#RNLI - Wicklow RNLI's all-weather lifeboat launched yesterday afternoon (Sunday 19 June) to a solo sailor in distress six miles off the Wicklow coast.

A marine VHF radio distress signal was received by the Irish Coast Guard from the French sailor on passage from France to Norway, when the twin rudder of his yacht suffered damaged and he was unable to steer the vessel.

The lifeboat was alongside the casualty 30 minutes after launch. Rescue 116, the Dublin-based coastguard helicopter was also tasked to the incident, remaining overhead while lifeboat volunteer Ciaran Doyle was transferred onto the yacht to assist the sailor with hauling an anchor and preparing a towline.

Weather conditions at the time had a rough sea state with a southerly Force 5-6 wind and good visibility.

With a towline established, the 10m yacht was taken back to Wicklow Harbour. Due to the conditions at the time, the journey took over 90 minutes as the line parted on three occasions.

The yacht was safely alongside the south quay at 5pm on Sunday evening.

Speaking after the callout, Wicklow RNLI lifeboat press officer Tommy Dover said: "Our coxswain Nick Keogh displayed great boat handling skills this afternoon in challenging conditions, while safely transferring a crewmember onto the yacht to assist the lone sailor."

This was the second callout over the weekend. On Saturday morning (18 June), during the Round Ireland Yacht Race, Wicklow RNLI helm Vinnie Mulvihill was busy preparing the inshore lifeboat for exercise when he heard shouts that someone was in the water near the East Pier.

Quick-thinking Mulvihill left the boat and entered the water to assist the woman after she slipped and fell in while going ashore from a moored boat.

Woman rescued by Wicklow RNLI after she slipped into the harbour (Photo: RNLI/Milo Vanbeck)

He brought the women alongside a nearby boat and with the help of the occupants, she was taken out of the water and assessed at the lifeboat station by first aider Carol Flahive.

No further medical assistance was required and the woman left the station none the worse from her ordeal after a cup of tea and changing into dry clothes.

Day 3 1200hrs You lose a major record on one side of the Atlantic one day, so you simply establish a new one on the other side of the ocean the next afternoon. That’s the way it is with the irrepressible George David of Rambler 88 writes W M Nixon

Yesterday in Bermuda, Jim and Kristy Clark’s 100ft Comanche, skippered by Kenny Read with the legendary Stan Honey calling the tactical and weather shots, knocked a clear five hours off the course record for the classic biennial Newport-Bermuda Race. That record had been established in the race of 2012 by George David with his veteran 90ft Rambler, to which he had returned for his campaigning after his newer Rambler 100 had exited the David racing scene when her keel broke off in the 2011 Fastnet Race.

Rambler 100 has since re-appeared under new ownership as Investec Loyal in Australia. But even while he was campaigning again in Rambler 90, George David and designer Juan K were planning the perfect boat, Rambler 88, and for two years and more now, she has been an adornment and a force to be reckoned with on the international offshore racing scene.

But with the keel crunch of 2011, George David felt he still had issues for his new Rambler 88 both with the Fastnet Race itself – which he duly completed in 2015, but it wasn’t a big boat race – and with Ireland too, issues which could best be dealt with by a full-hearted participation in the Volvo Round Ireland Race 2016.

Full-hearted with George David makes most other efforts look faint-hearted. For as of 1215hrs today, Rambler 88 is coming down the Irish Sea with just 46 miles to go to the finish at Wicklow, she’s on course in a moderate westerly breeze with 15 knots on the clock, and with the south-going ebb starting to make early in the afternoon from Rockabill southwards, she is well on track to beat Jean-Philippe Chomette’s 2006 open mono-hull record of 2 days 9 hrs and 41 minutes, while at the same time completely blowing away Mike Slade’s race course of 2 days 17 hours and 48 minutes set in the Round Ireland Race of 2008 by the 100ft Leopard.

The only thing missed is the two day record, which will expire with Rambler still at sea at 1300hrs today. But in the bigger picture, Rambler’s achievement is put into an even grander perspective when it’s remembered that she is also currently leading IRC overall in the Volvo Round Ireland Race. While they may make spectacular appearance to take line honours in major events it’s extremely unusual for the stratospherically-rated canting keel maxis to win on IRC handicap, so if Rambler 88 manages it this time round, we’ll have history made at least three times over.

Meanwhile in Bermuda Kenny Read has been enthusing how it was Stan Honey’s advice which enabled Caomanche to show her full potential and establish this new Bermuda Race record in what had been “champagne sailing” throughout. Quite. “Champagne sailing” is not a term which would spring readily to mind in describing conditions in the Volvo Round Ireland 2016. On the contrary, “Guinness sailing” might be more appropriate, as it has been often dark and murky with inevitable froth on top.

@RoundIreland Rambler 88 passing Lambay Island, on the home stretch. pic.twitter.com/iHUg3RmMV4

— Andrew O'Connor (@andydoconnor) June 20, 2016

In an hour or so, we’ll be having a roundup of how it is for the rest of the fleet still off the west and southwest coasts. But for now – go Rambler!

See Round Ireland tracker here and keep to up to date with the fleet's progress with Afloat's regular Round Ireland 2016 updates here

Arriving back in Wicklow Bay, after a thrilling contest with the other MOD70s, Phaedo and Concise, for most of the 700 nautical Volvo Round Ireland mile course, Sidney Gavignet’s crew were exhausted but exhilarated by their victory and the new record, which they had set themselves last year beating Steve Fossett’s longstanding Lakota record from 1993.

They crossed the finish line at 03:47 local time as dawn was breaking after setting a new time of 38 hours 37 minutes and 7 seconds, which was more than two hours faster than their previous time of 40 hours, 51 minutes and 57 seconds set last year.

Racing with just six crew, including Oman’s three leading offshore sailors Fahad Al Hasni, Yasir Al Rahbi and Sami Al Shukaili, Musandam-Oman Sail claimed line honours while Phaedo 3 were hot on their heels and arrived six minutes later with the third MOD70, Concise 10 trailing by a single minute.

The final few moments turned their race upside down, said Gavignet, since for most of the time, they had been chasing the other boats until an opportunity came up to take the lead less than a mile from the end.

“It feels fantastic because at times we were slower than the other boats and I was thinking we might finish last and lose our record but a few minutes before the finish we had a bit of luck and were close enough to the others to take advantage.

“The guys showed real commitment – we had no watch system so didn’t sleep much and didn’t use the bunks to keep more weight at the back so they were sleeping on the floor and on wet sail bags. They have been grinding a lot and worked really hard so they are exhausted but happy.”

It had been without question the most demanding race he had ever done, added Irishman Damian Foxall as he stepped off the boat, but coming out on top represented a new high in his long career. See Damian's pre–race video interview here.

“I have done a few round the world races but this was up there as one of the best,” he said.

“Racing with six meant one or two less than the other boats so we only had one hours sleep each at the most but being so close to the other boats was so motivating and intense.

“We knew at times we were off the pace but we kept pushing hard and found opportunities to come back into the race. There was a reasonable chance we were going to lose our record so Sidney was fairly tight-lipped coming down the east coast but it is very satisfying to win AND set a new record because this race is not for the faint hearted.”

Al Hasni, who shared helming duties with Gavignet and Foxall agreed it had been tiring but rewarding.

“We are really happy with this result; it makes me very proud to raise the Omani flag in Ireland for the second time with this world record - we dedicate our win to the Sultanate of Oman.

"In the last few miles, we were aware that there were potential passing lanes near the coast so we moved into position which worked and we were able to gain the advantage when it mattered most.

“It was really hard and we thought we had missed our opportunity but those last few minutes turned it round so we are very happy.”

David Graham, Oman Sail CEO, was delighted with the team's performance: "This was one of the most difficult challenges that the guys on Musandam-Oman Sail have faced, I could hear the smile on Fahad's face when he answered the satellite phone when I called them as they crossed the finish line to congratulate the team on both the victory and the record.

"We are especially pleased that Fahad, Yasir and Sami are an integral part of the race crew for a second Round Ireland Record - the team has been working hard and it is great to see their efforts pay off. This experience and success is key to their pathway. They had world class mentors on board with Sidney, Damian and Jean Luc [Nelias] and it all worked to deliver our desired result."

The crew will return to training immediately after food and sleep in preparation for the delivery to Quebec, Canada, where they will set off on the Transat Quebec – St Malo Race across the Atlantic on July 10, returning to Europe for an action-packed summer season of events.

Day 3 0600hrs Sidney Gavignet's Musandam-Oman Sail set an historic new record for the fastest-ever sail round Ireland when he crossed the Volvo Round Ireland Race finish line at Wicklow in just 38 hours, 37 minutes and 7 seconds smashing their own 2015 record by an incredible 2 hours, 14 minutes and 50 seconds. The new time is subject to ratification by the World Speed Sailing Record Council.

The Sultanate of Oman’s flagship trimaran was the first of three MOD70s to complete the full 704-mile course making good on pre–race predictions by Irish crew member Damian Foxall. (See pre–racce vid here). In a stunning finish on the Irish Sea all three MOD 70s broke the 2015 record. 

“Even though we did it in record-breaking time, we had no rest. It was pretty full on. The only important part of leading the race is when you get to the finish line. Coming inside Howth we realised we could do it. I am exhausted!”, Foxall said after winning the MOD70 race.

Last night organisers were on tenterhooks as the three leading MOD 70 trimarans got within sixty miles of the finish at Wicklow by midnight. As Afloat's WM Nixon indicated last night 'Now we are looking at previously undreamed of statistics for the fastest time possible in a race as opposed to a staged record attempt'.

After a day and a half of racing, it came down to the last ten minutes to decide who were the winners as the giant multihulls neared the finish line off Wicklow harbour at dawn. The three seventy foot trimarans played cat and mouse all the way down the east coast in varying breezes from the south southwest. For those following this nail biting finish on the yellow brick tracker, they saw the 'crown' swapping between each boat to within a few miles of the finish.

The crews set off from Wicklow Bay at 13.10 on Saturday (18th June) for the 2016 Volvo Round Ireland Yacht race. Incredibly, all three of the Mod 70 trimarans arrived back to Wicklow within minutes of each other, every single one of them breaking the 2015 record.

Team Concise were out front for most of the race with Phaedo 3 overtaking them in the early hours of Monday morning, and it looked certain one of the two would take line honours. Musandam-Oman Sail however took advantage of an inshore track and manoeuvred ahead in the final hour.

Phaedo 3 crossed the Wicklow line as second MOD70 Photo: Richard Langdon/Team Phaedo

Difficult seas meant 12 of the 63 yachts that set off on Saturday have since retired from the race. The remaining 48 are still making their way around the Irish coast, the bulk of them only half way round the course.

The next yacht expected in the monohull category is George David’s Rambler 88, which depending on winds is due in later today.

Musandam-Oman Sail crossed the @RoundIreland, taking line honours and beat their World Record. Well Done, Team! pic.twitter.com/mrvN4dv2Bk

— Oman Sail (@OmanSail) June 20, 2016

See Round Ireland tracker here and keep to up to date with the fleet's progress with Afloat's regular Round Ireland 2016 updates here

A Round Ireland record is something to be sailed at speed – and incredible speeds they are too these days – then recorded with precision, but in due course savoured and analysed at leisure writes W M Nixon.

At 0347hrs this morning off Wicklow, Sidney Gavignet’s MOD 70 Musadndam-Oman came to the finish line off Wicklow with sister-ships Phaedo 3 (Lloyd Thornburg) and Concise 10 (New Collier Wakefield) in close pursuit. The result for all three is a new round Ireland record which simply blows away all previous times.

But for Damian Foxall aboard Musandam, now the actual record holder, it was the sweetest moment. For it was he who persuaded Gavignet some years ago of the challenge of the round Ireland record, and he took part in no less than three attempts with the Frenchman on the Omani-backed boat. But all of them failed.

Then early in May 2015, Foxall was unavailable owing to other sailing commitments when Gavignet took on the 22 year-old record, and knocked nearly four hours off it. “Mixed feelings” barely begins to describe the Kerryman’s reactions on hearing of this.

Thus the Volvo Round Ireland Race 2016 with three MOD 70s taking part was definitely on Foxall’s “Must Do” list, but he was the first to admit that toppling the record of 2015 was decidedly ambitious, so simply finishing first was enough to be aiming at.

Certainly the early stages of the race were unpromising for any records, with the entire fleet - leading giant trimarans and ordinary offshore racers alike – having to turn to windward virtually the whole way from the Wicklow start at 1300hrs on Saturday June 18th to the most southerly turn at the Fastnet Rock.

When the trio of big trimarans finally got past the Fastnet at 0430hrs on Sunday, it was reckoned only an average sort of time, though good for the conditions with which they’d been contending. But for Musandan Oman, it was less than satusfactory, as they’d been persistently in third while up in front Ned Collier Wakefield with Concise 10 managed to say ahead of Lloyd Thornburg’s Phaedo, which had narrowly beaten the Concise team in the RORC Caribbean 600 in February.

Damian Foxall and Jean-Luc Nélias on the moment they took the lead Congratulations @OmanSail #vri2016 pic.twitter.com/kjur3Ji4KQ

— Round Ireland Race (@RoundIreland) June 20, 2016

These placings held good all the way round Ireland until Sunday evening, when they were crossing Belfast Lough after incredibly fast passages all the way up Ireland’s western seaboard, then all the way along the north coast and through the northern section of the North Channel between Ireland and Scotland.

For sure there were times when holes briefly appeared in the strong sou’west winds, and very occasionally speeds dropped down to 12 knots. But mostly they were in the 20-plus range, and on top of that the south-going flood tide right through the North Channel was giving them a significant boost.

The pressure was at bursting point, for now it was within the realms of possibility that they would be within shouting distance of the 2015 record when they get to Wicklow, even if they were gong to have to beat the 90 miles from the South Rock Light off the County down coast to the finish at Wicklow.

The first change in the order of things came before they’d passed Mew Island marking the southeast corner of Belfast Lough, when Phaedo finally started to show ahead of Concise 10. And once they’d started slugging directly into the wind beyond the South Rock, Phaedo’s relative position improved, but Musandam still stayed in third.

The Irish Sea can be surprisingly fickle in its wind patterns, so the tension as they tacked this way and that to maximize VMG was stratospheric. But around midnight things had settled down with them coming in on close quarters to each other towards the latitude of Rockabill, and the wind now veered slightly to give a small but helpful slant off the land. It was as Howth came abeam that Musandam showed clearly that she was relying on a more westerly option to find an advantage, and it came good south of Dublin Bay, as winds off Bray and Greystones were for a while all the place for the other two, but Musandam, having got herself right into the frame again, ploughed outside them into the lead with a private breeze.

It was a lead she held to the finish, a fairytale affair with all the boats across within minutes, and records tumbling left right and centre. As we write, Musandam-Oman is in the winner’s enclosure in Wicklow Harbour. Damian Foxall is only just grasping that it all happened exactly according to dreams, and way beyond plans and expectatons. And for the Volvo Round Ireland race organisers in Wicklow Sailing Club, only the first chapter in the great story has been completed.

A fantastic chapter it is too, but it’s only the first chapter. In an hour or so we’ll be looking at the next part of this incredible saga, analysing the chances of George David’s Rambler 88 breaking other records, as she currently has only 60 miles to go to the finish.

See Round Ireland tracker here and keep to up to date with the fleet's progress with Afloat's regular Round Ireland 2016 updates here

After 36 hours of racing the 63–boat Volvo Round Ireland fleet has been reduced by ten. Official retirals to date are:

1 Sun 12.30 Trilogic retired and returning to Dunlaoghaire – Gear sail problems

2 Sun 15.33 Xanadu retired to Kinsale – reason not specified

3 Sun 16,26 Medicare First Aid retired to Ballycotton – reason not specified

4 Sun 17.08 Andante retired to Dunmore East – reason not specified

5 Sun 17.07 Port of Galway retired to Crosshaven – Crew ill but nothing serious.

6 Sun 18.01 Applegreen Sail for Kids retired to Crosshaven – Gear problems

7 Sun 18.10 Denebola retired to Waterford – Autohelm damage

8 Sun 18.14 Desperado of Cowes retiring to Kinsale – Sail damage

9 Sun 18.40 Concise8 retiring to Crosshaven – reason not stated

10 Sun 20.27 May Contain Nuts retiring to Crosshaven – reason not stated

11 Sun 20.46 Fulmar Fever retiring to Dunmore East – reason not stated.

Applegreen sail for kids has retired into Crosshaven with gear problems. Photo: Afloat.ie

@RoundIreland safely tied up in the Royal Cork Yacht Club. Retired but safe #maycontainnuts #vri2016 #battered pic.twitter.com/OqGEEVzpTZ

— Ben Redwood (@nuts_sailing) June 19, 2016

See Round Ireland tracker here and keep to up to date with the fleet's progress with Afloat's regular Round Ireland 2016 updates here

Three high speed MOD70s are closing in on the Volvo Round Ireland Race finish line at Wicklow, for what might yet be a record breaking time, early tomorrow morning. In an exclusive pre–start video (below) for Afloat.ie, Digby Fox interviewed County Kerry sailor Damian Foxall onboard Round Ireland record holder Musandam Oman, currently off Rathlin Island.

In this video, Foxall, a Volvo Ocean Race winner, who has sailed eight round the world races, reveals he has never sailed Round Ireland! And Foxall's crew–mates, including skipper Sidney Gavignet, give an insight into sailing the fastest boats in the world and the importance of their 2015 record.

See Round Ireland tracker here and keep to up to date with the fleet's progress with Afloat's regular Round Ireland 2016 updates here 

Day 2 1730hrs:  According to many weather forecasters, right now we should be getting a fine hearty breeze from the south to southwest all along the south coast as the day’s rain clears to the eastward writes W M Nixon. Yet a quick reference to wind reports from Roche’s Point shows that at 1634hrs there were light southeast to east breezes in the immediate area.

Off the entrance to Cork Harbour, a cluster of boats in the Volvo Round Ireland Race are finding it difficult to get their speeds above 5 knots, even though offshore the underlying wind is in the expected direction. But there’s just not a lot of it. Even the mighty Teasing Machine (Eric de Turckheim) still has to get to the Fastnet, though she is closing in on it and in recent minutes her speed has gone up from less than 6 knots to 7. She is still at the top of the IRC leaderboard, first in class and second overall to Rambler 88, which is finding all the wind she wants as she sweeps past Eagle Island at 23.8 knots.

Oman sail – her 2015 Round Ireland speed record is under pressure if current predictions hold true tonight

The reality is that we are now looking at four different races. Firstly, there’s the contest of the MOD 70s, which passed the most northerly point at Inishtrahull with Ned Collier Wakefield in command of Concise 10 leading with five miles in hand on Lloyd Thornburg’s Phaedo 3 and eight miles on Sidney Gavignet’s Musandam Oman (See video interview with Oman Sail's Irish crew Damian Foxall). Concise 10’s performance has been remarkable as Phaedo was able to keep her under close control and astern during the RORC Caribbean 600 in February, yet from an early stage in this race Ned Collier Wakefield and his team have got ahead and stayed there, often by quite substantial distances, but even as we write their speed has dropped to 16 knots while the other two are still in the 20s.

In IRC 4 division the J97 Lambay Rules (Stephen Quinn) from Howth is lying second

Ether way, the new flood tide into the North Channel will barrel them along all the way to the South Rock Light off the County Down coast, but thereafter they may find the Irish Sea serving up headwinds for the final eighty miles to Wicklow. A toppling of Sidney Gavignet’s unlimited record, set in May 2015, of 1 day 16 hours and 51 minutes is possible as they’d have to be finished by 8 o’clock in the morning, but even while we’re writing this they’ve got to Rathlin Island, so who knows?

The second “Race Within A Race” is simply Rambler 88 racing against herself and striving to better both Mike Slade’s race record with Leopard in 2008 of 2 days 17 hours and 48 minutes, and Jean-Philippe Chomette’s 2006 open record of 2 days 9 hours and 41 minutes with the Open 60 CityJet/Solene. While the latter seems increasingly unlikely, the former is still eminently do-able. Meanwhile, as Rambler has enjoyed more breeze - and a fair wind at that - than the rest of the mono-hull fleet for all of today so far, she is well ahead in IRC 1 overall.

The third “Race Within A Race” is really the Volvo Round Ireland Rae as most of us know and understand “normal” modern offshore racing, as it’s the rest of the typical 21st Century fleet which is now spread out between Teasing Machine at the Fastnet and Fulmar Fever, Robert Marchant’s Fumar 32, close southeast of Ardmore in West Waterford.

At times the sailing has been more than very rugged, and the First 40 Medicare First Aid (Joe Conway) has retired into Ballycotton, while the Dehler 37 Port of Galway (Martin Breen & Nigel Moss) has pulled into Crosshaven though her retiral is not yet officially confirmed, while Keith Miller’s Yamaha 36 Andante also looks to be heading for home. These are in addition to the first two retirements reported by Afloat.ie earlier this afternoon.

But among those still in the hunt, the placings at 1800hrs Sunday are:

IRC Overall: 1st Rambler 88 (George David), 2nd Teasing Machine (Eric de Turckheim, 3rd Euro Car Parks (Dave Cullen), 4th Mojito (Peter Dunlop & Vicky Cox), 5th Lisa (Michael Boyd, 6th Sarabande (Robert Mabley).

IRC 1 1st Teasing Machine, 2nd Lisa, 3rd Katsu (Alan Hannon)

IRC 2 1st Sarabande, (Robert Mabley) 2nd Aurelia (Chris & Patanne Power Smith, 3rd Fujitsu (Donal Ryan)

IRC 3 1st Euro Car Parks, 2nd Mojito, 3rd Rockabill VI (Paul O’Higgins).

IRC 4 1st Groupe 5 (Patrice Carpentier), 2nd Lambay Rules (Stephen Quinn), 3rd Cavatina (Ian Hickey).

Two-handed: 1st Groupe 5, 2nd Bellino (Rob Craige), 3rd Just Plain Crazy(Ian Knight)

Two particularly outstanding performances during today have been put in by Groupe 5 (Patrice Carpentier), a Sunfast 3200 which is leading both her open class and the two-handed division, and the J/109 Euro Car Parks (David Cullen) which has been reinforcing the Lazarus act which began in the small hours, and currently is pacing confidently with larger boats down off Seven Heads.

As for the fourth “Race Within A Race”, that is of course another boat racing with herself, but the 1937-vintage 43ft gaff ketch Maybird (Darryl Hughes) could not be more different from Rambler 88. Yet she is still slugging gallantly away, having finally put the Coningbeg Light off the Saltees astern, so if you’re in contact with any of Maybird’s crew, do send them some words of encouragement.

See Round Ireland tracker here and keep to up to date with the fleet's progress with Afloat's regular Round Ireland 2016 updates here

Day 2 1000hrs:  After 24 hours of racing in the Volvo Round Ireland Race office there have been two retirals, one multihull and one monohull from the total fleet of 63–boats racing.

Multihill skipper Hugo Smythe from the entry Trilogic reported that he was retiring 'due to gear and sail difficulties' and is heading for his home port of Dún Laoghaire. As Afloat.ie reported previously, the entry was the only Irish multihull in the race.

Skipper of the X50 Xanadu Simon Costain has notified the race organisers he is retiring and heading for Kinsale 

See Round Ireland tracker here and keep to up to date with the fleet's progress with Afloat's regular Round Ireland 2016 updates here

Day 2 1000hrs:  As anticipated in our midnight posting writes W M Nixon, the imminent onset of the stronger ebb in the Tuskar Rock/Carnsore Point area favoured the smaller boats in the 63-strong Volvo Round Ireland Yacht Race fleet, and this morning even the seemingly unassailable Teasing Machine (Eric de Turckheim), although still leading the main bulk of the fleet on the water and continuing to hold the lead in IRC 1, had slipped to 11th overall in IRC as she continued to slug along to windward on port tack well offshore, upwards of 30 miles south of Ballycotton.

But up in the far front of the fleet, the three MOD 70s were passing Mizen Head by 0400hrs and starting to make serious speed. As already noted briefly this morning on Afloat.ie, Phaedo (Lloyd Thornburg) and her two sisters had ticked off the Skelligs by 0600hrs, and with speeds of 25 knots they’re already in the larger coastal region of Connacht, though the lack of visibility in facilitating any enjoyment of the coastal scenery doesn’t apply, as they were shaping up to be at least 50 miles off Slyne Head to keep keep their westing and stay in the freshening southwest winds as firmly as possible.

George David’s Rambler finally got the Fastnet astern at 0845 this morning, and with the overnight soft winds of the south coast now very much a thing of the past, the big silver machine was logging 18.4 knots as she streaked past Mizen Head at 0920, and we’ll be expected much higher speeds from her as the sou’wester builds through the day.

This means that in a very short space of time Rambler has gone from zero to hero, as the most recent IRC overall placings have her hurtling back up the rankings to be overall leader in IRC. But for the time being, the little ’uns are still hugely enjoying the benefit that strong ebb off the south Wexford coast gave them through the small hours and beyond, and as of 0945 second overall in IRC was one of the smallest boats in the fleet, and a two-hander at that, Derek and Conor Dillon’s Dehler 34 Big Deal from Foynes, while third overall is the First 34.7 Adelie (Peter Hall & Noel Butler) of the National YC.

However, the benefits of the night’s localised tidal boost is already fading in the overall reckonings, for even as we’ve been writing this Teasing Machine has moved back up again, from 11th to fourth overall. And though it will be some time yet before she can think of freeing sheets a smidgin to make on with increased speed from the Fastnet to Mizen Head, barring accidents she’ll be the first of the main part of the IRC fleet to get to the corner, which will give her a massive advantage therafter. She may even still be ahead of the Open 40s, a position she has narrowly maintained through the night, but that will change once the Open 40s can let themselves go.

The current class placings are just grand as far as this correspondent is concerned, as they include a useful proportion of the “Ten Boats to Watch” we named in yesterday morning’s Sailing on Saturday. IRC 1 currently has Teasing Machine, Michael Boyd’s First 44.7 Lisa (above) and Alan Hannon’s Reichel-Pugh 45 Katsu (below) as the top three, in IRC 2 Chris and Patanne Power Smith’s J/122 Aurelia is first, currently tacking close inshore in Youghal Bay, while second and third are boats we didn’t name, the J/111 Team Fujitsu (Donal Ryan) and the vintage Swan 47 Sarabande (Rob Manley). But in Class 3 we’re currently managing a clean sweep with the J/109 Mojito (Peter Dunlop & Vicky Cox) leading from Paul O’Higgins new JPK 10.80 Rockabill, while third is Dave Cullen’s J/109 Euro Car Parks, back from the dead after being down in the crab grass at midnight.

Class 4 is of course very much led by the superb performance of the Union Chandlery–sponsored Conor and Derek Dillon (above) with the Big Deal while Adelie is second while Ronan O Siochru’s Irish Offshore Sailing’s Desert Star – top placed Irish boat in the 2015 Rolex Fastnet Race – is third, currently laying on starboard tack in towards Ardmore Bay.

But things are happening quicker than we can write about them. At 1000hrs, Rambler 88 is up to 21 knots and zooming past Dursey Head, while Teasing Machine is now laying the Fastnet with 8.2 knots on the clock, and back at second overall in IRC. And up off the Galway coast, the three MOD70s have thrown a gybe and are now shaping towards Achill Island at 30 knots, with Concise 10 still narrowly ahead.

See Round Ireland tracker here and keep to up to date with the fleet's progress with Afloat's regular Round Ireland 2016 updates here