El Syd Nails Start as K2Q Fleet Beats South

3rd July 2026

Afloat.ie Team

Early Advantage: Tom Shanahan's J/109 Ruth powers south from Dún Laoghaire during the opening stages of the 2026 Kingstown to Queenstown Race. Three hours after the start, Ruth led the provisional IRC standings Credit: Afloat

5pm - Friday Frank Whelan's El Syd produced another perfectly judged getaway from Dún Laoghaire on Friday, winning the start of the biennial ISORA Kingstown to Queenstown Race. Three hours into the 160-nautical-mile offshore contest, however, Andrew Hall's Pata Negra from Wales had taken the lead on the water while defending champion Tom Shanahan's Ruth headed the provisional IRC standings.

Flying Start: El Syd (left) nails the pin-end start of the 2026 Kingstown to Queenstown Race off Dún Laoghaire, repeating her fast-starting form from the Round Ireland Race. Photo: Afloat.ie

There was a distinct sense of déjà vu at the West Pier outfall line as El Syd timed her run to perfection, repeating her flying start in the Round Ireland Race a fortnight ago.

Inshore Move: El Syd (right) leads Pata Negra after hugging Dún Laoghaire's West Pier to escape the Dublin Bay flood tide in the opening stages of the 2026 Kingstown to Queenstown Race. Photo: Afloat.ie

In an easterly breeze gusting to 10 knots and with a flooding tide beneath the fleet, the 12 starters hugged the South Dublin coastline after leaving Dún Laoghaire, settling quickly into one of Irish offshore sailing's oldest races.

As the fleet rounded the Muglins and headed south, Pata Negra moved into the lead on the water, with Mojito among the chasing group. On corrected time, however, defending champion Ruth established an early advantage on the provisional IRC leaderboard.

Three hours after the 2pm start, the tracker showed the fleet stretching along the Wicklow coast with approximately 130 nautical miles remaining to Cork Harbour. The light easterly conditions kept the yachts closely bunched, with tactical positioning and finding pressure already proving crucial.

Regatta Winner: Justin Burke's JPK 10.30 ReQuest heads south after the start of the 2026 Kingstown to Queenstown Race from Dún Laoghaire. The National Yacht Club entry arrived fresh from overall victory in last weekend's ISORA Coastal Race and RIYC Regatta. Photo: Afloat

The provisional IRC standings placed Ruth ahead of ReQuest, D-Tox and Pata Negra, while Indian, Mojito and Crackajack remained firmly in contention.

Estimated finish times suggested the leaders could reach Cork Harbour shortly after midday on Saturday, although less than two hours separated the leading group on corrected time.

The Kingstown to Queenstown Race is one of Ireland's oldest offshore yacht races, tracing its origins to 1860. Held every two years, the 160-nautical-mile passage from Dún Laoghaire to Cork Harbour remains a cornerstone of the ISORA offshore racing calendar.

Published in Fastnet 450 Race

'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

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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.