Everyone thought that while the Volvo Round Ireland Race 2018 from Wicklow was one of the most interesting and unusual ever staged in the race’s 38-year history, it was assumed that no record had been broken writes W M Nixon. But that’s maybe not so. Darryl Hughes’ 43ft gaff ketch Maybird, originally built by Tyrrell’s of Arklow in 1937 and restored with the owner as Project Manager in a superb two-year job concluded in 2011, has finally got back to Wicklow in a time of nine days and 22 hours.

"Maybird finally got back to Wicklow in a time of nine days and 22 hours"

While she went well with the brisk fair winds of the first day, thereafter Maybird was frustrated at every turn. Calms stopped her, and headwinds held her back. At one stage, she did only 25 miles in 24 hours. But they never gave up, and she has been welcomed back to Wicklow with full honours, the race completed in compliance with the rules. Is it a record for the slowest Round Ireland Race ever? Maybe. Probably. But whatever it is, their dogged persistence has deserved much celebration, and it is certainly receiving it.

The Volvo Round Ireland Race from Wicklow back in 2016 was something of a unicorn event writes W M Nixon. George David’s majestic Rambler 88 took mono-hull line honours, the new mono-hull course record, and the overall IRC win - all at the once. And three MOD70 trimarans provided something similar. Surely nothing could ever match such a cornucopia of excitement again?

Well, the Volvo Round Ireland Race 2018 has been different, that’s for sure. It became - as top Irish Sea offshore racing guru Peter Ryan correctly predicted two days in advance - just about the oddest Round Ireland Race ever sailed. And yet, at the end of it, the pre-race favourites were right in there on top, up on the podium where everyone had expected them to be.

Race Officer David Lovegrove (centre) and Race Director Hal Fitzgerald (right) assessing the start from on board the Guardship. Photo: Afloat.ie

Race on. In the foreground are the Sunfast 3600 Bellino and the Cookson 50 Riff-Raff. Photo: W M Nixon

So what’s so remarkable about that? Well, the fact is that as this crazy event - dominated weatherwise by unprecedented high pressure - went along its 700-mile course, there were times when the pundit’s predictions seemed woefully off the mark, as in completely askew.

The tracks of the 54–boat 2018 Round Ireland fleet. Screenshot: Yellowbrick Tracker

None more so than with the ultimate overall winner, Niall Dowling’s Ker 43 Baraka GP. The leader on the water of the entire fleet once she’d got past the lovely new Class 40 Corum off the coast of Kerry, Baraka suffered all the pains of the pioneer battling into the wilderness. It was she who got to the Skelligs and then the Blaskets to find that what had been a brisk but very summery nor’easter was in fact gusting maybe even to 45 knots around those dark, majestic and often spooky rocky peaks.

Outright winner Baraka GP was crewed by a mixture of sailing friends of Niall Dowling and some key professionals including (centre) international navigator Ian Moore of Carrickfergus and Cowes. Photo: Afloat.ie
When you’ve a racing boat tuned to the ultimate degree to be competitive with the 40+ squad in the Solent, you just wonder – as did Boat Captain Jim Carroll – how much that suddenly very spindly-looking rig and hyper-light hull can withstand as you are blasted by squalls and thrash your way through steep and breaking seas.

She was raced by a mixture of professionals and Niall Dowling’s old sailing mates

It speaks volumes for modern boatbuilders and sparmakers and sailmakers that Baraka GP sustained only minor and repairable damage. She was raced by a mixture of professionals and Niall Dowling’s old sailing mates, while navigated by the peerless Ian Moore of Cowes and Carrickfergus. Everything was as it should be, and nothing more could be done except get on with racing. But even so, off the grim north coast of Mayo on Monday, the all-conquering Baraka GP was lying 24th overall on corrected time, with an awful lot of work to do.

Chris and Pat Anne Power’s J/122 Aurelia makes an impressive start under her optimised new kite devised by Maurice “The Prof” O’Connell, who was on board for Round Ireland 2018. Photo: Afloat.ie
Yet why did some of us still have this inescapable feeling that in due course, she’d climb this mountain and come out on top? The answer seems to be that we were sensing that the Emerald Isle – visibly becoming the Brown Isle even while this drought-stricken sun-blasted event progressed – was divided diagonally in terms of favourable racing conditions.

The circumstances were there to be seen clearly, hidden in plain sight. Mostly northeast winds dominated the early part of the event, sometimes with very considerable strength, becoming nor’westerly and then southeasterly at the end.

Southeast of the line from Fair Head to Mizen Head, the conditions made for reasonably fair and manageable racing. But northwest of that line, out along the Wild Atlantic Way, it was unfair in every way, it was a slogging match in which whoever could slog the hardest and the mostest and the fastest and in the best direction was ultimately going to come out tops, because that meant they were soonest back into reasonable conditions where they could make sailing hay and live again.

It meant that at different stages, many boats had their moment in the sun of success in addition to being in Factor 50 conditions of bright if hazy ultra-sun from dawn to dusk. It is painful to look back on our 17 reports, churned out three a day such that I was totally in a round Ireland bubble, and see who was king for the hour, and yet now know just how cruelly they were treated in the final figures at the finish.

Wicklow Lifeboat provides a courtesy escort at the start – in background (centre) is the 58ft American entry Patriot, which finished 26th overall. Photo: W M Nixon
Of the many examples of falling from grace, the ultimate has to be the JPK 10.80 Rockabill VI. Owner Paul O’Higgins could be forgiven for thinking that Donegal always has something malevolent in mind for him. Back in 2016, when it looked as though the brand new Rockabill VI was well set up for a class win, she ran into a flat patch at Inishtrahull and sat there for more than three hours in company with some other unfortunates, while boats ahead went on merrily towards the horizon, and boats astern closed up remorselessly over many miles.

The Paul O’Higgins skippered JPK 10.80 Rockabill VI Photo: Afloat.ie

Subsequently, he won the Dun Laoghaire to Dingle Race last year in convincing style, so this time Rockabill VI went forth in the round Ireland more strongly crewed than ever, and all was going fine until the Curse of Donegal struck again. They were turning to windward on starboard well to the west of Rossan Point in general company with the J/122 Aurelia (Chris Power Smith) and the X41 Team Fujitsu (British Army), when – shortly after 11am on Tuesday morning (July 3rd) - Rockabill decided to take a stab inshore. They sailed into a flat patch off Loughros More Bay, that wicked flat patch spread to envelop them in its deadly clutches, and there they sat for six hours while Aurelia and Team Fujitsu and many others bustled on past Aranmore towards Bloody Foreland and Tory Island and rapidly out of sight to very respectable placings at Wicklow.

Father-and-son duo Derek and Conor Dillon started to hit the pace really well off Donegal, and set themselves on course to take fourth overall and win the two-Handed Division. Photo: Afloat.ie
In that same area but in complete contrast, father-and-son team Derek and Conor Dillon of Foynes on the little Dehler 34 Big Deal were later to begin to get going properly. They knew that Ian Hickey and his race-hardened crew on the veteran Noray 38 Cavatina from Cork would probably end up being their rivals for the chance of a low-rated boat doing exceptionally well if the race panned out in a certain way. And off Donegal, Cavatina was ahead.

Double Round Ireland winner – the veteran Noray 38 Cavatina from Cork Photo: Afloat.ie

Yet suddenly, it was as though Big Deal, only doing rather so-so at that stage, had became a boat transformed. Thereafter, she never really put a foot wrong. She played the best possible way with whatever hand she was dealt, just like Baraka GP was doing way up ahead.

Thus, by the time they got into the more sensible racing conditions southeast of Fair Head, Big Deal was positioning herself very neatly. She was making good steady progress, nothing spectacular but good and regular, slowly picking off boats.

On Thursday night, she followed Cavatina past the South Rock, but while the Cork boat found herself being forced in towards Carlingford Lough, Big Deal found her own private line of breeze from the southeast which enabled her to make weathering up towards her desired route of being on the direct South Rock – Wicklow line, and it proved a winning formula to bring her in yesterday morning, propelling her right into fourth overall and runaway victory in the two-handed division.

“The boy did well”. Shea Byrne and son Barry in Wicklow Sailing Club – Commandant Barry Byrne and his Defence Forces crew in the J/109 Joker II (below) have been officially declared second overall in the Volvo Round Ireland Race 2018, and first in the Services Division. Photo: Angela Higgins and Afloat.ie

Big Deal arrived into a Wicklow Harbour seemingly serene and now quite crowded with boats already finished yesterday morning, but there was a minor storm brewing. We reported on Thursday evening how the Defence Forces racing the J/109 Joker sailed heroically to the finish, both to win the Services Division, and possibly even snatch second overall from Chris Power Smith’s J/122 Aurelia. On Thursday night, it seemed that they’d succeeded in one aspect, but nevertheless were back in third behind Aurelia overall. It has since transpired that owing to some glitch, Joker II was shown as racing with a rating 0.002 points higher than it actually was. She had in fact closely beaten Aurelia. But that was only by the way for the gallant duo on Big Deal. They’d sailed a race of perfection for the latter third of the event, and all was good with their world.

So now it’s a matter of tidying up the loose ends, but basically the Volvo Round Ireland Race has shown itself yet again to be the inevitable mixture of the expected and the unexpected, of conditions fair and foul, and of tidal gates becoming tidal alleys down which people find themselves going the full tidal tubes.

It has shown itself to be an event which can include a two-handed division, and as for the two-handed Mini 6.5s, we can only conclude that some were reluctant to include them because, despite being just 21ft long, they have an embarrassing habit of out-sailing larger boats. And it means that the Mini 6.5 Port of Galway is now the smallest boat ever to have sailed round Ireland non-stop.

The Mini 6.5 Port of Galway is now the smallest boat ever to have sailed round Ireland non-stop Photo: Afloat.ie

Reduced to their most basic, the results as we understand it are that Baraka GP (Niall Dowling Royal Irish YC) took line honours and won overall, the J/109 Joker II raced by Commandant Barry Byrne of the Defence Forces with Mick Liddy as navigator was second overall, Chris Power Smith’s J/122 Aurelia (Royal St George YC) was third, the Dehler 34 Big Deal (Derek & Conor Dillon, Foynes YC) was fourth overall and won the two-handed division, the X41 Team Fujitsu racing for the British Army and skippered by Captain Donal Ryan of Howth YC was fifth overall, the Noray 38 Cavatina (Ian Hickey, Royal Cork YC) was sixth, and Nicolas Pasternak from France was first of the Continental competitors with the JPK 10.10 Jaasap in seventh.

In the Special Divisions, Port of Galway (Yannick Lemonnier & Cathal Clarke) topped the Mini 6.5s, while Irish Offshore Sailing of Dun Laoghaire scored a remarkable double in the sailing Schools Division, taking first with Desert Star (Ronan O Siochru) and second with Sherkin 2 (Daniel Smith).

The attractive new Class 40 Corum, seen here breaking through to lee of Phosphorous II (ex Teasing Machine II), finished as winner of her division. Photo: W M Nixon
Finally, the charismatic new Class 40 Corum was her division winner by a good margin in the end. And though as we post this there are still boats racing with the veteran gaff ketch Maybird (Darryl Hughes) off what must be the very tempting attractions of Inishbofin in Galway, the hotshot racers have already moved on. Maurice the Prof O’Connell has taken his leave from Aurelia to head off for today’s (Saturday) Round the Island Race starting in the Solent with the vintage Quarter Tonner Quest, an event in which - if close-knit plans dovetail neatly enough - he’ll find the opposition includes Baraka GP.

Others will reckon that today’s Royal St George Yacht Club Annual Regatta on Dublin Bay is just the ticket. But there’ll possibly be others who, after so very many miles of blue sea and brisk wind and very bright sun, might well wonder if it could just be still possible to find somewhere a nice green field or a pleasantly shaded bit of forest for some quiet contemplation.

Race tracker here and official results here

Afloat.ie Round Ireland updates in this one handy link HERE

Wicklow Sailing Club says a 'clerical error' on the tracker site for its Volvo Round Ireland Race that provisionally showed the Dublin J122 Aurelia in second place overall on IRC Handicap has now been 'rectified'. 

The recalculation puts the Defence Forces team on the J109 Joker II into second place and drops Chris Power Smith's team from the Royal St. George from second to third overall.

It is understood no other finishing positions are affected.

Wicklow Sailing Club's David McHugh told Afloat.ie: 'A clerical error on the tracker site led to an incorrect rating for Joker II. This has been rectified in the overall results".

A disclaimer on the tracker site says "These results are provisional - refer to the race website for official results".

Official results from the race have been published on the RORC site here.

The final 90-mile leg of the Round Ireland course, from the South Rock off the County Down coast direct to the Wicklow pierheads, is often the most frustrating writes W M Nixon. You feel the finish is almost within sight, yet the Irish Sea often seems to go out of its way to serve up calms and wayward headwinds.

Certainly, this was the expectation of those still racing last night, with the two Mini 6.5s, in particular, going into the gathering dark expecting that their remaining energies would be sapped by endless windward work and wind-seeking as high pressure returned to an upward trend.

The two Mini 50 class yachts have successfully completed the 700-mile course and become the smallest ever yachts to circumnavigate Ireland non-stop Photo: Afloat.ie

Yet this morning, Mini racers Yannick Lemonnier and Cathal Clarke on the 21ft Port of Galway, and Louis Mulloy and Arthur aboard Blackshell Farm, together with the others who were around them to seaward of St John’s Point, find themselves, for the most part, finished in Wicklow, and job done.

And none have done this final stage better than father-and-son two-handed team Derek and Conor Dillon on the Dehler 34 Big Deal from Foynes. Their home waters of the Atlantic seaboard may have treated them harshly to have them at times back among the also-rans. But the Irish Sea was kindness itself, everything fell neatly into place, and they rocketed up the rankings to finish fourth overall, slotting in neatly between the Irish Defence Forces in Joker II and the British Army in Team Fujitsu.

As for Lemonnier and Clarke on Port of Galway, it’s job extra well done. They now hold the record for the smallest boat ever to have sailed round Ireland non-stop, as they got into Wicklow at 0645 hrs this morning, an hour and 40 minutes ahead of the Mayo entry Blackshell Farm. For those only following the race on the tracker, Port of Galway literally came out of the blue. Her tracker packed it in at Malin Head, but Cathal Clarke’s cheery phone calls kept supporters informed.

The message from that long final leg was was: Keep to the straight and narrow. Whatever the wind was doing, don’t stray too far from the long direct line from the South Rock to the Wicklow pierhead. Those who did, such as Paul Kavanagh with the Swan 44 CoOperation Ireland who went way southeast into the middle of the Irish Sea in search of a win move, found themselves hung out to dry.

"those who emulated overall winner Baraka GP in finding a leading breeze which enabled them to hold to the basic track were well rewarded"

But those who emulated overall winner Baraka GP in finding a leading breeze which enabled them to hold to the basic track were well rewarded, with Big Deal coming down the line as though on rails at a steady 4.5 to 6.5 knots, with only a short bit of tacking at the end.

Last night, we concluded our report with the leaders in, and a certain East Coast emphasis in the results. But this morning, the West’s awake.

Race tracker here, final analysis with tomorrow’s Sailing on Saturday blog on Afloat.ie

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 Nixon as well as an archive of Round Ireland stories on previous editions.

This week Afloat.ie brought morning, noon and evening race updates for the 29, 376 visitors from the 700-mile course together with race imagery on all aspects of the 54–boat fleet's progress as well as 'enews' and social media bulletins in a free lunchtime email service (sign up on the homepage).

Sign up to the Free daily Afloat e–news on the home page

Popular stories included last Saturday's fantastic start from Wicklow, featuring the shredded spinnaker of Niall Dowling's overall race winner plus pre-race features on race launches, developments and entries from Wicklow Sailing Club (WSC) and Royal Irish co-hosts.

There was international traffic due to overseas interest in the race's French and British entries and also traffic to the official race tracker embedded on Afloat.ie

Afloat.ie's Round Ireland stories were also accessed via the official Volvo Round Ireland site on an RSS feed collaboration with WSC. 

The national boating website had over 1.2m unique visitors in 2017 and is on course for a further increase in visits this year. In the six months to June 30th, Afloat.ie recorded 670,000 visits and 1.2m page views.

Online coverage in Afloat's dedicated Round Ireland Race section dates back to 2008's edition and there are plans to digitize earlier race coverage, going back to the first race in 1980, from the original print editions in a new magazine online archive on Afloat.ie

Read Afloat.ie's Round Ireland coverage is here.

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 relied on. There’ll be unexpected and enormous changes in direction. It can sometimes just disappear as though some giant hand has simply switched off an electric fan. And as evening draws on, it becomes ever more fickle and finally fades altogether.

Barry Byrne of the Defence Forces took third overall and won the inaugural Round Ireland Services Challenge Photo: Afloat.ie

But while the sea breeze still made in over the city and the afternoon ebb got going with full vigour, a rush of boats today in the Volvo Round Ireland Race 2018 made every effort to get themselves across Dublin Bay and down to that elusive finishing line before the evening calm set in.

As ever, there’s much at stake. Ireland’s Defence Forces are represented by Commandant Barry Byrne (originally from Wicklow) and navigator Mick Liddy with the J/109 Joker II. Like every other boat in this demanding 700-mile race, Joker II has had her moments of glory and her times of frustration. But this afternoon she was going mighty well, and closing in by this evening with a strong likelihood of securing the winning slot among the Services crews, and possibly even the chance of snatching the second overall position from Chris & Pat Anne Power Smith’s already-finished J/122 Aurelia.

British Army boat Team Fujitsu, skippered by Donal Ryan of Howth

On top of that, she had nearly two hours in hand on her closest rival for the Services prize, the already-finished but significantly larger and higher-rated British Army boat Team Fujitsu, skippered by Donal Ryan of Howth. In such an inter-port and inter-unit setup, talk of “special rivalry” is scarcely adequate…..

So there was Joker II making her way ever closer to the line, but all the time her speed was fading. Inexorably, she slipped down the Corrected Time rankings. Soon, she was irretrievably behind Aurelia. But Joker II crawled on, clinging to third overall. 4.3 knots over the ground. With just 3 miles to cover. Agony.

8.0pm. Less than a mile to go. Now making 4.7knots. Hang in there, lads. Just do it by sheer will power……8.09 pm: Joker II has finished……Let there be rejoicing

What with Niall Dowling of the Royal Irish YC winning overall, and Chris Power Smith of Royal St George YC getting second overall, and now Barry Byrne of the Defence Forces getting third overall and winning the Services Challenge, things are stacking up quite neatly for the home team in this 20th Volvo Round Ireland Race 2018.

Race tracker and leaderboard HERE

Afloat.ie Round Ireland updates in this one handy link HERE

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 overall IRC win with the Ker 43 Baraka GP. And the attractive new Class 40 Corum from France – completely fresh out of the wrappings when she arrived in Ireland a week ago – has ended with a comfortable 2 hours and 17 minutes lead in class over Norway’s Hydra.

Niall Dowling (Royal Irish YC) has repeated the remarkable George David/Rambler 88 double of 2016 by taking both Line Honours and the overall IRC win with the Ker 43 Baraka GP (below) Photos: Afloat.ie

A small cluster of boats made the finish as mid-day drew near, but with the north-going flood tide at full flow, there’s a gap with the 58ft American sloop Patriot next in line to get there, and she is currently off Dublin Bay while managing 7.9 knots in the moderate northwest to north wind.

Chris Power Smith's J122 Aurelia finished second overall Photo: Afloat.ie

Other contests now include the Services win, and who will be the first Mini 6.5 to sail round Ireland non-stop. The British Soldier entry Team Fujitsu, a high-rated X41 skippered by Donal Ryan of Howth, may have already finished in close company with second overall in IRC Aurelia (Chris and Pat Anne Power Smith). But there’s still a chance that Wicklow’s own Commandant Barry Byrne with the J/109 Joker II could pull it off for the Irish Defence Forces, as he has time in hand and is currently off Lambay making 7.0 knots despite the adverse tide.

Wicklow’s own Commandant Barry Byrne with the J/109 Joker II could pull it off for the Irish Defence Forces Photo: Afloat.ie

However, it’s a moot point as to just how long this helpful fair wind will last, and the two Mini 6.5s, currently off the County Down coast and running smoothly, are doing so in the expectation of having some windward work before they finally get to Wicklow.

Port of Galway (Yannick Lemonnier and Cathal Clarke) has a good lead over the Mayo entry Blackshell Farm (Louis Mulloy), but the Galway sailors are quick to point out that it’s a miracle the Mayo boat is in any sort of serious contention at all, as she broke her spinnaker pole on the first night out. They had to do a complete on-board carbon and epoxy repair job, and whatever a Mini 6.5 may be, it is not the ideal spar repair workshop. But they managed nevertheless.

Mini 650 Port of Galway (Yannick Lemonnier and Cathal Clarke) Photo: Afloat.ie

Whoever finishes first of this dynamic duo if little ’uns will automatically become the smallest boat ever to have sailed round Ireland non-stop, so they’ve added an extra interest to their private contest.

Nicolas Pasternak’s JPK 10.10 Jaasap Photo: Afloat.ie

Another specialist contest is the two-handed division, which has gallantly persisted in its ability to surprise everyone by providing the overall leader from time to time. Nine boats started, and the two outstanding ones have been very different craft - Paul Kavanagh’s Swan 44 CoOperation Ireland, and Nicolas Pasternak’s JPK 10.10 Jaasap. At the moment, it is Jaasap which is carrying the two-handed banner to the best effect, so much so that she could well be third overall at the finish, but CoOperation Ireland is right in on the hunt, and is currently rated as being sixth overall.

Ronan O Siochru’s organisation has the 37ft Desert Star (which he skippers himself) (above) in first, while sister-ship Sherkin 2 (Daniel Smith) below is second Photos: Afloat.ie

Finally, an area of special interest is the Sailing Schools, with six boats racing. The spreading in through the night of the new wind from the northwest did Irish Offshore Sailing of Dun Laoghaire no end of good, and Ronan O Siochru’s organisation has the 37ft Desert Star (which he skippers himself) in first, while sister-ship Sherkin 2 (Daniel Smith) is second. If they can keep this up, it will look very good indeed in the End-of-Term reports…….

Race Tracker and Leaderboard here

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 M Nixon. The best of the breeze is in the North Channel, but with the tides ebbing north there until late morning, progress is unspectacular but it is at least progress, in contrast to the total frustration of the earlier part of last night.

Meanwhile, up front and among those already finished, we gladly make a thorough re-appraisal of our assessment of Niall Dowling’s all-conquering Ker 43 Baraka GP – line honours and likely overall IRC winner - as having been a thoroughly professional job. Not so.

Yet when you remember that on Tuesday night the Volvo 60 Libertalia Team Jolokia had got to within a dozen miles of Baraka in the northern part of the North Channel, yet by Wednesday lunchtime Baraka was in Wicklow and well finished with Line Honours with 90 miles now between her and Jolokia, it’s understandable that the whole performance shone through as being professional levels of the highest standards.

Baraka off the Kish during her remarkable progress yesterday morning down in a light breze the Irish Sea. The way her sails are set up to deal wkth a hyper-close reach merits the closest study. Photo John Sheehy RStGYC

And certainly navigator/tactician Ian Moore is one of the world’s very best professionals. But aboard Baraka GP, his shipmates included three total amateurs including skipper Niall Dowling, and while the boat was an impressive performer, her mixed crew had to deal with at least as many sail and gear problems as anyone else.

They’d also to cope with the fact that at one stage off the North Coast of Mayo, they were shown as being in a seemingly irredeemable 24th overall. And while she may indeed have been set up for maximum performance in hyper-close reaching conditions as she came in past the Kish yesterday morning, the crew photos show a somewhat motley bunch without that unmistakable professional sheen, as do their line honours celebrations in Wicklow.

Baraka’s crew celebrations in Wicklow were in best amateur style

Baraka GP back at the Royal Irish YC in Dun Laoghaire yesterday evening - during the Round Ireland Race, she’d had to cope with gear and sail problems like everyone else. Photo: Afloat.ie

So we very happily re-instate Baraka GP with honour as being in the “Real” Round Ireland Race as much as everyone else, and now we watch with interest to see if her huge theoretical IRC Handicap lead is going to withstand the fact that Nicolas Pasternak’s two-handed JPK 10.10 Jaasap is coming down the Irish Sea in purposeful style, and for a while was back in second place overall on the IRC progress sheets.

However, with the stronger area of wind moving away to the east in the Irish Sea, Jaasap is shown at only 5.4 knots and still has 64 miles to sail, whereas Chris Power Smith’s Aurelia is back into provisional second at 5.9 knots with 12 miles to the finish, so she should be well finished by lunchtime in company with the British army entrant, the X41 team Fujitsu skippered by Donal Ryan of Howth. But this still leaves Baraka GP with a very comfortable margin for the overall win.

Yet these IRC provisional timings are sometimes about as useful as opinion polls in assessing the outcome of a General Election. In other words, the only timings that will really matter are the final and official results.

Towards the back end of the fleet the two little Mini 6.5s Port of Galway (Yannick Lemonnier) and the Mayo boat Blackshell Farm (Louis Mulloy) were having a close race of it last night as the new wind brought them bustling in round Malin Head.

But a cheerful phone call last night from Cathal Clarke who’s with Yannick aboard Port of Galway appears to have de-activated their Yellowbrick Tracker, so all we know for now is that Blackshell has got past Fair Head against the last of the adverse tide, and as of 11am her speed shot up to 10 knots as the new fair tide started to do its stuff. The between the two of them is crucial, as the first to finish will be the smallest boat ever to have sailed round Ireland non-stop.

Yannick Lemonnier in his leading Mini 650 is on target to be the first to finish in the smallest boat ever to have sailed round Ireland non-stop Photo: Afloat.ie

And just as this update is being posted, a call from Cathal Clarke tells us that Port of Galway is 13 miles ahead of Blackshell, but they have work to do as she is only making good 7.6 knots.

Race Tracker and leaderboard here

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 breeze in the same area, yet the foul tide is there with equal vigour, and Round Ireland Yacht Race boats have been ground to a halt.

Paul O’Higgins’ Rockabill VI has kedged just east of Rathlin’s northeast point. Slightly to the south, off Fair Head, the biggest boat in the fleet, the Swan 65 Desperado of Richard Loftus, may be shown as making 3.2 knots, but it’s in a northerly direction and she has no steerage way, so not for the first time, ‘Un-Fair Head’ is in the Round Ireland lexicon.

Swan 65 Desperado Photo: Afloat.ie

It will be 11pm by the time there’s any easing of the adverse stream. Meanwhile, down off the southeast corner of Belfast Lough, Chris Power Smith’s J/199 Aurelia may have to work to windward, but she’s registering 4.6 knots in more or less the right direction, and is well placed in the role of leader of the ‘real’ Round Ireland Race.

The J122 Aurelia - in the role of leader of the ‘real’ Round Ireland Race Photo: Afloat.ie

However, with boats well slowed off the north coast, the British Services crew racing the X41 Team Fujitsu beside Aurelia have moved up the rankings despite their high rating, and they’re now next in line, but still nearly two hours behind Aurelia on corrected time.

The X41 Team Fujitsu British Soldier are next in line behind Aurelia, but two hours behind on Corrected Time. Photo: Afloat.ie

Up ahead, there are two Class 40s close in off the Co Down coast, with Corum showing clear in front again after being challenged for some time by Hydra. Between them is the very high-rated Ker 40 Hooligan, which may improve her overall standing now that she has got through the worst of the tides by putting the South Rock astern, but her stratospheric handicap number still means she’s way back at 29th overall.

Ker 40 Hooligan Photo: Afloat.ie

Much further south, and out on her own approaching Lambay, is the Volvo 690 Libertalia Team Jolokia from France, enjoying the brisk sou’easter which is localised in the Greater Dublin region, but she still is at a lowly 38th overall despite being well on track to take second in line honours.

So there’s no doubt that, as Peter Ryan of ISORA sagaciously predicted before the start, this is turning out to be the oddest Round Ireland race that has yet been staged in the 38 years history of the event.

Yannick Lemonnier in the Mini 650 Port of Galway Photo: Afloat.ie

By tomorrow, the northern half of the country should be experiencing the northwest to north winds which are already bringing the two Mini 6.5s Port of Galway (Yannick Lemonnier) and Blackshell Farm (Louis Mulloy) scampering up towards Malin Head under spinnaker. But it’s a moot point how far the new winds will get before they peter out.

We will see in the morning, but for now here’s the Race Tracker and Leaderboard for the current crazy state of play.

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 attention to focus on what we might call the Real Round Ireland Race writes W M Nixon.

While the Baraka show was at full throttle, we could only marvel at the sheer competence with which this Performance Yacht Charter package was sent out on the Round Ireland challenge, and the particular skill shown by navigator/tactician Ian ‘Soapy’ Moore.

The Baraka GP crew celebrate in Wicklow

As they say in showbiz and in celebrity culinary circles, it was simply the best. But for most of the entries who are still out there plugging away, while this may indeed be simply the best, it’s just not the real world.

"The real world is getting your boat and amateur crew together, and setting out with your heart in your mouth"

The real world is getting your boat and amateur crew together, and setting out with your heart in your mouth to face up to whatever the 704-mile course has to offer.

It’s not the day job, nor is it the night job. It’s what you do as a personal private sport in precious holiday time carved from a busy working life. But it’s what you want to do.

So for those outside observers who are feeling maybe a little sorry for the amateur sailors in their little boats still slogging along mostly to windward off the sometimes decidedly harsh coasts of Donegal and Antrim, and sailing across a sea which is seldom as smooth as the sea across which Baraka sliced so suavely at the Kish LH this morning, the message is: Forget about it. Or as they’d say in New York: fuggedaboudid.

They don’t need your sympathy. The fact is, these guys in their little boats aren’t feeling sorry for themselves at all. On the contrary, you can be quite sure they’re in some intense private battle with a boat nearby, or some particular rival boat they know to be already round the next headland. They are utterly absorbed in what they’re doing. And they’ll likely be back on the next Round Ireland Race in two years’ time.

So in the Real Round Ireland Race, the leader is Chris Power Smith’s J/122 Aurelia, currently turning to windward off Garron Point on the Antrim coast, with the favourable flood tide reaching its last gasp under her to keep her speed at 7.2 knots.

Paul Kavanagh's CoOperation Ireland

Second in the real Round Ireland race is Paul Kavanagh’s lovely vintage Swan 44 CoOperation Ireland, being raced two-handed. She’s due north of Inishtrahull and showing only 4.3 knots, but is in some much higher-rated company, and all is well with the world.

The X41 Team Fujitsu British Soldier Photo: Afloat.ie

Third in our Real Round Ireland race is Team Fujitsu, an X41 which is owned by Donal Ryan but is racing as a Services competitor. This means she’s head-to-head with Commandant Barry Byrne, Mick Liddy et al on board the J/109 Joker II. But the much higher-rated Team Fujitsu is actually close beside Aurelia well into the North Channel, while Joker II – lying fourth overall in the Real Round Ireland and just seven minutes on corrected time behind Team Fujitsu - is laying in on port tack towards the north coast, but is still well offshore at Portrush.

The Defence Forces entry Joker II Photo: Afloat.ie

Fifth in the RRI is former overall leader Jaasap (Nicolas Pasternak from France) which is another of these hyper-keen two-handed contenders. Jaasap is close east of Inishtrahull and is making only 3.3 knots, but they have a handy little race going on with sailing school entries in their area, notably the First 40 Olympia’s Tigress which is being jointly skippered by Susan Glenny and Irish Sailor of the Year Conor Fogerty.

Susan Glenny's Olympia Tigress Photo: Afloat.ie

With this setup, we find ourselves in the area of the Utterly Real Round Ireland Race. We are about as far as we can get from the highly-paid rock stars who took Baraka GP to such a famous victory. For a significant proportion of the crew on sailing school entries are relatively newcomers to sailing who are prepared to pay good money for the exquisite tortures and profound satisfaction which a Round Ireland Race can serve up.

Rob Craigie's Sun Fast 3600 Bellino lies eighth off the North coast Photo: Afloat.ie

So all this is still going on, and will continue for two or three days yet. We'll have another update on the 'Real' Round Ireland race around 9.0pm tonight.

Meanwhile, here’s the Tracker Chart and Leaderboard:

Race tracker and leaderboard HERE

Afloat.ie Round Ireland updates in this one handy link HERE