Today’s finale of Cork Week 2012 neatly splits into two parts: the haves and the have nots — those that have everything to sail for and those that simply need to turn up as all the hard yards were done and dusted yesterday.

Racing at Cork warmed up with the improved weather yesterday as a full programme of competition was completed in all nine events under IRC and again under ECHO handicaps.

The first finishers in the 704-mile Round Ireland Race could reach the Wicklow Sailing Club finishing-line as early as this evening, provided winds on the Irish Sea remain steady.

The biennial Round Ireland Race got off to a brisk start yesterday afternoon before a crowd of more than a 1,000 spectators gathered at Wicklow Sailing Club.