Winter leagues attract big fleets

SAILING:OVER 400 boats will set sail this weekend in different venues around the country as the summer season officially ends and winter leagues unfurl. Two hundred boats are expected in Cork Harbour alone and centre stage there is Sunday's Royal Cork October League. A fleet of 90 is expected for the first of two races in the annual fixture, just one of several events under way there.

On the east coast Howth Yacht Club’s Autumn League is already three races down, three to go and with all to play for between now and October 17th – 140 boats are racing in nine classes. In class one, Matt Davis’s Barafundle from Skerries upset the odds to win on IRC by 23 seconds from Flashback (Breen and Others), the latter moving into second overall behind Crazy Horse.

In the one-designs, so close was the Puppeteers race that the first 10 boats finished within four minutes, but Alan Pearson will have fond memories of his start as Trick or Treat lee-bowed the whole fleet and led all the way round to keep Harlequin (Dave Clarke) and Yellow Peril (Neil Murphy) at bay. The latter two hold first and second overall on scratch.

Entries were up from 397 in 1998 to 404 this year for the 125th DBSC season which ended last Saturday. Turnouts for weekly racing were also up. While it is too early for official publication of overall results, it is clear there are some runaway winners within the 19 classes.

The SB3 winner, the newest and biggest keelboat class, with 33 boats entered, was Barry O’Neill sailing Sin Bin from the Royal St George YC. A J80 sailed by Mervyn Dyke and Vivion Kennedy won three of the four series this season in class two.

In development for next season the club is taking a look at course configurations. The Turkey Shoot kicks off in the first week of November and attracts up to 80 boats back to the water. The high turnout for the club is a surprise given one of the wettest summers on record. There is no surprise, though, about last month as it was the driest September since 2002. It has accounted for some of the busiest sailing weekends of the year, both on Dublin Bay and Cork Harbour.

In the Clipper Round the World Race, Irish entry Cork lies third in a fleet of 10s. Unpredictable winds and light airs continue to hamper the teams on day 11 of the second leg as the fleet struggles to clear the Canary Islands. Cork skipper Richie Fearon and his crew are fighting hard and spirits are high, according to crew member Dave Paton. The Cork boat has 3,440 miles left to the finish in Rio de Janeiro.

World Student Yachting champion Cork Institute of Technology will defend their title in Marseille, France, later this month. There will be 12 different countries represented by 140 students.

There is a single Irish entry for the Rolex Middle Sea Race. Seventy-three yachts have entered so far for the Maltese fixture, only five short of last year’s record number. Dún Laoghaire to Dingle winner Legally Brunette, an X41 (skippered by Cathal Drohan) is making a return trip from Ireland for the event in two weeks’ time.

Irish Windsurfing Slalom Champion Pearse Geaney will compete in the European Speed Sailing Championships to be held off the coast of Dungarvan, Co Waterford, in a fortnight.