An abandoned lighthouse on the largest Aran island off Galway bay is for sale for over half a million euros.

As Times.ie reports today, the lighthouse and ruined buildings command a view of the Atlantic from the island’s highest point.

The site owned by an Aran island resident on about five acres takes its name from and is close to one of Inis Mór’s ring forts, Dún Eochalla.

Dún Eochalla was constructed with an inner stone fort and outer rampart, as one of a series of ring forts on the island – the best known being Dun Aonghasa.

The lighthouse several fields away has been advertised with a guide price of 550,000 euro.

It was constructed from about 1810, using island limestone, and took eight years to build.

The structure rose to 144 metres above sea level, and was visible from counties Galway, Clare, Mayo, Limerick and Kerry

It was decommissioned in 1857, however, as its use as a navigational aid was too limited. There were complaints that its beam could not be seen by shipping in heavy fog.

The residential quarters, now also in ruin, were built for lightkeepers and their families, who used to be stationed at lighthouses from the mid 19th century.

Joe Greaney of Keane Mahony Smith auctioneers in Galway said the property had potential as a “recreation project” for an investor with sufficient funds. It was used for a time as a museum, he said.

Read more at Times.ie here

#Fastnet – After the first night at sea in the 2013 Fastnet race, two of 12 Irish yachts are showing the potency of Irish offshore sailing with top five performances in the 335–boat fleet. Clidfen Boat Club's Inismor sailed by the French Guoy brotherrs are lying fourth and Royal Cork's Anthony O'Leary in Irish champion yacht Antix lies fifth. Both boats are Ker39 designs with a proven offshore performance capability. Inismor is the current Round Ireland champion. 

The 335 competing boats still have over 475 nautical miles to go in this offshore challenge from Cowes to the Fastnet rock and back but already the signs look like a rerun of May's Myth of Malham race for the top Irish boats. So far Chris Tibbs weather forecast is being borne out on the race track and this will favour the 35-40– foot boats.

Read WM Nixon's Fastnet Yacht Race preview on the Irish entries here.

Currently lying 25th overall, skipper Aodhan Fitgerald reported from Discover Ireland at 02.25 this morning: 'Light winds now as we approach start point. We are amongst the northern most in our class so recent knock may pay dividends. Beautiful moon and star lit night off south coast uk. Very comfortable with dry decks which is nice but doesn't suit us! All well otherwise had some fun getting around Portland bill in the inner channel'.

Fastnet race tracker here: 

#rorc – Two Irish linked Ker campaigns – among seven such designs in the top ten – showed the potency of Irish offshore sailing in a marathon edition of the Royal Ocean Racing Club's (RORC) Myth of Malham race with both Ker 39 sisterships finishing in the top ten. 2012 Round Ireland race winner Inismor (Bernard Guoy) sailing under French colours but with links to Clifden Boat Club and Royal Cork's Commodore's Cup winner Antix (Anthony & Peter O'Leary) were sixth and seventh respectively in IRC overall in the 120–boat fleet.

After last year's extremely windy Myth of Malham Race, this year's edition provided a far more tactical race for the fleet in the 230-mile race around the Eddystone Lighthouse.

Staying in the breeze and calculating the best route for tides made all the difference. The wind conditions ranged from zephyrs during the first night to 25 knot gusts on the last day of racing. Most of the fleet used the full complement of their sail wardrobe and, as many crews were exploiting the race route as a Rolex Fastnet qualifier, the Myth of Malham Race was a fine test of man and machine.

Edward Broadway's Ker 40, Hooligan VII, was declared overall winner after time correction under IRC. Broadway has been a member of the Royal Ocean Racing Club for over 20 years but only started campaigning his Ker 40 this year.

"We were the last Ker 40 out of the Solent," admitted Broadway. "We chose to play the island shore and the two other Ker 40s, Magnum andBaraka, went to the mainland shore and they were both just ahead at the Hurst Narrows. However, we caught up and virtually match raced all the way to Eddystone with Magnum. This is the first season with our Ker 40 and it is such a fantastic boat to sail; really responsive and very fast. I am an old man but just about all the crew have come from the British Keelboat Academy, including Aaron Cooper who has built the sails.

I can't really single out any defining moment in the race, save Magnum's kite ripping, which was a big gain for us. However, my crew were magnificent; totally committed and extremely respectable sailors. Between the three Ker 40s, after three RORC races, each one of us has come out on top, it looks like a fantastic season ahead."

Hooligan VII was also the winner of IRC One for the Myth of Malham, Andrew Pearce's Ker 40, Magnum 3, was second by less than 15 minutes and Piet Vroon's Ker 46, Tonnerre de Breskens, was third in class but still retains the overall lead of the RORC Season's Points Championship, albeit by just 2.4 points.

With 31 yachts IRC Two was the largest class in the race. RORC Admiral Andrew McIrvine's First 40, La Réponse, took line honours for the class but after time correction missed out on a podium place by less than two minutes. Patrick Ponchelet's French X40, Exception sailed a stunning leg back from Eddystone to over take two British First 40.7s to win the class. Ifan James' Cheeki Rafiki was second by just over 19 minutes on corrected time, whilst Peter Newlands' Anticipation took third.

Benoit D'Halluin's A35, Dunkerque Plaisance, took line honours in IRC Three and the class win on corrected time. "We had a great start out of the Solent, we were really pleased with our performance and the boat was going really well. However, between Start Point and Eddystone, we had foul tide and the wind faded. It was difficult and frustrating because as we are one of the highest rated boats and the fleet around us was gaining all the time. Once round Eddystone we went inshore at Start Point on the way back and it really worked for us, especially as the tide changed in our favour a little earlier than predicted. The run to the finish was dead downwind and we used our symmetrical spinnaker to great effect, whilst the J/109s in our class could not. All of the crew is absolutely delighted with our result."

Richard Palmer's J/109, Jangada Too, was second in IRC Two and won the highly competitive Two-Handed Class. With Jeremy Waitt as co-skipper, Jangada Too won against a 22 strong fleet containing many proven race winners in past RORC and Transatlantic races. "A very tough race, I doubt whether either of us got more than two hours sleep," admitted Richard. "The wind was so fickle that we were constantly raising and dropping the spinnaker and we didn't use the autopilot at all. The race was very stop-start and required a huge amount of mental concentration to work out the ever-changing scenario, especially with regards to the tide. It is great to get our first win of the series."

The runner up in the Two-Handed Class was Bernie Bingham's Rogers 30, Brightwork. A terrific battle for third place was won by Rob Craigie's J/122, J Belllino, by just seven seconds on corrected time from Simon Mitchell's Sunfast 3200, Roxanne. The racing in the Two-Handed class was incredibly close with less than an hour, after time correction, separating 2nd place from 10th.

The Class40 division produced a photo-finish: after 230 miles of racing Yvon Berrehar and Stephan Theissing racing Al Bucq were just 32 seconds ahead of Emma Creighton and Dan Dytch's Momentum Ocean Racing.

In IRC Four this was the first RORC race of the season for Jean Yves Chateau's Nicholson 33, Iromiguy, and the French crew won class ahead of Christophe Affolter's French Sigma 33, 4 Déci. Noel Racine's JPK 10.10, Foggy Dew, was third. The podium finish was just enough to put Foggy Dew at the top of the leader board in IRC Four for the RORC Season's Points Championship.

The Championship continues on Friday 14th June with the De Guingand Bowl Race from Cowes to Guernsey.

IRC Overall

#roundireland – While the official tracker has Inis Mor as the overall leader in the 2012 Round Ireland Race, it's going to be a nail biting few hours for the French boat.

As of 3pm, Inis Mor has 30.6 miles to go. To beat Tonnerre she needs to cover that distance in five hours and 34 minutes.  Simple math says she needs to average 5.49 knots and as she is making 5.7 knots just south of Lambay Island, it should work for her.

But, the 5.7 knots is not quite in the right direction – because the wind has headed her, she can only make 221° instead of the 190° she needs to reach Wicklow on one tack.  So while 5.7 knots looks good, her actual progress towards the finish or VMG, is currently 5.4 knots – just outside the 5.49 knots needed.

To make matters worse,  she is entering an area of stronger tides that will be directly against her for the last few hours into Wicklow.  She can mitigate some of this by hugging the coast, but at what cost windwise?

Fascinating stuff, www.afloat.ie's money's on Tonnerre, at least in this battle.  Keep an eye on Cavatina though – she still has a day left to win!