The bulk of the Round Ireland race fleet is fairly tightly bunched to the west of Loop Head in 10 to 12 knots of breeze from abaft the beam. Ian Hickey's Cavatina still leads IRC overall, but only four hours of corrected time separates the next ten boats and with more than half the race to go, that’s not much under the current circumstances. Liam Shanhan’s Ruth stays in 2nd place but the lowest rated boat in the fleet, Kuba Szymanski’s Sigma 33 Polished Manx, is well in there in 3rd place.
Up ahead, the line honours race is starting to turn in favour of Monster Project, who’s greater waterline length is giving her a 15 mile advantage over Teng Tools Kilcullen. Monster has rounded Blackrock on the Mayo coast and has a light to moderate breeze on the nose. The light and variable forecast winds will require careful covering of TTK to ensure she stays ahead.
As the wind starts to head the fleet, it looks like Donegal Bay is going to be a dead upwind leg in a gentle breeze, allowing the bigger boats to regain some of the lost ground.
As always with this classic race, the north east coast will probably be the most significant factor in the battle for supremacy. The timing of the approach to Rathlin and of the passage of the North Channel are always crucial.
Plenty of racing to come.
@RoundIreland out looking over at blaskets to see local boat Amazing Grace come through, tracker says she's close!! pic.twitter.com/RRLtAQ2CLh
— Ruth (@rconcann) June 30, 2014
Interesting tactical decisions made by @MonsterVO70 & Teng Tools Killcullen at Belmullet coastline #RoundIreland14 pic.twitter.com/jrWA6OZJwH
— Noel Davidson (@noel_davidson) June 30, 2014
