Cork Week 2026 Day 4 - Momentum Builds on the Penultimate Day
by Louay Habib 10 Jul 09:00 BST
6-10 July 2026
For Race Day Four on Thursday 9 July, Cork Week returned to a varied programme after Wednesday's Harbour Race.
IRC 0 and IRC 1, together with IRC 2 and IRC 3, were back on laid-course racing, while Coastal 1 & 2, the Non-Spinnaker fleet and the Beaufort Cup headed out on coastal courses. A light southerly wind was sufficient for racing to go ahead but it was not stable enough for the Etchells European Championship or Sportboat Cup technical course.
For the penultimate day of Cork Week, Cork Week 2026 Chairman Ross Deasy reflected on the scale of the event, the pride of the Royal Cork Yacht Club membership, and the unique welcome that keeps visiting sailors coming to Crosshaven.
Ross Deasy, Chairman, Cork Week 2026: "Every edition of Cork Week is really a two-year enterprise. Once one event is finished, we take a breath, then we sit down and look at how we can build on what we have achieved and put ourselves in the best place for the next one. There is a huge amount of history behind this regatta, and a lot of people have given enormous effort to build it.
My role is to listen to the competitors, understand what they need and try to give them the best experience possible. When we hear visitors saying they have had a great time, it fills us with pride. That is down to the team, our members, and everyone who supports the club through the disruption of staging such a major event. In Ireland we talk about céad míle fáilte, the hundred thousand welcomes, and we want everyone who comes here to feel that. We would love to see them all back in two years' time, and hopefully they bring a friend."
Beaufort Cup
Baltimore RNLI's Baltimore SC J/109 Baltimore RNLI has won the Beaufort Cup with a day to spare. Following first in the Fastnet Race with back-to-back wins in the Harbour Race and Thursday's race to finish unstoppable with one day remaining. Second for the moment is Simon Coveney's Royal Cork YC team on Waterfront. Brian Mathews' Defence Forces SC J/109 - Artful Dodjer is just two points behind.
IRC 0 & IRC 1
In IRC 0, Michael & Richard Evans' Howth YC J/112 The Big Picture took the win. Second was Nick Southward's Royal Hong Kong YC team on J/122 Whiskey Jack, just 2 minutes 52 seconds behind on IRC corrected time, with Simon Britten's Portishead CC One Tonner Hero completing the podium in third.
In IRC 1, Barry Cunningham's RCYC / RIYC J/109 Chimaera is dominating the class, winning all six races so far but today's win was by just 14 seconds after IRC time correction. Second was John Maybury's RIYC J/109 Joker 2. Third was Andy Williams' Portishead CC J/109 Ctrl-J, completing an all-J/109 podium.
IRC 2 & IRC 3
In IRC 2, James Dwyer's Royal Cork YC Half Tonner Swuzzlebubble took a commanding win. Second was Levins, Foley & Twomey's Royal St George YC Allig8r, with Ronan Downing's Royal Cork YC Half Tonner Miss Whiplash completing the podium in third. With day of racing to go, Swuzzlebubble is virtually unstoppable with Miss Whiplash a solid second. The battle for the final podium position is tight with Allig8r now tied with David Eddowes' South Caernarvonshire YC Quattro.
In IRC 3, Sam Laidlaw's Quarter Tonner BLT has ix straight bullets for Cork Week. Second in Race 6 was Anton Korshunov's Howth YC Quarter Tonner Symmetry, with Colman Garvey & Kieran Kelleher's RCYC / KYC Quarter Tonner Illegal completing the podium in third.
Coastal 1 & Coastal 2
In Coastal 1, the podium is all but decided, Robin Young's Royal Northern & Clyde YC J/109 Jings won the class with three race wins from four starts. Second is Frank Whelan's Greystones SC Sydney 43 GTS El Syd. Third is still in the balance with Tim McCarthy & Wan Waterman's Royal YC J/111 Joyride two points ahead of John Treanor's RIYC/NYC NMD 43 Cristina.
For Robin Young and the Royal Northern & Clyde YC J/109 Jings, victory in Coastal 1 carried extra meaning. Young had been to Cork Week before, including once with his father in 1994 and again in 2018, but this was the first time he had brought his own boat and crew to Crosshaven. After a 320-mile delivery from the Clyde, the win was also the first regatta victory he has achieved with Jings.
Robin Young, owner/skipper of Jings: "It's amazing, just brilliant. I've had the boat for nine years now and this is actually the first regatta win I've had with her, so it has been a real journey. We have a good fleet up on the Clyde and the RC35 racing gave us really good competition, so we've come down here and carried on the learnings from that. It was a bit of a trek to get here. Alex Matthews and I sailed two-handed non-stop from the Clyde, about 320 miles, and it took us 56 hours, including a 30-hour beat from south of Dublin. We will of course be racing tomorrow, but after the final prize-giving is going to be a big night. We've got a whole weekend to recover, so let's go and have some fun."
In Coastal 2, Pat Tanner's Royal Cork YC Castro 3/4 Tonner Bateleur88 took their first race win at Cork Week 2026. Second was George Radley Jnr & Snr's Cove SC Sun Fast 32 Tuco, with Andy Jenkins' Royal Cork YC S&S 34 Morning After completing the podium in third.
Non-Spinnaker 1 & 2
In Non-Spinnaker 1, Kieran O'Brien's Royal Cork YC MG335 Magnet took the win by a commanding 16 minutes and 14 seconds on IRC corrected time. Aidan Heffernan's Dehler 36 Indulgence was second, with Kieran Twomey's 1720 Dark Side completing the podium. In Non-Spinnaker 2, the Royal Cork YC Albin Express Apache, sailed by Daly, Rock, Blake and Fitzpatrick, took the win by 24 minutes and 36 seconds on IRC corrected time. Ian Hickey's Royal Cork YC Granada 38 Cavatina finished second.
Racing at the world-famous Cork Week concludes on Friday 10 July followed by the Grand Prize Giving at the Royal Cork Yacht Club. For more information about Cork Week visit www.corkweek.ie