Crosshaven RNLI lifeboat in Cork Harbour was requested to launch shortly before noon on Monday (July 25th) to assist a 13-metre steel-hulled yacht on passage from Youghal to Crosshaven that had engine difficulties.

The yacht, with three crew on board alerted Valentia Coast Guard as they were approaching Roches Point that they had engine problems, and with a North Westerly wind blowing over 25 knots along with a 1 to 2 metre sea running, felt it prudent not to attempt entering Cork Harbour under sail alone.

The lifeboat volunteers of Aidan O’Conner, Susanne Deane, Norman Jackson and Claire Morgan launched and met the yacht at Roches Point. Susanne Deane boarded the yacht and organised the lines for the tow, before the vessel was brought to Crosshaven Boatyard, where she was safely berthed.

The lifeboat returned to station, was washed down, refuelled and declared ready for service once more at 1.15 pm.

Volvo Cork Week kicked off with a fun-filled Family Day on Sunday that was preceded by an official opening by Royal Cork Yacht Club Admiral Kieran O'Connell and Taoiseach Micheál Martin TD, and Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Coveney TD.

The regatta takes place in Crosshaven from 11-15 July.

According to Afloat's WM Nixon, one of the reasons people are coming from far and wide - in addition to many ports nearer the venue - is because the international sailing community was very impressed by the dignified, exemplary and innovative way in which the Royal Cork Yacht Club under Admiral Colin Morehead dealt with the seemingly total setback of not being able to stage their long-planned Tricentenary in 2020

After a four-year hiatus, guests eventually gather for Cork Week 2022 and RCYC's tricentenary celebrations Photo: Bob Bateman

There was fun and adventure for families across the whole village of Crosshaven, from the Royal Cork Yacht Club to Camden Fort Meagher and everywhere in between, including the famous Pipers Fun Fair and boat trips from Hugh Coveney Pier on the Cailin Or.

Cork Week enjoys events both on and off the water events, as they celebrate the tricentenary of the oldest yacht club in the world after events were cancelled in 2020 due to the pandemic Photo: Bob Bateman

This year's emphasis is on sustainability with coastal walks, competitions, games, and a new coastal market in the Marquee at the Yacht Club. A children's workshop with Marine Scientist and Volvo Car Ireland Brand Ambassador Finn van der Aar also took place, and RedFM will broadcast live from the event.

The biennial Cork Week regatta draws spectators from far and near, and the atmosphere in Crosshaven, home of the Royal Cork Yacht Club Photo: Bob Bateman

As Afloat previously reported, the fleet is in. This morning (Monday, July 11th), the action on the water gets underway for the event that incorporates three championship events - the 1720 European Championships, which will include 47 1720 boats that were designed in Cork, the Irish Cruiser Racing Association (ICRA) National Championships and the Dragons South Coast Championships – in addition to the renowned Beaufort Cup for international uniformed service personnel, which encompasses a race around the Fastnet Rock and back to Cork.

Royal Cork Yacht Club will host a Classic Yacht Regatta for the first time this year as part of Cork Week. It promises to be a fantastic viewing spectacle with some famous classic racing yachts on display  Photo: Bob Bateman

Classics at Crosshaven: Cork Harbour one designs Jap and Elsie alongside the just restored Lady Min, and coming up river is the 1919 Erin Photo: Bob Bateman

The 37-foot classic yacht French yacht Persephone on her berth at Crosshaven Photo: Bob Bateman

At least one competing boat only arrived at the Crosshaven venue this morning, having had success in the UK at the weekend.

There will be a Ladies' Day charity lunch in aid of the Crosshaven RNLI on Wednesday, July 13th, with Volvo brand ambassadors Amy Huberman and Brendan Courtney, which is a total sell-out.

Anna-Marie Fagan, Vice-Admiral of the Royal Cork Yacht Club and Co-Chair of Volvo Cork Week and David Thomas, Managing director of Volvo Car Ireland

Anna-Marie Fagan, Vice-Admiral of the Royal Cork Yacht Club and Co-Chair of Volvo Cork Week, said, "I'm looking forward to welcoming sailors from around the world back to the stunning Cork Harbour. It will be an exceptional week of sailing, and we have a fantastic family day planned for everyone in Cork to enjoy. We have a packed schedule on and off the water".

Cove Sailing Club in Cork Harbour had a break-in on Monday evening (July 4), resulting in considerable damage to its waterside clubhouse. 

Contents of the clubhouse located at Whitepoint were 'smashed', but a defiant membership has posted on the club's Facebook page; "They may have smashed our tv and the contents of our club, but they didn't break our Cove Sailing Club spirit." 

Local reaction has been swift to condemn the vandalism, with Cobh's Aisling O Callaghan posting, "I am totally shocked and dismayed. I am so sorry that this has happened to the club and Cobh".

The clubhouse opened in 2009 with support from a Sports Council grant, Cobh Town Council and Cobh VEC. The facility includes a dinghy park at Whitepoint, Cobh, to provide boats, equipment, changing facilities and coaching primarily aimed at local children who want to learn to sail.

The club, which describes itself as 'a friendly and informal club', recently staged the successful Friday night Great Island Motors June Cruisers League. 

If anyone has any information regarding the break-in, they are asked to contact Cobh Gardai.

Cove Sailing Club in Cork Harbour had a break-in - CSC Facebook page.

At Cove Sailing Club in Cork Harbour Gary Mills’ Shipman 28, Tonga, leads the Friday night Great Island Motors June cruisers league, with Cathy Mullan’s First 260, Angela, second and Des Corbett’s Sadler 25, NettaJ, third.

Twenty-one dinghies entered the May League at Monkstown Bay Sailing Club which concluded last Thursday evening with a tie at the top two places in Class One by two 505s. Ewen Barry and crew Ronan O’Driscoll and Charles McCarthy with his crew, Barry O’Connor, tied at the finish after nine races, with two discards allowed, on 28 points. The tie was broken on the highest number of placings. Barry and O’Driscoll had six first places and came out on top. Finishing in third place overall was Colin Johns on 31.5 points.

Class two had eleven entries and the top three places overall were filled by RS Feva XLs which dominated the class with nine of the dinghies racing.

The other two boats were a Mirror and an Optimist. Isobelle McCarthy and Isobelle Clarke Waterman were the winners on 16 points. Second were Ruby and Daisy Duggan on 23 and third Lucy O’Connell and Kate O’Connor on 46.

Cork’s largest celebration of maritime heritage and culture returns this week from June 3-13.

The festival celebrates Cork’s unique maritime history and culture as one of the largest natural harbours in the world. This year’s festival offers over 50 diverse events in 15 different locations
across Cork City and Cork Harbour.

The diverse programme spans on-the-water activities, history, music, storytelling, art, workshops, talks and walking tours, the environment, and family-friendly events. There is truly something for every age and activity level. Learn about whales, try out stand-up paddleboarding, sing a sea shanty or clean up the shoreline.

The festival also offers a whole host of family-friendly events. Families and children can make a model boat, join a boat tour or explore the harbour’s awe-inspiring forts.

Cork Harbour Festival is organised by Meitheal Mara, the community boatyard, training centre and charity located in the heart of Cork City.

More here

The Commodore at Monkstown Bay Sailing Club rather appropriately won the Commodore’s Cup on Saturday.

Sailing a 505 Sandy Rimmington was crewed by Richard Harrington. They won both races sailed. Second in both and second overall in another 505, were Charles McCarthy and Barry O’Connor. Third were Ben Dwyer and Donagh Leahy in an RS Feva XL.

Charles McCarthy and Barry O’Connor won the May evening league in Class 1 on 25 points. Ewen Barry and David McSweeney were second, just a point ahead. Both crews were sailing 505s.

Third was Colin Johns, half-a-point behind them on 26.5. Class 2 was won by Isabella McCarthy and Isobelle Clarke Waterman racing an RS Feva XL on 14 points.

Ruby and Daisy Duggan were second on 19 points in another Feva XL. Third were Isobel and Tim O’Connor in a Mirror dinghy.

Once again, the city quays are expected ring out with the cheers of spectators, the cries of coxswains, the beat of drummers, the splash of the oars hitting the water and the whoops and hollers of relief as rowers and paddlers cross the finish line of Cork Harbour's Ocean to City Youth Race on Saturday, June 4th.

This 4km race from Blackrock village to Lapps Quay in the city centre will be hotly contested by young people aged 12 to 18 hailing from all over Cork City and beyond.

The Ocean to City Youth Race is organised by Meitheal Mara as part of their Bádóireacht Youth Programme. The ethos of this programme is to provide access to the water and to water activities for young people that may not otherwise have the means or the opportunity to do so. Bádóireacht has played a particularly significant role for the young people of Cork over the past two years. Clare Hayden, Manager of the Bádóireacht Youth Programme says: “As a non-contact, outdoor activity for young people our rowing programmes have provided a chance for young people to come together with their friends and peers in a safe, socially-distanced environment. Our young participants have been able to stay physically active, to socialise with friends while gaining rowing and seamanship skills. The Ocean to City Youth Race will be a recognition of their achievements and a cause for celebration in its own right.”

(Above and below) Participants of the Meitheal Mara Bádóireacht youth programme Sam Hennessy, Charlie Duff, Alex Doyle and Caoimhe Cotter Photo: Darragh Kane

Approximately 60 young people will compete in the race on the day. While some of them have been rowing with Bádóireacht for several years, many of them began learning to row in March or April of this year. Alex Denby of Meitheal Mara says: “Over the past eight weeks, young people have attended weekly rowing sessions with us where they have learned how to row and have gradually taken more and more responsibility in the boat until they are comfortable with steering, manoeuvring and berthing the boats themselves. It is incredible to see these young people grow in confidence before your eyes as gain skills and start to appreciate their own capabilities.”

The Youth Race happens alongside the main Ocean to City Race on Saturday 4th of June. Ocean to City is the flagship event of Cork Harbour Festival, taking place this year from the 3rd of June until the 13th of June.

Festival & Event Manager, Joya Kuin, said: “The Ocean to City Youth Race is really at the heart of what Cork Harbour Festival celebrates: our unique maritime culture, community and having fun on the water. We are thrilled with Glenveagh’s support for the Youth Race, and look forward to putting on a great show on the June Bank Holiday Saturday.’’

Cork Harbour Festival unites heritage, water sports, outdoor activities, culture, nature, conversation and conservation through its common theme: celebrating Cork’s connection with the water, its river and harbour.

The full Cork Harbour Festival programme will be announced in mid-May.

Martin Clancy, Marketing Manager Glenveagh with participants of the Meitheal Mara Bádóireacht youth programme Kim Murphy-Maurice and Caoimhe Cotter Photo: Darragh Kane

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.

Monkstown Bay boaters in Cork Harbour got a pre-season boost with a general tidying up of the town's Sand Quay and boat park extensively used by Monkstown Bay Sailing Club (MBSC).

The improvements come as the Cork Lower Harbour Main Drainage Project in the area passes another milestone, with sewer pipes extending for over one kilometre under the estuary between Cobh and Monkstown - the longest such directional drill in Ireland. 

Monkstown Bay's Sand Quay Boat Park

The Sand Quay refurbishment is a work in progress, and there has been a thumbs up for the new surface that replaces the grass. 

Monkstown Quay

Works also included widening the second Monkstown slipway at the Cork County Council governed area.

(Above and below) Monkstown Bay's two slipways with the second slip (below) were improved by widening Photos: Bob Bateman

Monkstown Bay Sailing Club will host the RS Southern Dinghy Championships on April 16th. 

Looking out from Monkstown to the local marina facility and in the background, the Armorique Ferry where Brittany Ferries announced this week a weekday sailing from Ringaskiddy in Cork Harbour Photo: Bob Bateman