Despite being penalised three points, Mike MacCarthy and his crew from the Royal Cork Yacht Club on their Ker 32 Checkmate recorded 6 first place finishes to win Class 2 IRC in some style. Checkmate’s crew for the event was Mike MacCarthy, Frank MacCarthy, Glen MacCarthy, Ger Bythell, Peter Duggan, Michael Wren, Rory Clune and Tony Donworth.

Tiamat the Mills Design IRC 40 owned by Tim Costello swept the 2007 French IRC Championships with straight firsts in the eight race series, discarding a first to take the event with straight bullets – a replay of her 2006 sweep of the UK IRC National Championships.  Competing over four days of varied conditions at Deauville International Week, where the three IRC Classes were competing for their National Titles, she relied on her speed across a wide range of conditions to stay ahead of the fleet.  Tiamat now returns to Ireland to attend the hotly contested Irish IRC Championships in Cork which promises to be one of the most competitive events of the year. 

Peter Morton’s Espada is the 2007 Coutts Quarter Ton Cup winner, after fighting off a large fleet of beautifully prepared Quarter Tonners for one of the most competitive and enjoyable titles in yachting. Espada had enjoyed a complete overhaul which included a new Mills Design rig and keel, as had race winner Runaway Bus which finished fifth. The 26 boat fleet includes designs from every generation of the small IOR racers, which now race under IRC to restore superbly close racing, and Mills’ experience with IRC was part of the balance of adding performance without compromising the original design. Espada won the event from the early leader Darren Marsden in Catch, which was upgraded this year with rig input and a re-profiled keel from Mills. Out of nine races for the event, only one was won by a boat which had not worked on their performance with Mills Design.