James Matthews, sailing his Ed Dubois quarter tonner Diamond, made a clean sweep of class three at the Kinsale Yacht Club Spring Series and is now leading by two points writes David Sullivan. Conor Phelan’s Jump Juice pulled out all the stops winning both races in class one IRC.

Calm seas with light NW winds made cool heads and smart tactics the order of the day as the twenty boat spinnaker fleet set off on a beat to Bulman and long downwind leg to the O'Leary Life mark. The second race, in even lighter winds, had a W/L loop between Matthews and Kiernan Electrical with the finish just south of Bulman.

Class 1
Jump Juice (C Phelan) got two bullets on the day with EOS (C McCarthy) now in first place overall in IRC.

Class 2
Bad Company (Desmond/Ivors/Deasy) also got two bullets with Slack Alice (S Strathem) in first place overall in IRC.

Class 3
The Ed Dubois quarter tonner Diamond (J Matthews) dominated both races in IRC and is now first overall with Flyover (D Marchant) second and No-Gnomes (L Donnery) third overall in IRC.

White Sail The seven boat White Sail fleet sailed to Matthews mark with a beat to a shortened course finish in the harbour mouth. The second race saw the fleet tacking in and out of the tide on an Axiom / Bulman loop.
Sweet Dreams (B&H O’Leary) won the day with the McCarthy Brothers now in first place overall on Baccarat.

Full results here

Racing continues on Sunday 23rd FG 11.55 HRS
Race Officers – Siobhan Keane Hopcraft, Denis Kieran, Michele Kennelly & Denis Cudmore.

The latest superyacht visitor to Kinsale Yacht Club Marina makes quite an impact alongside at the yacht club pontoon today.

'It's not too often we get these large boats into visit' Matthias Hellstern, Kinsale Yacht Club's Rear Commodore told Afloat.ie

‘Grace E’ is a Superyacht, 73 metres in length and built in 2014 by Perini Navi Group Italy. She won Motor Yacht of the Year at the World Superyacht Awards 2015

Superyacht 'Grace E' moored in Kinsale harbour

#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.

#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. 

#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

#kyc – Kinsale Yacht Club got the 2014 sailing season off to a dramatic start today for the first two races of its MMD Construction sponsored Spring Series for cruisers. It was John Godkin's Dufour 44 Godot that took advantage of the big seas and gusty south westerly winds to lead in IRC after two races in Class zero from Tom Roche's Salona 45, Meridian in a four–boat fleet writes Claire Bateman.

In a five boat fleet Dan Buckley's J109 Justus has the lead in IRC one from Diarmuid and Hilda Good's Exhale, an X362 Sport .

In Class One Rob McConnell's Fool's Gold leads in ECHO and is on equal points with the Broderick and Gibbons Joker

The 2014 Sailing Club of the Year Award winner has organised racing for four separate classes in the April series with today's racing sponsored by Des McWilliam of UK Sails. Class three has the marginally biggest fleet with six starters. Flyover, the well campaigned Sigma 33 ood skippered by David Marchant from Waterford holds the early lead in class three from Bandit, the modified Bolero of Kieran O'Connell and Graham Marron.

A mild day and a 15 to 20 knot breeze provided the spinnaker fleets with great racing with two races on windward/leeward courses and organised in such a way that classes Zero, One and Two sailed longer courses but were able to finish at approximately the same time as Classes Three and Four thus enabling the second race to get under way promptly. The White Sail fleet which started in off Charlelsfort blew away the cobwebs after the long winter recess. The fleet totalled thirty one boats, ten of which came from the Royal Cork Yacht Club, and three from Waterford Harbour Sailing Club.

Racing will continue next Sunday with FG 11.55a.m. for spinnaker fleets and 12.55 p.m for White Sail.

Full results by class here. More photos below.

#marina – Kinsale Yacht Club (KYC) marina, recently announced as the starting point of the new tourism initiative, "The Wild Atlantic Way", has been awarded Five Gold anchor accreditation by the International Yacht Harbour Association (YHA).

The Atlantic way is set to be Ireland's first long-distance touring route, stretching along the Atlantic coast from West Cork to Donegal. Kinsale Yacht Club is delighted that this announcement coincided with their achieving the much coveted 5 Anchors award for their recently upgraded marina.

Thus KYC is now poised to play an important role for all of those intending to cruise the Wild Atlantic Way.

"Over the last three years KYC invested a lot of resources and time into the marina ensuring that we are providing a top quality service to the visitor. Our efforts have now been rewarded, KYC rear–commodore told Afloat.ie

The 5 Anchors Award is an international standard for marinas that offer excellent facilities and a very high level of service to members and visitors. It also incorporates the ICOMIA clean marina standard which is fitting for the commencement point of the Wild Atlantic Way.

Kinsale has evolved from a Medieval fishing port and is today central to the "Cruising Hub of Ireland". Visiting yachts use it as an ideal location to start and finish their cruises along the beautiful South West coast of Ireland. The natural harbour is renowned for its beautiful scenery and is situated approximately 12 miles south west of Cork harbour entrance. Kinsale is 120 nautical miles from Wales, 240 nautical miles from northwest France and 500 nautical miles from the Galician coast of northern Spain.

The Kinsale Yacht Club marina offers the single largest berthage to visiting yachts in Ireland.

There is150 meters of dedicated marina space. It also caters for deep draft vessels proving popular with Superyachts.

In 2013 Kinsale Yacht Club completed major renovations to its Club House. It now offers state of the art, wheelchair accessible facilities; including a laundry room, Inhouse dining and an extended balcony, enabling visitors to relax and enjoy the breathtaking vista
of Kinsale Harbour.

The Marina is located in the heart of the town of Kinsale close to cafes, shops, a wide choice of restaurants and pubs. Kinsale is regarded as Ireland's Gourmet capital and is an essential stop on the tourist trail. The town is situated 20 minutes from Cork International airport and boasts excellent tourism and marine facilities. It is world renowned for the welcome it extends to its maritime visitors.

#kinsale – With Kinsale Yacht Club racing cancelled due to a building forecast on Sunday local helmsman Rob Howe and one other Laser sailor went out for a 'burn' with the above resulting 'deck-cam' video from Brian Carlin.

Kinsale Yacht Club (KYC) held an information meeting last Tuesday to discuss the situation of its aging clubhouse ahead of a planned EGM later this month.

Structural problems were previously discussed at a club meeting last November, at which a number of options were presented. 

These included undertaking a complete refurbishment of the building, and the option of moving the club to a new green field site on the other side of the River Bandon.

Tuesday's meeting at KYC saw presentations from an engineer, an architect, a quantity surveyor and an expert financial advisor based on these options, in order to evaluate the best choice for the club going forward - namely the first option of refurbishing.

The club committee will propose a motion to adopt its recommendation to move ahead with refurbishment plans at the EGM, scheduled for Tuesday 24 May at 8pm.