Round Ireland
Round Ireland Day 5. 9.45pm: Hung Up On Tides Of Rathlin & ‘Un-Fair Head’ As New Nor’wester Spreads In
4th July 2018 Round Ireland
Yesterday evening, the all-conquering Baraka GP had enough breeze and hull speed to break through the foul tide at Rathlin Island and Fair Head in some style, writes W M Nixon. But tonight (Wednesday 4 July), there has been no…
Round Ireland Day 5. 4pm: With Professional Baraka GP Finished, Attention Turns To The “Real” Race
4th July 2018 Round Ireland
When Niall Dowling’s exceptional Ker 43 Baraka GP crossed the finish line at Wicklow at 1320 hrs this afternoon to take Line Honours and put down a very strong marker for the IRC overall win, the way was cleared for…
Niall Dowling’s chartered Ker 43 Baraka GP was across the finish line at Wicklow a few minutes before 1.30pm to comfortably take line honours in the 2018 edition of the Volvo Round Ireland Yacht Race, the 20th staging of this…
Round Ireland Day 5. 10am: Leading Boat Baraka Gets Even More Businesslike in Final Stages
4th July 2018 Round Ireland
After Niall Dowling’s Ker 43 Baraka had led the Volvo Round Ireland fleet by a large margin in successfully negotiating the adverse tides of Rathlin Island yesterday evening, ace navigator Ian Moore (originally of Carrickfergus) had moved his boat and…
Three years ago, after he’d navigated a Transatlantic Race winner to a mighty victory, his crewmates said admiringly of Ian Moore that having him aboard as navigator/tactician was as good as narrowing the ocean by at least 150 miles and…
When they left the tide-swept Tuskar Rock astern on Saturday night with a cold fair wind helping them on their way, the crews in the Volvo Round Ireland 2018 knew that tidal streams would no longer play a hugely significant…
Round Ireland Day 4. 10am. Headwinds Ease But Tides Will Soon Take Centre Stage for Leader
3rd July 2018 Round Ireland
The vigorous north to northeast winds which have given the fleet in the Volvo Round Ireland Race 2018 such a tough time as they battled their way up the Atlantic seaboard have now eased and veered further as the leaders…
The Royal Irish Yacht Club's Farr 42 WOW has retired from the Volvo Round Ireland Race due to steering problems. It is understood the starboard-hand wheel collapsed when the former Irish yacht of the year was leading in IRC One.…
Round Ireland Day 3. 7pm: Making Sense Of Racing On The Wild Atlantic Way Is Explaining The Inexplicable
2nd July 2018 Round Ireland
If you wanted an object lesson in why it is sometimes very difficult to explain sailing – and particularly offshore racing – to some goodwill-filled stranger to the sport, then the current state of play in the Volvo Round Ireland…
Round Ireland Day 3. 2.30pm. Fleet in Long Haul Northwards Along the Wild Atlantic Way
2nd July 2018 Round Ireland
It’s big country out west writes W M Nixon. And big country can have big effects on summer winds. So although the main part of the Volvo Round Ireland 2018 fleet is plugging doggedly along to windward out in the…
The IRC overall lead is being tightly contested this morning in the Volvo Round Ireland race 2018 with the bulk of the fleet now to the west of County Clare, slugging to windward in a north to northeast breeze writes…
Despite the relatively benign sailing conditions, 24 hours into the Volvo Round Ireland race and three boats have now retired from the 700-mile race. As Afloat.ie reported earlier, the Cookson 50-footer Riff Raff experienced 'engine problems' (earlier described as gear failure) and…
Round Ireland Update Day 2 9pm: Wind Pattern Gives Fleet Leaders a Raw Deal
1st July 2018 Round Ireland
Close north of the Blaskets at 1900hrs Sunday, the Volvo Round Ireland fleet leaders on the water - the Class 40 Corum and the Ker 43 Baraka GP - are sailing a textbook race in terms of handling the vagaries…
A Round Ireland Race favourite, Riff Raff, the canting keel Cookson 50, has retired 'due to gear failure'. All on board are safe and the British entry is heading for port in Cork Harbour. Racing for the 55 boats continues…
In the days leading up to the Volvo Round Ireland Race start at Wicklow yesterday, there were predictions of boats being delayed by calms, struggling for sea breezes by day and land breezes by night writes W M Nixon. But…
Day 2 of the Volvo Round Ireland Race 2018 finds the fleet enjoying freshening offshore breezes along the south coast to provide drag racing conditions and good speeds writes W M Nixon. But enjoyment is muted by the knowledge that…
