Giants of sea a thing of past as Cork Week gets underway

The presence in Irish waters last month of George David’s Rambler 88 can scarcely have gone un-noticed by anyone who happened to be in Dún Laoghaire or Wicklow or indeed anywhere close to the coast in good visibility.

Racing with a crew of 18, David collected the hat-trick of (monohull) line honours and a new record plus overall victory in a race that generally favours mid-sized entries. But, while Rambler turned heads with its striking paint job and black sailcloth, her presence and that of large racing yachts generally in Irish waters is more of a rarity in recent times and the forthcoming Volvo Cork Week also highlights this.

Yacht racing has a strong identity in these very large – and super expensive – boats even to the extent of working against the sport. The popular expectation being that every sailing boat costs millions to own and operate.

True, once upon a time the Irish Sea region was indeed “the cradle of yachting” as historian Hal Sisk dubbed a past era of the early 1900’s when the famous 130-foot J-class yachts were designed, built and raced in these waters.

But those times are past and modern billionaires eschew the colder, wetter climes of northern Europe and are mainly found operating between the Mediterranean and Caribbean.

Super-wealthy owners

Similarly, modern super-wealthy owners have no need of yacht clubs, preferring instead on self-reliance with paid hands who mix friendship with fealty as today’s superyachts enjoy their own exclusive circuit.

About 15 years back saw such yachts grace Cork Week and ordinary regattas with their presence but, even in that short space of time, such boats have out-grown the attractions of Crosshaven.

We’re now into a totally different era where more modest racing boats of half the size of Rambler are the feature entries at Volvo Cork Week and represent the backbone of the sport.

Compared to 15 years ago, the crowds are gone and fleets numbered in the several hundreds have been replaced by 100 or so boats, a hard core of sailing followers that will enjoy tight racing afloat and still fill the grounds of the Royal Cork Yacht Club comfortably.

In some respects, post Celtic Tiger Cork Week marks a return to its original roots, that of top-end club racing afloat and good craic ashore with family-oriented attractions throughout the week.

And while the line-up of boats offers several of the top Irish racing boats, the promise of the inaugural European IRC Championships appears set to be dominated by home fleet entries, most notably Anthony O’Leary on Antix.

The absence of the superyacht fraternity - the largest boat is Tom Wilson’s TP52 from Britain - hints strongly that the future of events such as the Volvo regattas at Cork and Dun Laoghaire as well as others will rely increasingly on the small to mid-sized racing yachts.

Initiatives such as Howth Yacht Club’s Under 25 keelboat squad, now numbering 20 participants on three boats also suggests that club owned boats will become the gateway for many participants in future.

And the Beaufort Cup, an event for military and emergency service crews that is being sailed on regular privately-owned boats with a minimum of 50 per cent crews from the relevant service also indicates a future trend of sharing boats to maximise use.

The venerable 1720 Sportsboat that was conceived on Cork Harbour will feature next week, still with a strong racing following but also finding new life as a great adult training boat shows the capacity for maximising participation where a club or sailing school “sweats the asset” by sending dozens of newcomers to sea each week without costly outlay.

As ever, the majestic images of huge yachts still serves in the alluring mix of attractions to yacht racing; the reality is somewhat down-sized but has to be experienced to see it as just as rewarding: Try Sailing!