Sailing: Sorcery is foiled by her handicap

For some, there was a little too much bounty for the opening of Cork Week as David Rowley's Sigma 33 was dismasted and John Crotty's One Design, the 1720, was badly holed in a collision with a Melges 24. But for most of the record 485 craft the conditions were ideal.

Sensibly, both the Sigma 33s and 38s have attached their UK national championships to the biggest gathering in the British Isles outside Cowes Week.

The 38s stayed ashore yesterday following an all-night race, so all eyes were on their smaller brethren as Scotland's Ian Nicolson added a win in the second race of the series to the third place he scored on Sunday. A sixth place by the Clyde-based Nicolson in the second race of the day kept him the lead overnight.

The 72-boat fleet of 33s brings together a mixed bag of talent, some of which found the choppy conditions and 15 to 16 knot easterly a bit of a handful.

After a sluggish start in which Paddy O'Brien's Sorcery, an 82-footer of some 13 years, had to push her way through a melee of smaller boats, she settled into a long stride and powered her way round a 31-mile course.

Crossing the line first, however, was not enough for Sorcery to save time on handicap. Instead the prize went to Roy Dickson's Cracklin' Rose, which did so well at the Rover Series at the end of May. The next three places went to Bashford-Howison 41s: Jocelyn Waller's Silk 2; Nigel Bramwell's Hawk; and Colm Barrington's Surfin' Shoes.