After a four-year hiatus, it took a long time coming, but now the fleet has arrived, and there is great excitement in Cork Harbour for Monday's first races of Cork Week 2022 Regatta for a fleet of almost 200 boats.
This weekend, on the eve of Cork Week 22, Crosshaven and Royal Cork Yacht Club was buzzing with pre-race activity as visiting sailors arrived for the week of racing running from Monday, July 11 to 15.
Competing boats have been arriving for some time, some of the first sailing in at the end of June after the conclusion of the ISORA and SCORA recreation of the Dun Laoghaire to Cork K2Q races.
Royal Cork Marina is a hive of activity on the eve of Cork Week 2022. Photo: Bob Bateman
The special prize of the Prince of Wales 300th Anniversary Trophy will be awarded at Monday's prizegiving to the winning boat from the Falmouth feeder race.
Visitor Pata Negra on her Crosshaven berth; she is the biggest boat in Cork Week's IRC Zero Photo: Bob Bateman
Three main fleets comprise Cork Week 22, and the biggest of these is the ICRA Irish Cruiser Racer championships.
Anthony O'Leary's red-hulled Cape 31 is ready to race. This is the Cape 31's first Irish tour, and IRC Zero will have the addition of the new one-design on their race course. Photo: Bob Bateman
The international fleet is approaching nearly 200 boats and racing under IRC and ECHO rules; the Irish ICRA National Championships will be competed for as part of the week as Afloat previewed here.
On Monday, the IRC 0, Cape 31, and IRC 1 will race on the Harbour course. IRC 2 will run on a laid course, as will the 1720 sportsboats. There will also be coastal courses for the non-spinnaker and classics, and the Beaufort Cup fleet will race to the Fastnet Rock and back. See the event schedule below.
The legendary Imp returns to the water for a pre-Cork Week regatta tune-up Photo: Bob Bateman
A resurgent 1720 class will celebrate its 30th anniversary with a large fleet of 47 boats.
The 47-boat 1720 fleet is an integral part of Cork Week celebrations Photo: Bob Bateman
It is undoubtedly a varied fleet, and the latest high-end keelboat tech will be on display with the Cape 31s and some early vintage craft such as the club's own Cork Harbour One Designs.
The flags are flying in Crosshaven for Cork Week 2022 Photo: Bob Bateman
With the most modern and the oldest craft racing over a wide range of Cork Harbour courses, It's all shaping up to be a fitting 300th tribute to Royal Cork Yacht Club and its regatta week that has its own origins as far back as July 1970 as Afloat's WM Nixon relates here.
