Tributes paid as force behind sailing regatta dies

Eddie Nolan, one of the best known figures in the Irish motoring industry and the early force behind the Ford Cork Week sailing regatta, died at the weekend.

In the late 1980s Mr Nolan, a keen sailing enthusiast, and his late friend Jim Collins met for a pint in Kitty Newman’s pub in Schull and decided to turn the Crosshaven sailing event into a world-class gathering.

Mr Nolan, who had been made managing director of Ford in Ireland in 1987, got the company to sponsor the event and in 1990 Ford Cork Week at the Royal Cork Yacht Club in Crosshaven took off.