Run by the Royal Cork Yacht Club for its young club members, the race starts off Coolmore House near Rabbit Island in Cork Harbour and finishes in front of the RCYC clubhouse.

The Carrigaline-Crosshaven walk and cycle way runs alongside the river and provides lots of observation points.

The RCYC has announced that this year’s race will be sailed on Sunday, May 28, sponsored by local company ‘House of Coolmore’.

The club’s particular interest in promoting ‘mixed dinghies’ racing will be reflected as a section within the race which will include Optimists, Toppers and Lasers. For the first time the event will incorporate the inaugural Coolmore Kayak and SUP (stand up paddleboards) Run for adults and juniors.

“This is always a great evening. We encourage all our junior sailors, particularly those who recently joined to partake. First gun will be at 17:30hrs in front of Coolmore Estate with launching at the club from 16:30hrs and a tow upriver if required. With high tide at 17:50, racing will finish in front of the club,” says the RCYC race notice. “The following dinghies are available for hire from the club. Oppies, Toppers, Magnos, Topaz, Lasers and Kayaks. Contact the club office to book a dinghy. It would be great to see sailors sail a dinghy other than the one they sail regularly, to team-up with clubmates to sail one of the 2-handed club dinghies, or borrow one. Parents are encouraged to enter a Kayak or SUP and take part in the occasion.

There is no entry fee for the race, which is for RCYC club members only.

With many Royal Cork boats away competing at the Kinsale Yacht Club Spring league, as well as a large club contingent at the Ballyholme Youth Nationals this weekend, turnout was low for the opening white sail race of the 2022 season.

Four boats came to the line, however, in a brisk north easterly breeze.

Three 1720 sportsboats were also out from the Crosshaven club competing on their own harbour course.

The Royal Cork Yacht Club has appointed a long-time club member to a new full-time role as Head of Sailing Development

Eddie Rice has been a long time Crosshaven club member, competing and winning in the Laser, National 18 and Keelboat fleets and currently serves on the Irish Laser Association committee

He will work with club General Manager Gavin Deane, fellow club staff and the club Committees on the following areas;

Planning and orchestrating class coaching, including that of the Under 25 keelboat programme and the Adult Sailing Programme

Providing the schedule and programming for junior classes to include: training programs, target events and guidance on advancement from class-to-class for junior sailors with delivery of class racing in season.

Assisting youth sailors in identifying an appropriate class for their sailing desire and assist sailors’ transition through the classes and identifying suitable next moves at an early stage

Continuing development of Team Racing, Under 25 Keelboat Racing, Junior Sailing Academy, multi-handed dinghy sailing

Providing and delivering a structure for developing Club Coaches to achieve a best-in-class approach with our home-grown coaches. Welcome and support guest coaches in their requirements at clinics

Assisting the Junior Organiser with the recruitment of instructors for the sailing courses and the sailing course roll-out with the Senior Instructor appointed
In conjunction with the Club officials, managing the Club fleet of sailing dinghies and keelboats, ensuring they are maintained to an appropriate standard

Developing the process for members to access these boats through rental or programme.

Joe Woodward of Cork, who has died aged 90, was the very personification of the spirit of Cork city and harbour as a place where the good things in life are there to be enjoyed, and enjoyed in style. This was to be achieved both ashore in pleasant surroundings and good company, and also afloat as frequently as possible, whether racing or cruising aboard an interesting sailing boat, on day sailing or well-planned longer ventures.

The Woodward name was already prominent in the city’s commercial and social life when the family company of fine art auctioneers, property agents and antique dealers was founded in 1883, making it now the city’s longest-established family firm of auctioneers. And Joe himself – the fourth generation in running the business - probably coined the firm’s mantra of “We’re not the best because we’re the oldest. We’re the oldest because we’re the best”. But even if he didn’t, he had the wit and sparkle to know a good thing when he saw it, and very quickly make it his own.

At a family level, he was the complete incarnation of the way in which the leading Cork professional, commercial and sailing families are all inter-related in an extraordinary matrix which makes it very perilous for an outsider to provide any comment – nautical or otherwise - about an absent third party, as you invariably find you’re making those possibly barbed remarks to a cousin or a niece or an uncle or whatever, and it will be all over town before the day is out. 

FAMILY, WORK AND SAILING INTER-MINGLE

Joe’s sister Mary was married in a lifelong love-match to the legendary Denis Doyle – they were Cork sailing’s own international power couple long before the expression “power couple” had been coined elsewhere – and this meant that Joe was also related to the Donegans of Fastnet Race-founding fame, and to many other Munster sailing clans.

But despite the exalted commercial and nautical background in such a strong family environment, Joe was very comfortably his own man, with all the confidence of elegant good looks allied to an athletic yet slim build – he never carried an ounce of excess weight – and a ready wit in the best sardonic Cork style.

His earliest sailing under his own command was with a 14ft clinker-built gunter-rigged dinghy called Ripple for a few years around 1950, when he sailed from the up-harbour Cork Boat Club. But he quickly was drawn into the growing National 18 fleet in the then Royal Munster Yacht Club at Crosshaven, racing a boat called Fenella. With what one longtime friend has called “Joe’s flashes of brilliance, when he was unbeatable”, Fenella was one of three National 18s rated as scratch in the large fleet, the handicapper ranking Joe’s helming skills with an Eighteen as being equal to Somers Payne and Charlie Dwyer.

The National 18s of Cork in their first 1950s incarnation – the class handicapper ranked Joe Woodward as a scratch sailor in the class, on a par with Somers Payne and Charlie Dwyer. Photo courtesy RCYC\

And in one particular area of performance, he was in a league of his own. In his early days with Ripple at the Boat Club, other young sailors were very impressed by the fact that “he seemed to have no problem in pulling girls to crew”, such that in more recent times the term babe magnet might well have applied.

This happy talent continued to manifest itself at Crosshaven thanks to the National 18s’ three person crewing requirement, which meant that a relatively inexperienced third hand could be accommodated by a skilled skipper accustomed to juggling in all its forms.

THE ORIGINS OF DOTIE PET

All those bewitched females had the one term of endearment for Joe, so much so that those who raced against him used it as his nickname behind his back. Or at least they assumed it was behind his back, until some of the keener Cork dinghy sailors started to move to 505s in the late 1950s, and Joe showed them he was completely aware of the nickname situation by calling his new 505 Dotie Pet.

Life was hectic afloat and ashore, as for a while - in addition to his thriving professional and social life - he continued to have both a National 18 and a 505, and then in 1960 he allowed another string to be added to his bow. He stepped up to the plate to compete for the place as Ireland’s Olympic Finn representative in Rome, but was narrowly beaten in the trials by his old friend and regular sailing rival Somers Payne, who had already sailed as Ireland’s Finn helm in the 1956 Melbourne Olympics.

However, as 1964 approached, boat choice had to become more focused, as Cork Harbour had been selected as the venue for the 1964 International 505 Worlds, and it was abundantly evident that this was going to require a new level of seriousness.

Entry list for 1964 505 Worlds at Cork

So Joe reduced his personal flotilla to one boat, a new 505 retaining the name Dotie Pet, and he and crewman John McCarthy put in some serious training. Naturally this approach by the “playboy sailor” caused some mirth in Crosshaven, but in a then-unprecedented international fleet of 96 boats, he put everyone firmly in their place by leading for much of the first race.

Joe Woodward’s Dotie Pet leads the 96-strong feet in the first race of the International 505 Worlds at Cork, August 1964

This may have made Dotie Pet a marked boat for the rest of the championship, but it means that 68 years later, with Cork scheduled once again to host the 505 Worlds in 2022, all that anyone can remember from 1964 is that Joe Woodward had one of his flashes of almost supernatural sailing brilliance, yet the actual overall winner is long since forgotten.

Thereafter, as the Royal Munster through amalgamation became his home club of the Royal Cork YC in 1967, he was always a force to be reckoned with in 505 sailing locally, nationally and internationally. Nevertheless his debonair persona around boats was just one side of a balanced personality, on which the other was a very effective dedication to business – he was a founder member of the Irish Auctioneers and Valuers Institute (now the Irish Society of Chartered Surveyors), he was the man to go to for the sale of properties at the top end of the market in Cork, and his twice-yearly live and international telephone auctions devoted to Irish and English silver – particularly silverware with Cork Republican connections - acquired special renown to enhance his reputation as “The Magician With The Gavel” 

FAMILY LIFE 

Meanwhile on the personal front he had married Mary Halpin and they became a stylish couple with a growing family of son Tom (who was to succeed him as the fifth generation of Woodwards to head the family firm) and daughters Janet and Laura, all of whom contributed to an impressive total of seven grandchildren.

But that was some way down the line. Meanwhile, with Mary sharing his interest in boats but inclined to keelboats rather than racing dinghies, Joe made another of his many shrewd purchasing decisions by acquiring the classic Laurent Giles-designed 40ft Salterns Salar Moshulu III.

The robust 40ft Laurent Giles-designed Salterns Salar proved a very sensible choice for Joe & Mary Woodward’s cruising programme

The Salar is sometimes described as a motor-sailer, but is actually a powerful sailing boat which happens to have an amidships deck shelter which almost amounts to a wheelhouse. Her attraction is further augmented by the fact that the designers did not try to cram as much in the way of coachroofs and accommodation into her as might be possible, and thus she has roomy decks, and there’s plenty of personal space down below.

GOOD TIMES IN GALICIA

This all suited Joe and Mary very well, as he always preferred to sail on his own boat in the time-honoured Cork style, and in as much comfort as possible now that he had moved on from flat-out racing. And for Mary, Moshulu was a welcoming home from home as they cruised southwest Ireland and then increasingly devoted their time to basing the boat and themselves in northwest Spain, where the climate, the Galician way of life, and the local food was very much to their taste – Joe would later claim that in Galicia he ate only fish, to which he attributed his lifelong vigour.

Home from home – for years, Joe & Mary Woodward with Moshulu III had Baiona’s Monte Real Yacht Club as their Galician base.

Inevitably they became such a regular feature of sailing in the area that they were part of the local club scene, particularly in Baiona near Vigo where Joe and Mary and the Monte Real Club de Yates were so comfortable with each other that he became the club’s Honorary Ambassador in Ireland, where he’d become an Irish Cruising Club member in 1990.

CRUISING’S GOOD NEWS MAN

From time to time Moshulu III was back in Irish waters, most notably in July 1996, when there was a combined Cruise-in-Company of all the senior international cruising clubs in West Cork.

With such a large and diverse fleet, some means of management co-ordination was required, and with his renowned semi-theatrical auctioneering skills, Joe took on the task of a morning news broadcast to the fleet from Moshulu. With his fearless wit and capacity for acquiring gossip at each night-time shore gathering, it was immediately required listening to start each day, even if some female participants of a certain age had mixed feelings about the entire fleet knowing that it happened to be their birthday.

The Woodwards’ Salar Class Moshulu III in Baltimore during the 1996 Cruise-in-Company, with king-size fenders available to indicate a welcome to raft up.

As to his professional life, while his ability to delegate meant that he could take properly useful long periods of leave, he stayed actively interested in the family firm to the end, and was still chairman at the time of his death, such that, thanks to occasionally working in the business during school holidays, he could look back on eight decades of service to Woodwards.

IMPRESSIVE DEALS

His most spectacular deals continued to impress Cork. He put together the property package which enabled the creation of the hugely successful Hayfield Manor Hotel complex, designed by fellow sailor and architect Roddy Hyde to be a restful oasis in the heart of the university district and very much part of the city, and yet at the same time notably complete of itself.

The Oasis in Cork City – Joe Woodward started the process whereby disparate old properties were parcelled and transformed to become the haven which is Hayfield Manor Hotel in the heart of Cork’s university district.

And then in 2004 he unveiled his most spectacular coup, the discovery of the Willem Van der Hagen 1738 painting of Cork Harbour with the fleet of the 1720-founded Water Club of the Harbour of Cork very much in evidence as they sailed down-harbour in their renowned flotilla formation.

While it lacks the technical detail and accuracy of the Royal Cork Yacht Club’s own two notable Peter Monamy paintings from the same period showing the fleet on manoeuvres, the Van der Hagen – despite some eccentricities – acquired immediate popularity through the fact that it located the Water Club very specifically in Cork Harbour, and thereby gave an immediate sense of personal connection to the pioneering club activities of 280 years earlier.

It has enormous charm, and thus the public auction on Wednesday 11th February 2004, with Joe on top form, attracted special interest. This was well justified, as it was sold into a private collection for €360,000, at that time a record for work of this type.

The placing of seven yachts of the Water Club in midst of the fleet heading seawards in this 1738 Van der Hagen painting of Cork Harbour gives it significant extra value.

It was just the kind of buzz which saw Joe at his best, and maintained his interest right to the end. In his later years, he became a widower with the loss of Mary, but equally his old adversary on the water, Somers Payne, had passed away leaving the Woodwards’ dear friend Eithne a widow, so she and Joe shared their new single lives.

In the best Cork style, there was no lack of the family banter which is familiar to any Cork sailing family. Joe’s 90th birthday in January of this year was a festive multi-generational affair, with special music and frequent laughter. And during it, the Woodward grandchildren cheerfully referred to Eithne Payne as “the woman whose husband prevented our grand-daddy from becoming an Olympic sailor”.

That’s the way it was in Joe Woodward’s world. He was a very special person, a real life-enhancer. Our thoughts and condolences are with his family and many friends and numerous shipmates. May he rest in peace.

An Adult Sailing programme is being introduced for members at the Royal Cork in Crosshaven for the coming season. All the sessions will be followed by a debrief and a social gathering the club says.

It is a development to encourage more active involvement and follows the club's intention to widen interest in dinghy sailing in Cork Harbour.

The adult programme will include keelboats and kayaking.

"Keelboat sailing is available in both May and June, on Tuesdays or Saturdays. Dinghy sailing on Wednesday evenings in May and June. 'Kayak in company' on Wednesday evenings in May and June – free of charge."

Details are on the club website here where applications to take part can be made.

Royal Cork Yacht Club's Club weekend cruiser-racer meeting on Saturday featured a discussion on IRC ratings and ECHO handicaps and start times for this summer's Cork Harbour racing from Crosshaven.

The meeting also proved an opportunity for the presentation of prizes that could not previously be presented due to COVID.

Annamarie Fegan and Denis Murphy's Grand Soleil Nieulargo received the international Boat of Year Award presented by RCYC Admiral Kieran O' Connell. 

Frank Caul's Prince of Tides took the White Sail Boat of the Year Award.

Annamarie Fegan and Denis Murphy's Grand Soleil Nieulargo received the RCYC International Boat of Year Award Photo: Bob Bateman

Fiona Young (pictured top), the helm of the Albin Express, North Star was awarded Club Boat of the Year.

Brian Jones' Jelly Baby was awarded National Boat of Year. 

Frank Caul (centre) skipper of Prince of Tides, is presented with the White Sail Boat of the Year Award from Daragh Conolly (left), Rear Admiral Keelboats in 2021 and RCYC Admiral Kieran O' Connell Photo: Bob Bateman