#roundireland14 – Once again the smaller boats in the Round Ireland race are benefitting from the variations in weather along our coastline and those positioned on the north Donegal coast are enjoying a wild ride in near gale conditions.  Too wild for some as the comeback kid Eugene F Collins/Amazing Grace has suffered her second setback, this time race-ending as a broken boom has forced her retiral.  For those who can hang on until past Inishtrahull, the most northerly point of the race, there is lighter wind ahead but, as yet, not so light that it will spoil their chances of an overall IRC win.

Up ahead, as is so often the case, the leaders are facing a ‘noser’ all the way to Wicklow and while Monster project will take line honours at about six o’clock this evening, the real battle is back up off the north coast amongst the lower rated yachts.  Cavatina currently holds the advantage with Ruth in 2^nd place, but Ruth has a foul tide at Rathlin, while Cavatina looks set to arrive in time to catch the new flood.

Still a long way to go and some lighter winds ahead.  Inis Mor, currently just east of Strangford Lough, will become the boat to beat when she arrives in Wicklow sometime after midnight, but the extra distance incurred from tacking down the Irish Sea will mean her lead will only be temporary, probably overtaken by Tanit when she arrives close to daybreak. 

The big question then is will Tanit be able to hold off the chasing pack?

Afloat’s updated Round Ireland 2014 prediction:

1 Cavatina
2 Tanit
3 Big Deal
4 Ruth
5 Polished Manx
6 IOS - Desert Star
7 Inis Mor
8 Endgame
9 McGregor IV
10 Dreamcatcher

Click this link for all Afloat's RoundIreland2014 coverage

 

   

#roundireland14 – Amazing Grace, the comeback kids of Round Ireland 2014, have retired following a broken boom sustained this morning off the County Donegal Coast. The 2013 Dun Laoghaire to Dingle Champions under County Kerry skipper Brian O'Sullivan had climbed back as high ninth on handicap after a six hour delay in starting the race from Wicklow last Saturday.

The Oyster 37 sponsored by Eugene F Collins Soliciors had to pull back into Wicklow for repairs after a starting line collision only seconds into the 700–mile race. After effecting a fibreglass repair to the transom of Amazing Grace the crew rejoined the race in little wind and an adverse tide, some hours later.

The Tralee Bay Sailing Club entry made impressive gains on the 35–boat fleet as the race restarted in light winds off the South and West Coasts.

Reports from onboard say all crew are safe and well and the boat is heading for harbour in Donegal. 

Click this link for all Afloat's RoundIreland2014 coverage

#roundireland14 – The 2014 Round Ireland Race is approaching endgame as Monster Project enters the North Channel with less than 150 miles to go.  Half a country away to the west, the prospect of an increasing and following breeze overnight must be a welcome relief to the crews of those boats that have been looking at the Mullet peninsula for the best part of twelve hours. The forecast suggests that, once again, the big boys will be severely disadvantaged by the repeating meteorological pattern of a wind dying from ahead and filling in from behind.  So while the large vessels encounter head winds of not much more than 10 knots, the IRC 3 and IRC 4 yachts will enjoy 15 knots plus of following breeze.

The boats are now generally following the rhumb line so it’s all about squeezing every bit of boat speed out of sail and boat trim, giving the tacticians a much needed brain rest.

Predicting the overall result at this stage is akin to sticking a pin in the entry list, but Afloat has developed a very sophisticated algorithm over the years that has indicated the boats that are likely to be in the mix on corrected time at the finish.

Currently, our top ten looks like this:

1. Cavatina
2. Polished Manx
3. Big Deal (Sponsored by Union Chandlery)
4. Eugene F Collins/Amazing Grace
5. Tanit
6. Ocean Tango
7. IOS Desert Star
8. Dreamcatcher
9. McGregor IV
10. Ruth

With many miles to go, this list will be much refined before the winner emerges and much will depend on the positioning at the tidal gates of the North Channel.

Click this link for all Afloat's RoundIreland2014 coverage

It is rare enough that the west coast portion of the Round Ireland Race becomes an uphill slog but this year’s race seems set to be unusual in more ways than one.  As naviticians, or should that be tactigators, are forced to abandon the rhumb line, they face numerous decisions based on relatively unpredictable factors.  The light and variable winds pose particular problems – stronger inshore or offshore?, heading or lifting?, when will it shift/increase? and where should we position the boat to benefit most?  In doing so, can we ignore our rivals?  Is it best to stick with the pack?  What will the tide effect at the headlands be?  

At the very front, Monster Project’s course is more dictated by tactics then by navigation as she covers 2^nd placed Teng Tools Kilcullen as they beat into Donegal Bay.  It is to be hoped that this pre-occupation with each other will keep their minds off the falling winds ahead that look like making the north coast a very challenging phase.

Back down off Achill, News Talk for Adrenalin has been crossing tacks with Libertalis, not far ahead of 2012 winner Inis Mor, currently the best placed IRC boat of the high raters.

The two Class 40s, May Contain Nuts and Arwen, might as well be racing one–design, although Arwen has a modest rating advantage. Neither are currently challenging the overall lead.

Inshore just past Slyne Head, the Sydney 40 Tanit is perhaps the best placed yacht to benefit from any positive change in weather that reaches the front of the fleet first.  Tanit is lying 6^th overall at the time of writing. 

The podium battle is just a little further back and it is the two time course and distance winner Granada 38 Cavatina that continues to maintain the lead from Sigma 33 Polished Manx and J109 Ruth.

In the two-handed class, Dehler 34 Big Deal leads from Muskox.

The two Irish Offshore School Sunfast 37s Desert Star and Sherkin are putting in a very creditable performance, currently in 7^th and 8^th position.

While there is significant wind coming later in the week, it will probably be too late to have any major impact, and it could well be late on Thursday before a winner can be declared.

#roundireland – The leading yacht in the Round Ireland Yacht Race has just reached the halfway point and the fleet is now experiencing a modest east to southeast breeze. As has been the trend in this slow race, the larger yachts will encounter lighter winds while the main fleet carries the pressure up to them, effectively resetting the clock back to zero, reducing the race length and favouring the lower rated boats.

At the head of the fleet, the Volvo 70 Monster Project has opened up a 12 mile lead over Teng Tools Kilcullen, equivalent to a projected 2 hour advantage at the finish, although it will only be a class win and not an overall victory. 

Back at the Blaskets, Cavatina maintains her overall lead, some two corrected hours ahead of Dillon father and son sailing two-handed on Big Deal, and just ahead of Liam Shanahan’s Ruth who seems to be winning the battle of the J-boats.

Joe McDonald’s News talk for Adrenalin is comfortably ahead of Libertalia in IRC Z, while 2012 winner Inismor leads IRC 1. The Harris/Riggs Sydney 36 Tanit is ahead in IRC 2, J109s Ruth and Mojito(Dunlop/Cox) top IRC 3, while Cavatina leads in IRC 4,5 and 6. 

The fleet can expect lighter, heading winds as it makes for the Galway and Mayo coasts, once again favouring the lower rated boats. 

Midnight Tuesday is probably the very earliest that the leaders will finish, more likely later in the morning, with the IRC winners coming in some 24 hours later.

Selected 'Tweets' from the race course below: 

Race around Ireland has be unreal photo of Great Skellig @BowWaves @RoundIreland @Ireland @GoToIrelandCA pic.twitter.com/EawlEZ83CV

— Thomas O'Malley (@ThomasOMalley12) June 30, 2014

Richard Harris on Tanit at the Skelligs around 6am @RoundIreland @ClydeMarLeather @SaturnSails #RoundIreland14 pic.twitter.com/kNJFUBnNAL

— Roisin Harris (@RoisinHarris) June 30, 2014

@SailingLogic @RoundIreland a busy night trimming on #ArthurLogic kite up & flying nicely and stunning sunrise too pic.twitter.com/t2r3m12j1S

— Jennifer Smyth (@jsmyth12) June 30, 2014

@BowWaves @RoundIreland @AfloatMagazine @sailing_news variable 5kts at Galway, you gonna have to hang on 'till wednesday before it freshens!

— Port of Galway (@portofgalway) June 30, 2014

The 21st staging of the biennial 704–mile SSE Renewables Round Ireland Race race around our island home gets underway at 1 pm on Saturday, June 18th.

Follow the race on the live Yellowbrick tracker below

Read all the latest Roiund Ireland 2022 race news in Afloat's regular race updates in one handy Round Ireland link 

#RoundIreland - The 18th Round Ireland Yacht Race got off to a dramatic start under a tight fetch from Wicklow today (28 June), with the local Volvo 70 entry outdone by the Teng Tools/Kilculllen Kapital Open 60 streaking into a lead as the biggest boats in the 36-boat fleet passed Wicklow Head.

But it looks like one leading contender for overall honours might be out if the race already after a startling line collision forced him to head back to Harbour.

The Dun Laoghaire to Dingle race champion Amazing Grace from Tralee Bay reported to the race committee that she was taking on water.

She also indicated she would be making a protest against another competitor, Lynx Clipper, which said she will be lodging her own protest over the same alleged incident.

The start was won emphatically by the Open 60, hitting the line at precisely the right moment, prompting some on the shoreline to query if she had been over the line. No chance. This was precision sailing, the Tengtools crew enjoying a clear run at least three boat lengths ahead of their nearest competitor, the Volvo 70.

By contrast, the smallest boat in the fleet, a 30-footer from Antrim, was battling big seas chopped up in the wake of the big boats departing Wicklow.

Winds dropped significantly as the fleet hoisted kites at Wicklow Head, and there were near perfect sailing conditions off the Wicklow coast of 12-15-knot winds from the north east, bright sunshine and a choppy sea state.

The 36-boat fleet cleared Wicklow Bay and Wicklow Head Lighthouse under a two-knot ebb tide, pushing them down along the Wexford coastline.

However, the fleet are expected to have lighter conditions tonight as they approach Tuskar Rock.  

The 700-mile race is anticipated to take up to five days to complete, with the biggest boats expected home as early as Tuesday 1 July.

Early leaders – The Open 60 and Volvo 70 streak ahead at Wicklow

#roundireland – Since 1980, the biennial 704-mile Round Ireland Race has been a cornerstone of Ireland's sailing programme. This year's fleet of 36 boats is good for the times that are in it, though it's still a far cry from the heady day of the 1990s when 54 boats came to the line. W M Nixon takes a look at the varied fleet for this 18th Edition of Ireland's Classic.

You wouldn't borrow money to go drinking with Enda O'Coineen on a Saturday night. But if you had to go into the jungle, or face up to a storm at sea, then he's a good man to have around. The intrepid Galwegian has been Irish sailing's gadfly for quite some time now. And more than occasionally, he has driven everyone else nuts - sometimes to the point of total exasperation - with his many cage-rattling schemes.

So his teaming-up for today's start on the Open 60 Teng Tools Kilcullen with Round Ireland Race super-veteran Eamon Crosbie is all of a piece for someone who crossed the Atlantic (at the second attempt) alone in a rubber dinghy, and was himself involved in two successful round Ireland record challenges.

It was the second of these records, in November (yes, November) 1986, which showed just what a cool and tough customer The Enda can be. The lumbering 83ft catamaran Novanet was making good progress on a clockwise circuit in a westerly wind north of Achill when the weather closed in with dark winter violence, a sudden cold front from north of northwest bringing ferocious hail squalls. Where they'd been comfortably clearing the sinister Black Rock off the coast of Mayo, now it was touch and go. Yet in the turbulent sea it was highly unlikely that the cumbersome big machine would be able to tack. The situation was dire, and one of the crew – a known millionaire – offered to buy the boat outright there and then if they'd run her up on a nearby beach.

The rest of them had to shout the options above the screams of the weather. But Enda wasn't saying a word. He just concentrated on taking running fixes of the painfully slowly changing bearing as the Black Rock light showed briefly through the squalls. "We're clearing it," he said quietly. "But by how much?" roared the would-be boat purchaser. "We're clearing it, just keep her going" was all that Enda would reveal.

To this day, nobody knows by precisely how much they did clear the rock on that November evening. It wasn't a lot, and might only have been a few feet. But clear it they did, and within 24 hours Novanet had completed her circuit and the new record stood until September 1993, when Steve Fossett with the 60ft trimaran Lakota established the astonishing record which still stands today.

The lumbering giant.....Enda O Coineen's cool pilotage of the 83ft catamaran Novanet on a stormy November night in 1986 saw her safely past the Black Rock in Mayo, and a new Round Ireland Record next day.

It's unlikely that there'll be any record breaking by the fleet going off this afternoon. For record-breaking purposes, it's best to see Ireland as a sort of green lozenge on a northeast/southwest axis, which means that any serious record-breaking attempt will hope to have a steady period of either nor'westers or sou'easters to give it a head start.

So the forecast of a nor'easter today may indeed send the fleet away in style. But the prospect of a long light airs beat up the west coast as the incoming high pressure builds will make the race a test of patience, and it will be a matter of getting to the finish eventually (and still talking to each other), rather than shaping up for a record.

The Hinckley 40 Actaea (Michael Core), a comfortable cruiser-racer which yesterday was declared overall corrected time winner of the biennial 635-mile Bermuda Race. Photo: Daniel Forster

There doesn't seem to be a lot of wind about anywhere in the North Atlantic just now, as America's biennial 635-mile Newport-Bermuda Race has been very slow-sailed this past week since starting on Friday June 20th. For long stages, the best progress was being made by boat which got themselves into the most favourable eddies of the Gulf Stream, which in one location were the equivalent of a fair tide of 2 knots plus. Such conditions favour the lowest-rated most comfortable cruising style boats. So although the mini-maxi Shockwave took line honours, the corrected times were something of a shockwave in themselves, as the overall winner was Michael Core's well-sailed classic Hinckley Bermuda 40 yawl Actaea .

The Round Ireland fleet includes two boats of the same fairly hefty type as Actaea, and even without the news from Bermuda (where the Dark 'n Stormies are being consumed apace), both Ian Hickey's Granada 38 Cavatina from Cork and Brian O'Sullivan & Frances Clifford's Oyster 37 Amazing Grace from Tralee, were already highly favoured in the betting. Cavatina has been in the frame – including overall win – in several Round Irelands, while Amazing Grace celebrated her inauguration in the O'Sullivan/Clifford ownership last year by winning the Dun Laoghaire-Dingle overall after the wind taps had been turned off.

Cavatina in Wicklow on Thursday, with battle flags which reflect her distinguished career. Photo: W M Nixon

Amazing Grace at the Dun Laoghaire base of the Round Ireland Race at the Royal Irish YC on Thursday. Last year, light winds in the middle stage of the Dun Laoghaire-Dingle Race set up a pattern which provided overall victory for this Tralee Bay boat. Photo: W M Nixon

With Cavatina rated at only 0.922 and Amazing Grace just a little higher at 0.928, they're piling up the advantage just sitting still. But two boats rate even lower. These are the Dehler 34 Big Deal from Foynes, raced by the Listowel father-and-son team of Derek & Conor Dillon in the two-handed division, and the Isle of Man Sigma 33 Manx Polish (Kuba Szymanski) which clocks in at just 0.898, and has impressed with her showing in ISORA racing in recent years.

The smallest boat of all is not the lowest rated. The tiddler of the fleet - just scraping in over the 30ft LOA lower limit - is Ian Patterson's North Channel 9m Wildwood from East Antrim Boat Club in Larne. Having a build date of 2012 makes Wildwood one of the newest boats in what is admittedly a fleet of veteran vessels, but "2012" is a bit notional, as this amateur-build project has taken nine years. But she certainly looks the business, and as a plucky effort, she's in a league of her own.

From East Antrim Boat Club at Larne, Wildwood (Ian Patterson) is a remarkable self-build project, and at just 30.5ft LOA, she is the smallest boat in the Round Ireland Race. Photo courtesy WSC

Being very much performance-oriented, Wildwood sails off a rating of 1.02, which puts her well above one of the fancied boats in the two-handed division, Kirsteen Donaldson's Solent-based X 332 Pyxis, rating at just 0.957 and a noted peformer in short-handed racing. Pyxis is just one of many entrants from the RORC heartlands around the English Channel, attracted both by the special challenge of the Round Ireland Race, and by the bonus of the points being weighted 1.4 in the RORC Championship.

"We're here, and we're going to give it our best shot". Kirsteen Donaldson's X 332 Pyxis is a noted performer in short-handed racing in the English Channel, and was one of the first boats to arrive in Wicklow before the start. Photo: W M Nixon

With the weather forecasts indicating a sou'wester starting to reach the western seaboard by Tuesday evening, the smaller boats which can stick at it will inevitably be favoured. But the best modern offshore racers can be sailing up to their ratings with remarkably little wind, so the likelihood of another excellent overall performance by Laurent Gouy's Ker 39 should never be discounted. And the quality of the boats in the middle of the fleet is notably high, with two J/109s – Liam Shanahan's Ruth from the National, and Peter Dunlop and Viv Cox's Mojito from Pwllheli – having their performance sharpened by shaping up to Frank Doyle's similarly-rated A35 Endgame from Crosshaven.

Frank Doyle's slippy A35 Endgame from Cork in Wicklow Harbour, where his father Denis began many successful Round Ireland Races with the powerful Frers 51 Moonduster........ Photo: W M Nixon

.....but it shouldn't be forgotten that Denis Doyle's offshore racing career began with the hyper-slim 30 Square Metre Vanja IV

The continuation of the name of Doyle of Cork in the Round Ireland annals is a source of special satisfaction to Peter Shearer and his team of organisers in Wicklow, as Frank's father Denis was a stalwart of the race with his Frers 51 Moonduster from 1982 until 2000. And while Moonduster may seem a memory of traditional seagoing strength by comparison with the hyper-light Endgame, never forget that Denis himself started his offshore racing with the 30 Square Metre Vanja IV, which was very austere indeed.

With each new edition, the Round Ireland Race sees increasing involvement by offshore sailing schools offering newcomers to the sport the complete introductory package, with the Round Ireland "medal" in their sailing CV at the end of it. There are several school, club and association challenge boats in the mix this year, a classic example being Irish Offshore Sailing of Dun Laoghaire's campaign with the Jeanneau Sunfast 37 Desert Star. Aboard DS, skipper Ronan O'Siochru finds himself in command of a truly multi-national and multi-cultural crew including professions as diverse as IT specialists, bakers and biochemists, and from several nationalities too – this is modern Ireland goes sailing and then some.

But inevitably, while most of the fleet will be focused on the corrected time win, line honours is where the glamour is to be found. Wicklow farmer David Ryan has leapt into the fray by chartering a Volvo 70 veteran of the 2008-2009 Volvo World Race, the Rob Humphreys-designed Russian boat which now sails the seas as Monster Project.

"Greystones has never seen the like of it". Heavy metal in the new County Wicklow marina, with the David Ryan-chartered Volvo 70 Monster Project, and ahead of her Joe McDonald's Farr 60 NewsTalk for Adrenalin. Photo: W M Nixon

The organizational effort involved in running the Round Ireland Race is so great for a small club like Wicklow that in some years WSC don't have an entry to call their own. But Farmer Ryan has blown this out of the water with this mighty boat, which will race with a crew of 18. So totally is this a Wicklowcentric campaign that, although the boat couldn't be berthed in Wicklow Harbour itself, she set up base camp in Greystones where the new marina came to life as another big Round Ireland contender, Joe McDonald's very handsome Farr 60 NewsTalk for Adrenalin, was also in port.

But meanwhile down in Wicklow some determined souls made sure the organising club had some presence beforehand, and both Open 40s – Kevin Rolfe's May Contain Nuts and Austin Clark's Arwen – were there on the outer pier, alongside which there also sat the vintage Volvo Ocean Team Jolokia from Lorient in France, now looking like a bit of maritime history, but a gallant performer nevertheless.

The two Open 40s at Wicklow could not have been more different in their hull style than the veteran Volvo Ocean 60 Jolokia from South Brittany (below). Photos: W M Nixon

All the special boats and everything above 55ft will be aiming at the line honours prize, and in the Teng Tools Kilcullen challenge we see a formidable project. The linkup between Enda O Coineen and Eamon Crosbie goes right back to the late great Jim Poole. Eamon was Jim's crew in the two-handed three-stage Round Ireland Race from Ballyholme in 1975, and Enda was in the strength on Jim's Half Tonner Feanor when she won IOR overall in the first Wicklow Round Ireland in 1980.

Since then, Eamon has become part of the round Ireland racing story with his successes with the Ker 32 Voodoo Chile, while Enda's seaborn interests are diverse and absorbing. But for both of them, this linkup in the chartered Open 60 Artemis represents enough new ground for fresh excitement, while continuing to utilize their unrivalled experience.

They've decided to race with a total crew of seven, including metman/routing expert/Open 60 veteran Wouter Verbak. The other four in addition to the joint skippers are Mark McGibney, Andy Greenwood, Greg Parker and Alan Crosbie, the latter fresh from sailing on Quest, the overall winner of the ICRA Nats.

It's undoubtedly a crew of all the talents, and if the weather performs as expected, at 1400 hrs today we can expect to see the likes of Monster Project and Teng Tools Kilcullen streaming away from Wicklow in formidable style while the smaller boats bob in their wakes. But as many who have raced round Ireland or indeed just cruised round will know, the Atlantic seaboard can seem to be one very long bit of coastline when the wind is light from ahead. For little boats, knowing there are sou'westers advancing slowly from the ocean, it may well be a case of everything coming – and coming right – for those who wait.

Teng Tools KIlcullen is being sailed by one of the most talented crews in the Round Ireland Race 2014.

Round Ireland Entry list 2014

#roundireland – Entries into Afloat's Round Ireland race elpased time competition are tending to favour a five day race as the latest eve of race forecasts indicate a fresh north–easterly for tomorrow's start time but lighter winds to follow. To enter the FREE competition for a super prize of a McWilliam Sailing Bag click HERE. Entries can be made right up until tomorrow's race start time.

Meanwhile, for the 2008 race record time to be broken (set by the Supermaxi ICAP Leopard) the first boat home must reach Wicklow by next Tuesday morning at 07.48.47. A big ask!

 

#RoundIreland - Dragon's Den star Bobby Kerr and Wicklow farmer David Ryan will have to see some stiff competition in the Round Ireland Yacht Race in the form of former race winners, a Volvo Ocean Race navigator and a local lifeboat coxswain. 

Teng Tools and Kilcullen Kapital have joined the Round Ireland with a state-of-the-art canting keel Open 60 racing machine. Their objective? To take line honours, challenge the record and raise funds for two charities.

The entry will be jointly skippered by the formidable pairing of Enda O’Coineen and Eamon Crosbie. Both have a long history with the race, ocean adventure, and challenges in general.

They will be joined by a strong crew including Alan Crosbie, VOR and Open 60 veteran Wouter Verbaak and Mark McGibney, coxswain of Dun Laoghaire RNLI's lifeboat.

The focus of the campaign is to raise awareness and funds for two worthy charities, Soul Of Haiti and Atlantic Youth Trust, under a special race committee chaired by Paddy Madigan.

The Soul of Haiti Foundation is an Irish registered charity established in 2007 by a group of entrepreneurs who were finalists in the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Programme.

Upon visiting Haiti, these business people came together with the aim of applying their entrepreneurial skills and resources to create a positive impact on the lives of the people of Haiti. 

The Atlantic Youth Trust is a youth development charity that will deliver a world-class educational programme on a purpose-built tall ship.

Young people from Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland will team up for exciting and challenging voyages to develop their teamwork, communication and leadership skills.

The challenge is formally being launched on Wednesday 25 June with a BBQ at the Royal Irish Yacht Club. Guests can enjoy live music, gourmet food and tours of the Open 60, which will arrive at 6.30pm to be paraded in by a bagpipe player!

Individual tickets are €45 or 10 for €400, with all proceeds going to the two charities. For more information visit VoodooKilcullen.com.