The Irish Sea Offshore Racing Association (ISORA) will hold its 2026 Annual General Meeting at the National Yacht Club in Dún Laoghaire on Saturday, 14 November at 3pm, with the 2027 race programme and race-management arrangements among the principal items for discussion.
The AGM follows an eventful season in which ISORA embarked on its most expansive programme to date, with 19 scheduled events embracing offshore, cross-channel and coastal racing. The meeting will approve the previous AGM minutes and the association's accounts and elect officers and committee members, before considering the proposed 2027 race schedule and race-management detail. Questions for the AGM must be submitted to Honorary Secretary Stephen Tudor before noon on Sunday, 1 November.
Pata Negra Tops 2026 Offshore Campaign
The meeting provides an opportunity to review a season in which Andrew and Sam Hall's Pwllheli Sailing Club Lombard 46 Pata Negra secured the Wolf's Head Trophy. The Burke family's National Yacht Club JPK 10.30 ReQuest finished second overall after the scheduled season-ending James Eadie Race from Pwllheli to Dún Laoghaire was cancelled. One of the notable features of the season was the strength of two-handed participation. John Malone and Emmet Sheridan's Lough Ree Yacht Club/Royal Irish Yacht Club JPK 10.30 Loinnir won the Dún Laoghaire–Pwllheli race overall on IRC as well as the two-handed division in August. Five of the eight boats in that cross-channel race were sailing two-handed, underlining the growing short-handed element within the ISORA fleet. There was a separate battle in the Irish coastal programme, where Simon Knowles' Howth Yacht Club J/109 Indian came from third place to win the Viking Marine Irish Coastal Series in the final night race.
Fleet Focus — ISORA yachts converge on the Dublin Bay outfall buoy (that doubles as a pin end of the ISORA startline) during the 2026 season, which combined offshore and coastal racing as the association continued to broaden its programme. Photo: Afloat
Under-25 Initiative Brings New Generation
Youth participation also emerged as a significant development during 2026. The inaugural ISORA Under-25 Sailor Prize attracted 35 registered young sailors across eight boats, with 13 sailors qualifying for the season-long competition. Sam Hall of Pata Negra won the inaugural prize after scoring 78 points from eight races, with Iago Tudor second and Hannah Entwhistle of Finally third. ISORA has already indicated that the Under-25 competition will return in 2027, putting the development of younger offshore crews among the positive initiatives that can be built upon next season.
Race Management Among Season's Talking Points
The AGM's forum will also give skippers and club representatives an opportunity to reflect on some of the wider issues that emerged during the season, including weather-related race management and the balance between organiser and skipper responsibilities.
Those questions came particularly into focus after the cancellation of September's James Eadie Race because of the forecast and concerns surrounding delivery passages to Pwllheli ahead of the scheduled start. A subsequent fleet discussion considered the respective responsibilities of race organisers and individual skippers when decisions have to be made in marginal offshore conditions.
ISORA's Technical Committee later stressed that competitors' comments on the association's WhatsApp group had not influenced the cancellation decision, while also defending the sharing of experience and weather information between competitors as contributing to safety. The committee also reiterated the principle that the ultimate decision to race rests with each skipper, while acknowledging the organising authority's duty of care towards the fleet.
Against that background, agreement on the 2027 race-management detail and proposed schedule gives the November meeting an opportunity to consider what worked during ISORA's expanded 2026 programme and how its offshore and coastal offering should develop next year.
The AGM is open to skippers or their appointed representatives, prospective skippers or representatives, 2026 and proposed 2027 committee members and yacht and sailing club representatives. Voting is restricted to one vote for each participating ISORA boat.
The full ISORA AGM notice is available online. The AGM will be followed by ISORA's annual black-tie dinner and prize-giving at the National Yacht Club from 7pm. Afloat's ISORA topic page contains coverage of the 2026 season and previous Irish Sea offshore campaigns.
