Harmony takes honours in Cork Week’s Harbour Race

By David Branigan

A decision to postpone racing for an hour for the second day running at Volvo Cork Week to allow breeze to arrive proved correct again yesterday as 85 boats mustered off Roche’s Point for the iconic Harbour Race.

A further delay due to commercial shipping movements plus the ripping ebb tide left little room for trial and error on the 1km starting line.

After a general recall was sounded when virtually the entire fleet was swept over the line early on the first attempt, principal race officer Jack Roy, also the president of Irish Sailing, reached for the naughty-step and issued a stern warning by VHF radio.

With the Black Flag flying, any line infringement on the second start would result in instant disqualification. The giant fleet started on the button.

With a light six to eight knot southerly breeze, the fleet ducked inshore to Church Bay and into Weaver’s Point at Crosshaven to avoid the worst of the tidal effect at the harbour mouth.

Although the start of the race was almost two hours behind schedule, Roy opted to set a 16.5-nautical-mile course, one of the mid-length options that saw a steady stream of boats charge past Cobh seafront and around a turning mark before beating back out to Roche’s Point.

It was classic Cork Week at its best.

Only three races have been sailed so far this week — another six are planned over the final two days. These will be radically different to the coastal type ‘around the cans’ races of the first three days and the overall standings are likely to undergo a shake-up.

In the Beaufort Cup event for military and rescue service crews, Commandant Barry Byrne and the crew of Joker 2, defending their 2016 title, delivered another comeback result yesterday as they caught up on and overtook the leaders steadily over the two-hour race. The race was won by Simon Coveney’s Jedi (although the skipper was absent due to Government duties in Kerry) while Byrne’s crew took second.

That leaves Joker 2 still in front of the 16-boat event, now with a three-point advantage over Jedi who in turn is tied with the Baltimore RNLI team on Juggerknot as the trio start a battle at the front of the fleet.

Meanwhile, the Harbour Race overall for the 85-strong combined classes was won by Howth Yacht Club’s Johnny Swan on Harmony. The restored half-tonner set a blisteringly fast pace around the course, finishing just 18 minutes behind the newer, larger, and much more powerful Eleuthera, Frank Whelan’s Grand Soleil 44-footer that won line honours.

In turn, Whelan had come from behind early in the race. Jump Juice, skippered by Conor Phelan, match-raced Scottish entry El Gran Senor and the pair ended up fourth and third in their Class One division.

Local knowledge on the course was certainly to the fore in other classes in the Harbour Race.

Brian and Mary Jones’ Jelly Baby from the RCYC took the Class Two win yesterday, a result that leaves them tied on points with Wrecks series winner Mojito from Wales, Peter Dunlop and Vicky Cox’s J109 that drops to second place on tie-break.

It was a similar story for the Coastal class where a win yesterday propelled Denis Hewitt’s Raptor from the Royal Irish YC in Dun Laoghaire into a clear lead with 10 points to spare.

The crew line-up this week includes a guest spot for Crosshaven sailing maestro Barry Rose so there was no mistaking Cork Harbour’s nooks and crannies — the Mills 36-footer finished just ahead of Brian Twomey’s 1720 Sportsboat Dark Side from the RCYC.

Cork Harbour sailors weren’t assured of wins just by being local, however. Swan on Harmony, Fn’Gr8, skippered by Rory Fekkes from Carrickfergus Sailing Club, won Class 4 ahead of Crosshaven’s Denis Byrne on Cracker.

Today sees additional class join the Volvo Cork Week multi-event series when up to 30 one-designs such as International Dragons and other Sportsboat begin a three-day series that continues into Saturday, after the official conclusion to the event tomorrow.

The latest boats bring the overall entry to approximately 120 boats.