Cork Week set for return to its roots

A return to what many racing sailors of a certain generation may regard as the glory days of Cork Week is on the cards for the next seven days as the Royal Cork Yacht Club prepares to welcome visitors and friends from near and far.

Absent will be the glamour of the super maxi yachts and exotic boats while the hardcore of the sport remains loyal to the biennial event that was first held in 1988 as a local regatta.

Mid-sized boats such as the J109 class and other racing under IRC and ECHO handicap will still deliver close racing with decent fleet sizes even if the overall length of the biggest boats has halved.

The result is what some organisers refer to, with tongue partially in cheek, as a “boutique regatta’ — it’s not all about massive numbers of entries and crowds ashore.

Where the most noticeable change lies is with the drop in overseas visitors. Not long ago, three-quarters of the combined entry would be from outside Ireland with British boats comprising the bulk of these entries.

Now the tables have turned and Cork Week will feature proportionately more Irish boats than any time in almost 20 years.

It was once billed as Europe’s number one fun regatta and was growing in size to rival the venerable Cowes Week in Britain. But the effects of recession have taken a toll on Cork Week.

From the dizzying height of just over a decade ago when entries of around 700-plus boats flocked to Ireland and the world’s oldest yacht club, recession and the end of cheap money globally have slashed at the Royal Cork Yacht Club’s overseas following.

In 2010, the turnout had dropped to around 200 boats; this year, the numbers have plummeted again with about 100 crews expected off Roche’s Point for the five-day series that begins on Monday.

And yet even that number will still deliver upwards of 1,000 competitors on the water daily, hardly a disgraceful entry and one that many regattas around Europe would be pleased to report.

In the current climate, comparisons with the peak of the boom when disposable wealth fuelled big boat ownership and leisure time was still considered well-spent at a sailing regatta seem fanciful.

Cork Week earned itself a reputation as the “must-do” regatta when, for many overseas sailors, Ireland was relatively unknown as a sailing destination. which served to boost entries.

The unique welcome at the RCYC with its army of willing volunteers, the attraction of Cork Harbour’s capacious and uncluttered racing grounds plus an undoubted curiosity factor arising from the peace-process in Northern Ireland all added to the mix.

Above all, the regatta organised “by sailors for sailors” made the afloat aspect of the event a priority that is still the benchmark for regattas worldwide.

The crew competing next week can still expect a different type of racing each day, from ‘round the cans’ coastal races to more technical ‘windward-leeward’ courses and especially, the hallmark Harbour course that brings the fleet of the day past the backdrop of Cobh for an image that has been published innumerable times in media around the world.

Despite Cork Week’s appeal, cost-sensitive crews can no longer afford to ignore numerous reports of over-charging, notably for private rented accommodation by a small but significant minority of home-owners capitalising on the captive fleet in Crosshaven.

Legendary stories of the wealthier boat owners pursuing lavish accommodation may have fuelled expectations but the reality is that the majority of participants in Cork Week are amateur crews, using five days of annual leave and sometimes more if boats have to be delivered.

The boat owners that these crews sail with are in turn faced with their own costs of running the boats to remain competitive.

What Cork Week will undoubtedly deliver over the coming five days will be, to many sailors, the perfect sailing regatta; good racing afloat, great company ashore in a fine location.

As for the future, that can wait, there’s a week of racing to enjoy first.