Andy Soriano helming his IRC 68 Alegre has won the 57th edition of the famous 243 mile Giraglia Race from St. Tropez to Genoa via the rocky outcrop of Giraglia off Corsica, as well as the preceding Giraglia Rolex Cup inshore race series held in St. Tropez. Alegre finished at the head of a tightly packed Mini-Maxi fleet composed of the worlds latest Grand Prix IRC Racers, most of whom owe her time producing a significant IRC win in her class. Alegre earlier won the intense three race Giraglia Rolex Cup inshore series held in St. Tropez over the weekend, including a coastal race corrected time win by 7 minutes. Owner Soriano said “the racing was truly tight all the way through, with all the mini-maxis coming up to the windward mark even on port …amazing”.
More on the IRC 68
Dave Dwyer of Cork is the Afloat.ie/Irish Independent Sailor of the Month for June with his convincing retention of the British Open IRC Championship in Marinerscove.ie over three days of racing which concluded in the Solent on Sunday June 27th. Marinerscove.ie went on to hold her Cork Week crown in IRC 0 as well as take the Boat of the Week title, a ‘double double’ for the successful Mills Design IRC 39 and her dedicated owner.
Mark Mills was honored with the Asian Marine & Boating Best Designer Award 2010 at the Louis XIII-sponsored China International Boat Show (CIBS) Gala Dinner in Shanghai last week. The award was collected on Mills’ behalf by the Irish Vice-Consul in Shanghai John Lynam, above.
Mills Design has racked up a string of IRC Championship titles this year; Mariners Cove has been crowned the Overall British IRC Champion as well as winning the Irish Championship, Argie Bargie won the Scottish IRC Championship, and Ngoni took the Italian IRC Championship. These and other successes for both custom and production designs at events like the NYYC Annual Regatta, Scottish Series, and Red Funnel reflect the balance in IRC and bodes well for future projects.
More on the IRC 39
Mark Mills was honored with the Irish Independent / Afloat.ie Sailor of the Year Award: “Globally successful yacht designer Mark Mills of County Wicklow is the Afloat.ie/Irish Independent ‘Sailor of the Year 2009’ after a year of exceptional achievements which built on his original accolade as Sailor of the Month a year ago.”