IRC BOATS

White Heat and Cool Breeze in Key West 1-2

Mike Williamson’s Summit 40 White Heat triumphed in a closely fought IRC Class 2 at the first major event of the calendar, Key West Race Week.  “"It feels very, very good to win this regatta. Key West is well known around the world so certainly it's a great accomplishment," Williamson said.  John Cooper’s immaculate Mills 43 Cool Breeze took second along with a Lewmar Boat of the Day trophy to produce a repeat of last years win by a Summit 40 with second place taken by a Mills custom IRC design.  White Heat with four race wins built on her East Coast IRC win in Annapolis to show consistency in the predominantly light and medium conditions to win one of the most competitive classes at the event with a race to spare. 

The Summit 35’s Act One and Mariners Cove debuted here in real style on the PHRF circle after the two sisterships decided to race together when the second boat chartered by a Cork contingent was unable to get an endorsed IRC rating in time.  They enjoyed close racing with a 2nd and 4th in PHRF which if scored in IRC would have been a clear 1,2, leading one experienced helm to declare it an ‘IRC Weapon’, one we look forward to seeing in IRC competition in the build up to the Commodores Cup later this season.

Canute Triumphs at Audi Victoria Week

Peter Horn’s Canute won Australia’s largest sailing event, the Audi Victoria Week in Geelong.  Peter brought his new Summit 40 south from Sydney for her first major IRC event with Rob Brown calling the shots ““Being a new boat, you don’t know how you will go, but I never dreamed Canute would be this good.”    The race reports for the very competitive IRC 2 fleet described one beat “Canute has impressive upwind speed, outpacing her rivals up the first beat of Race 5, leaving the rest of the fleet in her wake. By the time she reached the top mark for the first time, she’d already put a good minute on her nearest rival.”

Monday Night will be Free Night!

A great New Year’s Resolution from the Cork Week Organisers. 

The Cork Week organisers have made a New Year’s Resolution…. “Monday night will be Free Night!”. 

As part of our ongoing commitment to reducing the overall cost of competing at Cork Week 2010 we have arranged that all Skippers and their crew who are competing at the event will be fed and watered “Free of Charge” onsite on the Monday evening after racing.

This event will follow the first day of racing and it promises to be a great evening.  All competitors will have the opportunity to discuss the days “thrills and spills” in a friendly and social setting, followed by music and craic in our tented village until the early hours.

RORC 2010 Race Programme

DALE Yachts Corby 36

DALE Yachts are currently have a most interesting build under way of a Corby 36 high performance sailing yacht.

This yacht is being built for an existing DALE client who was looking for a top quality build for a high performance sailing yacht which will be racing at the highest levels.

Corby Design were chosen for their track record of excellent sailing results and, having witnessed at first hand the build of his own DALE motor yachts, DALE were selected as builders.

The hull is a composite build: A laser cut jig has been created for the hull and deck. For the hull cedar strip planks are then scarfed together and fitted to the jig assembly. The hull is then faired before being sheathed in carbon fibre and finally faired to a smooth finish with a epoxy coatings and finished with Awlgrip paint.

Internally, the hull is fitted out with a combination of carbon fibre and timber materials.

The superstructure is a composite build:  A composite carbon fibre foam core structure.

The sailing fraternity are keeping a watchful eye on this build and will no doubt being paying close attention to DALEs meticulous attention to detail – photos on this page show how the build is progressing – please come back to this page for regular updates and new photos.

You can view more details of the DALE Yachts Corby 36 here.

Ker 53 IRC Cruiser/Racer

First regatta for “dralion” was the Voiles de Saint Tropez 2009 under brilliant conditions. The boat has an amazing potential and the corinthean crew from 6 nations was easily able to beat pro's like RAN (IRC-Minimaxi) or LEOPARD (IRC-Maxi). The owner Pit Finis and Designer Jason Ker were positivly surprised that “dralion” is under any conditions faster than predicted within comfortably & easy handling - we are looking forward to a complete season 2010 in MED under IRCX.

More information at www.ker53.com

Hotel Room in Valencia

BMW Oracle launches BOR 90 in Valencia

BMW Oracle launches BOR 90. Valencia, 16 January 2010. Video copyright BMW Oracle

BMW Oracle launched their giant trimaran BOR 90 on Saturday morning, a day after Alinghi's first sail in Valencia. Unfortunately, due to the strict restrictions and controls at the entrance of the commercial port, it is practically impossible for the media to have a look at BOR 90, even from a distance.

As a result, we will have to rely on what Peter Rusch is reporting in the excellent BMW Oracle Blog. So, according to Peter, after the boat was launched in the morning, "gusty winds made stepping the mast a tricky proposition for much of the day. But late in the afternoon, the shore team was able to complete their work. Load testing is scheduled for Sunday.

Alinghi 5 apparently ready to be launched

Alinghi 5 comes out of the boat building tent. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis

There isn't much to this story apart for the photo. Right after the press conference at the BMW Oracle base, Alinghi's boatbuilding tent opened up and Alinghi 5 came out, apparently ready to be launched on Valencia's waters. If our information is correct and if wind conditions are favorable she should be sailing before the weekend.

IRC Yearbook 2010