A scoring update to the ISORA Viking Marine Irish Coastal Series has tightened the battle at the top of the 2026 standings, with the best three races now counting towards the overall result.
Royal St George Yacht Club's J/122 Aurelia, sailed by Chris and Patanne Power Smith, leads the 23-boat IRC fleet on 197.6 points, but National Yacht Club's JPK 10.30 ReQuest, sailed by Nathan, Justin and Darren Burke, is just six points behind on 191.6.
Howth Yacht Club's J/109 Indian, sailed by Simon Knowles, is also firmly in contention in third place on 182.2 points.
Best Three Races to Count
ISORA confirmed on Thursday morning (August 20th) that scoring for the Irish Coastal Series had been updated so that competitors' best three races count, introducing a discard after the four races sailed to date.
The change leaves Aurelia counting scores of 68.8, 63.2 and 65.6 points, having discarded a DNC.
ReQuest has benefited from dropping its lowest score of 37.6 and now counts 56.0, 66.3 and 69.3 points.
Indian, meanwhile, discards a 5.6 DTP score and counts a consistent 60.3, 60.0 and 61.9.
Six Points Separate Leaders
The revised standings leave just 15.4 points covering the top three, with the Power Smiths' Aurelia holding a six-point advantage over ReQuest.
Behind the leading trio, Tom Murphy's Sun Fast 3300 Paradox lies fourth on 138.6 points, with the Shanahan family's National Yacht Club J/109 Ruth fifth on 127.0.
John Malone and Emmet Sheridan's Lough Ree YC/RIYC JPK 10.30 Loinnir is sixth on 124.7.
Higher-Scoring Night Race Ahead
The revised scoring adds extra significance to the remaining higher-scoring night race, with ISORA noting that there is "all to play for" as the Irish Coastal Series approaches its conclusion.
With Aurelia, ReQuest and Indian separated by relatively small margins under the best-three scoring system, the weighted night race has the potential to alter the order at the top of the standings.
The results remain provisional as of 8.52am on Thursday, August 20th.
Still in the Hunt – Simon Knowles' Howth Yacht Club J/109 Indian lies third in the ISORA Viking Marine Irish Coastal Series, just 15.4 points off the lead ahead of Friday night's higher-scoring finale. Photo: Afloat
Friday Night Finale
The revised scoring adds extra significance to the fifth and final race of the Viking Marine Irish Coastal Series this Friday evening (August 21st), when the fleet starts from Dún Laoghaire at 19:00Friday evening (August 21st), when the fleet starts from Dún Laoghaire at 19:00.
The higher-scoring night race will decide the Vincent Farrell Trophy and, with Aurelia, ReQuest and Indian separated by just 15.4 points under the revised best-three scoring system, it also has the potential to reshuffle the overall series podium.
The 19:00 start was introduced to avoid a clash with the Royal Irish Yacht Club charity race earlier on Friday evening, with the fleet returning to the National Yacht Club for an après-race celebration.
