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

SSE Renewables Round Ireland Race Has Teasing Machine On Track For New South Wind

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.

SSE Renewables Round Ireland Race Has Teasing Machine On Track For New South Wind

23rd June 2024

WM Nixon

The United Kingdom's Phosphorous II, skippered by Mark Emerson, is lying 1st in IRC Overall, 1st in IRC Class 1 and 1st in Overseas at lunchtime on day two of the 2024 SSE Renewables Round Ireland Race Credit: Afloat

Sunday (Day 2, 1330 hrs): Afloat.ie’s predictor Mystic Meg is currently on the button with the suggestion that the Round Ireland Race’s expected weather pattern of a favourable southerly along the West Coast would suit the bigger boats, as they should get to it first.

If they did so, our soothsayer predicted, they’d find it fresher the further north they got on the Atlantic seaboard, thereby piling on the miles ahead of the little ’uns still struggling southwest to the major turn towards the north around the Fastnet Rock-Mizen Head coastline.

GET THE MOSTEST THERE THE FASTEST

Eric de Turckheim’s NYMD 54 is very much a fulfilment of the old military dictum that to win, you get the mostest there the fastest. After a flattish patch close west of the Old Head of Kinsale, her skilled crew have the big black boat tramping along on port tack close to the lovely West Cork coast off Glandore, and she’s been going so well she’s closed right up with the less nippy big trimaran Paradox 3 which leads the multihull.

Eric de Turckheim's 54ft Teasing Machine Photo: Afloat

Teasing Machine has come to life so well she’s now second overall on IRC in addition to her clear line honours lead. The irony is that at our deadline, the IRC leader is Mark Emerson’s A13 Phosphorus, which for several very successful seasons was an earlier Teasing Machine.

Sam and Andrew Hall’s Lombard 45 Pata Negra Photo: Afloat

However, although Phosphorus was looking very good early this morning, Pete Smyth with the Ker 46 Searcher (Royal Irish YC) made a very good job of getting past the Cork Harbour to Kinsale section of coast by being relatively inshore, and pulled away from the likes of Phosphorus and Pata Negra to be out on her own, making 8.2 knots on track past Galley Head as the sea breeze effect gives some extra bite to the onshore wind.

Above: A vid from the Cork Buoy on Sunday lunchtime showing Class One Round Ireland entry, J121, Darkwood, (Michael O'Donnell) Video by Mary Malone

Pete Smyth with the Ker 46 Searcher (Royal Irish YC) Photo: Afloat

BELLINO LEADING CLASS 3 AND TWO-HANDED

In Class 2, Paul O’Higgins’ JPK 10.80 Rockabill VI continues to hold a good lead over the defending champion, Laurent Charmy’s J/111 from France, while Rob Craigie and RORC Commodore Deb fish are going to well in the Sunfast 36 Bellino that they led both Class 3 and the Two-Handed Division.

Laurent Charmy’s J/111 Fastwave from France is the defending Round Ireland champion Photo: Afloat

Class 4 meanwhile sees the older Sunfast 37 Desert Star having the race of her life under new sails, with skipper Ronan O Siochru of Irish Offshore Sailing racing her to the lead over Simon Knowles J/109 Indian (Howth YC).

Simon Knowles J/109 Indian (Howth YC) off Wicklow Head shortly after the start of the 2024 Round Ireland Race Photo: Afloat

Published in Round Ireland

Round Ireland Yacht Race Live Tracker 2024

Track the progress of the 2024 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 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.

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.

You might also want to read...

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