Cork 1720’s Irish Nationals – Crosshaven
After a fantastic breakfast at the Compass Rose in Crosshaven we headed down towards the Royal Cork Yacht Club. I’m really looking forward to the racing today we got three races in the Cork 1720 national regatta. Two of those races back-to-back and I know from the temperature of the water yesterday my hands will be cold and my teeth chattering. But there’s no holding us back, Andrew Brook and Eleri Griffith and me are really keen on getting a fantastic finish in our Cork 1720 Luvly Jubbly. Last night we had a fantastic meal in one of the restaurants in Crosshaven. There are so many different pubs and restaurants to choose from in Crosshaven that the residents and visitors are spoiled for choice. As you’d expect from an area near Cork there are lots of restaurants with a great selection of seafood, fish and chips is just sort of thing you need after a days racing in a 1720. And of course a couple of pints of the dark stuff to wash it all down.
When we got out onto the water for the second day of the Irish National 1720 regatta the winds were very light. It took us two hours to get out to the start line because of the light airs. Sailing when there is no wind is a perennial problem and is one of those things that I’m going to mention in a later blog about sailing tips. However, the wot-tac predicted the start line bias when we hoisted the spinnaker we had a disaster. We lost places whilst we try to sort the spinnaker out. We had to raise new sheets and the knot slipped causing us a big problem. Eventually we finished 10th and returned very much with our tails between our legs. The Cork 1720 doesn’t really like light airs and I’m beginning to think that I don’t either. In the second race we didn’t have much luck. Again the light airs caused us big problems and we finished 12th. I was beginning to think that my sailing touch had really left me on the long journey from Pwllheli to Cork and Crosshaven. For the third race we had cracking start. The wot-tac gave us a cracking start, predicting accurately the start line bias and we went really well until we jibed. Eventually we finished the third race on the second day of the 1720 Irish nationals in seventh place. Not a good result and a pretty disastrous day for our 1720 Luvly Jubbly.
Mike Budd and Mark Mansfield are leading the fleet in their Cork 1720 ’I Dunno’. I’ve done a lot of sailing with Mike Budd over the years and know how good he really can be. Wot-tac is being used by Anthony O’Leary(senior) and his son Anthony sailing in their Cork 1720 ’Antix’. I got meeting fixed up with the chief instructor at the Royal Cork Yacht Club to tell him all about the wot-tac and how it can dig start line bias, wind over the side of the boat, Olympic and trapezoidal sailing angles and help on the Windward/ leeward courses. The chief instructor at the Royal Cork yacht club is an Argentinian called Renaldos and I’m looking forward to telling him that we’ve already sold some wot-tacs to customers in Argentina.
More instalments from the Cork 1720 Irish nationals tomorrow. Hoping for a better sailing tomorrow.
