ISORA Kingstown to Queenstown Race Draws 12-Boat Fleet

2nd July 2026

Afloat.ie Team

Light Airs Ahead — Greystones yacht El Syd ghosts along during this year's Round Ireland Race. Similar light conditions are forecast for Friday evening's start of the ISORA Kingstown to Queenstown Race from Dun Laoghaire Credit: Afloat

The 2026 Kingstown to Queenstown Race gets under way on Friday with a 12-boat fleet set to tackle the 160-nautical-mile offshore passage from Dun Laoghaire to Cork Harbour. The race is a key fixture in the ISORA Championship and follows closely on the heels of the Round Ireland Race.

Light westerly winds are forecast for the start off Dun Laoghaire at 2 pm but expected to freshen overnight.

Leading the entries is Justin Burke's JPK 10.30 ReQuest, which arrives in strong form after overall victory in last weekend's Royal Irish Yacht Club Coastal Race.

Coastal Form — Justin Burke's ReQuest crew powers to overall victory in last weekend's Royal Irish Yacht Club Coastal Race. The JPK 10.30 carries that winning form into Friday's ISORA Kingstown to Queenstown Race Photo: Afloat

Andrew and Sam Hall's Lombard 46 Pata Negra also heads south after finishing fourth overall in the 2026 Round Ireland Race. The yacht remains among the leading contenders in this season's ISORA Championship.

The fleet is completed by Aurelia, Mojito, Razorbill, Ruth, Crackajack, White Lotus, El Syd, Indian, D-Tox and Hijacker. See fleet below.

Championship Charge — Anne O'Wind's Pata Negra returns to Irish waters for Friday's ISORA Kingstown to Queenstown Race. The defending ISORA champion also leads the 2026 MUSTO ISORA Championship standings. Photo: Afloat

Several familiar names from this year's Round Ireland Race are absent. Neither Cristina nor Loinnir Girl appears on the final entry list following intensive June offshore campaigns.

Friday's race marks another chapter in one of Irish offshore sailing's historic passages, with competitors expected to sail overnight before finishing in Cork Harbour ahead of Cork Week Regatta next week.

The 2026 Kingstown to Queenstown Race Fleet

Yacht	Type	Club	IRC TCC
Aurelia	J/122	RStGYC	1.077
Mojito	J/122E	Pwllheli SC	1.084
Razorbill	Sun Fast 3300	RIYC	1.028
Ruth	J/109	Pwllheli SC	1.007
Crackajack	JPK 10.10	Pwllheli SC	1.013
Pata Negra	Lombard 46	Pwllheli SC	1.149
White Lotus	Beneteau First 33.7	HYC	0.950
El Syd	Sydney 43 GTS	RStGYC	1.163
Indian	J/109	Pwllheli SC	1.002
D-Tox	Corby 36	RIYC	1.027
ReQuest	JPK 10.30	HYC	1.022
Hijacker	Corby 33	RIYC	1.023

Published in Fastnet 450 Race, ISORA

'K2Q' Dun Laoghaire to Cork Race Live Tracker 2026

Track the progress of the 160-mile K2Q Race (formerly known as the 'Fastnet 450 race') fleet on the live tracker and see all Afloat's K2Q Race coverage in one handy link here

Published in Fastnet 450 Race

Tagged under

Kingstown to Queenstown Race

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The Kingstown to Queenstown Yacht Race or 'K2Q', previously the Fastnet 450

The Organising Authority ("OA") are ISORA & SCORA in association with The National Yacht Club & The Royal Cork Yacht Club.

The Kingstown to Queenstown Race (K2Q Race) is a 260-mile offshore race that will start in Dun Laoghaire (formerly Kingstown), around the famous Fastnet Rock and finish in Cork Harbour at Cobh (formerly Queenstown).

The K2Q race follows from the successful inaugural 'Fastnet 450 Race' that ran in 2020 when Ireland was in the middle of the COVID Pandemic. It was run by the National Yacht Club, and the Royal cork Yacht Club were both celebrating significant anniversaries. The clubs combined forces to mark the 150th anniversary of the National Yacht Club and the 300th (Tricentenary) of the Royal Cork Yacht Club.

Of course, this race has some deeper roots. In 1860 the first-ever ocean yacht race on Irish Waters was held from Kingstown (now Dun Laoghaire) to Queenstown (now Cobh).

It is reported that the winner of the race was paid a prize of £15 at the time, and all competing boats got a bursary of 10/6 each. The first race winner was a Schooner Kingfisher owned by Cooper Penrose Esq. The race was held on July 14th 1860, and had sixteen boats racing.

In 2022, the winning boat will be awarded the first prize of a cheque for €15 mounted and framed and a Trophy provided by the Royal Cork Yacht Club, the oldest yacht club in the world.

The 2022 race will differ from the original course because it will be via the Fastnet Rock, so it is a c. 260m race, a race distance approved by the Royal Cornwall Yacht Club as an AZAB qualifier.

A link to an Afloat article written by WM Nixon for some history on this original race is here.

The aim is to develop the race similarly to the Dun Laoghaire–Dingle Race that runs in alternate years.

Fastnet 450 in 2020

The South Coast of Ireland Racing Association, in association with the National Yacht Club on Dublin Bay and the Royal Cork Yacht Club in Cork, staged the first edition of this race from Dun Laoghaire to Cork Harbour via the Fastnet Rock on August 22nd 2020.

The IRC race started in Dun Laoghaire on Saturday, August 22nd 2020. It passed the Muglin, Tuscar, Conningbeg and Fastnet Lighthouses to Starboard before returning to Cork Harbour and passing the Cork Buoy to Port, finishing when Roches's Point bears due East. The course was specifically designed to be of sufficient length to qualify skippers and crew for the RORC Fastnet Race 2021.

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