#rdp13 – Winds gusting to 30 knots will ensure tomorrow's multihull racing as part of the inshore racing of the Route des Princes series will be a spectacular affair off Dun Laoghaire.

From 2pm, the nine boat French fleet of MOD70's, Multi 50's and Ultimates will compete in the first races of the inshore series off Dun Laoghaire in Scotsman's Bay in the south of Dublin Bay.

The course area (pictured above) is from Dun Laoghaire's East Pier to Dalkey Island, a distance of 1.8 miles close to well known local landmarks at Sandycove and the Forty Foot bathing spot.

Three races will be sailed. Racing is due to be finished by 1700hrs.

The prize giving for Leg 2, from Lisbon to Dun Laoghaire is at 1830hrs.

#rdp – Saturday afternoon is now shaping up as the optimal time for the multihulls in the Routes des Princes to start their round Ireland record challenge from the Kish Lighthouse writes W M Nixon, while the planned start on Monday looks even less favourable for a successful attempt.

Of course, today's large multihulls outperform the boats of twenty years ago by so much that they could still break Lakota's 15.84 knots average from 1993 for the 704 mile circuit in conditions which are only reasonably favourable. But a boat leaving the Kish heading anti-clockwise round Ireland around 1500hrs on Saturday should comfortably average 20 knots plus in totally favourable fresh to strong sou'westers for the 170 miles to Inishtrahull. In fact, a skipper knowing the speed and performance potential of his boat in these ideal conditions will be keen to leave at the latest possible time, and yet still reach Inishtrahull at midnight Saturday, as any hours chopped off from the start will stand to the good as they close for the finish back towards the Kish through Sunday night.

Up at Inishtrahull towards midnight on Saturday, a low of 989 easing to 991 will pass over the Malin Head area, and behind it strong nor'westers will firm in very quickly. The problem then will be not to damage the boat on the next stage from Bloody Foreland to Erris Head as she tries to make speed straight into old head seas running in from the southwest. But with every mile made good southwards down Ireland's Atlantic seaboard, this problem will ease and better speeds can be maintained.

The usual hassle with getting past the Blaskets should be minimal in a good nor'wester which can the be carried all the way back to the finish, hopefully with the boat being able to fetch up the final 70 miles from the Tuskar to the Kish. It can't be overlooked, however, that the low, having filled to 1005, is indicated as coming to a halt over the North Sea on Sunday evening. This will cause a distinct easing of wind pressure over the entire area, but by that time any boat which started on Saturday afternoon will be within sight of the finish, and the Holy Grail of the 36 hour circuit.

#RDP – The nine multihulls in the Route des Princes fleet have only just reached Dun Laoghaire this morning in that special stage of exhaustion brought on by struggling in light airs and calms in boats that can fly with half a decent breeze. And now they plan to have several days of R & R (relatively speaking) before a planned joint assault on the Round Ireland Record starting at the Kish Lighthouse on Monday writes W M Nixon.

Until late yesterday, forecast conditions were looking quite good for the record challenge early next week. And they still do. But in the approaching volatile spell of weather which is going to make for a very miserable rainy weekend for all of us, dare one suggest that late Friday night/early Saturday morning offers a better potential for a shot at the title?

There's a nasty little low forecast to be zapping across the north of Ireland through Saturday, currently predicted to be tracking east with its centre expected at 1400hrs Saturday right on Malin Head. It should be quite vigorous, as it will be down at 985 when 350 miles west of Malin Head at 1800 hrs Friday, though it will have eased a bit to 990 at Bloody Foreland, 991 at Malin Head, and 993 at 1800hrs Saturday over the Mull of Kintyre.

Thus a boat leaving the Kish anti-clockwise at a carefully calculated time from midnight Friday onwards has a good chance of very fast sailing on smooth seas with south to southeast winds off the land all the way to Malin Head. The key to it all will be calculating when precisely to leave, in order to minimize any time going to windward off north Donegal, or even sitting becalmed in the centre of the low before the northerlies behind it set in big time on Saturday evening to blast you right down the west coast.

They're set to back steadily, which would give straight line sailing from the Fastnet to the Tuskar, and then, with a bit of luck, close-reaching in a wind just off the land from the Tuskar back to Dublin Bay on Sunday morning.

Beyond that, things don't look too bad for a clockwise challenge on Monday with the winds mainly nor'westerly. The problem is that, as things look now, a quite determined ridge of high pressure is shown as building northeast towards Ireland through Monday, which should make for some very gentle and summery weather down in West Cork and Kerry.

God knows they deserve it down there after some of the weather they've had in recent days. But gentle calm summer weather isn't great for record breaking. So doubtless this morning in Dun Laoghaire, some crews will be seriously considering the small-hours-of-Saturday option, if they're allowed.

It would make it more interesting if two different challenges were on offer - one Friday midnight onwards, and the other the proposed one on Monday. And it would be a logistics challenge for the official time keeper too. Perhaps somebody should be thinking about kitting out the former keepers' bedrooms on the unmanned Kish Lighthouse so that Chris Moore, keeper of the records on behalf of the National YC, could take up residence out there for a few days, starting Friday. It would be a real fun way for the former NYC Commodore to spend the mid-summer weekend.

Click here for a history of Round Ireland Speed Records

#routedesprinces – After a light air sail up the Irish Sea, five of a fleet of nine Route des Princes multihulls are now berthed alongside the East Pier in Dun Laoghaire, arriving overnight.  In spite of holding the lead at lunch time along the south coast yesterday, Damian Foxall's Omansail lost top spot on the east coast overnight to Yan Guichard's Spindrift, that was first to arrive at Dun Laoghaire's east pier this morning as pictured above at 04:37:48. Gitana XV followed in to Dublin Bay with Foxall third. In harbour now are Foxall's Omansail, Spindrift, Gitana XV and Sailing's Virbac Paprec.

The average speed on the course from Lisbon to Dublin Bay of 990 miles was 15.26 knots.

Making speeds of between 9 and 12 knots Actual and Fenetrea Cardinal are off Dalkey Island, at the entrance to Dublin Bay and are expected in the harbour in the next hour. [Arr 800hrs] The remaining two boats will follow this morning. 

Less than eight minutes separated the top three MOD70 trimarans as they crossed the finish line in Dun Laoghaire Ireland after a nail-biting game of cat and mouse at the end of the second leg of the 2013 Route des Princes which left Oman Air Musandam in third place.

The Oman Sail flagship crossed the finish line at 05H 45' 05 local time having taken 2 days 15 hours 45 mins and 5secs to complete leg.

Remarkably they finished just 33 seconds behind Edmond de Rothschild after a fraught last hour, with Spindrift coming in seven minutes and 17 seconds ahead.

Until around three hours from the finish line, Sidney Gavignet's crew had successfully defended the lead they had held for the previous 24 hours but as light and fickle winds up the east coast of Ireland intervened, the closing stages became arbitrary with each boat chancing their luck with the breeze.

Oman Air Musandam lost the lead to Spindrift after a tacking duel up the coast then just a mile from the finish, Groupe Edmond de Rothschild seized their opportunity to nudge ahead.

"You can't always be the right boat in the right place," said Fahad Al Hasni, immediately after they crossed the line.

The Route des Princes 2013 fleet at the Carlisle pier pontoons in Dun Laoghaire harbour on Wednesday lunchtime

"It was very hard work and it is a shame we lost first place so close to the finish. Three hours to go, we were match racing with Spindrift for about one hour then Gitana crept up on us and we lost out to them too."

For crewmember Damian Foxall, Ireland's leading offshore sailor, the arrival in his home country was bittersweet. It was brilliant to be in Ireland, he said, but coming third did not sit happily with this talented and determined crew on Oman Air Musandam.

"It was not how we expected to finish but one boat length behind Gitana and a few minutes behind Spindrift shows how close it was and overall it was a very enjoyable leg. Tricky but enjoyable.

"It was brilliant to get the two points for passing the Fastnet Rock first and as an Irishman it was great to see the sun as we sailed up the coast – it was a nice welcome compared to the grey and drizzle of the Bay of Biscay.

"It feels very good to be here, even if it is only for a couple of days," he said.

Oman Air Musandam dropped down to joint second in the overall rankings with 88 points tied on with Edmond de Rothschild, but with the competition so tight and close, there are still plenty of opportunities to score points, said skipper Sidney Gavignet.

"We did some good things on this leg. The finish was painful especially since we had fought so hard since the Fastnet and had been sailing well.

"The team worked well together. This was a demanding leg and everyone stepped up to the plate – which was why the result is disappointing but there is still a long way to go in the race and there are still plenty of points up for grabs.

The next opportunity for point scoring will come in the Dun Laoghaire inshore series which starts on Saturday when three round the buoys races are scheduled followed by another three on Sunday. The third leg of the 2013 Route des Princes from Dun Laoghaire to Plymouth starts on Monday June 24th.

On Monday, the multi fleet is scheduled to make an attempt at the Round Ireland speed sailing record. 

Ranking leg 2 (before jury)
1. Spindrift - finished after 2 d 15 h 37 min and 48 sec of racing
2. Edmond de Rothschild - finished after 2 d 15 h 44 min and 32 seconds of racing.
3. Oman Air - Musandam - finished after 2 d 15 h 45 min and 05 seconds of racing.
4. VIRBAC-PAPREC 70 finished after 2j d 16h h 12 min and 02 sec of racing.

Overall Ranking (before jury)

1: Spindrift (94 pts.)
2: Edmond de Rothschild (88 pts.)
3: Oman Air – Musandam (88 pts.)
4: Virbac-Paprec 70 (66 pts.)

#routedesprinces – Damian Foxall leads the Route des Princes race this lunchtime, rounding the Fastnet rock to get his first glimpse of home in several months. [Scroll down the page to listen to the podcast].

From on board Omansail, Foxall says he can see the 'green fields of southwest Cork' (not quite Derrynane tho, Damian, eh?) as the trimaran flies along at 28-knots.

The Kerryman's slender lead is threatened this afternoon by light winds and a closing multi fleet as they head for the Tuskar Rock at Wexford.

Omansail are preparing for light winds and a difficult 24 hours ahead.

After a fast and frenetic ride through the North Atlantic, Oman Air-Musandam moved into the lead of the second offshore leg of the 2013 Route des Princes during the early hours of Tuesday morning stretching out a small gain in an incredibly tight contest.

After a fast and frenetic ride through the North Atlantic, Oman Air-Musandam moved into the lead of the second offshore leg of the 2013 Route des Princes during the early hours of Tuesday morning stretching out a small gain in an incredibly tight contest.

Since they left Lisbon on Sunday, the four MOD70 trimarans have been neck and neck, with anything up to 15 miles between them but at the last position update, Oman's flagship boat had eked out a 12 mile lead over the three other boats who were separated by just five miles.

As predicted, conditions have been rough but according to Oman Air-Musandam's Damian Foxall, not as bad as expected.

"It has been pretty bouncy which we were expecting but we have also had some beautiful sailing out here," he said.

"Currently we are going fast upwind doing about 23 knots and are about two hours from the Fastnet Rock. After we round the Rock, anything could happen because things are expected to go light and there could in effect be a race restart."

The Fastnet Rock is about eight miles off the south west tip of Ireland and is familiar to all serious offshore sailors, whether professional or recreational, since it marks the turning point in the classic bi-annual offshore event, the Fastnet Race from Cowes to Plymouth.

When the Route des Princes fleet round the Rock, they will head north towards Dublin rather than south to Plymouth but this is likely to bring new challenges of a lighter breeze, Foxall said.

"At the moment we are concentrating on defending our lead so we have an advantage when things slow up. It looks like things will be slow working our way up the coast to Dun Laoghaire and at the moment it's not obvious whether local knowledge is going to be a factor or not."

If local knowledge comes into play, Oman Air-Musandam will be at a distinct advantage since Foxall is Ireland's leading offshore sailor, having learned his sailing in County Kerry and spent his early years racing round Ireland's coastlines.

At this stage, Foxall said, it was impossible to tell from the weather how the approach into the finish at Dun Laoghaire, around 250 miles away, would pan out but they were looking at an ETA of around 0700 on Wednesday.

For Omani sailor Fahad Al Hasni, the proximity of the racing has brought the best out of the Oman Air-Musandam crew.

"We decided to go further west last night which wasn't the most obvious routing but so far it worked out really well for us and we are now in the lead," said Al Hasni.

"We'll have a tough job trying to defend this over the next 250 miles but we are really looking forward to it."

Full transcript of podcast: 

Damian Foxall (IRL, Oman Air-Musandam): " Last night was pretty nice conditions. Actually thinking back it was very nice conditions, not too rough. We were beating up the western approaches on the wind with a westerly current coming down the west coast and an NE'ly flow coming down the Irish Sea. So fairly early we decided we would favour the left hand side, we would be in the left hand shift approaching Fastnet, and the other guys went the other way. So we basically stepped off a little more to the left this morning to cover them. So we were shy reaching into the Fastnet in good conditions, but had a little bit of a scare – well not a scare but a little bit of a stressful moment before the Fastnet when we we were doing about 28kts and the rudder popped up. It must have hit something soft, like a Sunfish or something, but no stress, we slowed down and put it back in place. These central rudders are designed to kick up and so it was fine. Now it is going really light as we go around the Fastnet and the trick is when we start going NE whether everyone is going out into the SE'ly to try and step across. In the meantime all is going well. It is great to see the green fields of SW Cork and to see the Fastnet this morning."
On being only Irish sailor in fleet and passing Fastnet in the lead?
" I think I said thank you to Sidney this morning. I certainly don't take these things for granted. I am very privileged first of all to be racing these boats and also most importantly to be leading the fleet around Fastnet. And of course taking valuable points. Spindrift have got points from the Cascais mark, and we picked up this one. But there is meant to be a race re-start and we can see all the other boats around about us, so it does not really mean too much. We are trying to hang on in what is going to be a very difficult final 24 hours or so, round the SE coast and up the East coast of Ireland."

#routedesprinces – The 70ft MOD70 multihulls departed Lisbon today at 1400 enroute to Dun Laoghaire after two days of inshore racing. Irish offshore sailor Damian Foxall onboard Oman-Air Musandam won the first offshore leg from Valencia to Lisbon earlier this week so hopefully luck will be on his side as he approaches homesoil. Damian is one of the world's leading offshore sailors and has sailed around the world a remarkable 9 times and has won both the Barcelona World Race and the Volvo Ocean Race.

However it was Yann Guichard and the crew of Spindrift who led the Route des Princes MOD70 fleet out of Lisbon's Tagus river, taking the bonus points at the C1 mark by Cascais, setting a fast, intense pace in the early stages of Leg 2.

'It will be uncomfortable', said Damian Foxall who left Lisbon knowing the next time he stepped off Oman Air-Musandam at the end of the 990nm leg it would be in his homeland.

'It will be very uncomfortable – it looks like there will be a lot of wind around Cape Finisterre off the north-west corner of Spain," said Foxall just before the fleet left Lisbon. Hopefully we will avoid the worst of it but it will be rough and bouncy. For 48 hours the living conditions will be tough, but we are confident in our ability to sail the boat fast and to go in the right direction. We have trained in these conditions so know what it is all about but we also know the other boats are very comfortable in these conditions too. It will be rough and fast but we'll get there in one piece.'

The smaller 50ft multihulls (Multi 50s) left Lisbon yesterday and it is expected the fleet will arrive in Dun Laoghaire around the same time as the MOD70s. These fleets are led by an extreme multihull Prince de Bretagne which is the ambassador of the Race and promotes the fresh produce company Prince de Bretagne who is the main sponsor of the Route.

On Monday 24 June all 9 multihulls on the Route will attempt to break the 20 year old Round Ireland speed record of 44 hours and 42 minutes which is held by the crew of Lakota co-skippers David Scully and the late Steve Fossett, British yachtsman Brian Thompson and Con Murphy and Cathy McAleavey, parents of Irish Olympic sailor Annalise Murphy.

The three day festival in Dun Laoghaire will start on Friday 21 June with live music, food and Funderland. The festivities will continue until Sunday 23 June with free concerts from the Bandstand by Crash, Dirty Epics, The Shoos, Jupe and Robert Delaney.

On Saturday 22 and Sunday 23 June, the multihulls will race in the bay from 2pm to 5pm and there will be live commentary from Irish Olympic sailor Ger Owens.

#routedesprinces – Irish sailor Damian Foxall onboard Oman Air-Musandam won the first offshore leg of the new multihull race of Europe which will arrive in Dun Laoghaire this Wednesday 19 June for a three day sailing festival including racing in Dublin Bay Saturday and Sunday 23 and 24 June 2013.

On Monday 24 June all 9 multihulls in the Route des Princes will attempt to break the 20 year Round Ireland speed record before continuing to Plymouth on the race.

Key Dates for Dublin:

Wednesday 19 June - estimated arrival times 0700 - 1100*

Friday 21 June - Photocall/Press Conference to announce Irish sailor Damian Foxall's next international campaign

Saturday & Sunday 22 &23 June - inshore racing 2-5pm*

Monday 24 June - 0900 start of the Round Ireland speed record*

#routedesprinces – Ireland's top Round the World yachtsman Damian Foxall is coming home to Ireland today on one of the fastest sailing machines in the world and he has a two point lead in the overall ranking following their most successful day's racing yet in the 2013 Route des Princes inshore series. The result has given the former Irish Sailor of the Year and his crew on Oman Air-Musandam a boost ahead of the second leg from Lisbon to Dun Laoghaire in Ireland that starts this afternoon.

Preparations are underway in Dun Laoghaire to welcome the fleet into the National Yacht Club. Temporary pontoons to locate the fleet are under construction at the Carlise Pier, adjacent to the National Yacht Club and in front of the Band Stand at the East Pier to guarantee a grandstand view of these high tech boats.

A two point lead in the overall ranking following their most successful day's racing yet in the 2013 Route des Princes inshore series has given the crew on Oman Air-Musandam a boost ahead of the second leg from Lisbon to the National Yacht Club in Dun Laoghaire that starts this afternoon.

A sunny day in the Portuguese capital with good breeze saw the MOD70 fleet in sparkling form over all three races, which took place in waters between the Praca do Comercio and Lisbon's iconic 25th April suspension bridge.

Sidney Gavignet's elite trimaran crew swept to victory in the second race of the day which marked their first win of the 12 inshore race series so far. They also posted a second and a fourth place to make this latest day of inshore racing their best yet.

"It feels very good," Oman Air-Musandam's skipper said.

"I'm very happy with how this team is bonding. We knew in Valencia that we were making mistakes but had the potential to do better and that is still the case – we are still learning but we are learning from our mistakes.

"The atmosphere on board was very good. It is very positive. I am looking more at our progress than at the results and I can say we are definitely making progress."

There was an air of anticipation among the crew who started their inshore campaign in Valencia last week on a steep learning curve. Just a few days later, the hard work put into training over the past few months is paying dividends with a rise in position from fourth to third in the inshore rankings.

"It was a good day for us," said Fahad Al Hasni, port side trimmer onboard.

"A first and second isn't at all bad so we did well. We like to be at the front and Neal McDonald did a really nice job on tactics. We had good wind, good starts and a good technique and didn't make too many mistakes so we are happy."

With three more inshore regattas still to go at the next Route des Princes stopovers, Oman Air-Musandam's crew are excited by their prospects after the progress they made over the past week but will now shed two crewmembers and focus on the next offshore leg which starts from Lisbon on Sunday.

Set to be the longest passage of the race, the 990nm leg should start relatively quietly as the fleet heads north along the Iberian Peninsula but it will not be long before they enter the Bay of Biscay which has a habit of being inhospitable, but extremely fast if a depression passes through.

They are likely to go like an express train towards the Fastnet Rock, some eight miles south west of the Irish mainland before turning in to Dun Laoghaire, just south of Dublin on Ireland's east coast.

This is where Oman Air-Musandam's Damian Foxall, the most famous Irish sailor in the world, is likely to receive a tumultuous welcome from a home crowd that takes enormous pride in his success.

"Hopefully they will see us come in to Dun Laoghaire if we arrive at a respectable hour and then come and support us in the next inshore regatta which will make it a very special stopover, especially for me," said Foxall.

"But it is not going to be particularly pleasant getting there. It's going to be rough and bouncy and I fear there could be a bit of seasickness on all the boats."

The four MOD70s are due to leave Lisbon at 1400 today. The temporary floating pontoons to berth the Route Des Princes fleet is under construction at the Carlise Pier in Dun Laoghaire, adjacent to the National Yacht Club and the 

#RoutesDesPrinces – Alliance Francais welcomes you to their stand in Dun Laoghaire Harbour during the weekend of 22-23 June when the Route des Princes fleet make their five-day stopover.

Stroll along to the pier stall (10am-6pm both days) where there will lots of surprises for the whole family and a chance to win one of our Summer courses! Plus face-painting, a book sale, lucky draw and more!

The sailing spectacle which started this week continues to 30 June and is open to all multihulls of 50ft and on race a tour of Europe that focuses on the regional and the local, taking a dozen crews from Valencia in southern Spain, the Bay of Morlaix in Brittany, the Portuguese capital Lisbon, Dún Laoghaire and Plymouth in Cornwall.

Roscoff is to be the venue for the grand finale festival, 'Between Land and Sea' and where the Route des Princes aims to be an altogether different kind of race to celebrate, meet new people and experiencing new cultures – so that is what it's all about.

#routedesprinces – Damian Foxall's Oman Air-Musandam MOD70 gains two points on first offshore leg from Valencia, Spain to Lisbon, Portugal after a good start on Sunday and a fast race to the Benicarlo turning mark and scoring gate.

According to skipper Sidney Gavignet who leads a mixed crew of seasoned professionals and trainee Omani crew, the team has settled in to their watch system and is enjoying the conditions off the coast of Spain.

"We had a great race from Valencia to Benicarlo," he wrote from the boat last night as the sun was setting over Valencia. "Then the wind dropped and our lead dropped with it, but we just managed to get our nose out in front a mile from the buoy and won the points! We needed to!

"Then we raced back towards the south again in the setting sun and at moments like this you feel privileged to have such a job!

"All the guys are in good shape, we are into our watch system. Damian [Foxall] and Fahad [Al Hasni] are recovering and Neal [McDonald] is driving with Gilles [Favennec] and Thomas [Le Breton] is trimming the boat. I am writing but I keep an eye on the instruments. I am obsessed with the percentage polar right now and with keeping our performance optimal.

At noon today, the time of writing, the Oman Air MOD70 is sailing at 18knots off Cartagena in the south of Spain and in approx 15 knots of breeze. The six-man team has a 21nm lead on the rest of the highly competitive MOD70 fleet and hopes to hang on to it to gain another bonus point through the Gibraltar gate.