The best weather of the last five days made for a fitting end to Ford Cork Week yesterday with exhilarating sailing for all classes and plenty of dramatic incidents. The battle between Harold Cudmore's Barlo Plastics and Roy Disney's Pyewacket for overall event win produced one of the most exciting races of the week though their Class Zero title was almost settled at the start. The decider for the final day rested on the Harbour Course and the fleet massed for a broad-reach start off Roches Point as the wind built steadily to 15 knots and with a slight ocean swell. Of course, Pyewacket was off the blocks with superior speed before any other boat. However, Barlo Plastics was a little too keen and was recalled for being a premature starter.
The delay in finding space to return, and having to sail upwind before restarting cost Cudmore dearly. All he needed was to finish ahead of Pyewacket but this was not to be. It was also thought that Disney's 70-foot sled would be constrained within the relatively narrow confines of Cork Harbour. However, the mainly reaching course suited the American perfectly for its off-wind configuration.
But although Disney sailed on to victory, an accident on board could have produced a different result. While off Cobh at the turning mark, the boat's navigator found his sailing-jacket sleeve had become caught in the mainsheet winch drum. Before he could free himself, his arm was wound into the winch causing serious trauma to his arm. After recovering from the shock, he elected to continue racing. Cudmore's defeat was only by the slimmest of margins but the final race saw his high-end crew suffer their worst result of the series - 10th on handicap. But for a OCS disqualification earlier in the week, David McClean's Babbalaas would also have been a strong contender for the prize but had to be content with third overall.
Colm Barrington's Dun Laoghaire Corby 38-footer Gloves Off emerged victorious in Class One after a protest hearing late on Thursday reversed the first two places of race seven from Thursday. Barrington was up against a production Prima 38-footer and John Bainbridge's crew of White Knuckles II ended second overall in spite of beating Gloves Off to third place yesterday.
The Class One fleet enjoyed tight racing for most of the Harbour Course but the early stages involving the fast reach in from Roches Point was not without incident. Two 40-footers rounded the steel navigation buoy and one boat ended up "t-boning" Creme Anglaise leaving it with a gaping hole in its hull and side deck.
Meanwhile, on the 1720 course outside the harbour area, the 15-knot easterly breeze produced some steep waves on a growing ocean swell. This was the first time in the week that nerves were truly tested and although his 1999 European title had passed to Mark Rushall's Proctor Winning Masts, defending champion Mark Mansfield and his crew on Union Chandlery staged a comeback to fourth overall. Irish Australian John Storey with Atara, helmed by Americas Cup skipper James Spittall had a seventh and a second to finish the series in second overall. A second British boat to finish in the top three was Stephen Fein's Full Pelt in third place while the Murphy Brothers Walden Leasing helmed by past Irish Olympian John Driscoll took fifth place.
The GP14 international class dinghy president Riocard O Tiarnaigh died yesterday after a prolonged illness. O Tiarnaigh (66), a former Irish Sailing Association honorary secretary, was due to step down next month as president of the world GP body after three years in office, the first Irish sailor to have held the world presidency.
He was an avid dinghy sailor in both the IDRA 14 and GP14 dinghies. He was commodore of Sutton Dinghy club on three separate occasions and inaugurated the interschools team racing competition held annually in Sutton Creek for the last 30 years. An advocate of sailing as a disabled sport, he was also involved in setting up the 2.4 metre class in Ireland.
He is survived by his wife Muriel, sons Riocard and Ruan, daughters Charlotte and Ciara.
