ISORA's first Dublin Bay Coastal race of the season is in doubt due to this Saturday's forecasted strong southerly winds.

A new JPK design is set to challenge reigning ISORA champion Rockabill VI in the Viking Marine-sponsored race to and from Dun Laoghaire Harbour.

ISORA boss Peter Ryan issued the Sailing Instructions (downloadable below) for the three- to four-hour race on Wednesday evening but warned, "If there is no significant improvement in the weather forecast by Friday lunchtime, I will be proposing that the race is postponed to a later date."

Coquine, a brand new JPK 1030 design from the JPK yard in France – a not-so-little sister – to the O'Higgins' vessel, is slated to join the ISORA fray from Belfast Lough under skipper Alan Hannon.

Also among the confirmed boats for Saturday are two J109s, Ruth from Dun Laoghaire and Indian from Howth.

Ryan explained he had been monitoring the weather forecast all week and believed it was "looking very grim" for Saturday's 11 am start.

As Afloat reported earlier, Met Eireann has issued a Small Craft Warning for all coasts of Ireland as a breezy weekend is forecast.

"It’s not the start to the season that we wanted," he told Afloat.

Paul O'Higgins' championship-winning JPK10.80 Rockabill VI from the Royal Irish Yacht Club will be challenged by a smaller JPK 10.30 when the 2024 ISORA Viking Marine Coastal Series gets underway next Saturday morning at Dun Laoghaire Harbour.

Coquine, a brand new JPK 1030 design from the JPK yard in France – a not-so-little sister – to the O'Higgins' vessel, will join the ISORA fray from Belfast Lough under skipper Alan Hannon.

Also among the confirmed boats are the two J109s, Ruth from Dun Laoghaire and Indian from Howth.

The first Irish coastal has an 11.00 start and finish off Dun Laoghaire on Dublin Bay.

The course will be selected to provide a three to four-hour race.

"I’m hoping we can attract a good fleet, as four of the five races are part of the Vincent Farrell Trophy Series take place over the next four weekends," ISORA boss Peter Ryan told Afloat.

The last two races are on Sunday to avoid a clash with DBSC. "There are no excuses for boats taking part", Ryan said.

But some notable absences have already been signalled, with the First 50 Checkmate XX still on the hard. Also, from Howth, the Grand Soleil 44 Samatom is being sold, and skipper Robert Rendell is currently sailing across the Pacific, so there will be no ISORA racing for the Samatom crew this season. And from Dun Laoghaire, the J122 E Valentina is on the hard in Malahide.

However, all boats are hoping to make it to the second race.

Meanwhile, in Pwhelli, the Welsh ISORA fleet completed their first coastal race of the season on Saturday (March 30), with Andrew and Sam Hall's J125 Jackknife the overall IRC winner. See results below.

Irish Sea Offshore Racing Association (ISORA)  Chairman Peter Ryan is urging crews to enter for next month's first race of the Viking Marine Irish Coastal Series 2024 so class rating splits can be evenly prepared.

"Now that rugby is over, it's time to start thinking about sailing", Ryan told Afloat after Ireland secured back-to-back Six Nations titles after a 17-13 victory over Scotland at the Aviva Stadium.

The Irish coastal series starts on the 6th of April from Dun Laoghaire Harbour, with four races on the following weekends.

New boats coming to the ISORA line this season are the J122 El Gran Senor that is the new Mojito from Pwllheli in North Wales

The five-race 'Irish Early Coastal Series' features races of three to five-hour duration.

ISORA Chairman Peter Ryan

Ryan reminds competitors that 'Courses for races will be decided by time, not distance, to ensure we can have a get-together after each race'.

The final race in the coastal series is the night race in September.

ISORA signed off on a 'final' race schedule for 2024 in February. The version nine calendar released in February is "structured to avoid as many clashes as possible while facilitating boats doing the other events", according to Ryan.

Ryan previously referred to decreasing fleet numbers as 'the elephant in the room' when raising his concerns in the 2023 season. He asked fleet members for possible solutions to the drop in numbers as Afloat reported here.

The potent J122E cruiser-racer Scottish 'El Gran Senor' from the Clyde Cruising Club will be renamed under new ownership when she embarks on her 2024 summer season, which includes next month's ISORA 2024 Offshore Series on the Irish Sea, Cork Week, the J Cup, IRC Europeans, ICRA Nationals, and the Pwllheli Challenge at the end of September.

Jonathan Anderson's navy blue-hulled 40-footer is now owned by former ISORA champions Peter Dunlop and Vicky Cox from Pwllheli. They are moving up from their all-conquering J109, Mojito.

The move was prompted by the trend towards an increasingly bigger, faster fleet that makes it more and more difficult to race in the same conditions in the smaller J109.

Anderson's last Irish waters foray in 'El Gran Senor' was his second overall in the offshore class at Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta 2023 last July, and before that, it was third overall in the Coastal Class at June's Sovereign's Cup off Kinsale in county Cork.

Cox explained it has been a busy start to the 2024 season for the 2022 ISORA Champions in changing boats "All focus has been on selling the J109, getting the J122e up to the spec we are used to on Mojito and of course transferring branding. We couldn’t really race out of Pwllheli with the Saltire emblazoned on the hull could we!"

Cox revealed their new boat will be renamed Mojito in keeping with campaign tradition. 

"It has been known for people to wave and hail ‘Mojito’ when they bump into us in town if they only know us through sailing, so we couldn’t really leave that name behind. In fact, the name has moved with us from the start. From a Bavaria 39 Cruiser when we first met, briefly through an Elan 350 to the J109", she explained. 

Cox concedes that while she didn’t "personally see the need to change our old friend, the 109, as we know how she works and know what she likes to perform, racing offshore against an increasingly bigger, faster fleet makes it more and more difficult to race in the same conditions". 

"I can’t deny that we have benefited many times when winds have died and we’ve found ourselves up level with them on the water and had some fine results in the process" she pointed out.

"Conversely, there have also been times when we’ve been left floating in the bay for the night whilst the crews of bigger boats were all ensconced in the bar enjoying full refreshments before the wind shut off", she acknowledged to Afloat.

"I must admit getting back to the space available on a 40-foot boat is very welcome, and the guys from Scotland have definitely shown us that the J122e is capable of a trophy or two," Cox said.

It will be a busy season for the Mojito crew with the ISORA races starting in April, the IRC Welsh Championships to defend in Pwllheli (17th to 19th May), Cork Week in Cork Harbour,  the J Cup, IRC Europeans and the ICRA nationals all from the Royal Irish on Dublin Bay before returning for the Pwllheli Challenge at the end of September.

"There’s no doubt that we’ll be starting on a learning curve this season, but we’re looking forward to having plenty of fun in the process", Cox admits.

Irish Sea Offshore Racing Association (ISORA) has signed off on a 'final' race schedule for 2024 

As regular Afloat readers know, the association was quick off the blocks at its agm when it published a draft schedule for its 2024 fixtures last November but has since issued several amendments.

The version nine calendar released in February is "structured to avoid as many clashes as possible while facilitating boats doing the other events", according to ISORA's chair, Peter Ryan.

An early season coastal series will see the Irish fleet's first race on April 6th, a month earlier than previously advertised. The race is part of a five-race 'Irish Early Coastal Series', featuring races of three to five-hour duration.

The first cross-channel race date remains the same on May 11th with a 75-mile Dun Laoghaire - Pwllheli fixture.

A highlight of the seven-race offshore season will be the 12th July Kingstown – Queenstown (Dun Laoghaire to Cork) race that carries a weighting of 1.3

Online entry will open shortly, Ryan told Afloat.

The death of an inspirational figure in sailing, ISORA's Richard Tudor of Pwllheli, has been remembered this week by his North Wales club in a special website tribute to the sailor who was a top sailor across a wide spectrum of interests in boats.

As Afloat reported previously, Richard was a former Commodore and dedicated committee member of Clwb Hwylio Pwllheli Sailing Club for many years, and among many other successful experiences, he was a round-the-world yachtsman.

A dedicated Irish Sea Offshore Racing Association participant, in 2021 he received the CHPSC Lifetime Achievement Award.

Read the full tribute to the ISORA stalwart here

A public service will be held at Capel y Drindod, Pwllheli, on Friday, the 12th of January, at 1 o'clock, and a burial will follow in the Cemetery in Llanbedrog.

Afterwards, a funeral tea will be held at Plas Heli - the home of Clwb Hwylio Pwllheli Sailing Club, and all are welcome.

While sailing in Ireland has its conspicuously attention-getting aspects, the real backbone of the sport continues to be the active club sailor who can quietly keep a usefully large crew panel together in order to have the right mix of talents when taking on any special challenge.

Paul O’Higgins of the RIYC in Dun Laoghaire with the JPK 10.80 Rockabill VI is an excellent example of these quiet enthusiasts, these people who truly enjoy their sport, and his healthy approach was underlined during 2023 when – among other successes – Rockabill VI won the Irish Sea Offshore Racing Association Championship 2023 in a cliffhanger conclusion with success in the final race.

His many sailing friends on both sides of the Irish Sea have been saddened to learn of the death of Richard Tudor of Pwllheli, an inspirational figure in sailing and across a wide spectrum of interests in boats.

He was a former Commodore and dedicated committee member of Clwb Hwylio Pwllheli Sailing Club for many years, and among many other successful experiences, he was a round-the-world yachtsman.

A dedicated Irish Sea Offshore Racing Association participant, in 2021 he received the CHPSC Lifetime Achievement Award.

Our condolences are with his family, his many shipmates and his wider circle of friends.

ISORA applauded its 2023 overall champion Paul O'Higgins and his Royal Irish Rockabill VI crew at the association's annual sell-out black-tie dinner at the National Yacht Club on Saturday, November 11th.

The winning JPK 10.80 crew and many other prizewinners were saluted at the traditional Dun Laoghaire Harbour venue, typically one of the biggest gala prizegiving nights of the waterfront year.

In a big weekend for sailing prizegivings at Ireland's biggest boating centre, DBSC presented its awards on Friday night. 

Before the celebrations, the 2024 ISORA draft calendar was unveiled at the association's agm, as Afloat reports here. 

O'Higgins lifted the overall Wolf's Head Trophy again on the evening, an award which he last held in 2020 (not awarded in 2021 due to COVID) after losing out to the North Wales J109 Mojito last season.

O'Higgins also won the Vincent Farrell Trophy for his coastal series victory.

ISORA Chairman Peter Ryan, Peter Dunlop (Vice Chairman) Stephen Turor (Hon Sec) and ISORA 2023 Champion Paul O’Higgins, skipper of Rockabill VI from the Royal Irish Yacht Club Photo: GP Foto

Rockabill VI's crew included Philip Connor, Conor O'Higgins, Paul Gough, James Gunn, Ian O'Meara and John Kelly. Front: Finola Flanagan, Paul O'Higgins, Kieran Tarbett, Anna Walshe, Mark Pettitt, Oisin Collins, Rees Kavanagh, Adam Leddy, Harry Beausang, Graham Curran and Bill Nolan.

ISORA Chairman Peter Ryan used the occasion to honour Welsh sailor Richard Tudor – for services rendered to the association and for being part of ISORA for nearly 50 years.

Richard Tudor, Peter Ryan and Anne-Marie Ryan at the ISORA prizegiving, where Tudor was honoured for his long service of the association Photo: GP Foto

The guest enjoyed a reception before dinner and finished the night with a Jack Ryan whiskey toast and a live band to round out the Irish Sea's offshore sailing year.

Check out the prizewinners in the ISORA 2023 photo gallery by GP Foto below

ISORA has published a draft schedule for its 2024 fixtures that starts on May 6th with an early coastal series on both sides of the Irish Sea.

The first cross-channel race is May 11th with a Dun Laoghaire - Pwllheli race. 

A highlight of the seven-race offshore season will be the 12th July Kingstown – Queenstown (Dun Laoghaire to Cork) race that carries a weighting of 1.3

ISORA 2024 Fixtures (Draft)

• 6th, 13th, 20th & 27th May Irish Early Coastal Series – 4 races
• 11th May Dun Laoghaire - Pwllheli 1.2
• 25th May Pwllheli - Dun Laoghaire 1.2
• 8th June Holyhead – Rockabill – Kish - Dun Laoghaire 1.2
  
• 22nd June Round Ireland Race
• 12th July Kingstown – Queenstown (Dun Laoghaire to Cork) 1.3
  
• 15th-19th July Cork Week
• 2nd August Holyhead to Arklow TBC 1.3
• 4th August From Arklow – Wicklow Sea Finish TBC 1.1
• 25th August Pwllheli – Kish Light - Dun Laoghaire - James Eadie 1.3
• 20th September Irish Coastal Night Race