What is the date and time of the 2020 Round Ireland Yacht Race?

August 22nd. Starting times: Monohulls 1300 hrs and Multihulls 13.10 hrs.

What is the Round Ireland Yacht Race distance?

Approximately 704 nautical miles or 1304 kilometres

Round Ireland Yacht 2026 Race Updates from Wicklow Sailing Club

Q: What is the Round Ireland Race speed record?

The Round Ireland race record of 38 h 37 min 7s is held by MOD-70 trimaran Musandam-Oman Sail and was set in June 2016.

Round Ireland Yacht 2026 Race Updates from Wicklow Sailing Club

Crystal Ball — Cristina features on Mystic Meg's shortlist of boats capable of overall victory in Saturday's Round Ireland Yacht Race as weather uncertainty clouds the form guide.

Mystic Meg Keeps Crystal Ball Covered Before Saturday's Round Ireland Start

17th June 2026 Round Ireland

With Saturday's Round Ireland Yacht Race fast approaching, Mystic Meg is keeping her crystal ball unusually well covered. The popular Afloat.ie forecasting exercise has become a fixture of Round Ireland build-up, offering a light-hearted assessment of the likely contenders. But…

Final Countdown — Competitors race off Wicklow during the 2024 offshore event. More than 60 boats are preparing to contest the 704-nautical-mile Round Ireland Race starting on June 20.

Round Ireland Fleet Assembles For Wicklow Race Start

12th June 2026 Round Ireland

With just over a week to go until the start of the 2026 Round Ireland Race, Wicklow Harbour is preparing to welcome one of the largest offshore racing fleets seen in recent years. More than 60 Irish and international entries…

Fastnet Winner Tom Kneen Takes Round Ireland Entries Through Sixty Mark

9th June 2026 Round Ireland

Tom Kneen of Plymouth, winner of the Rolex Fastnet Race 2021 with the Mark 1 JPK 11.80 Sunrise and, currently campaigning the successful Mark 2 JPK 11.80 Sunrise III, has entered the 2026 Round Ireland Race from Wicklow on June…

Class40 Calling – Offshore sailor Pamela Lee will visit Dún Laoghaire Motor Yacht Club on June 13 for a public talk ahead of the Round Ireland Race, with her Class40 yacht expected in the harbour.

DMYC Hosts Pamela Lee Ahead Of Round Ireland Race

9th June 2026 Pamela Lee

Dun Laoghaire Motor Yacht Club (DMYC) will host an evening with offshore sailor Pamela Lee on Saturday, June 13, as part of a planned visit by her Class40 yacht to Dún Laoghaire Harbour. The visit comes just days before the…

Crashed Kinsailor Back In Saddle For Round Ireland Challenge

4th June 2026 Round Ireland

The dismasting of the home club’s Sun Fast 3300 Cinnamon Girl (Cian McCarthy) in Kinsale YC’s Inishtearaght Race at the weekend, and the subsequent victory in the same race of John Malone’s JPK 10.30 Loinnir Girl, has had a knock-on…

Ireland’s Islands & Rocks Are Made To Race Round

30th May 2026 W M Nixon

The preliminary instructions suggest that the race from Kinsale would be round either the faraway Inishtearaght on the edge of the Blaskets, or the less distant but equally majestic Skellig Michael. It’s an opening salvo that gives a sense of…

Start Line – The S&S 41 Winsome powers through Solent chop during RORC offshore racing ahead of the 2026 De Guingand Bowl Race from Cowes.

RORC De Guingand Bowl Race Set for Tactical Solent Test

29th May 2026 RORC

The RORC De Guingand Bowl Race returns on Saturday 30 May with a competitive fleet expected on the start line in Cowes. The race marks the seventh round of the 2026 RORC Season’s Points Championship and the third event in…

Race Ready — Crew members aboard Spirit of Shackleton prepare the Clipper 70 offshore racer during training ahead of the 2026 Round Ireland Yacht Race campaign

Round Ireland Race Youth Bursaries Open Aboard Spirit of Shackleton

25th May 2026 Spirit of Shackleton Yacht

Four bursary places are being offered to young people to race aboard the Clipper 70 yacht Spirit of Shackleton in next month’s Round Ireland Yacht Race. The initiative is backed by the Atlantic Youth Trust and led by skipper Enda…

Round Ireland Race: Pam Lee of Greystones takes RI:26 entries through 50 mark

18th May 2026 Round Ireland

While there is a distinct possibility of some top level crew-juggling resulting in two Grand Prix boats racing as one in the Round Ireland Race from Wicklow on June 20th, the entry list has now gone through the totemic 50…

Tom Dolan Joins Trentesaux Pogo RC Round Ireland Campaign

17th May 2026 Round Ireland

French offshore great Géry Trentesaux is expected to contest June’s Round Ireland Race aboard the new Pogo RC Aruba instead of his proven Sydney 43 Long Courrier, according to Afloat sources. The development appears to mark a late change of…

Round Ireland Race Introduces Fresh Angle On Sail Training, And Brings The Great Alexis Loison On Board

9th May 2026 Round Ireland

What goes round, come round. Way back in 1972 we were doing a very leisurely family cruise with a Galion 22 in West Cork (small family then), and went in company with Dermod Kennedy and his ketch Richard of Baltimore…

Round Ireland Race from Wicklow 2026: Is it There for the Two-Handers to Take?

2nd May 2026 Round Ireland

As we count down through the fifty days to the Round Ireland 2026 start at Wicklow on Saturday June 20th, while counting upwards with a good chance of breaking the magic target of fifty entries as they finally come to…

Big Entry Boost: Clipper 68 CV9 Courageous, a 68-foot offshore racer, joins the Round Ireland Race fleet as entries pass 40 with 44 days remaining before the closing date.

Round Ireland Entries Reach 40 With Clipper 68 Added

18th April 2026 Round Ireland

Entries for Wicklow's Round Ireland Race have reached 40 with 43 days remaining before the closing date. The milestone was confirmed on April 16 with the addition of the largest yacht so far, the Clipper 68 CV9 – Courageous, entered…

Four Class40 Entries Boost Round Ireland 2026 Fleet

2nd April 2026 Round Ireland

Four Class40 yachts are now entered in the 2026 Round Ireland Yacht Race, lifting the overall fleet to 37 boats. The latest entries add to the race’s international profile, with teams from France, Italy and the UK now confirmed in…

Irish Offshore Season Builds As ISORA Coastal Races Begin in April and Round Ireland at 32 Entries

30th March 2026 ISORA

The Irish Sea offshore season (ISORA) steps up a gear in early April with the first UK coastal races scheduled for Saturday, 4 April in Pwllheli. The Irish coastal series follows a week later on Saturday, 11 April, marking the…

Sun Fast 3300 Trio Sets Up Round Ireland Duel

26th March 2026 Round Ireland

Entries for the Round Ireland Yacht Race have reached 32, with three Sun Fast 3300 sisterships now confirmed for the 704-nautical-mile contest. The growing class sets up a competitive sub-battle within the fleet, with double-handed crews expected to challenge strongly…

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Round Ireland Yacht Race Information

The Round Ireland Yacht Race is Ireland's classic offshore yacht race starts from Wicklow Sailing Club (WSC) and is organised jointly with the Royal Ocean Racing Club (RORC) and the Royal Irish Yacht Club (RIYC). This page details the very latest updates from the 2008 race onwards including the race schedule, yacht entries and the all-important race updates from around the 704-mile course. Keep up to date with the Round Ireland Yacht Race here on this one handy reference page.

2020 Round Ireland Race

The 2020 race, the 21st edition, was the first race to be rescheduled then cancelled.

Following Government restrictions over COVID-19, a decision on the whether or not the 2020 race can be held was made on April 9 2020 to reschedule the race to Saturday, August 22nd. On July 27th, the race was regrettably cancelled due to ongoing concerns about COVID-19.

Because of COVID-19, the race had to have a virtual launch party at the Royal Irish Yacht Club for its 21st edition.

In spite of the pandemic, however, a record entry was in prospect for 2020 with 50 boats entered with four weeks to go to the race start. The race was also going big on size and variety to make good on a pre-race prediction that the fleet could reach 60. An Irish offshore selection trial also looked set to be a component part of the 2020 race.

The rescheduling of the race to a news date emphasises the race's national significance, according to Afloat here

FAQs

How many miles duration is the Round Ireland Yacht Race?

704 nautical miles, 810 miles or 1304 kilometres

What is the distance around Ireland's coastline?

3171 kilometres is the estimate of Ireland's coastline by the Ordnance Survey of Ireland.

Who is the sponsor of the 2020 Round Ireland Yacht Race?

SSE Renewables are the sponsors of the 2020 Round Ireland Race.

Who organises the Round Ireland Yacht Race?

Wicklow Sailing Club in association with the Royal Ocean Racing Club in London and The Royal Irish Yacht Club in Dublin.

Where is the Round Ireland Race Start?

Off Wicklow Harbour on Saturday, August 22nd 2020

What is the Round Ireland Race Start time?

Monohulls 1300 hrs and Multihulls 13.10 hrs

What is the Round Ireland Race course?

Leave Ireland and all its islands (excluding Rockall) to starboard.

How long does it take to sail Round Ireland?

It depends on the boat. The elapsed record time for the race is under 40 hours but most boats take five or six days to complete the course.

Is there a Round Ireland Race Tracker?

The Race Tracker is https://afloat.ie/sail/events/round-ireland/item/25789-round-ireland-yacht-race-tracker-2016-here.

What is the history of the Round Ireland Race?

The idea of a race around Ireland began in 1975 with a double-handed race starting and finishing in Bangor organised by Ballyholme Yacht Club with stopovers in Crosshaven and Killybegs. That race only had four entries. In 1980 Michael Jones put forward the idea of a non-stop race and was held in that year from Wicklow Sailing Club. Sixteen pioneers entered that race with Brian Coad’s Raasay of Melfort returning home after six days at sea to win the inaugural race. Read the first Round Ireland Yacht Race 1980 Sailing Instructions here

What is the Round Ireland Race speed record?

The Round Ireland race record of 38 h 37 min 7 s is held by MOD-70 trimaran Musandam-Oman Sail and was set in June 2016.

What is the Round Ireland Race Monohull Speed record?

George David’s Rambler 88 (USA) holds the fastest monohull race time of two days two hours 24 minutes and 9 seconds set in the 2016 race.

What was the first round Ireland voyage?

William Power's 45ft Olivia undertook a round Ireland cruise in September 1860

What is the Smallest Boat To Sail Round Ireland?

Richard Hayes completed his solo epic round Ireland voyage in September 2018 in a 14-foot Laser dinghy. The voyage had seen him log a total of 1,324 sea miles (2,452 kilometres) in 54 sailing days. in 1961, the Belfast Lough Waverly Durward crewed by Kevin and Colm MacLaverty and Mick Clarke went around Ireland in three-and-a-half weeks becoming the smallest keelboat ever to go round. While neither of these achievements occurred as part of the race they are part of Round Ireland sailing history