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Royal Cork Yacht Club Reschedules Big Weekend of Celebrations for 300th Birthday to 2021

24th August 2020
The AIB 1720 Southern Championships will go ahead over the weekend, but activity will be limited to the water, The AIB 1720 Southern Championships will go ahead over the weekend, but activity will be limited to the water,

The Royal Cork Yacht Club has rescheduled the biggest weekend of its Cork300 tricentenary celebrations, planned for 28-30 August, in light of new government restrictions on outdoor and sporting events announced last week.

Many of the events, which included a Tricentenary Maritime Parade in Cobh, a Tricentenary at Home Weekend Regatta, and the Fastnet Powerboat Challenge, an exciting world-record attempt, had already been pushed back from earlier in the summer. A Family Race to the City on 12-13 September has also been put on hold. This follows on from the recent cancellation of Volvo Cork Week, the Great Gathering, and the inaugural Powerboat Festival.

The Crosshaven based sailing Club hopes to be in a position to reschedule most of these events, in addition to others that were previously cancelled like the Cork300 Gala Dinner in Cork City Hall and Cork300 Wild Atlantic Way Cruise in Company along the Cork and Kerry coastline, to July 2021.

The events will coincide with the Irish Navy’s 75th anniversary and the final year of Seafest in Cork, making it a big year for maritime celebrations in the county.

Small ceremony at Haulbowline

A number of small activities will still take place to mark the anniversary this weekend. Minister of Foreign Affairs and Defence Simon Coveney TD and Flag Officer Commanding Naval Service Commodore Michael Malone will join the Admiral of the Royal Cork Yacht Club Colin Morehead for a small ceremony at Haulbowline, the Irish Naval Headquarters and home of the original ‘Water Club of the harbour of Cork’, as it was known back in 1720.

A new Royal Cork Yacht Club Exhibition, supported by AIB, will also open at the Sirius Arts Centre in Cobh this Saturday, another former home of the sailing club from 1854 to 1966. The exhibition, which will run until December, will look back on the history of the club over 300 years, and what life was like during its time in Cobh.

The National 18 Southern Championships and the AIB 1720 Southern Championships will go ahead over the weekend, but activity will be limited to the water, with the clubhouse closed to visitors.

Commenting on the rescheduled events series, Admiral of the Royal Cork Yacht Club Colin Morehead said, “It is with deep regret that we have to yet again reschedule our celebratory events, but public health must come first. We hope that by 2021 we will be in a much better position to truly celebrate the momentous feat of having the oldest sailing club in the world here in Cork.

“I am delighted to be joined by Minister Coveney and Commodore Malone at Haulbowline to mark the actual anniversary of the Royal Cork in some small way, and I hope the public will visit the excellent exhibition at the Sirius over the coming months. As branch manager of AIB in Cobh, I am proud to have this exhibition in the town and to have it sponsored by AIB.”

A number of sailing events are currently still scheduled to take place from September to November 2020, including the AIB Cork300 Autumn League which will be held over 5 weekends leading up to the October Bank Holiday. This is expected to be the largest yacht racing event on the South Coast of Ireland this year. Sailing teams from across the country also hope to compete in Cork Harbour for the title of AIB Irish Team Racing National Champion 2020 from 21-22 November.

As the event only takes place every other year, the Royal Cork has also announced dates for its 2022 Volvo Cork Week Regatta, which will be held from 11-15 July 2022. Strong interest is already being received from several one design classes to hold their championships as part of the event.

Published in Cork300
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Tricentenary 'Cork 300' Celebrations at Royal Cork Yacht Club

Cork 300 is the overall name for a series of events which will be held in Cork Harbour and further afield in 2020 to celebrate the tricentenary of Royal Cork Yacht Club.

300 years earlier, 25 individuals came together and created what is now the oldest yacht club in the world (where it all began). Today, there are thousands of yacht clubs across the globe with a collective membership running into the millions.

Cork, its harbour and its communities will proudly celebrate all that is on offer to visitors to Irelands Maritime Paradise with a series of events throughout the year. Register your interest here.

The lead events will be as follows:

July – The Great Gathering (Keelboats)
August – The Three Championship Weeks (Dinghies)
August – The Club At Home Regatta (Keelboats & Dinghies)

Events include…

AIB 1720 Southern Championships 28th-30th August
Sadly, the 1720 Europeans scheduled to take place as part of Volvo Cork Week fell victim to the covid 19 pandemic. The Royal Cork Yacht Club is instead hosting the AIB 1720 Southern Championships 2020 as part of their Tricentenary At Home Regatta weekend. The 1720 class originated from an idea generated by some committed racing members of the Royal Cork Yacht Club with the first prototype taking to the water in 1994. Designed by Tony Castro, they have been delighting many a competitive sailor since.

Tricentenary at Home Regatta, 28th - 30th August:
The AIB Tricentenary at Home Regatta will be the biggest sailing event of the year in the Royal Cork calendar. Racing will be available for all classes both dinghy and keelboat with many visitors expected from up and down the Irish South Coast. The National 18 Southern Championships will also feature as part of the racing over the weekend.

Maritime Parade 29th August
A maritime parade, originally scheduled for July, will now take place during the Tricentenary Regatta on the 29th August, with the support of the Irish Naval Services and Port of Cork. The Admiral of the Royal Cork and other dignitaries will review the parade from one of the Irish Naval Service vessels which will be anchored in the vicinity of Haulbowline.

1720s Race from Haulbowline to Crosshaven, 29th August
Following the Maritime Parade, a race will take place between all of the 1720s boats from the Naval Signal Tower back to the Royal Cork Yacht Club in Crosshaven. The National 18 Class will also be participating.

RCYC Exhibition at the Sirius, 29th August to 19th December
A RCYC Exhibition will be launched at the Sirius Arts Centre in Cobh on August 29th following the day's events. The Sirius was the Royal Cork Club House from 1854 to 1966, and the Exhibition will take a look at what life was like at the yacht club during its time there.

Fastnet Challenge, 29th August
The Fastnet Powerboat Challenge originally scheduled for the last week of July has now been moved to the last weekend of August (Weather permitting). This will see the UIM Long Distance Cork-Fastnet-Cork World Record attempt competed for.

Cork300 Family Race to the City, 12-13 September
In conjunction with Cove Sailing Club's annual Cobh to Blackrock race, Yachts and craft from across Cork Harbour will take part in a race to Blackrock Castle, following on from which, they will continue to the city Quays where they will remain overnight and provide a spectacle of sail within the City environs.

AIB National 18 Championships, 12-13 September
The AIB National 18 Championships for adult sailors in the UK and Ireland will take place from 12-13 September in Crosshaven this year as part of the Cork300 celebrations.

AIB Cork300 Autumn League, 27 September-25 October
The premier yacht racing event on the South Coast this year, the AIB Cork300 Autumn League, will be held over 5 weekends leading up to the October Bank Holiday weekend. This is expected to be the largest yacht racing event on the South Coast of Ireland this year.

AIB Irish Team Racing National Championships 2020, 21-22 November
Sailing teams from across the country will compete in Cork Harbour for the title of AIB Irish Team Racing National Champion 2020

All races will be governed by the COVID-19 guidelines as laid out by Irish Sailing and organising clubs.

At A Glance – Royal Cork Tricentenary

Founded in 1720, by a group of 25 pioneering individuals, the Royal Cork Yacht Club is the oldest yacht club in the world, and its tricentenary celebrations will take a look back at the origins of ‘where it all began’, which is attracting significant international interest from thousands of yacht clubs across the globe

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