Round Ireland Yacht Race Updates from Wicklow Sailing Club
Afloat.ie had over 30,000 unique visitors to its dedicated Round Ireland Race section of the national boating website for the 2018 race. According to site analytics, readers have been seeking out the in-depth analysis contained in this week's 16-race reports by Afloat's W M…
Round Ireland Racers for Defence Forces Make the Grade in Final Miles to Wicklow
5th July 2018 Round Ireland
Along the Leinster coast, the summer sea breeze from various points in the east can get a boost from the enormous heat storage unit that is the Greater Dublin area writes W M Nixon. But it’s not something to be…
Round Ireland Race Focus Swings to the Services, Two-handers, Sailing Schools & Minis
5th July 2018 Round Ireland
Three of the primary positions are now resolved in the 20th Round Ireland Race writes W M Nixon. Niall Dowling (Royal Irish YC) has repeated the remarkable George David/Rambler 88 double of 2016 by taking both Line Honours and the…
Day 6: Fair Winds Again for Round Ireland Fleet as Baraka GP’s Performance is Set in Fresh Perspective
5th July 2018 Round Ireland
The fair winds from the northwest, which late last night and early this morning were spreading slowly through the latter half of the Round Ireland fleet off Donegal and then Antrim, now cover the entire remaining race area writes W…
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…
