1720s gearing up for another top class season
The 1720 sportsboat traces its origins to a design brief put forward by a group from the Royal Cork Yacht Club looking for an affordable, exciting yet safe one-design keelboat. A prototype from the board of Tony Castro was launched in March 1994 and over the last 30 years these robust, affordable sportsboats have served up countless thrills and close tactical racing without breaking the bank. Intended for a crew of five and with a 450Kg max crew weight, boats tend to have a combination of males in the more physical positions, and females or younger sailors on the bow – but there are plenty of exceptions to disprove that generalisation, and several boats are campaigned with 6 “youngish” crew – where the lack of “Dad bods” allows an extra pair of hands to be accommodated. The 1720’s rugged simplicity belies the fact that the boats respond extremely well to a well-tuned rig, constant working of trim and slick crew work.
The class has a strong following in its core base in Cork and Baltimore, but an enterprising group of sailors in Dunmore East has brought 1720 racing to the south east to much acclaim in the last number of years, providing a neat bridge to the east coast fleets in Dub Laoghaire and Howth. This year, the class will start class racing events on 18th/19th May at the Sportsboat Cup in the Royal Irish YC. Racing will swing south then with the National Championships in Baltimore from 14th-16th June, before the fleet returns to its spiritual home for Cork Week (incorporating the European Championships) from 15th-19th July – where it is hoped that a number of boats from the UK and possibly further afield will join the action. Baltimore SC hosts its annual Baltimore Cup at the August Bank Holiday weekend, and runs off a series of short, intense racing in the harbour each Saturday in August – well worth looking into if you’re in the area. A novel season-ending event, potentially at an inland venue is currently under consideration by the class committee.
This is but one example of a proactive class association that is constantly looking to broaden the appeal of the class – and those efforts have been rewarded with growing numbers of female sailors, multiple U25 teams and new owners joining the fleet. A very successful on-the-water coaching weekend was organised in Howth in early 2023, and at the Nationals in Dunmore East Sailmon trackers were used to provide post-racing reviews of the days’ racing – which added immensely to both the events and skills development of the crews. A league table was also organised to recognise the achievements of teams that sailed and were competitive at several events during 2023. This year, results for gold and silver fleets are proposed to support greater mid-fleet competition, where there are often great battles taking place between boats that don’t have championship-winning expectations.
Careful preparation and fine tuning of the rig can eke out those last fractions of a knot that might squeeze out a boat length of advantage here and there, but this can be accomplished by sailors without pockets as deep as a mine shaft. The versatility of the boat means that it can serve as a grand prix racer that tests the mettle of seasoned racing veterans, but is equally at home as a training boat to introduce sailors to a performance keelboat; its large clutter-free cockpit and the ability to change down to smaller jib and kite when the wind gets up makes it an ideal platform in this regard. And if one just wants to go for a gentle jaunt some sunny day with friends, the 1720 fits that bill too.
But for most of us in the class, thoughts of squeezing around marks in tightly-bunched fleets or blasting to the bottom mark under the powerful masthead kite are what helps keep a smile on our faces until racing resumes each summer.