With the best score of any of the 120 boats over the past week, Rory Fekkes’ Fn’Gr8 from Carrickfergus Sailing Club has been confirmed as the overall winner of Volvo Cork Week following an intense three-race final day.

The Antrim boat was a convincing overall winner to the week despite several other strong performances in other classes but Fekkes had accumulated an impressive 19-point lead in his eleven-boat fleet.

“Best week ever!  It’s the closest racing we’ve ever had,” Fekkes said even before learning of his overall event win.  “We were hoping to get the overall win so we kept going to the end even though we only had sixth place to discard.”

The 19 year old helm is a former Laser dinghy sailor but who “doesn’t like getting wet” hence the switch to Fn’Gr8 with a full crew.

The team has plans to compete in the Irish championships in Galway next month. As for the 300thanniversary of the Royal Cork Yacht Club in 2020, Fekkes reckons “It’s a class event so we’ll be back!”

Meanwhile, in other results from Volvo Cork Week, Commandant Barry Byrne on Joker 2 successfully defended the Beaufort Cup for military and rescue service crews, retaining the trophy for the Irish Defence Forces.

“We’re over the moon, it’s more than we ever dreamed of,” said Byrne.  “It’s a tough event to win, especially against the calibre of people we were up against – Olympians, All-Ireland champions and people like Tim Goodbody and other great sailors.”

A total of 16 teams competed for the trophy, up from eleven crews in 2016 and Byrne’s team will again donate their €10,000 charity purse to Crumlin Childrens’ Hospital and RNLI lifeboats.

In total, prizes were awarded in 20 different classes and categories while the Prix d’Elegance was awarded to Jonathan Anderson’s El Gran Senor from the Clyde Cruising Club in Scotland for the best-presented boat.

Meanwhile, planning for the next Cork Week in 2020 is already underway which will form part of the 300thanniversary celebrations for the Royal Cork Yacht Club as the oldest yacht club in the world with a continuous history dating to 1720.

Full results available here:  http://www.corkweek.ie/results/results2018/CorkWeek2018Overall.htm

 

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