Volvo Cork Week 2024 entries have been steadily climbing with a huge variety of boats and sailors from Ireland and all over the world expected to be competing at the Royal Cork’s famous regatta from 15-19 July.

The championship fleet boasts a fine array of race boats, including high performance carbon-fibre flyers to Quarter-Tonners.

Racing in sportsboats at Volvo Cork Week will be the 1720 class for the European Championship, the phenomenal Cape 31 class and, new this year, the RS21 keelboat class with boats available for charter.

For those new to racing, or for cruising boats that don’t want to bring a massive crew, the non-spinnaker/White Sail class offers an ideal programme to enjoy. For a unique experience, the Beaufort Cup provides offshore and inshore racing as an inter-services regatta within Volvo Cork Week.

The championship fleets are always a big feature of Volvo Cork Week, with a several well-known names and boats already entered for 2024. Quarter-Tonners already entered include Anchor Challenge, Panic and Diamond. Half-Tonners already entered include 2 Farr, with reigning ICRA Boat Of The Year Swuzzlebubble planning to enter soon.

Visiting boats such as Raptor, Flyover, Meridian, Allig8r and Valentina will have to get the better of local boats such as Ellida, Magnet and North Star if they are to lift the trophies.

There has been particular interest from the Welsh fleet, some of whom will also compete in the Kingstown to Queenstown race as part of the ISORA series. Entries include Impetuous, Faenol and Mojito — the former El Gran Senor. Several entries from Portishead have been received, including ScrumpyJ, Assassin and Ctrl-J.

The level of interest in non-spinnaker/White Sail classes is high, with many skippers keen to experience racing at Volvo Cork Week for the first time. Visiting boats will include Dreamcatcher, Apache, Hansemer and Calero. They will battle local boats including Sweet Dreams, Indulgence, Loch Greine, Morning After and Rosmarina for the silverware.

The RS21 keelboat class is set to make a splash at Volvo Cork Week 2024

Sportsboats

Notable entries for the 1720 European Championship include local boats Zing, Dark Side and Mini Apple, as well as visitors Mo and After Midnight.

The Cape 31 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. Volvo Cork Week is now part of the global Cape 31 2024 events circuit. The strong Irish fleet are expecting international competition from all over the world.

The RS21s will be keen to make a mark, as this is the first time the keelboat 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 the INSS, making this a very attractive package for those that can’t bring their own boats to Cork. Contact [email protected] for more details.

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].

Accommodation update

Additional local accommodation has been secured and more details are available on the Volvo Cork Week website. Competitors bringing campervans will be accommodated at the Crosshaven Rugby Club, which is provides appropriate facilities and is located around 1km from the Royal Cork Yacht Club. A regular bus service runs from Carrigaline and Cork City which stops directly outside the Royal Cork Yacht Club.

Social update

Daily entertainment will be provided at the Royal Cork Yacht Club for all competitors after racing, along with various promotional events and sponsor activities. The Ladies Gala Lunch, which will be hosted in aid of the RNLI, is planned for Wednesday 17 July.

For more information including race documents, marina Facilities, accommodation and the superb social programme, visit www.corkweek.ie.

The potent J122E cruiser-racer Scottish 'El Gran Senor' from the Clyde Cruising Club will be renamed under new ownership when she embarks on her 2024 summer season, which includes next month's ISORA 2024 Offshore Series on the Irish Sea, Cork Week, the J Cup, IRC Europeans, ICRA Nationals, and the Pwllheli Challenge at the end of September.

Jonathan Anderson's navy blue-hulled 40-footer is now owned by former ISORA champions Peter Dunlop and Vicky Cox from Pwllheli. They are moving up from their all-conquering J109, Mojito.

The move was prompted by the trend towards an increasingly bigger, faster fleet that makes it more and more difficult to race in the same conditions in the smaller J109.

Anderson's last Irish waters foray in 'El Gran Senor' was his second overall in the offshore class at Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta 2023 last July, and before that, it was third overall in the Coastal Class at June's Sovereign's Cup off Kinsale in county Cork.

Cox explained it has been a busy start to the 2024 season for the 2022 ISORA Champions in changing boats "All focus has been on selling the J109, getting the J122e up to the spec we are used to on Mojito and of course transferring branding. We couldn’t really race out of Pwllheli with the Saltire emblazoned on the hull could we!"

Cox revealed their new boat will be renamed Mojito in keeping with campaign tradition. 

"It has been known for people to wave and hail ‘Mojito’ when they bump into us in town if they only know us through sailing, so we couldn’t really leave that name behind. In fact, the name has moved with us from the start. From a Bavaria 39 Cruiser when we first met, briefly through an Elan 350 to the J109", she explained. 

Cox concedes that while she didn’t "personally see the need to change our old friend, the 109, as we know how she works and know what she likes to perform, racing offshore against an increasingly bigger, faster fleet makes it more and more difficult to race in the same conditions". 

"I can’t deny that we have benefited many times when winds have died and we’ve found ourselves up level with them on the water and had some fine results in the process" she pointed out.

"Conversely, there have also been times when we’ve been left floating in the bay for the night whilst the crews of bigger boats were all ensconced in the bar enjoying full refreshments before the wind shut off", she acknowledged to Afloat.

"I must admit getting back to the space available on a 40-foot boat is very welcome, and the guys from Scotland have definitely shown us that the J122e is capable of a trophy or two," Cox said.

It will be a busy season for the Mojito crew with the ISORA races starting in April, the IRC Welsh Championships to defend in Pwllheli (17th to 19th May), Cork Week in Cork Harbour,  the J Cup, IRC Europeans and the ICRA nationals all from the Royal Irish on Dublin Bay before returning for the Pwllheli Challenge at the end of September.

"There’s no doubt that we’ll be starting on a learning curve this season, but we’re looking forward to having plenty of fun in the process", Cox admits.