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22 Boats Set for Kinsale’s Inishtearaght Race on Friday

26th May 2026
Title Defence — Defending champion Chris Power Smith’s J/122 Aurelia of the Royal St George Yacht Club powers along the south coast ahead of the 22-boat Inishtearaght Race start off Kinsale.
Title Defence — Defending champion Chris Power Smith’s J/122 Aurelia of the Royal St George Yacht Club powers along the south coast ahead of the 22-boat Inishtearaght Race start off Kinsale. Credit: Afloat

Twenty-two boats are entered for this Friday’s Inishtearaght/Skelligs Race, organised by Kinsale Yacht Club and SCORA.

The fleet includes defending champion Aurelia (J122), Cristina (NMD43), Blue Oyster (Oyster 37) and double-handed entries such as Katanca, Cinnamon Girl, Valfreya and Mach2.

Aurleai has been in early aseason form on Dublin Bay with skipper Chris Power Smith winning April's Viking Marine ISORA Coastal opener

Earlier this week, organisers proposed an earlier harbour start to avoid local racing.

In a statement to entrants, KYC said: “We’ve been asked by KYC management to start the race a small bit earlier… The proposed first gun is 18:40 for an 18:45 start.”

However, the club has since reversed that decision.

“Please ignore post about the earlier start in the harbour,” KYC said. “Given the size of the fleet we have decided that we will stick with the original plan of a 19:25 first gun outside the harbour in the vicinity of the Bulman Buoy.”

The revised plan confirms a 19:25 first gun off Kinsale, with the 22-boat fleet set for an offshore test along the south coast.

Inishtearaght/Skelligs Race Entry List 2026

Boat NameSail NoBoat TypeClubDouble-Handed
Aurelia IRL35950 J122 RSTGYC / RORC No
Prime Suspect IRL5991 Mills 36 Custom KQBC No
White Tiger IRL4477 Beneteau First 44.7 KYC No
Katanca 31310 Elan 31 RIYC Yes
Jalapeno IRL5109 J109 RCYC No
Artful DodJer IRL1713 J109 KYC No
Chancer IRL1583 Elan 41 KYC No
Meridian IRL4076 Salona 45 KYC No
Cinnamon Girl IRL1627 Sunfast 3300 KYC Yes
Reavra Too IRL3300 Elan 333 KYC No
Blue Oyster IRL3852 Oyster 37 RCYC No
Cristina IRL7887 NMD43 RIYC / NYC No
Loinnir IRL53308 JPK 1030 Lough Ree YC No
Piper Sound IRL950 Sovereign 400 BBSC No
Bateleur88 IRL5693 Castro 3/4 Ton RCYC No
Pillaban IRL5880 Archambault A35 RIYC / Baltimore SC No
Incorrect 2.0 IRL2025 Sunfast 3300 SHSC No
Magnet IRL9896 MG335 RCYC No
Valfreya IRL4297 Sigma 33 KYC Yes
Mach2 IRL13200 Jeanneau Sunfast 3200 RCYC Yes
Cavatina IRL3861 Granada 38 RCYC No
Shindig IRL6885 Nautor Swan 40 KYC No
Published in Inistearaght Race
Tom MacSweeney

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Tom MacSweeney

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Tom MacSweeney writes a column for Afloat.ie. He is former RTE Marine Correspondent/Presenter of Seascapes and has a monthly Seascapes Podcast on the Community Radio Network and Podcast services

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About Kinsale Yacht Club's Inishtearaght Offshore Yacht Race

To meet growing demand for offshore racing, Kinsale Yacht Club Commodore Matthias Hellstern along with Dave Cullinane (SCORA Vice-Commodore) launched the inaugural Inishtearaght Race in Kinsale on Wednesday, December 23rd in 2021.

The race is a new south coast offshore race to be held biennially commencing in 2022.

 

The course will be approximately 240nm long and will run along the spectacular coast of West Cork and Kerry, round Inistearaght island and back to Kinsale. The first race start is scheduled for Friday, 20th May 2022 with a fleet of seven entries for the first race.

 

The Thuillier family have kindly allowed the oldest trophy in Kinsale YC to be presented as the line honours trophy for the race. The Thuillier Cup is 150 years old, having been originally presented by the Royal Enniskillen Fusiliers in 1871 and won by Michael Thuillier. The cup was presented to Kinsale YC by the Thuillier family to acknowledge the long tradition of yacht racing in Kinsale.