Glynn Williams and his mostly amateur crew on the IC 45 Wolf took the top prize for the 21 boat IRM High Performance Class today at Ford Cork Week, after a fourth place in the final race.

Needing only to finish eighth or better if Nick Hewson and his team on the Farr 52 Team Tonic had managed a win today, Wolf’s early pace, forward thinking and conservative tactics were the key to ensuring overall victory in the 558 boat regatta’s showcase grand prix class.

By choice, few of the tacticians and navigators would choose the testing Harbour Course race as the contest to settle the series, especially at the end of a light winds week such has this has been. As ever there was one modest breeze out to sea, where the fleet raced two triangles off Roche’s Point to punctuate their two tours up to the top of Cork Harbour, and there was another breeze blowing fitfully off the picturesque streets of Cobh, where the cathedral so prominently overlooks the northern-most turning marks, sufficiently close for tacticians and skippers to seek divine intervention. Wolf’s Kevin Sproul needed no such help, and neither did the crew on Bear of Britain – Kit Hobday and Tim Louis’ Farr 52.

Sproul called another ace of a start and the Bear team did a fine job around the course, going on to win by five minutes and 35 seconds over Peter Morton’s Mills 50 Mandrake, while Wolf left the other IC 45s trailing over ten minutes behind. Wolf elected to start offshore, over the bank where there was less tide and more breeze they were once more well up with the 50 footers in the early part of the race. At the top of the harbour there were several sticky points where the wind shut off entirely, buoying the no-go zone, where Wolf again caught up time.

“We came here not quite knowing what to expect so we’re delighted to win,” commented Glynn Williams. “We did an IC45 event in Cassis, France in March and it was a bit of a humbling experience, but we have worked hard on the boat since and did a low key regatta together before we came here to iron out the glitches and the guys have done really well.

“It’s nice to come up against some of the other boats, as a mainly amateur crew, and do well,” Williams continued. “I started to think we could win when we had two firsts on Monday, but it has been a great week. Where I think it has been great for IRM is that it has done a great job of providing close racing for similar grand prix boats and all the different sizes seem to have had their days.”

Results Race 8
1 Bear of Britain Farr 52, Kit-Tim Hobday-Louis
2 Mandrake Mills 50, Peter Morton
3 Team Tonic Farr 52 , Nicholas Hewson
4 Wolf IC 45, Glynn Williams
5 Bounder IC 45, CCG Little

Ford Cork Week IRM overall
1 Wolf IC 45, Glynn Williams
2 Team Tonic Farr 52, Nicholas Hewson
3 Bounder C IC 45, C.G Little
4 Babbalaas IC 45, David McLean John Rickards
5 Too Steamy Farr 40, Nick Haigh
6 Bear of Britain Farr 52, Kit-Tim Hobday-Louis
7 I Site Race1K11.3, Robbie Cameron-Davies
8 Mandrake Mills 50, Peter Morton
9 Tigger Mumm 30, Chris Thorne
10 Flash Gordon Sydney 40, mod Steve Travis

Ford Cork Week IRMa
1 Wolf Glynn Williams
2 Team Tonic Nicholas Hewson
3 Bear of Britain Kit-Tim Hobday-Louis

Ford Cork Week IRMb
1 Too Steamy Nick Haigh
2 I Site Robbie Cameron-Davies
3 Tigger Chris Thorne