The Ford Cork Week is expected to generate upwards of €7 million for the region in an otherwise depressed tourist season.
As many as 6,000 sailors, the majority of them amateurs from the Far East, Australia, the US, Britain, the Continent, and throughout Ireland, are taking part in this year's festival of sail.
More than 550 boats of all classes are on the water, making a spectacular sight as they set out to race each day from the Royal Cork Yacht Club, against the backdrop of St Colman's spires on the Cobh side and the other landmarks that make up the inner reaches of the harbour.
The crews, racing inside and outside the harbour on six courses, have been coping with capricious winds since competitive sailing began last Sunday. But according to the organisers, Ford Week is now a firmly established event on the world scene and is becoming more popular than the famed Cowes event. Cork is more compact and the restriction on professional crews to the biggest racing classes only, means that it is a celebration overwhelmingly of the amateur sport.
The event, says organising chairman Mr James McGrath, is also inclusive, bringing a major influx of visitors to the Crosshaven and harbour area each day to watch the boats compete.
On shore hundreds of volunteers, who make the event run smoothly, have been drafted in to work behind the scenes in the event village, where a website is constantly updated with the latest racing results.
Many Crosshaven residents avail of the short-term property boom, which occurs in the village during Cork Ford Week, by renting out their homes to foreign crews who want to live, compete and socialise close to the action.
Record prices are achieved for week-long rentals.