Volvo Cork Week 2022 at the Royal Cork Yacht Club
192 boats took part in the biggest Volvo Cork Week for many years, which incorporated the ICRA National Championships. Teams from Ireland, France, Hong Kong, the United Kingdom, and the United States enjoyed a full five-day programme of racing both inside and outside of Cork Harbour. Established in 1720, the Royal Cork Yacht Club has an enthralling history as the oldest yacht club in the world.
Racing at Volvo Cork Week was held on five different courses for 14 different classes. The 2022 edition of Volvo Cork Week lived up to its billing as a huge celebration of Royal Cork Yacht Club’s signature regatta to celebrate their tricentenary. Close to two thousand sailors took part and the Royal Cork’s clubhouse in Crosshaven was buzzing after racing and into the evening.
Full Results 2022 Volvo Cork Week www.sailwave.com/results/VolvoCorkWeek2022.htm#
1720 European Championship
43 1720 Sportsboats raced at the biggest meeting for the one-design class for many years. The racing was as intense as the partying at the RCYC Clubhouse. Veteran 1720 sailors joined forces with younger crews for close racing for five days to decide the 2022 1720 European Champion.
Rope Dock Atara won the 1720 European Championship for the third time in a row with the same team on board: Ross McDonald, Killian Collins, Aoife English, Robbie English, Paddy Good. Atara was also awarded the Kinsale Kettle as overall winner of Volvo Cork Week
Royal Cork’s Dave Kenefick racing Full Irish finished the regatta with a race win to secure second place for the championship. Robert Dix Elder Lemon from Baltimore SC was the top boat on the last day, scoring a 1-3 to make the European Championship podium.
Cape 31 Irish Nationals
Six pocket-rocket Cape 31s designed by Wicklow’s Mark Mills, contested the first Cape 31 Irish nationals with teams from Cork, Dublin, Hamble, UK, and the Isle of Man in action.
The 2022 Cape 31 Irish National Champion is Royal Cork’s Anthony O’Leary’s racing Antix after scoring a 1-2 on the final day. Antix winning crew: Anthony O’Leary, Peter O’Leary, Ben Field, Rebecca Coles, Peter Greenhalgh, Mark Hassett, and Tommy Murphy. A thrilling battle for runner-up came from two teams from Howth YC. Dave McGuire’s Valkyrie won the last race to take second by a single point from Dan O’Grady’s Aja.
Beaufort Cup
The third edition of the Beaufort Cup attracted teams from Ireland, UK and the United States for the Service Sailing Regatta with the winning crew take home the Beaufort Cup. The schedule kicked off with a 120nm race around the Fastnet Rock, followed by three exhilarating days of inshore racing. The top three teams all received thousands of euros in prize money for their chosen charities. The winning team, Crosshaven RNLI, together with funds raised on the Ladies’ Day Lunch at Volvo Cork Week, made over 20,000 euros for RNLI Ireland.
Coastal IRC Class
A huge variety of 21 boats competed under IRC for the Coastal Class enjoying five long races with courses inside and outside Cork Harbour. Every race was won by a different boat, Peter Dunlop & Victoria Cox with a team from the Port St. Charles SC, won the last race of the series to win the IRC Coastal Class. Jamie McWilliam’s Ker40+ Signal 8 representing the Royal Hong Kong YC had led for most of the regatta but finished runner-up. Robert Rendell’s Grand Soleil 44 Samatom from Howth YC is third, having held off a strong challenge from Michael O’Donnell’s J/121 Darkwood.
IRC One
17 high performance racer-cruisers had eight races on a mixture of longer round the cans courses and shorter technical windward leeward racetracks. On Day two of Volvo Cork Week, the British J/112 Happy Daize was not even in the top three. However, four bullets and a second propelled the team to the top of the leaderboard. James Chalmers and his Knight Build team racing Happy Daize will be cutting some shapes on the dance floor tonight! Louise Makin and Chris Jones’ J/111 Journeymaker II from the Royal Southern YC finished in second. Nick Burns Royal Hong Kong team racing Mills 39 Zero II, scored their second race win on the final day to secure the final podium position.
IRC Two
16 teams had windward leeward and round the cans courses over the five days. John Maybury’s J/109 Joker 2 with a team from the Royal Irish YC, is the class champion. Joker 2 scored four race wins and nine podium finishes in ten races. Second is Pat Kelly’s J/109 Storm with a team from Howth YC & Rush SC. Third is Barry Cunningham’s J/109 Chimaera with his Royal Irish team.
IRC Three
21 teams enjoyed nine races on windward leeward and round the cans courses. Sam Laidlaw’s Quarter Tonner BLT from the Royal Yacht Squadron Cowes scored seven race wins out of ten to rocket to the class title. Marcus Ryan’s youth team racing J/24 HeadCase is runner-up just five points ahead of Fiona Young’s Royal Cork Albin Express North Star.
Classic Class
The Classics at Volvo Cork Week were a magnificent spectacle racing in picturesque Cork Harbour every day. Five races were organised for nine beautiful boats with superb vistas in White Bay and along the Holy Ground outside Cobh Town. The podium was filled by boats from France, Ireland, and Wales. JJ Ollu’s French classic Bilou-Belle, from the Atlantic YC, has won the Classic Class by just two points from Patrick Dorgan’s Cork Harbour One Design Elsie. Third is Dafydd Hughes’ Welsh S&S 34 Bendigedig, which also won the Prince of Wales 300th Anniversary Trophy.
Dragon Class
A blaze of Dragons raced at Volvo Cork Week with entries from Kinsale YC, Royal St. George YC, Royal Irish YC, and Glandore Harbour YC. Races were held on the Windward Leeward Course off Roaches Point. Cameron Good’s Little Fella from Kinsale YC scored three race wins in a huge variety of conditions to win the Dragon Class. Peter Bowring’s Phantom from the Royal St. George led after the second day but finished the six race series as runner up. Daniel Murphy’s Whisper from Kinsale YC is third by just a point from Phantom.
Non-Spinnaker Echo 1 & Echo 2 Classes
25 teams raced in two classes under the progressive Echo handicap system with rating changing from day to day according to previous results. Courses were organised in Ringabella Bay and Cork Harbour, specifically designed for white-sail racing. The beauty of the non-spinnaker classes is that boats do not require a huge crew to race, and it is a wonderful way to introduce new sailors to racing. The combined Non-Spinnaker Classes came from the Royal Cork YC, Kinsale YC, Waterford Harbour SC, National YC, Irish Naval Service and Whitehaven in the Lake District, UK.
For more details and information about Volvo Cork Week go to www.corkweek.ie
