Royal Cork Yacht Club celebrates 300 years in existence

MINISTER of Foreign Affairs and of Defence Simon Coveney marked the Royal Cork Yacht Club’s 300th birthday yesterday at a small ceremony on Haulbowline island, the Irish Naval Headquarters and home of the original ‘Water Club of the harbour of Cork’, as it was known back in 1720.

The Minister also visited a new Royal Cork Yacht Club Exhibition, supported by AIB, at the Sirius Arts Centre in Cobh, another former home of the sailing club from 1854 to 1966.

The exhibition, which will run until December, looks back on the history of the club over 300 years, and what life was like during its time in Cobh.

The Royal Cork, which is the oldest sailing club in the world, had to reschedule its Cork300 events series planned to celebrate its 300th birthday until July 2021 because of Covid-19.

The club’s tricentenary celebrations, planned for 28-30 August, are to be held instead next year.

Many of the events, which included a Tricentenary Maritime Parade in Cobh, a Tricentenary at Home Weekend Regatta, and the Fastnet Powerboat Challenge, an exciting world-record attempt, had already been pushed back from earlier in the summer.

The Crosshaven based sailing club hopes to be in a position to reschedule most of these events, in addition to others that were previously cancelled like the Cork300 Gala Dinner in Cork City Hall and Cork300 Wild Atlantic Way Cruise in Company along the Cork and Kerry coastline, to July 2021.

Commenting on the rescheduled events series, Admiral of the Royal Cork Yacht Club Colin Morehead said:

“It is with deep regret that we have to yet again reschedule our celebratory events, but public health must come first.

“We hope that by 2021 we will be in a much better position to truly celebrate the momentous feat of having the oldest sailing club in the world here in Cork."