The 50th anniversary West of Ireland Offshore Racing Association (WIORA) Championships concluded at Tralee Bay Sailing Club, Fenit, with five races completed after the opening day was lost to gale-force winds.
In addition to the class titles, Shane McGibney's Corby 25 Smile was crowned Overall IRC Champion, while Ed Enright's First 375 Liberty took the Overall ECHO Championship.
More than 40 boats contested the four-day regatta across IRC, ECHO, Soling and Whitesail divisions.
According to provisional results, in IRC Class One, Gary Fort's J/92S Jaguar secured the championship on seven points, finishing one point ahead of Pat Irwin's X-332 Tux on eight. K. Cunnane's Swan 46 Mk Mynx completed the podium on 13 points, losing second place on countback after finishing level with Elysium.
Jaguar also finished runner-up in ECHO Class One, but the title there went to Pat Irwin's X-332 Tux by a single point. Tux finished on 11 points, one clear of Jaguar on 12, while Mynx again claimed third on 14.
Shane McGibney's Corby 25 Smile produced one of the regatta's most dominant performances in IRC Class Two, winning with five points. Smile finished one point ahead of John Collins' modified GK34 Ibaraki, while David Buckley and Brian O'Keefe's X-302 Mk2 Blues Xtra took third, six points further back on 12.
WIORA 2026 (provisional results)
| Championship | Winner | Runner-up | Third |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall IRC | Smile | — | — |
| Overall ECHO | Liberty | — | — |
| IRC Class 1 | Jaguar | Tux | Mynx |
| ECHO Class 1 | Tux | Jaguar | Mynx |
| IRC Class 2 | Smile | Ibaraki | Blues Xtra |
| ECHO Class 2 | Blues Xtra | Ibaraki | Insider |
| IRC Class 3 | Stouche | Jibe | Chronos |
| ECHO Class 3 | Vera May | Stouche | Chronos |
| ECHO Class 4 | Liberty | Shelduck | Roamer of Galway |
| Soling Open | Vera May | Blizard | Romance |
David Buckley and Brian O'Keefe's X-302 Mk2 Blues Xtra was declared ECHO Class Two champion after the overall IRC winner, Shane McGibney's Corby 25 Smile, was excluded from the ECHO class awards. Ibaraki finished second and Dave West's Sigma 33 Insider completed the podium.
The closest racing came in IRC Class Three, where D. McCormack's J/24 Stouche claimed the title with six points. Fergus Kelliher's J/24 Jibe and David Cullen's Quarter Tonner Chronos shared second place on nine points, just three points behind the winner.
In the larger ECHO Class Three fleet, G. Richardson's Soling Vera May prevailed on 14 points. Stouche edged Chronos for second after both finished on 16 points, taking the runner-up spot on countback.
Vera May also dominated the Irish Soling Open Championship, finishing on four points. Robert Skinner's Blizard and Cormac Murphy's Romance tied on 10 points, with Blizard taking second on countback.
The ECHO Class Four title went to Ed Enright's First 375 Liberty, whose score of 11 points gave a three-point winning margin over Kevin Reidy's Dufour 34 Shelduck and Frankie Leonard's Contessa 32 Roamer of Galway, who finished tied on 14 points. Shelduck claimed second on countback.
Despite the weather interruption on the opening day, organisers completed a full five-race championship to bring the landmark 50th WIORA regatta to a successful conclusion in Fenit, celebrating both the association's golden jubilee and Tralee Bay Sailing Club's 70th anniversary as host.
WIORA adds
Golden Jubilee — WIORA Principal Race Officer John Leech (left), David Brabazon, Geraldine Lady Dunraven, overall ECHO winner Ed Enright of Liberty, WIORA Commodore Liam Lynch and Tralee Bay Sailing Club Commodore Cormac Murphy at the presentation of the new Valkyrie III Trophy, donated by ICRA to mark WIORA's 50th anniversary.
Friday delivered classic west coast conditions after Thursday's light and frustrating racing. A fresh southerly breeze and sunshine allowed Principal Race Officer John Leech to complete three races, beginning with two windward-leeward contests before finishing with a longer coastal race from Fenit to Muchlaghmore Rock off Banna Beach and back.
The breeze steadily increased through the afternoon, with gusts exceeding 20 knots on the spinnaker run and rising into the high twenties by the time the fleet rounded Samphire Lighthouse. A handful of broaches provided plenty of excitement, but the fleet escaped without significant damage. Ibaraki and Tux were among the day's race winners in the coastal contest.
Saturday's planned racing was abandoned after Leech assessed the sea state and concluded conditions were too rough for safe competition. The decision was greeted with approval from many crews, who instead packed up before gathering in the clubhouse to watch Ireland edge Australia in the rugby.
The championship prizegiving rounded off the regatta. Family members of several trophy namesakes made the presentations, including Mary O'Keefe, who presented the Tommy O'Keefe Trophy to Ibaraki, and Donal Browne, who presented the Jacquie Browne Memorial Trophy for best female helm to Mary O'Sullivan of Samphire.
A new half-model of Valkyrie III, presented to WIORA by ICRA to mark the association's 50th anniversary, was awarded by Geraldine Lady Dunraven to Ed Enright's Liberty, overall ECHO winner in Class Four.
Additional awards included the X-Yachts Cup for Pat Irwin's Tux, the Beneteau Trophy for Liam and Elizabeth Lynch's Elysium, while Ben Schumacher's Insider collected both the Sigma Cup and the Under-25 award after an impressive week that included a race victory on Friday.
The championships concluded with a prizegiving party featuring local band Glass House. Organisers also thanked Principal Race Officer John Leech, volunteers, competitors, sponsors and Nine Thumbs Woodworking, whose handcrafted daily prizes proved a popular feature throughout the regatta.
Editor's note: This article has been updated to reflect the official WIORA prize allocations. Overall IRC winners were excluded from the corresponding ECHO class awards, resulting in revised ECHO class placings and overall championship winners.
