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 the World Yachts Will Challenge for Round Ireland Title

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 the World Yachts Will Challenge for Round Ireland Title

16th June 2010

Afloat.ie Team

Round the World Yachts Will Challenge for Round Ireland Title

The biggest boat in Sunday's Round Ireland Yacht Race has sailed between the Arctic and Antarctic. It is Celtic Spirit of Fastnet, a sturdy 72-foot Cruiser/Racer. Its skipper Michael Holland became Afloat's first Sailor of the Month in 2008 after he voyaged successfully with his 72ft ketch between the Arctic and Antarctic. In essence, this superbly-planned cruise was a private expedition to some decidedly rugged places. Private it may have been, but it later went public, as Celtic Spirit’s skipper and crew were awarded the Irish Cruising Club’s supreme award, the Faulkner Cup.
Just down in size by ten foot to the Celtic Spirit is a real flying machine, Spirit of Rosslare Europort, an IMOCA 60, which is expected to take line honours.
The sixty-footer was designed to compete in the Vendée Globe solo non-stop around the world race. The boat has already done three solo round the world races since it was launched in 1998. Two of these occasions were Vendée Globe races when it was sailed by one person who spent three months alone in what is referred to as “The Everest of Sailing”, the toughest and longest event in any sport.
The boat will be skippered by Steve White, who is a well recognised round the world sailor having come 8th in the last Vendée Globe Race, when only 11 out of 30 finished the 26,000 mile course.
Dublin based professional sailor Paul Ó Riain will be assisting Steve. Paul has competed in the Round Ireland Yacht Race twice as well as competing on the single handed Figaro circuit in France and crossing the Atlantic twice. Paul and Steve will be joined by four Dun Laoghaire based amateur sailors: Alan McGettigan, Peter O’Malley, Morgan Crowe and Declan Hayes.
A spokesperson for Rosslare Europort said that: “As one of Ireland’s Premier commercial ports, we recognise the value and importance of Ireland’s great maritime culture and we are delighted to be involved with the Spirit of Rosslare Europort”.

A preview of the 2010 Round Ireland along with lots of other summer sailing news is packed into the Summer issue of Afloat magazine in newsagents now!

More on the Round Ireland Yacht Race:

Round Ireland Yacht Race 2010 Review

Round Ireland Yacht Race, Ireland's top offshore fixture

A Round up of 80 stories on the 2010 Round Ireland Yacht Race

Biggest Yacht in Round Ireland Race Sailed between the Arctic and Antarctic

The biggest boat in Sunday's Round Ireland Yacht Race is Celtic Spirit of Fastnet, a sturdy 72-foot Cruiser/Racer. Its skipper Michael Holland became Afloat's first Sailor of the Month in 2008 after he voyaged successfully with his 72ft ketch between the Arctic and Antarctic. In essence, this superbly-planned cruise was a private expedition to some decidedly rugged places. Private it may have been, but it later went public, as Celtic Spirit’s skipper and crew were awarded the Irish Cruising Club’s supreme award, the Faulkner Cup.

Just behind the Celtic Spirit is a real flying machine, Spirit of Rosslare Europort, an IMOCA 60, which is expected to take line honours.

The sixty-footer was designed to compete in the Vendée Globe solo non-stop around the world race. The boat has already done three solo round the world races since it was launched in 1998. Two of these occasions were Vendée Globe races when it was sailed by one person who spent three months alone in what is referred to as “The Everest of Sailing”, the toughest and longest event in any sport.

The boat will be skippered by Steve White, who is a well recognised round the world sailor having come 8th in the last Vendée Globe Race, when only 11 out of 30 finished the 26,000 mile course.

Dublin based professional sailor Paul Ó Riain will be assisting Steve. Paul has competed in the Round Ireland Yacht Race twice as well as competing on the single handed Figaro circuit in France and crossing the Atlantic twice. Paul and Steve will be joined by four Dun Laoghaire based amateur sailors: Alan McGettigan, Peter O’Malley, Morgan Crowe and Declan Hayes.

A spokesperson for Rosslare Europort said that: “As one of Ireland’s Premier commercial ports, we recognise the value and importance of Ireland’s great maritime culture and we are delighted to be involved with the Spirit of Rosslare Europort”.

http://www.afloat.ie/sailors-of-the-year/

Published in Round Ireland

Round Ireland Yacht Race Live Tracker 2022

Track the progress of the 2022 Wicklow Sailing Club Round Ireland Race fleet on the live tracker above and see all Afloat's Round Ireland Race coverage in one handy link here

Published in Round Ireland

About The Author

Afloat.ie Team

Email The Author

Afloat.ie is Ireland's dedicated marine journalism team.

Have you got a story for our reporters? Email us here.

We've got a favour to ask

More people are reading Afloat.ie than ever thanks to the power of the internet but we're in stormy seas because advertising revenues across the media are falling fast. Unlike many news sites, we haven’t put up a paywall because we want to keep our marine journalism open.

Afloat.ie is Ireland's only full–time marine journalism team and it takes time, money and hard work to produce our content.

So you can see why we need to ask for your help.

If everyone chipped in, we can enhance our coverage and our future would be more secure. You can help us through a small donation. Thank you.

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