Billed as the last training event before June 9th's Dun Laoghaire to Dingle Race, a fleet of 11 boats turned out on Saturday morning for a light wind training run but after 12 hours of racing over a 50-mile course, only four finishers were recorded on ISORA's YB race track app (see full list below).
In an update, to the tracker results, it appears only the three big boats Aurelia, Rockabill VI and Prima Forte finished the course with Sunfast 3600 Searcher counted as a finisher but was in fact a retiree.
Sunfast 3600s Hot Cookie and Searcher, both retired around 11 pm when the tide turned against them after rounding Kish lighthouse on the edge of Dublin Bay.
The rest of the fleet bar the front runners had all retired prior to that.
The ambitious course set in 5 mph easterly winds out of the bay attracted some strong competition including ISORA Champion Rockabill VI (Paul O'Higgins) of the Royal Irish Yacht Club who will defend his 2019 D2D crown in ten day's time.
Though a smaller fleet than anticipated mustered at the outfall buoy at 10 am, it did include no less than three Sunfast 3600s with some new arrivals, including black-hulled 'Searcher' making her Dublin Bay debut.
Dufour 45se Blaoga
Also race training for the first time under the ISORA burgee was Howth Yacht Club Dufour 45se Blaoga.
Chris Power Smith's J/122 Aurelia, O'Higgins' Rockabill VI, Patrick Burke's Prima Forte and newcomer Searcher are all recorded as finishers.
(above and below) The light air start off the Outfall Buoy at the back of Dun Laoghaire's West Pier
Justtina, a Grand Soleil 34, negotiates a strong flood tide at the start of the ISORA training race at the back fo the East Pier at Dun Laoghaire
John O'Gorman's Sunfast 3600, Hot Cookie from the National Yacht Club
ISORA Race training on the Beneteau 40.7 Tsunami
Patrick Burke's Prima Forte - the Best new DBSC yacht of 2020 - is racing to Dingle on Jun 9th
On deck on the Sunfast 3600 Searcher at 10.30pm, some 12.5 hours after the start....
Provisional results from the YB app
Update: May 30 2021. 10.50 am : This article was updated to reflect the retiral of the Sunfast 3600, Searcher
