The Royal Cork Yacht Club was celebrating local successes last night as strong north-westerly breezes swept club boats to class wins in the first races of Ford Cork Week. The showcase regatta produced competitive, if not arduous, racing for over 5,000 sailors.
The Crosshaven club's dominance of the 1720 sportsboat this season continued in the first race of the class's inaugural European championship when Mark Mansfield opened his account with a win against a 63-boat fleet that included 1980 Olympic silver medallist David Wilkins of Malahide. Sailing an outer loop Olympic course, the 1720 championship got off to a gruelling start with two races run back to back in breezes gusting to 30 knots. Clubmates Tom Durcan and Neil Hogan took second and third behind Mansfield, with national champion Anthony O'Leary, also of the RCYC, back in seventh.
Arthur O'Connor added to his club's success by winning class four in a fleet of 40 boats that race today over a coastal course.
The high wind, which is forecast to prevail this week, claimed a number of casualties across the 15 classes including the dismasting of one 1720 and at least three serious collisions which led in part to some of the 20 protests heard last night.
In class zero, a 20-degree wind shift on the final leg of the coastal course probably cost Tony Mullins the opening race. The 34footer (one of the smallest in the class) was well placed on the water until the Cork fairway buoy when the blustery breeze and rain shower allowed Stripped (W Roberts) to gain valuable time over Mullins' Barlo Plastics and the rest of the 24-boat fleet to win by a margin of over a minute on corrected time from the Swan 65 Desperado skippered by Richard Loftus. Mullins, whose crew includes Harold Cudmore and UK Olympic helmsman Andy Beadsworth, finished a minute and 40 seconds later on corrected time to take third place.
Ashore, from 27 submissions for eligibility to race in Cork Week's amateur classes, only two sailors have been deemed ineligible. Both are sailmakers and ironically it is the man who drafted this regatta's sailing instructions that this year falls foul of the no-professional rule. The Royal Cork's John McWilliam, who intended to sail in class two on board David Wansborough's Kalevala, was forced to change boats before yesterday's first race and is now racing with June's Round Ireland winner Colm Barrington on Surfin' Shoes in class zero.
Also deemed ineligible was Enterprise and GP14 class world champion Richard Estaugh.
