A ROLLING swell, left over from fresher onshore winds overnight, made for uncomfortable if challenging racing off Roche’s Point yesterday as Cork Week passed the halfway stage for all 13 classes.
Just Neil Kennefick and Joxer O’Brien on their Faroux half-tonner Tiger can not yet claim an assured win despite straight bullets in Class 6 IRC – so far. If they slip – and it’s a big if – Flor O’Driscoll with Hard On Port is waiting with a string of second places and hungry for a win.
Otherwise the fleet of around 200 boats is enjoying close racing with most classes undecided.
Among the Commodore’s Cup boats, Dave Dwyer’s marinerscove.ie closed the gap on Richard Cotter’s Nemo of Cowes on the windward-leeward course and has just three races, including the unpredictable harbour course, to close the four-point difference.
Dwyer’s small-boat team-mate for next month’s event in Cowes is Robert Davies’ Roxy 6, which at last delivered on form with two emphatic wins, in spite of the sloppy conditions, to draw level with Conor and Denise Phelan’s Jump Juice, but he has the edge on the tie-break.
In Class 2, a “shocker” for the crew on Paul O’Higgins’ Rockabill V of a fourth and a sixth – in marked contrast to two wins the previous day – left the Corby 33-footer in second after tie-break to Donal O’Leary’s D-Tox that scored two neat firsts.
Sailing Logic’s Visit Malta Puma is also in the hunt for the class, trailing in third by a point.
Belfast Lough’s Bengal Magic, owned by John Moorehead and Chris Ferres, discarded a fifth place yesterday, and second-placed Ross McDonald on Equinox is the next challenger five points behind.
Paul Kirwan’s Sigma 38 seemed well-suited to the slalom course yesterday, despite the light conditions, and clipped off two wins and leads Class 4 going into the penultimate day.
Among the J109 EuroCup, Robert O’Leary and his crew, mostly drawn from UCC Sailing Club, on Jeroboam moved up a place to second and trail Greg Burgess’ Blue Jay by seven points with four races remaining.
The context of the remarks in yesterday’s report concerning the Echo handicap system was incorrectly reported. John Veale’s comment was intended to refer to the suitability of the Echo system when compared to IRC for larger championship events.
Philip Dilworth’s Orna happily competes under Echo and intends to continue to do so.
DAY THREE RESULTS:
at Royal Cork Yacht Club
Super 0:1 Pace (Johnny Vincent); 2 Bob (Gray, Laidlaw); 3 Paprec Recyclage (Ph Finance, Stephane Neve);
IRC 0:1 Nemo Of Cowes (Richard Cotter); 2 Marinerscove.Ie (David Dwyer); 3 Gloves Off (Kieran Twomey);
IRC 1:1 Roxy 6 (Robert Davies); 2 Jump Juice (Conor Denise Phelan); 3 Impetuous (Richard Fildes);
I RC 2:1 D-Tox (Donal O'Leary); 2 Rockabill V (Paul O'Higgins); 3 Visit Malta Puma (Sailing Logic Limited);
IRC 3:1 Bengal Magic (John Moorehead Chris Ferres); 2 Equinox (Ross McDonald); 3 Mumbo (Dermot Cronin);
IRC 4:1 Errislannan (Patrick Kirwan); 2 Alpaca (Paul Deirdre Tingle); 3 Ruthless (Conor Ronan);
IRC 5:1 Yanks $ Ffrancs (Vincent O'Shea); 2 Thunderbird (Denis Coleman); 3 Antix (John Allen);
IRC 6:1 Tiger (James O'Brien, Kenefick Kenefick); 2 Hard On Port (Flor O'Driscoll); 3 Sea Hawk (Clem McElligott);
J1091 Bluejay (Greg Burgess); 2 Jeroboam (Rob O'Leary); 3 Juke Box (Brian Moreton);
1720/Mixed Sports Boats:1 Yknot (Michael Wilson); 2 Dark Side (Bryan Hassett); 3 Aquatack (Denis Murphy);
SB3: 1 Sharkbait (Ben Duncan Brian Moran); 2 Bullet (Trevor D'Arcy); 3 Profile Park (Ronan Downing);
White Sail 1:1 Orna (Philip Dilworth); 2 Aisha (Kevin Lane); 3 Persistance (Charles Broadhead, Jerry Collins & Ian Stuart);
White Sail 21 Harmony (Jerome McCarthy, Clarke & McMullin); 2 Expression (Billy Duane); 3 Minx III (Tom McNeice);
Provisional results subject to protests
