24 hours into the Round Ireland Yacht Race, the predicted weather pattern is largely coming true as the bigger and faster boats look likely to benefit first from stronger southerly winds along the west coast and high up in the Wicklow Hills there is more white smoke as Maritime Mystic Meg revises her prediction for the 2024 overall handicap win.
A divide on the water between the top four boats and the rest of the fleet leads Meg to believe that the overall IRC winner will come from this group. Phosphorus II, Teasing Machine, Pata Negra and Searcher are currently showing as the top four. The Yellow Brick tracker puts Desert Star Irish Offshore Sailing, Black Sheep and Bellino in the mix, but the next updates will see these three fall out of the top standings.
The question now is will the predicted patterns hold. If they do, it is going to be a ding-dong between these four boats. While Phosphorus II currently has the advantage, the higher rated Teasing Machine and Searcher should reach the new wind sooner and could narrow the gap.
Meg suggests the following revised odds for IRC overall:
- Teasing Machine 4/1
- Phosphorus II 6/1
- Searcher 7/1
- Pata Negra 10/1
- 15/1 the field.