Prince Charles donates trophy for Cork300 to celebrate anniversary of world's oldest yacht club
Prince Charles has donated a specially commissioned trophy for a unique race from Cowes in the UK to Cork to celebrate the Royal Cork Yacht Club’s tricentenary celebrations.
The Prince of Wales' donation also celebrates the special relationship that exists between Ireland and England and the two sailing communities.
In 2020, the Royal Cork Yacht Club in Crosshaven will celebrate its 300th anniversary with a series of events on and off the water across Cork harbour, called Cork300.
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.
Sailing communities throughout Europe and as far as Australia, Hong Kong and San Francisco are expected to attend the Cork300 celebrations - which will take place primarily during the months of July and August 2020 – to participate in the exciting variety of competitive and non-competitive nautical and on shore events scheduled, many of which are also open to the public.
As part of the celebrations, communities across Cork harbour will host a vast array of sailing, racing, food, and entertainment events, along with a number of talks, ensuring Cork will be the only place to be in Summer 2020.
The Cork300 summer celebrations, which will be preceded by several other events including European Maritime Day and Seafest in May, will centre on three lead events.
They are the Great Gathering of cruising yachtsmen and yachts from around the world in July, Three Championship Weeks of competitive dinghy sailing in August, and The Club At Home Regatta for all fleets, also in August.
Highlights over the summer include an eye-catching Classic Yacht Regatta; the historic Kingstown/Queenstown feeder race from Dun Laoghaire to Cobh; the world-famous annual Volvo Cork Week Regatta, an International Powerboat Championship Festival which will take place in Ireland for the first time; a Wild Atlantic Way sailing ‘cruise in company’ for visiting yacht clubs; the Royal Cork Fleet Review which will be a fantastic parade of sailing craft in Cobh and a Gathering of Naval Ships in Cork City.
The prestigious Morgan Cup, awarded by the Royal Ocean Racing Club (RORC) will also come to Ireland for the first time as part of Cork300.
Chairman of Cork300, Colin Morehead, said this is a significant historic milestone for the club.
Mr Morehead said: “Everyone, everywhere around the world, is invited to join in the celebrations and be part of the Cork300 crew. We have a really exciting events series planned with lots of more news to announce over the coming months.
“We are especially delighted to hear of His Royal Highness, The Prince of Wales’ support this week. This truly is an honour.”
“Cork300 will promote community, international friendship, sustainability and the role of sailing worldwide. We want to inspire and motivate future generations to sail and we hope to leave a legacy for sailing and Cork harbour, Ireland’s maritime haven, into the future.”
“Of course, Cork300 is made possible only by the support of our partners - AIB the premier partner, Volvo, Port of Cork, Cork County Council, Cork City Council and Heineken, so we would like to sincerely thank them for their generosity.”
Tánaiste Simon Coveney said Cork300 is a momentous event for the Cork region.
He said: "In my view, it will be the most significant maritime event in Ireland in our lifetime. Cork300 is already attracting significant international interest and will firmly position Cork as a maritime haven and must visit destination for anyone involved in sailing worldwide.
"The committee have put a huge amount of work into planning what looks like an amazing schedule of events across Cork harbour in summer 2020, and I would encourage everyone to get involved – be part of the crew.”
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