Cork Week 2006 ended with a blast of southerly wind and sunshine for the 5000 sailors and 400-plus boats racing off Ireland’s south coast on Friday (21 July). Just one short race ended the series as crews prepared for delivery trips home or westwards to the scenic cruising grounds of West Cork.

A perfect set of six first place results secured the Boat of the Week trophy for Colm Barrington’s Ker 50-footer Magic Glove while his Class Zero rival Nick Lutte won the Prix d’Elegance trophy for his Mark Mills DK46 Shockwave.

Cowes’ Robin Aisher took the helm of Irish IRC Champion Antix to race as Yeomatix for the week in the competitive Class 3 and the Corby 35-footer won the 30-boat division to receive the trophy for Top RCYC Boat of Cork Week.

Across the classes, there was mix of the predictable and down to the wire results. Benny Kelly’s first generation Transpac 52 Panthera continued on to win Class Super Zero while Ger O’Rourke’s Chieftain won the final race to secure the runner-up slot.

Conor and Denise Phelan’s Jump Juice held out against David Dwyer’s marinerscove.ie to win Class One though for a time during the Harbour Course it appeared that the tables may at last have been turned on the class leader.

Bernard Gouy from France ended his visit to Ireland with success on Inis-Mor in IRC Class 3 after a highly consistent week of first and second places that left him with a clear 12-point lead over Bengal Magic from Northern Ireland.

Irish paralympic sailor John Twomey from Kinsale Yacht Club topped the 30-strong IRC Class 6 fleet on his Sonar keelboat Fawkes with his second race win of the week just edging Stephen Rees Throbber into second overall.

Amongst the Sportsboats, Peter O’Leary was confirmed overall winner of the 1720’s and was joined on the podium by his brother Nicholas who edged Charles Swingland’s Dark Side into third place overall in the final race of the series.

The close match race between Laser SB3 leader Ian Southworth and Christina Summerhayes and the all-woman crew of Team McLaren ended with a clear victory for the ladies despite a poor start to the final, tie-breaking race. Better upwind speed provided the needed edge to secure the class win.

Overall Results

Boat of the Week: Magic Glove (Colm Barrington)

Prix d’elegance: Shockwave (Nick Lutte)

Top RCYC Boat: Yeomantix (Robin Aisher)

IRC Super 0

1 Panthera Benny Kelly 8
2 Chieftain Ger O Rourke 13
3 Formidable 3 P.W. Vroon 19

IRC0

1 Magic Glove Colm Barrington 6
2 Tiamat Tim Costello 13
3 Dark and Steamy Nick and Annie Haigh 16

IRM

1 Werewolf Jerry Otter 12.5
2 Exabyte 4 Shaun Frohlich 13.5
3 Farrfalina Robert Goddard 15

IRC1

1 Jump Juice Conor and Denise Phelan 12
2 Marinerscove.ie David Dwyer 13
3 Jammy Dodger Neil Martin 17

IRC2

1 Yeomantix Robin Aisher 10
2 Barafundle Dr Neil White 14.5
3 Kiss David Pinner 16

IRC3

1 Inis-Mor Bernard GOUY 10
2 Bengal Magic John Moorehead and Chris Ferres 22
3 Raptor Hewitt/Mc’Carthy 26

IRC4

1 Respect Tom Brennan 8
2 Fixation Nick Fullagar 10
3 Blue Berret Pi E. Connellan/T. Madigan 12

IRC5

1 Dick Dastardly Kinnear/Cusack/O Neill 11
2 Merlin Kieran Dorgan 13
3 Obsession VI Barry and David Rose 13

IRC6

1 Fawkes John C Twomey 8
2 Throbber Stephen Rees 9
3 Bandit Ian Travers 11

Corporate Class

1 Joopster Impression Sailing 14
2 Lancelot Andy Byham 16
3 Aberlady Ann Ryan and Nick Hodshon 19

Gentlemans Class

1 Red Rhum Jonathon Nicholson 12.5
2 Crystal Light Michael Powell 21.5
3 Heavens Above V Christopher James Anderson 25

J/109

1 King Louie Fiona and Malcolm Thorpe 9
2 No Naked Flames Andrew Allen/Colm Monahan 10
3 Jumunu Alistair Ray 27

X332

1 X-Rated John and Gair Gordon 15
2 Equinox Emma McDonald 17
3 Xpletive Michael John Crompton 19

Sigma 38

1 The Project Andy Budgen / Freddie Schwin 7
2 Errislannan Patrick Kirwan 19
3 Arbitrator Peter Hopps and Hilary Cook 26

Sunsail Sunfast 37

1 PSUK Sunsail 9
2 Agave Avengers Sunsail 13
3 National Grid Sunsail 14

Mixed Sports Boats

1 Jenga Marie-Claude and Paul Heys 9
2 Elf Christine Leiper and Robin Murray 20
3 No Limit Ray Cook 21

SB3

1 Team Maclaren Christina Summerhayes 11
2 SMALL BUT STEAMY IAN SOUTHWORTH 12
3 Charlie Fish-Team Steam Team Steam 28

Hunter 707

1 Cacciatore Richard A Barnes 11
2 Sparkle Paul Curtis 12
3 Darkness Patrick Miles 12

1720

1 Antix 2 Peter O Leary 22
2 Wet n Black Nicholas O Leary 26
3 Dark Side Charles Swingland 27

Beneteau 31.7

1 Flying Machine Barry Cunningham 4
2 Eauvation Jason and Debbie Corlett 9
3 Levante Brian Leyden/Michael Leahy 10

Prima 38

1 Mighty Max 3 Andy Williams 8
2 Another Nods Richard and Helen Booth 10
3 White Knuckles Mervyn Hughes 16