Menu

Ireland's sailing, boating & maritime magazine

Displaying items by tag: Women's Open Keelboat Championship

The Women's Open Keelboat Championship (WOKC) will be returning to Hamble for its 11th edition in June 2019.

This year the event hosted once again by Hamble River Sailing Club, is being held on the weekend of 1st & 2nd June 2019. The volunteer team which organises WOKC is delighted that Dubarry has agreed to return as title sponsor, having been a generous supporter of the championships since their inception in 2008 and having been the title sponsor for the last 7 events. Participants in the Dubarry Women’s Open Keelboat Championships will have the opportunity to win much admired Dubarry items, which will be available as prizes for class winners and in the overall Championship.

Long-standing supporter and competitor Laura Dillon from Howth Yacht Club commented, “I am delighted to be participating in another WOKC. Every year, this is a great event and I am really looking forward to the Magenta Project coaching on Friday, 31st May and WOKC on 1 and 2 June. WOKC continues to go from strength to strength both in terms of the number of boats, size of boats, number of ladies racing and the standard of the competition continues to increase, which is fantastic! I have participated for over 5 years now and I look forward to the regatta annually. Thanks so much to Dubarry for their continued support and hopefully we can continue to grow WOKC and encourage as many female sailors as possible to participate in 2019 and beyond!”

Entries open on Thursday 28th of March and early entry is advised to take advantage of the Earlybird booking fee of £75, available until 17:00 on Friday 17th May. After that date, the entry fee will increase to £95. Boat entry is available from HRSC either online or via the admin team on 02380 452070.

Published in Racing

#Racing - The UK Women's Open Keelboat Championship returns in 2015 after a year off, as The Daily Sail reports.

The event is again title-sponsored by Irish boat shoe specialists Dubarry – and that Irish connection continues in the form of 2013's champions, led by Howth Yacht Club's Laura Dillon.

It's not yet known if the same team will return to defend their title, but entries will open early next month for this September's championship at the Hamble River Sailing Club in Southampton, with racing scheduled for the earlier weekend of 30-31 May.

The Daily Sail has more on the story HERE.

Published in Racing

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.

At A Glance – K2Q (Kingstown to Queenstown) Race 2024

The third edition of this 260-nautical mile race starts from the National Yacht Club on Dublin Bay on July 12th 2024 finishes in Cork Harbour.

Featured Sailing School

INSS sidebutton

Featured Clubs

dbsc mainbutton
Howth Yacht Club
Kinsale Yacht Club
National Yacht Club
Royal Cork Yacht Club
Royal Irish Yacht club
Royal Saint George Yacht Club

Featured Brokers

leinster sidebutton

Featured Webcams

Featured Associations

ISA sidebutton
ICRA
isora sidebutton

Featured Marinas

dlmarina sidebutton

Featured Chandleries

CHMarine Afloat logo
https://afloat.ie/resources/marine-industry-news/viking-marine

Featured Sailmakers

northsails sidebutton
uksails sidebutton
watson sidebutton

Featured Blogs

W M Nixon - Sailing on Saturday
podcast sidebutton
BSB sidebutton
wavelengths sidebutton
 

Please show your support for Afloat by donating