There is a very strong interest from the owners of Whitetail yachts for this year’s Volvo Cork Week, according to the Royal Cork YC organisers.
Keelboats Rear Admiral Rob Foster says the “level of interest in Non-Spinnaker/White Sail classes is high.”
He attributes this to “Many skippers keen to experience racing at Volvo Cork Week for the first time.”
They will battle local boats entered, including Sweet Dreams, Indulgence, Loch Greine, Morning After and Rosmarina, for the silverware. Visiting boats will include Dreamcatcher, Apache, Hansemer and Calero.
Overall entries for the Volvo-sponsored July event ( Monday 15 – Friday 19) are high, with another aspect of note being “particular interest” from Wales.
K2Q
Some of the Welsh fleet will compete in the Kingstown (Dun Laoghaire) to Queenstown (Cobh) race, part of the ISORA series and a prelude ‘feeder’ to Crosshaven for Cork Week; Entries include Impetuous, Faenol and Mojito.
This is two races in the one start. The primary race, the “K2Q 260” 260-mile offshore race that will start in Dun Laoghaire (formerly Kingstown), around the famous Fastnet Rock and finish in Cork Harbour at Cobh (formerly Queenstown). The second race, “K2Q 160” mirrors the first with a finish however fleets split at Cork Bouy, with the K2Q 160 heading for the finish in Cobh. In 1860 the first-ever ocean yacht race on Irish Waters was held from Kingstown (now Dun Laoghaire) to Queenstown (Now Cobh). It is reported that the winner of the race was paid a prize of £15 at the time and all competing boat got a bursary of 10/6 each. The winner of the first race was a Schooner Kingfisher owned by Cooper Penrose Esq. The race was held on July 14. 1860 and had sixteen boats racing.
This year, the race, in which SCORA is also an organiser, will start on July 12, and the winning boat will be awarded a first prize of a cheque for €15 mounted and framed, with an RCYC trophy.
Half Tonners and Quarter Tonners
Championship fleets, a big feature of the event, have several well-known boats already entered. Quarter Tonners Anchor Challenge, Panic and Diamond.
1720 Euros
Entries for the 1720 sportsboat Europeans, include local boats Zing, Dark Side and Mini Apple, as well as visitors Mo and After Midnight.
Cape 31s
The Cape31 class previously attended Volvo Cork Week as a relatively new keelboat but is now firmly established as the most exciting one-design class in these waters. With growing interest and some entries already received, we look forward to plenty more Cape31 action in July.
Beaufort Cup
The Notice of Race for the Beaufort Cup has recently been published on the Volvo Cork Week website.
The Beaufort Cup is a unique inter-services regatta, hosted by the Irish Defence Forces in conjunction with the Royal Cork Yacht Club.
A number of veteran teams from the USA have expressed interest in joining the competition, along with uniformed service teams from across Ireland and the UK.
Any boat owner interested in chartering a suitable boat to one of the teams is encouraged to make contact by sending an email to [email protected]
RS21
The RS21 class will be keen to make a mark, as this is the first time the class will be part of the event. A unique element of this fleet is the availability of charter boats in ready-to-race condition for the week. These boats will be supplied by the class and managed at the event by Kenny Rumball of INSS, making this a very attractive package for those that can’t bring their own boats to Cork.
Contact [email protected] for more details and keep an eye on the “Racing” section of the www.corkweek.ie website for updates
Additional Cork week reporting by Afloat.ie