Saturday 10 am - The race for overall honours in the biennial Kingstown to Queenstown Race tightened on Saturday morning as Mojito moved into the provisional IRC lead while El Syd continued to head the fleet on the water approaching Cork Harbour.
At the 0930 tracker update, just 36 nautical miles from the finish, the Welsh J/122 Mojito held the advantage on corrected time with an estimated finish shortly after 3.30pm. The defending champion J109 Ruth remained firmly in contention in second, with Indian climbing to third after making significant gains overnight.
ReQuest, the JPK 1030 winner of last weekend's ISORA Coastal Race and Royal Irish Yacht Club Regatta, occupied fourth on provisional IRC, followed by the David Turner skippered Aurelia in fifth. Overnight race leader Pata Negra had slipped to sixth on handicap despite remaining among the leading boats on the water.
With only 36 nautical miles remaining, Mojito was projected to finish at approximately 3.34pm, ahead of Pata Negra, the line honours front-runner, the Ker 43 El Syd, and Aurelia, all expected into Cork Harbour during the afternoon if the westerly conditions persist.
Coastal Charge: El Syd passes the Dalkey coastline shortly after the start of the 2026 Kingstown to Queenstown Race from Dún Laoghaire. On Saturday morning, the Greystones yacht led the fleet on line honours as Cork Harbour beckoned. Photo: Afloat.ie
The line honours battle remained equally close. El Syd continued to lead on the water after her smart tactical start from Dún Laoghaire on Friday, with Pata Negra second and Mojito third as the fleet closed on the finish. Aurelia, Ruth and ReQuest remained in close contact, promising an intriguing conclusion both on the water and under IRC.
With the medium westerly breeze continuing to test crews after almost 20 hours at sea, the final approach to Cork Harbour was expected to produce further changes on corrected time before the fleet crossed the finish line.
