TWO weeks after five sailors were killed in the waters off Northern California when their 38-foot yacht was hit by powerful waves and ran aground on a rocky island, three yachtsmen died and one went missing on a 125-nautical mile race from Newport Beach to Ensenada in Mexico at the weekend.
It is the second major racing accident off California. Two Corkmen, Elmer Morrissey and Alan Cahill, died in the first tragedy. By ocean racing standards, the number of casualties in the two races is startling.
 Previous major racing disasters have been caused by storms, during the 1979 Fastnet Race when 18 died and the 1998 Sydney-Hobart Race when six were killed.
Gary Jobson, president of the United States Sailing Association, said he was horrified by the latest accident.
“We need to take a step back and take a deep breath with what we’re doing. Something is going wrong here,” he said.
 He was in discussion this week with the US Coast Guard about a review of both accidents and races.
The three who died at the weekend were sailing a 37-foot yacht, Aegean, found smashed to pieces on the Mexican shoreline near the Coronado Islands.
While the US Coast Guard didn’t rule out that the yacht might have hit the rocks, race organisers said there was “no other explanation possible than a collision in darkness with a ship.”
The Coast Guard has been checking records of shipping in the area, but so far there is no definite information.
Safety is an issue that must be to the forefront in sailing, the sea always being unpredictable. Sailing competitions do not have the even playing surface of other sports, which makes it more challenging.
CHALLENGING WEATHER
By the experience of high winds for the past month, seasonal weather conditions appear to be constantly changing.
 The  east coast seems to have fared worst where damage to yachts is concerned. Only a week after being put in the water for the season the Irish Sea Offshore Racing Association (ISORA) champion, Raging Bull, was blown ashore on rocks at Skerries where several other vessels broke their moorings and were badly damaged.
 In Bray boats also suffered and at the sailing club a crane which had begun the seasonal ‘lift-in’ was called back into action again to urgently ‘lift-out’ boats to safety ashore, but that was not possible for all vessels.
 AFLOAT magazine’s website has stunning but sad to watch video footage of Raging Bull being blown ashore and of another yacht in Bray breaking its mast as club members tried to save it.
HEAVY WEATHER AT
KINSALE CONCLUSION
The conditions tested the Kinsale fleet for the final day of the club’s spring series last Saturday with another session of 20 knot plus easterlies demanding good boat handling and causing  equipment damage.
In Class Zero, the series came to a premature end for Kieran Twomey’s Gloves Off when her main halyard snapped on the first beat, forcing her to retire while leading the fleet.
 Though most boats tried to fly a spinnaker on the first run, a more prudent approach was taken for the remainder of the day, as the short legs, gusts and a building swell made kite-handling difficult.
Overall Conor Doyle’s Freya claimed top spot in IRC, with Gloves Off’s retirement costing her dearly. She lost out to Freya overall.
In ECHO Zero Class Meridian nailed top spot. The anticipated battle between Dave Scott’s Eos and the Nagle and O’Malley team on Jelly Baby failed to materialise when the rough conditions forced Jelly Baby to retire from the first race and she didn’t start the second.
 Eos claimed Class One top spot in both IRC and ECHO handicaps overall and, underlining her dominance made it a clean sweep of the series top spots coming home first in IRC Restricted also.
 That was though during a tack, one of her younger crew slipped out under the guardrails.
Quick hands and thinking grabbed the drenched sailor and tacked the boat back onto port to haul her clear of the cold water. Within minutes from that incident, Eos was back at the head of the fleet!
In Class Two Brian Goggin’s Allure had to retrace her route to retrieve a lost-overboard spinnaker in the first race and shredded a kite in the second.
 However, she had another ready for hoisting while the remains of the first were hauled aboard and still won both races comfortably in IRC.
The Marron and O’Connell team on Bandit won overall in Class Three IRC from Finbarr Dorgan’s No Half Measures. Padraig O’Donovan’s Chameleon was third and won ECHO Three overall.  
In Class Four, Alan Mulcahy’s Sundancer  with seven race wins won IRC overall from Richard Hanley’s Saoirse.
 Michael Murphy’s Shelly D claimed third overall. In ECHO, the same two boats featured in the top slots, separated by four points.
In White Sail One Stephen Lysaght’s Reavra won the top spot with Dave Akerlind’s Paragon second overall and the Murphy, Hennessy and Dann team on Val Kriss third.
In White Sail Two, Billy Joyce’s Windrose claimed the overall prize.
Kevin and Celia Murray’s Objection! swooped in to claim second with Dave Cullinane’s Delos third.