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

Tough Windward work in Prospect on West Coast for Round Ireland Fleet After Leaders Have Swift Progress to Fastnet Rock

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.

Tough Windward work in Prospect on West Coast for Round Ireland Fleet After Leaders Have Swift Progress to Fastnet Rock

19th June 2022

WM Nixon

The Swiss Cookson 50 Kuko 3, which is currently leading the Round Ireland fleet on the water, and was past the Fastnet Rock by 0620 hrs this (Sunday) morning Credit: Afloat

Round Ireland Race Day 2 (Sunday) 0900 - Conditions have been ideal for swift and steady progress by the fleet in the SSE Renewables Round Ireland Race since they cleared Wicklow Head and passed Arklow. An area of light breezes off the East Wexford coast had filled in with the very favourable northwest to north wind by the time the leaders had reached that part of the course, and with the full ebb giving them a mighty push, there was still plenty of useful tide in their favour as they shaped their sailing round the Tuskar Rock and on southwestwards for the Coningbeg.

Becalmed at the Tuskar Rock last night (Saturday) at 8 pm. Photo from Maurice O'Connell on Sunfast 3600 YoYo

The powerful Cookson 50 Kuko 3 (Franco Niggeler, Switzerland) and the nimble HH42 InoXXX (James Neville. Commodore RORC) were firmly in the lead as they swept past Arklow, and have stayed mainly in front ever since with the solid northerly (“the wind is off the grass” as the appreciative buoyage-working staff of Irish Lights would put it in offshore breezes) giving them a drag race all the way along the south coast.

James Neville's HH42 InoXXX at Wicklow Head after the Round Ireland race start Photo: Afloat

The breeze seldom reached sufficient strength in the night for the third-placed Class 40 Influence (Andrea Fornaro, Italy) to develop her full potential and challenge their position, but she did briefly pass InoXXX well to sea off Courtmacsherry, as did the Volvo 70 Green Dragon which has been taking some time to show her full performance abilities.

But Kuka 3 stayed firmly in charge of the prime position, and was past the Fastnet Rock by 0620 this morning, with Green Dragon now second though quite a few miles astern, InoXXX back ahead of Influence in third, and the American Class40 Kite fourth of the water.

Greg Leonard's Class 40 Kite from the USA Photo: Afloat

At 0900 Kuka 3 was closing in on Dursey Head and the Bull Rock beyond with InoXXX again in second on the water, heading into much more rugged conditions of a fresh and sometimes strong northerly to seaward off the West Kerry coast to provide all the conditions for a crew-testing, boat-breaking day.

A screenshot of the race tracker just before 0900 on day two shows the fleet along the south coast. see live tracker below

Meanwhile astern, all along the South Coast back as far back as Cork Harbour, the bulk of the fleet are continuing to enjoy the benefits of having “the wind off the grass”, and though InoXXX and Kuko 3 are currently first and second overall on IRC, Samataom (Robert Rendell, HYC) is second in IRC1 with Darkwood (Michael Boyd) third, the French J111 SL Energies Groupe Fastwave leads IRC 2 with the J/122 Aurelia (Chris & Patanne Power Smith, RStGYC) third.

Cinnamon Girl (Sunfast 3300, Cian McCarthy & Sam Hunt Photo: Bob Bateman

Cinnamon Girl (Sunfast 3300, Cian McCarthy & Sam Hunt, KYC) leads Rockabill IV (Paul O’Higgins, RIYC) and Snapshot (Mike & Richie Evans, HYC) in IRC3, and Tony Kingston’s classic Swan 40 Shindig (KYC) leads IRC 4 from Ian Hickey’s Cavatina (RCYC).

Tony Kingston’s classic Swan 40 Shindig from Kinsale Photo: Bob Bateman

The Race Tracker is below

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

Tagged under

Round Ireland Yacht Race

About The Author

WM Nixon

Email The Author

William M Nixon has been writing about sailing in Ireland for many years in print and online, and his work has appeared internationally in magazines and books. His own experience ranges from club sailing to international offshore events, and he has cruised extensively under sail, often in his own boats which have ranged in size from an 11ft dinghy to a 35ft cruiser-racer. He has also been involved in the administration of several sailing organisations.

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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