Cork Week ready to grow again

Sailing Column:It's the daddy of all regattas, envied the world over for its appeal and a lifetime must-do for the most committed amateur crews.

The biennial Cork Week has never been shy of change in its 20-year modern history and, true to form, this week announced a raft of changes to the event in mid-July.

Top of the bill is confirmation that ACC Bank will take the title sponsorship role for a sum believed to be a six-figure amount for the first time since Henry Ford & Sons finished their long-standing support at the end of the last century.

The Royal Cork Yacht Club (RCYC) organisers had managed quite ably since then with substantial profits generated from the large fleets attracted to Crosshaven.

At its peak, Cork Week had close to 750 entries, which in turn led to competitor numbers afloat totalling close to 10,000.

But the pressure on facilities ashore strained the enthusiasm of many and a deliberate "run-down" saw numbers drop to 440 boats in 2006. This year, the RCYC is aiming to deliver a comfortable fleet of around 550 boats. Which is where the new sponsor comes in.

"You always need a sponsor to make an event look and feel better," says event chairman Michael McCarthy. "We are constantly trying to improve the quality of the regatta, but this is impossible without a title sponsor."

Constant improvement for the RCYC means driving the standard of racing and management afloat up and, following some criticism last year, the organisers are responding by adding mark-laying boats as well as investing in communications on all the race courses.

The courses themselves and the variety that Cork Harbour allows has always been a fundamental attraction of the five-day regatta. The uninterrupted space at sea easily allows huge fleets and with each class able to race a different style of course each day, visiting crews return to their home ports with positive stories, in turn leading to more entries for the next event.

Entries are already being received by the RCYC and as usual provide a useful barometer of the state of the club and professional racing scene.

The "wow factor" is certain to be provided by the 90-foot super-maxi Rambler, though this in turn will be upstaged by the 170-foot Meteor, which will be a non-competing "mothership" for a 60-foot racing yacht.

Currently, four Transpac 52-footers are expected to compete for the Carroll Challenge Cup out of a potential nine of these grand-prix professionally crewed boats based in Northern European waters.

The French Commodore's Cup team have also confirmed their group entry.