Winter league series poised for a dramatic conclusion

YET again violent storms forced the cancellation of all racing in Cork harbour’s and so far three races have been held in the Glaxo SmithKline Beecham Winter Series from the Royal Cork with the final race coming up on Sunday.

An intriguing situation has now developed, however, and assuming that this weekend’s race does go ahead, one discard will apply and that could see the leader board after three races change dramatically.

The current situation is very close in both handicap divisions. In IRC Donal O’Leary’s D-Tox leads comfortably on 5 pts, with Jim Donegan’s Mischief and Kieran Collins’ Half Cut locked on 12 pts in second place, Vinnie O’Shea’s Yanks and Francs fourth on 19.5 pts and Derry Good’s Genevieve fifth on 23 pts. Richard Leonard in his new boat Mardi Gras is 6th on 24 pts but a great deal could change on Sunday, especially with Mark Mansfield on Dinghy Supplies lurking in 9th.

In Echo it is even tighter, just five points separating the top six boats. Rom Hyde on Nightowl leads here on 14 pts, Michael Murphys is second with Shelly D on 16 pts, Mischief third on 17 while Clem McElligott’s Seahawk and D-Tox are together on 18 pts, with Genevieve next on 19 pts. A number of boats have a high points race to discard so if a discard does apply a big change on the leader board is likely. Meanwhile John Murphy has been elected Class Two Captain for next season at the RCYC.

Bad weather threatening, OOD Dave Barry got four day one races in at the Baltimore Icicles in Baltimore and just as well, because Sunday was Blown out by storms. 23 boats raced, including ten from Scholl Community College. The 26 year old trophy was won by Peter O’Leary, his fourth time winning the Full Rigs here. Revelin Minihane won the Radials and Sean Cotter the 4.7s. Naomi Hoare, 82- years-old Baltimroe S.C. honorary member and still an active Laser sailor, presented the prizes. But no joy for the Optimists whose Kinsale YC Winter Event was a weather victim.

Cork based yachtsman Diarmuid Foley has made the 2003 World Mumm 30 Championships in France next September a serious target. Helming himself, he will challenge for the Key West Florida race week in January, the SORC in Miami in March, the Spi Quest in France in April, The French Nationals in July, the Europeans in August and then the Worlds in September.

His boat has been based on the east coast of America and is to be delivered to Florida in the coming days where she will be met by her racing crew.

Foley finished eighth of 45 boats at the 201 Worlds in Sardinia with Mark Mansfield as tactician and Mel Collins on the helm. is 2002 Worlds were marred by a collision which put them out of contention. This year he will helm himself, with a core of his 2002 championship crew, Roy Darrer as trimmer and hugh Cassidy as pitman. They will be joined by Maurice ‘Prof’ O’Connell as tactician, UK sailor Rob Greenhalgh as sail trimmer, O’Connell’s brother Aidan as mastman and UK based Waterford boat builder Clifford Nicholson as bowman.

The first Irish Class Two National Championships will be held at Kinsale during the Sovereigns Cup Regatta in June. Regatta director Pat Payne and Echo Committee Chairman Denis Kiely have worked with the I.S.A. for months to bring the championship about. Now the I.S.A. is preparing the way for the establishment of a National Cruiser Class Two Association. The Kinsale club is chuffed with such a coup, further proof of the growing strength of their Sovereigns Cup.

Commodore Jim Donegan told the South Coast Offshore Racing Association annual general meeting that in two years time SCORA should take charge from the beginning if a decision were taken to enter a team in the Commodore’s Cup. He also revealed that the Cork-Dingle race would in future take place on alternate years, next year’s on July 24, the following year at Cork-Fastnet-Schull.