Big fleets for SCORA leagues
At each the first race each day will count for the SCORA Leagues, whose final race will be in the Autumn League from the Royal Cork.
Through the season the league consists of ten races with the best seven results to count and class captains John Murphy and Gary Horgan are confident of big fleets for the remaining events. Sailors from Ireland, England and Scotland will gather at Kinsale this weekend for the Irish Open Disabled Sailing Championships, with four races on Saturday and two on Sunday. Some big names will be missing because the World Paralympic Championships are on in Athens this weekend. Kinsale members John Twomey, Sean McGrath and Brian O’Mahony will be there competing with clubmates Paul McCarthy, Paul Ryan and Chris Thomas to determine who will represent Ireland in the Sonar Class at the Paralympics in Athens 2004.
Also in Athens this week is Fergal Kinsella of Howth, racing in the 2.4 fleet.
Cove S.C. hold their annual big race from the promenade all the way up river to Blackrock village on Sunday. It is the first race in the club’s September League. Added attraction this year is that there will be one spinnaker as a prize for Class 2 IRC and one spinnaker as a prize for Class 3 IRC. Class 4 and Classic boats will have first gun at 13.00 hours along with Class 2 dinghies. Classes 1, 2 and 3 along with Class 1 dinghies will have first gun at 13.10 hours.
Next week the Glandore Club in West Cork will host the Horgan Lynch and Partners Irish Dragon National Championships for the first time. A number of the big names from abroad who raced in the Europeans at Kinsale have entered for the event which runs from September 11 to 14.
More than 80 boats took part in the Royal Cork YC annual at home two day regatta last weekend and the harbour was a blaze of colour, particularly on day one when the boats hugged the shore waiting as the Brittany Ferries Val De Loire passed Roches Point. Conditions were varied over the two days. On day one the cruiser racer fleet was sent on a course out to the Cork Buoy.
However a 90 degree wind shift spoiled the intentions of the race officer and turned the expected good beat home into a reach. Sunday’s conditions were difficult with light winds and a low tide which saw some of the Class 1 boats dredge their way to EF4 mark. The dinghies also had highly enjoyable racing with the National 18s and the multi-hulls going out to Roches Point on the ebb.
In Class 1, Derry Good’s Genevieve took the honours in Echo but the IRC final results are still under review.
In Class 2, Jerome McCarthy’s Le Big Mac won IRC with Vinnie O’Shea’s Yanks and Francs taking the prize in Echo. Richard Marshall on Woody stamped his authority on Class 3 where he won under both handicaps. John and Fiona Murphy took Fast Buck to victory in the Impalas while the White Sail Fleet was won by Tom McSweeney on Seascapes.
Royal’s Cork’s HM Yachts Mid Week August-September League had its fourth race where in a cool brisk north easterly Donal O’Leary’s D-Tox came out first in Class 1 IRC and Paul O’Shea’s Wicked first in Class 2 IRC. Roy Hannon struck again to take Class 2 Echo.
The McCutcheon Family on Time Trapp were winners of the Spalpeen Trophy Race at Kinsale with 23 seconds to spare over X-Dream. At the weekend the Mary P. Trophy race saw Padraig O’Donovan on Chameleon unstoppable and he won both IRC and Echo, X-Dream second in both. The club short handed race on Sunday brought a win for Tom Roche’s Isobar.
At Cove SC the August Night League concluded with the Dorgans on Merlin overall winners of the spinnaker fleet from Richard Marshall’s Woody. In the non spinnaker fleet Damien Aherne’s Re Eile took the overall, with John Doyle’s Atonic in second place. Cove hold their Ballincurra dinghy race on Saturday.
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