Saturday's 2023 Royal Cork Yacht Club PY1000 turned out to be a day for ILCA6/Radials, which took the top three prizes overall in breezy conditions for the ninth year of the competition, which saw entries topping 50 dinghies for the first time.
Chris Bateman sailing an ILCA 6, was a convincing winner in this year’s Crosshaven House-sponsored race, with 32 boats finishing the race.
Second to fifth was hotly contested, with Portuguese Laser coach Andre Granadeiro taking second in his ILCA 6.
2021 winner Oisin MacSweeney was third, again in an ILCA 6. It was a year for the Lasers this year as they joined 29ers, N18s, 420s and RS400s as previous winners.
This year the race was run in a pursuit format with boats starting on a staggered basis in line with their handicaps; the first to cross the line then after 90 minutes is the winner.
The Toppers and RS Tera were first out of the blocks in the new pursuit format. Isha Duggan led for much of the race before eventually being hunted down by the faster boats.
With gusts of over 30 knots forecast, race officer John Crotty set an interesting course with mark one upriver at Coolmore House towards Carrigaline and mark two off Crosshaven House near the boatyard.
The course raised some eyebrows when announced, but on returning to shore, the consensus was that getting a fair race in was great, given the conditions involved.
Staying upright in the gusty conditions was the aim of the game; not all could manage it, however!
The river course gave some reprieve from the strong gusts at times, but Laser champion Nick Walsh got a special prize for helping a capsized Topper.
Download results below