West Cork is preparing to be the centre of attention in the sailing world over the coming week, as thousands of sailors from around the world and closer to home head for the Fastnet Rock.

A faster lifeboat with enhanced radar capabilities is set to enter service at one of Cork’s busiest RNLI stations this week thanks to a donation from an anonymous benefactor.

Some of the stranger stories from around the world

The RNLI has announced it will provide a new state-of-the-art lifeboat next spring to a Co Cork station.

A penultimate day to be remembered for all the best and not so good reasons was the hallmark of the ICRA Nationals Sovereigns Cup sponsored by Cork County Council at Kinsale yesterday.

A car carrier which ran aground causing it to list heavily in a busy shipping lane is being assessed for stability before a salvage operation can be mounted.

In a perfect end to a season of victories, Anthony O’Leary of the Royal Cork Yacht Club emerged overall winner of the All-Ireland Sailing Championship at Howth yesterday.

Sailing: It was the title defence that should have been two years earlier but the weekend nevertheless brought Ireland’s second victory in Cowes at the Brewin Dolphin Commodores’ Cup-

Today is make-or-break day for the Irish squad at the Brewin Dolphin Commodores’ Cup in Cowes.

No races were completed despite nine hours at sea in the Brewin Dolphin Commodores’ Cup at Cowes yesterday due to light and unsettled breezes.

Fine weather played havoc with the opening races of the Cork County Council IFDS World Championships at Kinsale yesterday, where racing was postponed due to lack of wind.

A sea disaster off West Cork over 30 years ago which claimed 17 lives sets the scene for a new film by Jim Sheridan.

The Duke of Edinburgh has been advised to rest so will have no visitors in hospital today, sources have said.

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 search for five seamen missing in the Irish Sea will resume today, involving the Waterford and Dublin-based helicopters and UK rescue teams.

Rescuers searching for six people missing in the Irish Sea have recovered a body.

LAST Sunday at Crosshaven more than 70 boats participated in the Autumn Series, Whitesail 1 and Whitesail 2 together with Classes 3 and 4 raced in the harbour.

More than 20 crew on board a racing yacht are recovering today following a dramatic rescue when it capsized off the Cork coast.

A TRAGEDY on the scale of the 1979 Fastnet Race disaster was narrowly avoided last night after a yacht taking part in the famous race capsized 20km off Baltimore, Co Cork. (Click here to see a clip of the survivors talking about the rescue.)

A FULL RANGE of sailing conditions on Cork Harbour delivered a complete test to the combined fleet of more than 60 boats for the annual Irish Cruiser Racing Association (ICRA) national championships that ended yesterday.

THE penultimate day of the Rolex Commodore’s will be staged today with a 50-mile Round the Isle of Wight race, in which Ireland will face a significant challenge to maintain its overall lead of the event that has eluded Irish victors for almost two decades.

DAVE DWYER’S marinerscove.ie led the Irish charge for the offshore race of the Rolex Commodores’ Cup in Cowes yesterday, winning Class 2 in the 180-mile race that lasted more than 24 hours.

IRELAND’S most famous yacht designer has told how he is still haunted by his memories of narrowly cheating death in the 1979 Fastnet disaster.

CORK WEEK 2010 passed its halfway mark with sunshine and light winds mixed with rain and a slow, rolling seaway off Roche’s Point as the results closed up in most of the 13 classes.

DOMESTIC entries have held strong despite the economic downturn as Cork Week prepares to begin racing off Roche’s Point this morning. Irish boats account for more than half the official entry list in contrast to previous years when overseas boats would account for as much as 80% of the turnout.

The Fastnet yacht race started today – 30 years since 15 people lost their lives in one of Britain and Ireland's worst modern maritime disasters.

WHEN it comes to sailing, size matters. The bigger the sail, the faster the boat.

IRELAND’S premier sailing event has found a new sponsor for this summer’s yachting extravaganza, which is expected to boost till receipts in the Cork area by up to €20 million.

The Irish yacht Chieftain appears to have won the 2007 Fastnet race.

WITH a pair of first places from two starts at Skandia Cowes Week, Dublin’s Colm Barrington’s Ker 39 Flying Glove is the best of the Irish entries so far at the massive annual regatta on the Solent.

Pop star Simon Le Bon today told about his plans to compete in the same 608-mile yacht race in which he almost died 20 years ago.

Ellen MacArthur tonight became the fastest person to single-handedly sail around the world non-stop.

BENEATH grey leaden skies, 15 bells tolled yesterday in memory of each of the sailors who perished in the Fastnet Race tragedy 25 years ago.

WHATEVER you do, don’t call Roy Disney a Mickey Mouse operator. The 73-year-old nephew of the famous Walt has heard all the bad jokes before and they don’t get any funnier in the retelling.

ONE of the world’s top hi-tech racing yachts is on its way to Cork this weekend, but it won’t be sailing under its own power.

Those who look forward to the summer season of sporting fixtures may be forced to rejig their diaries following moves to shift Wimbledon fortnight back a week.

British yachtswoman Ellen MacArthur today won a solo transatlantic race ending a dramatic and tense fortnight at sea.

Laser speed guns and flashing warning signs are set to be introduced at a popular sailing harbour in a bid to improve safety.

The Admiral’s Cup is to be reinstated in Ireland in 2003.