Volvo takes the helm as new sponsors of Cork Week regatta

The advertising partnership that helped to make the Cork Week sailing regatta an international event has ended with the Ford car brand being replaced as the title sponsor by Volvo.

Volvo has been a major supporter of Irish and international sailing and is attached to the Round the World event which brought the high profile race to Galway.

The company’s managing director in Ireland, Adrian Yeates, said its support will help the Crosshaven racing week to become the biggest sailing event in the country this year.

Like other sporting competitions, Cork Week has struggled to sustain the levels it reached in better economic times.

This year a slightly slimmed down Volvo Cork Week will see the event run for four days, rather than five.

It will begin on July 5 with Monday acting as a practice outing rather than a racing day.

The organisers said there will also be a substantial reduction in entry fees.

But they said they will work to ensure that there are 10 races and free berthage will be offered for the duration of the event.

In December, Eddie Nolan, the man who married the Ford brand to the Crosshaven sailing festival, died.

A sailing enthusiast, Mr Nolan had been chairman of Ford in Ireland when the concept of the international regatta was first suggested more than 25 years ago.

Mr Nolan left the company as chairman in 2001 but Ford had continued to sponsor the festival.