Cork 2004 developments

Significant changes afoot for next year's event, announce the organisers

The organisers of Ford Cork week have published the initial strategy document for next year's event. The report’s findings are based on experiences from the 2002 event plus some focus group work in the wider SE Ireland yacht racing community.

Ford Cork Week has often led the regatta scene in Europe with innovations both on and off the water. The 2002 event saw the introduction of ‘professionals only in IRM’, which was greeted with great enthusiasm from competitors. The organisers also set up a Boat of the Week Award, which calculated the best performer in the week based on how competitive individual classes were.

“We are always looking to improve the regatta for competitors, organisers and the local community alike” commented Paddy McQuantum, who is chair of the organising committee.

A raft of new measures have been announced. One of the boldest for the 2004 event will be the banning of mobile phones within a two mile radius of the Royal Cork Yacht Club. McQuantum explains: "One of the things that was cropping up, over and over, in our interviews and surveys was the general feeling that mobile phones were proving a to be an unwelcome feature in the bars and beer tents around the marina. If people are on the phone talking to people far away then they will not be involving themselves fully in the regatta, in short they will be distracted from drinking and it’s not a situation we wish to encourage."

Although an obvious inconvenience to some competitors the organisers are keen to point out some of the additional benefits this ban will create. These include a more traditional approach to keeping appointments and improved domestic relations. McQuantum extrapolates: "“Before mobile phones, everyone organised themselves much better and turned up when and where it was agreed. This will help owners of yachts who will, for example, no longer have to deal with dusty, young crew members phoning up in the morning saying they are going to be ten minutes late for the boat because they can’t remember where they left their Dubarry boots.

"Also for the many sailors taking part, especially the male ones, Cork Week represents a real break away from the wife and the family. Spending hours on the water and in the beer tents in the company of other similar males who all have a time bomb, in the form of a mobile phone, in their pocket. Many relationships have been put under extreme pressure because of an ill-timed ‘phone home’ call is having to be made during the evening drinking time."

Eircom, Ireland’s mobile phone network operator is assisting the organisers by switching off three mobile phone masts in the area for the duration of the regatta plus a day either side.


707's in the thick of it

Although this is one of the stand out changes to Ford Cork Week it has been announced alongside another proposed change. On the water, the organisers are looking into a system of ‘on the spot fines’. Each owner will need to have £100 in cash in a waterproof wallet (supplied by event bronze level sponsor partner McMillan Pains of Essex), in a collision with another boat the owner of the boat with the least damage will hand over the money to the other owner.

This is hoped will help to prevent minor bumps and scratches occurring as McQuantum iterates: "We are not looking to solve the issue of big crashes with this initiative, what we a attempting to do is even up the playing field for smaller boat to boat blows. Any contact will always result in some additional cost for the owner, which should now be discouraged.

"We found that in the smaller one designs that ‘bumping and grinding’ was commonplace and causing a lot of grief for the less well heeled owners. The 707 fleet was a prime example where boats from Wales and inner city areas in the Midlands were being targeted by gangs, each consisting of two or three BMW drivers, usually from the M25 region."

McQuantum is looking for initial feedback from competitors on these two major changes, in an attempt to streamline the implementation of them in July next year. There is no doubt that other regatta organisers from the wider world will be looking closely at the results of these changes.