SAILING COMMODORES' CUP:A TESTING OFFSHORE course that has been the downfall of previous Irish teams was successfully negotiated yesterday when Ireland emerged joint-winners of the race and further extended its overall lead of the Rolex Commodores' Cup.

Winds remained fresh throughout most of the course that was up to 190-miles in length and lasted up to 30 hours for some boats. In contrast to previous years, the course was not extended by the race management team.

Of the three Cork boats in the Irish squad, Dave Dwyer’s marinerscove.ie emerged best as winner of Class 2 following a close duel with Blondie IV, a former club-mate from the Royal Cork Yacht Club now in Hong Kong ownership along with two other top Irish boats.

After previous years when Ireland came close to a first-time victory at a major event in Cowes after leading, tension was high going into the offshore event. Team-mates Antix and Roxy 6 produced second and fourth places respectively in the race.

“We all know what level we had to lift ourselves which was to the extreme,” said Dwyer. “What we had to do last night was on the edge but the whole crew gave 100 per cent and we came out with a bullet.”

Conditions began with rain and limited visibility and although the wind remained with the fleet for most of the course, the tide became a significant factor in the closing stages as several boats were obliged to duck inshore at the south side of the Isle of Wight.

The Hong Kong team made significant gains thanks to their performance and the 2.5 point multiplier for the race and moved from fourth place to second overall, leap-frogging Britain’s GBR Red into third and denying France Blue a much-anticipated victory in their speciality field of offshore racing.

“We’ve to be extremely careful now,” said Dwyer ashore at Cowes Yacht Haven yesterday. “We’ve to protect ourselves and not enter a ‘situation’ no matter what happens.”

For the Irish boats, this means taking penalty turns even for an improbable infringement and avoid damage at all costs.