29th Cork Dry Gin Calves Week - Day 3
by Hilary McCarthy 9 Aug 2013 07:44 BST
6-9 August 2013
On day 3 of racing in the Cork Dry Gin Calves Week 2013, and with the wind backed from south easterly to south westerly overnight and forecast to get up to 18 knots forecast in the afternoon, all boats knew that they would face very different weather conditions for the scheduled run around the Fastnet Rock. A heavy swell from the southwest and a forecast for a front to pass over in midafternoon added to the challenge of deciding which route to take in the beat out to the Rock for skippers.
The simplest course - "Fastnet, Port" - was set for the smallest boats, Class 4 and Whitesail 2, who left first. Class 2/3 returned via the Calf Islands, now a familiar sight. The largest boats, in Class 0/1 and Whitesail 1, had the added challenge of a run around Clear Island and through the Gascanane Sound after rounding the lighthouse, and a beat back around Western Calf before the reach for the line.
The fleet divided on the way out, with some choosing to head south to Cape Clear, and others heading west along the southern shore of Long Island before tacking south towards the Fastnet. The front came through earlier than expected and the result wind shift benefited those who had gone west.
Perhaps reflecting their detailed knowledge, local boats did well in the results. The first boats finished in a little under 3 hours with Kieran Twomey in Gloves Off from the Royal Cork completing a hat trick in IRC, ahead of Jump Juice. He was trumped in ECHO by Gabby Hogan in local boat Growler, ahead of Frank Whelan sailing Wavetrain (Royal St George). The Dillon brothers on Big Deal and Silk Breeze divided IRC and Echo honours in Classes 2/3, with Big Deal less than a minute ahead on corrected time from Silk Breeze after 3 hours of racing. Micheal Murphy in Shelly D, from Schull won both Class 4 prizes.
In the Whitesail 1 fleet, Ciaran Geoghegan from Dungarvan, skippering Fizz, again took the IRC prize, with Tom McCarthy in Ashanta picking up his first prize in Echo. The Ronan famil y in Kopper Two won in Whitesail 2.
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