#roundireland – Inistrahull, or more accurately, Tor Rocks, a sea mile or so to the north, is the most northerly point on the Round Ireland Race Course rhumb line. Green Dragon, saddled with the burden of being the biggest boat in the race, was once again struggling to get deeper as the wind backed into the southwest as she rounded at 1930 this evening. Not only was the direction unfavourable but she now faces lighter breezes entering the tidally challenging North Channel.
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Behind her, the battle for overall leader continues with Tonnerre De Breskens briefly taking over from Inis Mor, which has lead almost from the start. However, the initial gains may well be all for nought, as the bulk of the fleet, off the Connemara coast, are enjoying stronger breezes, and catching the bigger boats rapidly. It is one of the delights of this great race that it can start and restart several times along the coast and the Rathlin/North Channel tidal gate could well determine the overall honours.
While it means little to publish the current leaderboard, the table below shows that the leading group have stretched out a bit, while there is considerable bunching with only two hours separating 9th and 22nd. No doubt many of the yachts will suffer from a hole or two over the next 24 hours or so and we may well see some anchoring during the same period.
So, while the Irish Open Golf competitors can look forward to low scores as the fleet heads past the Portrush course, the Round Ireland sailors will not be setting any records this time