SAILING: The biennial Sovereign's Cup got under way at Kinsale yesterday, the 155-strong fleet blessed with strong sun and moderate breezes off the Old Head.
Results in the key classes competing for the Irish Cruiser Championships were close but predictable insofar as they mirrored recent performances.
However, disquiet among leading boats in Class One ended up in the protest room, where the hearing to disentangle the second-race scores froze the overall positions for that fleet.
Eamon Conneely's new Transpac 52-footer Patches, sailing for Galway Bay Sailing Club, went head to head with Colm Barrington on Flying Glove in a battle royal under IRC Handicap in Class Zero.
Though they were perhaps mismatched in size at 40 feet and 52 feet overall, the outcome of the opening day's two races was far from a foregone conclusion, with a win apiece and the west-coast boat taking the overall lead on the tie-break.
Both have a mix of professional and amateur crew, though the heavyweights on Patches, including Olympic gold-medallist Shirley Robertson and skipper Ian Walker (an Olympic silver medallist and Americas Cup skipper) are certain to be looking for an emphatic win.
Barrington's well-proven formula of keeping his regular sailors together on fast cruiser-racing yachts sees Eddie Warden-Own on board once again and this well-drilled bunch led the rest of Class Zero around the windward/leeward courses while Patches enjoyed on-the-water leads of 20 minutes in a lonely competition.
Tim Costello's new Mills 40 Tiamat, winner of this year's Scottish Series, scored two consistent third places to hold the next runner-up place behind the class leaders.
In Class Two, Howth YC crews are dominating the top five overall places after two races.
Patrick Gregory's Benola leads by half a point from Terry Giles's Xebec while sister ship Dux, skippered by Anthony Gore-Grimes, holds third.
Meanwhile, Kinsale YC organisers were preparing to receive a small flood of complaints from seven entries disqualified in the results last night for failing to sign declarations ashore after racing. The event rules state this requirement clearly but some boats are likely to have missed out on this obligation.
Ironically, the entire "white sail" class, often disregarded as less competitive than the back-markers of the handicap racing classes, all completed the declaration.
SOVEREIGN'S CUP (including ICRA National Championship) - Overall after two races - Class Zero: 1 Patches (E Conneely); 2 Flying Glove (C Barrington); 3 Tiamat (T Costello). Class Two 1 Benola (P Gregory); 2 Xebec (T Giles); 3 Dux (A Gore-Grimes). Class Three 1 Inca (F Fisher); 2 Huntress (K O'Regan); 3 Checkmate (J Faller). Whitesails (1): 1 Quite Correct (J Roberts); 2 Hydeaway (F Ennis); 3 X Dream (O'Riordan and Murphy). Whitesails (2): 1 Crystal Light (M Powell); 2 Petrel (N O'Reilly); 3 Zyst (J O'Brien).
All results subject to protests
