Defending champion Chris Power-Smith will return to the start line as Kinsale Yacht Club hosts the biennial offshore race—now rebranded as the 2026 Inishtearaght Skelligs Race—over the June Bank Holiday weekend in partnership with SCORA.
The race, formerly known as the Inistearaght Race, will kick off at 19:30 on Friday, 29th May. Depending on weather conditions, the fleet will either tackle the full 240-nautical-mile route around Inishtearaght Island or opt for a shorter 190-nautical-mile course rounding the Great Skellig before returning to Kinsale.
The event will see competitors navigate along the striking coastline of West Cork and Kerry, with its dramatic headlands and iconic seascapes, offering a visually stunning and technically demanding offshore challenge.
The Great Skellig (Skellig Michael), located off the coast of County Kerry, is a new mark on Kinsale Yacht Club's 2026 renamed 'Inishtearaght Skelligs Race'
Veteran sailors and past IRC winners, including Cian McCarthy and Sam Hunt of the host club aboard Cinnamon Girl, along with Royal St. George's Power-Smith on Aurelia, have already committed to competing for the Inishtearaght Trophy.
As in past years, the race is pitched as a preparatory event for crews planning to enter the Round Ireland Race on June 20th.
As regular Afloat readers will recall, while the first weekend of June 2024 suddenly brought summer, the last weekend of May seemed to be winter reasserting itself on the Atlantic coasts, and merely to finish the shortened Kinsale YC Inistearaght Race (it rounded the Bull Rock off Kerry, rather than the Blaskets) was an achievement in itself. Yet to do it in record time within 24 hours to take Line Honours and finish on Corrected Time ahead of the form boat was some going - and then some - for a visitor from Dun Laoghaire. Power Smith's J/122 ticked all the boxes (albeit by just 12 seconds on CT ahead of the legendary Sunfast 3300 Cinnamon Girl with a crisply executed campaign that pundits said was reminiscent of Denis Doyle and Moonduster in their prime.
Visible in the background of this photo is Inishtearaght (Inis Tiaracht), the westernmost of the Blasket Islands off the coast of County Kerry, Ireland. It’s known for its steep cliffs, remote location, and the historic lighthouse perched on its side. The island features again in the 2026 Inishtearaght Skelligs Race as a turning mark on the course.
The initiative is part of Kinsale Yacht Club's aim to promote coastal racing as outlined by Vice-Commodore, Anthony O'Neill.
The Notice of Race and entry forms will be available shortly at www.kyc.ie
