Anthony O’Leary takes lead at NY inter-club series

Wrapping up the main sailing season means a flurry of activity at events at home and abroad around the Northern Hemisphere but with a distinct elite edge to the competitions.

In the United States, the New York Yacht Club is hosting its annual inter-club invitational series in the Rolex Invitational Cup where 17 teams from around the world are competing in a fleet of Swan 43s.

As usual, Ireland is solely represented by the Royal Cork Yacht Club with Anthony O’Leary leading his team to first place overall at the midway stage of the series.

Described in event commentary as being “unused” to racing big boats, the two-times Commodores Cup winning team captain might yet have a trick up his sleeve if his years at the helm of his Ker 39-footer Antix and more recently the renamed American 40-footer Catapult count for anything.

Inter-club competitions aren’t anything new but in a complex or at least layered sport such as sailing it can sometimes be tricky to see the wood for the trees.

New format

And so for the last two seasons, a new format has been introduced on the European mainland, principally in Germany and some Nordic countries that sees an national inter-club series used as qualifier for a “Sailing champions league” super-series.

No Irish representatives at this event so far but the concept could offer potential even with a whiff of grudging rivalry between the dozens of Irish clubs.

The final European event is sailed in one-design fleets and is currently focused on J70 sportsboats as it seeks to expand to other countries.

The concept is not so distantly related to the Irish Sailing Association Helmsman Championships or All-Ireland as the contest is more recently know as.

Except our own version uses class associations rather than clubs to nominate the top sailors in the “champion of champions” sail-off. However, the format has so far failed to ignite widespread enthusiasm aside from the high-calibre of competitors that almost always seem to turn-out for the series each Autumn.

In the meantime, however, the junior version of the Helmsmans is set for the final weekend of this month at Kinsale Yacht Club. Rather than a sail-off during the season, a complex formula to establish the invitations is used based on fleet turn-outs for the various youth classes during the year.