#WilsonTrophy – Team racing's annual pinnacle, the Wilson Trophy, came to a close this afternoon with a worthy victor in West Kirby Hawks. Two Irish teams competed in the 22 rounds event.

The third and last day of racing on the Wirral seaside town's Marine Lake, overlooking the River Dee and with Wales as a backdrop, was roundly won by the local favourites, who beat Wessex Exempt 3-1 in the Final.

Kinsale Yacht Club and Howth Yacht Club finished 21st and 22nd from the 28 competing teams.  Download results below.

For the last day of the Wilson Trophy, the wind had swung into the south, blowing out of the River Dee estuary, starting in 15 knots gusting to 18, then veering and dropping to below 10, for the final rounds. The Swiss League qualifiers ended after 22 rounds, before moving into best of three Quarter Finals and Semis and best of five Finals. These truly showcased team racing at its very highest level, with spectators lining the shallow banks of the Marine Lake providing a soundtrack of gasps, whoops, hollas and outcrys as the titans of the sport slogged it out.

West Kirby Hawks hasn't won the Wilson Trophy since 2012, but the team is the reigning World Champion, following their victory in Schull, Ireland in 2011. In fact this year is the first time since Schull, that the World Championship winning line-up of Andrew Cornah, Ben Field, Dom Johnson, Hamish Walker, Tom Foster, Debs Steele have regrouped. The reason for 'getting the band back together' is the team's desire to defend its title this year at the ISAF Team Racing World Championship due to be held on Rutland Water in July.

"The Wilson is the pinnacle of team racing, because there are so many fantastic teams here pitting it out," explains West Kirby Hawks leader Dom Johnson, who flew in from Singapore especially for the event. Here he was reunited with his crew, Debs Steele, one of the most capped Wilson Trophy competitors of all time, having sailed it 23 times and been in the final 12 times. "If you look at any of the top eight teams, any one of them can perform and take races off the other."

Saying that, West Kirby Hawks finished the Swiss League qualifiers having only been beaten in three after 22 races. In fact throughout this Wilson Trophy they only suffered four defeats. However, as Johnson pointed out, their races "weren't walkovers. They were gritty races where we were having to do conversions and come-backs. There weren't too many 1-2-3 sail-aways. The conditions were part of that, because it was quite changeable, but that was great for us in terms of progression and practice."

The Finals also saw a number of incidents, including a major one which Johnson (fourth from the right above) admitted he may have caused, as he explained: "Mark 3 at the bottom of the run can often be a 'point of congestion' in team racing. In one race we felt in control with a 2-3-4, which is a winning combination, and there was a slight boat handling error on my part: I was trying to gybe across, spun out slightly in a puff and crashed into my team mate and also the opposition boat that was trying to do a mark trap. So I caused a bit of mayhem." That was in the only race of the Final in which the Hawks suffered a defeat.

Some eminent sailors failed to make the grade. One of the most promising teams, from the Royal Dee Yacht Club, led by Team GBR Nacra 17 sailor Ben Saxton, ended up being knocked out in the Semi-Finals, a repeat of their performance here last year. Sailing with Saxton was 'super crew' Toby Lewis. "One of the reasons we have done okay is that we are all fast sailors and boat speed is important because it makes your tactics a lot easier if you are quick," observed Lewis for whom this was his seven Wilson Trophy. "They are all very good sailors here - it is a challenge."

London 2012 Olympic 470 silver medallist Stuart Bithell was racing as part of the Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy team: "It has been a brilliant Wilson Trophy for us - I think we've had the most wins we've ever had, even though we didn't make the Quarters. In fact we were quite up and down – we'd have a really good run and then we'd start racing better teams and it became trickier..." While this is only his third time at the Wilson Trophy with the WPNSA team, Bithell originally raced the Wilson a nipper, when he represented his original club, Hollingworth Lake, near Rochdale.

In summary, West Kirby Sailing Club Commodore Phil Shepherd commented: "It has been a fantastic weekend - everything went well. The boats held together very nicely and the number of races, the speed of turn-arounds speaks for itself. The quality of the competitors was also amazing. This is certainly the most competitive Wilson Trophy I have ever witnessed."

And in case you are wondering, the total number of races run by PRO Adam Whittle and his team at this year's Wilson Trophy was...324.

Top five:
West Kirby Hawks
Wessex Exempt
Royal Dee YC
Yale Corinthian YC
Bristol University

#cruiserracing – The south coast's biggest sailing event of the year was launched today on board the Irish Naval vessel LE Eithne by Simon Coveney TD, Minister for the Marine. The ICRA cruiser-racer National Championships event is to be hosted by Kinsale Yacht Club as part of its Sovereign's Cup event from 24th-27th June 2015.

The four-day event will decide four national titles as well as the Sovereign's Cup. Over 80 boats have registered so far for the event and this figure is expected to exceed 100 over the next two months.

At least 10 crews have entered from the UK and sailing crews from almost every coastal county in Ireland will attend the co-hosting of the Irish Cruiser Racing Association (ICRA) National Championship with the 10th biennial Sovereign's Cup regatta.

Minister Coveney praised the co-operation between all the stakeholders and cited the event as a prime example of what can be achieved to bring benefits to whole communities when clubs and associations work closely with business groups and local authorities to organise world class events

Many of the Ireland's best racing crews will be competing for the Sovereigns' Cup under the international IRC handicap system that is also used to decide the ICRA national championship titles. The Portcullis Trophy will be awarded to competitors under the ECHO handicap system.

The Sovereigns Cup 2015 was launched on board the Naval Service flagship LE Eithne in Dublin by Simon Coveney TD, Minister for Agriculture, Food, the Marine and Defence (right) pictured with Mike Walsh, Regatta Director Kinsale YC, Norbert Reilly, Commodore Irish Cruiser Racing Association and Ensign Ben Crumplin. Photo: David Branigan

#Kinsale - Kinsale Yacht Club will host an Open Day from 2-5pm next Sunday 15 March, and Rear Commodore Caroline Forde has invited anyone to come, enjoy a cuppa and chat, and take a tour of the clubhouse.

Boat trips out of the KYC marina will also be available, weather permitting, while the club will be hosting a competition for free membership among other prizes.

It comes ahead of Kinsale's pre-St Patrick's Day maritime parade on Monday 16 March, for which participating boats will parade past the pier head, followed by refreshments in the clubhouse afterwards.

#kinsale – After last week's postponement, KInsale Yacht Club race organisers were delighted to get three races in today although only the Full Rig Lasers, Squibs and a solitary RS 400 braved the elements. Winds were Southerly veering to South Westerly and remained steady at 10 knots with occasional gusts of 14 knots. Race Officer John Stallard organised a rapid turnaround between races, mindful of the chilly conditions.
Monkstown's Ronan Kenneally swept the leader board again today with 3 bullets in the Laser Full Rig fleet. This places him as the current overall leader for the series on 7 points with the next closest rival being fellow Monstown sailor Paul O'Sullivan on 12 points.
Ewan O'Keeffe was the solitary representative of the RS400 fleet however they proved themselves an able match for the Squib fleet and certainly seemed to relish the conditions. Racing in the KYC dominated Squib fleet is proving extremely competitive indeed. There are even rumours of Saturday practice sessions! In fact today's competition lead to the dismasting of one of the squibs, the mast had a previous repair which gave way. Fortunately helm Joe O'Connell (Sail No. 487) and his crew were uninjured and efficiently rescued by KYC Cruiser Class Captain Nigel Dann & helpers on board the trusty Fiona.
With only 2 more days of racing Colm Dunne & Rob Gill (Allegro 134) have a firm lead on 7 points but are hotly pursued by KYC's Commodore Finbarr O'Regan & his son Colm ( Fagin 100) on 12 points. Once again a ferocious battle is raging for third position with KYC's Victor Fusco & Ruth Ennis (Espresso 150) on 26 points, fellow Club mate Mark Buckley (Sail No. 4) on 28 points and Squib newcomer Amy McCarthy & Dave Gibbons (Lazarus 483) on a very credible 30 points.

#kinsale – While the bulk of the early entries for the ICRA Nationals, now totalling 42, come from the domestic fleet the championships that runs in conjunction with June's Sovereign's Cup has also attracted a number of early UK entries.

Yealm Yacht Club, near Plymouth, will be represented by the Ker 40, Geronimo (Andy Williams). Coming from Wales is Neyland Yacht Club's Corby 36 Roxy 6 of Milford Haven (Robert Davies) and sistership Stratisfear (Guy Cowper) is also coming across the Irish Sea, from Royal Dee Yacht Club.

Organisers report a buoyant take up before the early bird deadline this weekend.

The current entry list is downloadable below as a PDF file.  

#cruiserracing – ICRA are reporting a buoyant line–up of early entries for its national championships to be sailed off the Cork coast in June. The 2015 Irish cruiser–racer National Championships has attracted an early entry of 40 boats from Ireland, Northern Ireland and the UK. An expected fleet of over 100 will sail in the combined ICRA and Sovereign's Cup event at Kinsale Yacht Club. 

The discounted early bird entry deadline is February 14. 

#kinsaleyachtclub – Day two of the ASM Kinsale Yacht Club frostbite series saw typical frostbite weather, cold, bright, sunny with near perfect sailing conditions. The wind was 10–knots gusting to 12.5 from NNW. Each of the 5 fleets got 3 great races in shifting conditions which made it a great test for all competitors. Each of the fleets had close racing, especially the ever popular Squib Fleet.

Race Officer & KYC Sailing Secretary, John Stallard was delighted to see the arrival this week of the RS400 fleet which has added greatly to competition and made for a beautiful spectacle in the bright sunshine on Kinsale inner harbour.

Maeve Leonard from RCYC appeared out today in the Laser Radial fleet and produced 3 bullets to dispense with all opposition. Her club mate Luke McGrath achieved the same result in the Laser 4.7 fleet.

The Full rig fleet was smaller today and the field is led by Monkstown's Ronan Kenneally followed by Club mate Paul O'Sullivan.

In the Squib fleet KYC's Colm Dunne and Rob Gill have an astonishing result of 6 bullets after 6 races, they are hotly pursued by KYC's Commodore Finny O'Regan and his son Colm.

Sail number 1260 takes the lead in the fledgling RS400 fleet.

Racing continues next week....

Squibs on a Run

Maeve Leonard of RCYC looking happy with 3 wins from 3 races

KYC's Colm Dunne & Rob Gill in their Squib Allegro, in the lead with 6 bullets after 6 races...

Committee Boat stalwart Sue Horgan

Lasers heading to Castlepark

All photos courtesy of Seamus McLaverty of ASM Marine

#kinsale – American travel bloggers, Monique Davis and Drake Roberts (DrakeParagon), who are living on their boat on Kinsale Yacht Club Marina for the next few months, made this short video over the past few days with clear skies and good weather conditions showing off the south coast town to be the beautiful and special place.

#cruiserracing – The 2015 ICRA cruiser national championships will be sailed in conjunction with Kinsale Yacht Club's Sovereign's Cup regatta, the Cruiser–Racer conference heard at the weekend. Eight races are planned over four days.

The full Notice of Race for the Wednesday June 24 to Saturday, 27th event has been published and is available to download below as a PDF document and details are below. A Notice of Race for the White Sails Cup is also downloadable below.

ICRA NATIONALS & SOVEREIGN’S CUP 2015

1 ORGANISING AUTHORITY [OA]
1.1 The Organising Authority (OA) is Kinsale Yacht Club in conjuction with the Irish Cruiser Racing Association (ICRA)
1.2 The Event is the ICRA Nationals and Sovereign's Cup 2015 and incorporates the Irish 1/4 Ton Cup.
1.3 For more information contact regatta drector on: +353 21 4773 433 email: [email protected]

2 RULES AND ELIGIBILITY
The Event is governed by the Racing Rules of Sailing (RRS) of the International Sailing Federation (ISAF), the prescriptions of the Irish Sailing Association (ISA), the IRC Rating Rule parts A-C, the ISA ECHO Performance Handicap System, the rules of ICRA, the Quarter Ton class rules
Safety: The regatta is an ISAF Category 5 event. The OA reminds all persons in charge of their obligations in this regard. Copies of the Special Regulations are available from the ISAF website at www.sailing.org
2.1 To be eligible to compete in the Event boats shall, except when sailing under Quarter Ton Class rules
2.1.1 Comply with the definition of a cruiser in the ICRA Constitution;
2.1.2 Have an IRC rating or ECHO standard within the range .800 to 1.250;
2.1.3 Comply with the relevant IRC rating and ECHO handicapping rules

3 ADVERTISING
3.1. The OA reserves the right to refuse entry to the Event, if there is in its opinion, a conflict between a competitor's sponsor and the Event sponsor.
3.2. Boats may be required to display advertising chosen and supplied by the OA.

4 CLASSIFICATION
4.1 ISAF Regulation 22, Sailor Classification Code, will apply. Category 3 sailor allowance per class is set out in the table below.

It is the personal responsibility of every sailor to determine their ISAF Regulation 22 status. Apart from the exceptions set out in the table below, ISAF Group 3 competitors, including competitors who are not classified but who satisfy the requirements of the Group 3 definition, are not permitted to sail in the event. The OA may request a competing boats crew list together with related ISAF sailor IDs
4.2 Group 3 competitors are not permitted to helm except in an emergency.
4.3 Competitors who require an ISAF Classification should apply, in good time, on www.sailing.org/isafsailor

5 CREW LIMITATIONS
IRC Rule 22.4 is deleted. There is no limit on crew number or crew weight as required for boats rated as One Designs or restricted by
Class Rules.

6 DIVISIONS
6.1 Entrants will be divided into DIVISIONS which will not be finalised until after the closing date of 12th June, 2015.
6.2 The composition of divisions will be determined at the sole discretion of the OA on receipt of the entries, having regard to the following criteria:
6.2.1 The need for a reasonable number of boats in each division;
6.2.2 Having as close a spread as possible in the range of handicaps in each division.
6.2.3 Extra divisions from those used in previous years, with different breakpoints, may be created.
6.2.4 It is the intention to include a division which will group all ¼ tonners
6.3 The OA reserves the absolute discretion, in the interests of fair sailing for all competitors, to allocate any boat to any division.

7 PROGRAM OF RACES
7.1 The Skippers Briefing will be held at 1800 Tuesday 23rd June 2015 in Kinsale Yacht Club.
7.2 Racing is scheduled to be held on Wednesday 24th June to Saturday 27th June 2015.
7.3 The scheduled times of the first warning signals for each days racing will be 1155
7.4 On the last scheduled day no warning signal will be made after 1530, except in the case of a race where a postponement, abandonment or general
recall has been signalled.
7.5 Races will be scheduled to achieve a program of eight races maximum over the Event

8 SCORING & DISCARDS
8.1 The Low Point scoring system of Appendix A will apply.
8.2 Three races are required to be completed to constitute a Championship.
8.3 If 5 or more races are completed 1 discard shall apply.

9 FEES
9.1 The cut off criteria for Early Entry Fee is 14th February 2015. Closing date for entries is 30th May, 2015 unless extended by the OA.

ENTRY FEE: Early Entry By 14th April Thereafter
Over 45' to 50' E390 E410 E470
Over 42' to 45' E370 E385 E445
Over 38' to 42' E330 E345 E395
Over 32' to 38 E290 E305 E350
Over 28' to 32' E270 E285 E325
28' and under E250 E260 E300

9.2 The entry fee includes marina berthing for the competing boat from Tuesday night 23rd June to Saturday night 27th June inclusive and includes 5 additional nights that can be taken free of charge anytime during the summer of 2015.
9.3 There will be an additional fee of €50 euros per boat per lift (payable on the pier) for craning in and out facilities for boats arriving by road by prior
arrangement.
9.4 Entries may be made online through the event website
9.5 Entries are accepted at the sole discretion of the OA.
9.6 Entries are accepted for the full Championship only - boats may not enter for individual races.

10. RATINGS & HANDICAPS
10.1. IRC certificates shall be ENDORSED and have a VALIDITY DATE no later than 12th June, 2015 and are required to race in all IRC Divisions with the exception of Class 5, White Sail IRC when an unendorsed IRC certificate will suffice.
10.1.1. No alteration in a boat's TCC will be permitted after this cut-off date except as a result of a rating protest, or to correct Rating Office errors. Such errors shall be certified in writing as such by the Rating Office.
10.1.2. A boat's owner and any other person in charge shall ensure that the boat is maintained to comply with her measurement and that her rating certificate
remains valid for all races in the series.
10.1.3. If, for any reason, a boat's TCC is changed after the cut-off date above it shall be the duty of the boat's owner or any other person in charge to inform the OA of any change immediately and any increased TCC shall be applied to all races in calculating her series score. This provision is subject to 10.1.5
10.1.4. The name/s of the equipment inspector/s and/or measurer/s shall be published on the official notice board for the duration of the event [RRS 78]
10.1.5. The validity date may be extended in extraordinary circumstances at the sole discretion of the OA. The boat seeking the extension shall apply in
good time in writing setting out the grounds for the extension.
10.2. A copy of the boat's current IRC Endorsed certificate shall be included with the entry form or submitted at registration. This copy shall be available for inspection by another competitor at any time.
10.3. The OA reserves the right to inspect any boat to ensure compliance with IRC certificates.
10.4. Each entry will be assigned an initial ECHO Handicap based on current ECHO Handicap data gathered from the various handicap authorities. A
system of progressive ECHO handicapping, where each boat's handicap is automatically adjusted on the basis of performance in each race, will apply.
The act of handicap adjustment or failure to adjust will not be grounds for a request for redress. (This changes RRS 62)

11. HAUL OUT RESTRICTIONS
Boats shall not be hauled out once launched and during the Event except with and according to the terms of prior written permission of the OA.

12. PRIZES
Overall Prizes and trophies will be awarded under IRC and ECHO.
12.1 The Sovereign's Cup will be presented to the boat which in the opinion of the Regatta Committee performs to the highest standard under IRC.
12.2 The Portcullis Trophy will be presented to the boat which in the opinion of the Regatta Committee performs to the highest standard under ECHO.
12.3 A White Sail Trophy will be presented to the boat which in the opinion of the Regatta Committee performs to the highest standard under white sail
12.4 The Irish Quarter Ton Championship Trophy will be presented to the Quarter Tonner with the lowest points score under IRC.
12.5 The Michelle Dunne Prix D'elegance Trophy will be presented to the boat and crew which in the opinion of the Regatta Committee is the best turned
out at the regatta.
12.5 Final prize giving for the ICRA Nationals and Sovereigns Cup and Irish National Quarter Ton Cup Regatta will take place on Saturday 29th June in
Kinsale Yacht club.

13 REGISTRATION AND SAILING INSTRUCTIONS
All entrants shall register with the Event Office in the KYC. Sailing Instructions will be available at registration and may be posted on the event website.
Registration will take place on the following days:
Monday 22nd June 1400 – 1700
Tuesday 23rd June 1000 – 1800

14 RACING AREA & COURSES
14.1. Races will be sailed in the waters off Kinsale Harbour.
14.2. The courses to be sailed will be windward leeward or fixed mark courses.
14.3. Competitors are advised to ensure there is a working VHF radio on board each boat as the courses for the Round the Cans races may be called out on VHF.

15. ACCOMODATION & SOCIAL
15.1. Information on local accommodation is available on the Event website.
15.2. Entertainment will be provided after racing each day.
15.3. Competitors are granted temporary membership of KYC for the duration of the Event subject only to the Club rules for withdrawing or withholding
such membership.
15.4. On Friday 26th June KYC will host a Ladies lunch for the wives and partners of the competitors and their guests. Details will be available on the event web page. It is intended that all funds raised during this event will be presented to the Access Sailing Committee from KYC for the promotion of sailing amongst disabled youths at Kinsale yacht Club

16. SAFETY & DISCLAIMER OF LIABILITY
16.1. The safety of a boat and her crew is the sole responsibility of the person in charge [RRS 46] who must do their best to ensure that the boat is fully found, thoroughly seaworthy, and manned by an experienced crew who have undergone appropriate training and are fit to face the conditions encountered. The person in charge must be satisfied as to the soundness of hull, spars, sails, rigging and all gear. The person in charge must ensure that all safety equipment is properly maintained and suitably stowed. The crew must be familiar with the use and position of such safety equipment. The person in charge accepts that the responsibility for a boat's decision to participate in a race or to continue racing is theirs and theirs alone. Neither these regulations nor any action of the OA in any way limits or reduces the exclusive responsibility of the owner or the person in charge.
16.2. The wearing of personal flotation devices is strongly recommended at all times
16.3. Competitors participate in the championship at their own risk - see Fundamental Rule 4, Decision to Race. ICRA, KYC, their officers, servants and agents accept no responsibility in respect of loss of life, personal injury or loss of or damage to property sustained in conjunction with or prior to, during or after the event.

17. INSURANCE
It is a condition of entry for each boat owner to have their boat adequately insured against any risk, including civil liability to third parties and to ensure that such insurance remains valid for the entirety of the event.

18. MARINA
18.1 Marina berths will be available, free of charge, from Tuesday 23rd June until 1200 on Sunday 28th June 2015. Berths will be allocated on arrival and are subject to suitable space availability.
18.2 A limited number of marina berths will also be available from Sunday 15th June 2015. The provision of berths will be at the discretion of the OA and
advanced booking is required. Requests for an advanced berth should be made by contacting the KYC Marina Manager.

19. SPONSORSHIP
The Irish Cruiser Racing Association and Kinsale Yacht Club are very pleased to welcome Covestone Asset Management as our sponsor at this year's event.

20. MEDIA WAIVER
Competitors give their consent to the OA to use or so license the use of their name, comments, photographs and likeness as it sees fit for the promotion of cruiser racing. The OA reserves the right to use or to license the use of any images and sound recorded during the Event free of charge,

21 WHITE SAIL/NON–SPINNAKER
White sail/non-spinnaker boats please refer to addendum to this notice of race

#youthsailing – ISAF youth silver medallist Seafra Guilfoyle is a wild card entry into this weekend's All Ireland youth sailing event at Kinsale Yacht Club this Saturday. Crosshaven based Guilfoyle, who won world silver in Portugal in July, is slated against 19 other top Irish youth sailors who will compete in the double–handed Topaz dinghy fleet. 

Over 30 sailors from 11 classes were considered and the Irish Sailing Association organisers say their selection process allocated places based on the numbers of boats declared by the classes attending their national championships. The full list on invitees for the weekend fixture is published below (with some crew names missing).

The host Topaz dinghy has two nominees from its own national championships held in Dingle and the RS Feva also has two sailors attending. The Optimist class has three sailors slated including top European championships perfomers, Clare Gorman of the National Yacht Club and James McCann of Royal Cork. 420 dinghy youths are represented by national champion Peter McCann and girls champion Cliodhna NiShuillebhain of the host club.

The Mirror dinghy is also included with teams coming from Lough Ree  YC and Sutton Dinghy Club.