Author Archive | gavin

With the best score of any of the 120 boats over the past week, Rory Fekkes’ Fn’Gr8 (Carrickfergus Sailing Club) has been confirmed as the overall winner of Volvo Cork Week following an intense three-race final day. The Antrim boat was a convincing overall winner to the week despite several other strong performances in other classes but Fekkes had accumulated an impressive 19-point lead in his eleven-boat fleet.

“Best week ever! It’s the closest racing we’ve ever had,” Fekkes said even before learning of his overall event win. “We were hoping to get the overall win so we kept going to the end even though we only had sixth place to discard.” As for the 300th anniversary of the Royal …

The full armada of 120 yachts was out for the fourth day of Volvo Cork week. After a delayed start, a warm sea breeze blew into Volvo Cork Week to give over a thousand sailors champagne conditions in the Celtic Sea outside Cork Harbour. Leaders in all classes are emerging but many of them will be going to the wire. A pride of 13 Dragons and 10 powerful Cork 1720s started their Southern Championships today, taking part in two races with a building sea breeze off Power Head on a windward leeward course.

The Dragons were flying by the second race, with 15 knots of wind over tide powering the fleet up to full tilt. The racing was exceptional close, …

The wind gods smiled on the second day of Volvo Cork Week with a 15 knot southwesterly piping up, giving the international fleet a day to remember in the Celtic Sea. Barry Byrne’s Irish Defence Forces team came from behind to win the double points scoring Fastnet Race for the Beaufort Cup. During the 130 mile race, four teams swapped the lead in an intense battle around the Fastnet Lighthouse. Meanwhile 100 teams were competing inshore for the second day of Volvo Cork Week. A long coastal race, in good breeze along the wild South Coast of Ireland produced fantastic racing.

The Irish Defence Force team, racing J/109 Joker 2, skippered by Barry Byrne, opened their defence of the Beaufort …

A mixture of clear blue skies and blankets of clouds made for highly changeable conditions for the first day of Volvo Cork Week. Thankfully the warm sunshine won the day, providing light air racing in beautiful Cork Harbour and the Celtic Sea. The teams returned to the dock with colour in their cheeks, a glint in the eye, and a thirst for the refreshments at the Royal Cork Yacht Club.

Racing kicked off with an early start for the 17 teams racing in The Beaufort Cup, which set off on a 150-mile offshore race from Cork Harbour, bound for the Fastnet Rock and back to the finish. After a fly-by from the Irish Air Force, the Baltimore RNLI team, skippered …