Sailing close to the wind a breeze for McWilliam

ANY reasonable person should realise that taking on the role of race director at Ford Cork Week could lead to an early grave, but for John McWilliam the position is one he revels in, and it has thankfully not yet resulted in any premature calls to the undertakers.

With some 550 yachts racing and an average of 10 crew on each, the logistics of this yachting extravaganza are obviously horrifying.

But this week it has not been the numbers which have caused McWilliam and his team the major headaches. Rather, it has been the weather and, more particularly, the winds which have caused minor pandemonium on the water among the racers as they have had to jockey for position in tightly clumped flotillas or, in some cases, raft like squadrons of trapped yachts.