Anderson’s ‘Senor’ top of class
A ONE-HOUR delay to the start of racing at Volvo Cork Week made all the difference to the crews competing on the coastal courses as a fresh breeze took hold off Roche’s Point.
That breeze resulted in long legs for the biggest boats that took the fleet along a 30-mile course from Power Head to the Sovereigns Rocks near Kinsale and back again.
But the wind proved fickle along the way and while George Sisk’s WOW! won the race on the water, the IRC rating used to handicap the boats saw El Gran Senor owned by Jonathan Anderson from the Clyde win the class.
Other results from the day saw Simon Coveney on Jedi lose his 20-hour lead in the overnight race to the Fastnet Rock lighthouse and back in the closing stage of the 130-mile race. At the Old Head of Kinsale, he opted to head into the coast to escape the worst effects of the outgoing tide in a decisive move that handed the race to his near rivals who headed offshore.
Further out to sea proved the better option for wind and defending title-holder Commandant Barry Byrne and the crew of Joker 2 edged into the lead just miles from the finish.
Youen Jacob’s Baltimore RNLI crew also took the offshore route and were a close second to Byrne, while Coveney was 13 minutes behind the leader and took third place.
The race proved to be almost an identical version of the 2016 edition when Byrne’s crew mounted a late challenge for the lead that ultimately resulted in the Beaufort Cup win.