#isora – Having being runner up for the past two seasons the weekend winner of the 2012 ISORA Championship Sgrech is no stranger to the Irish Sea, her skipper Stephen Tudor and crew are a hardened offshore racing team from Pwlhelli in North Wales who have many years experience of Irish offshore campaigns for over 40 years.

Sgrech is a 2003 version J109. She was purchased in November 2010 by Hugh Williams, Philip Yapp and Tudor and replaced the team's J92 in which they achieved a very wet second overall in the 2010 ISORA series.

The team also achieved a second overall in Sgrech in 2011 again being beaten by Skerries Raging Bull.

Skipper Stephen Tudor has not yet been successful in persuading his brother, Richard, to join the crew. Richard skippered two circumnavigations in the Chay Blyth's Global Challenges and has provided considerable assistance in particular with Sgrech's preparation.

The 2012 Sgrech crew this year included the three co-owners and Stephen's son Thomas, one of many third generation ISORA competitors.

ISORA Chairman Peter Ryan who was on board Sgrech for the RORC Lyver Trophy race win in 2011 from Holyhead to Howth has also been on board this year to campaign for the ISORA series and June's Round Ireland Race.

Other crew members include RNLI member and veteran Round Ireland sailor Arfon Jones, Australian Andrew Rosewarne and Sarah Pemberton who sailed extensively with Andrew Hall.

The Tudor association with ISORA goes back to the 1970's when we raced with their father (Huw Tudor) on a Golden Shamrock, Gwobr Aur, at a time before DECCA or other navigation aids.

At that time there were regular ISORA fleets of about 40 which I think peaked at about 70. Stephen's first race was to Dun Laoghaire in 1976 (aged 16).

The Tudor's then campaigned a Contention 33, Panache and after that Greased Lightning. Richard and Huw went on to sail Corwynt Cymru III (Winner Class1 Cork Week 1992).

Corwynt Cymru was later renamed and is now known as Raging Bull, the 2011 champion that was wrecked in gales last May.

#isora – A bad weather forecast that prevented Dun Laoghaire boats making the start line meant overall leader "Sgrech" had the championship won before the start of the last race from Pwlhelli to Dun Laoghaire on Saturday writes ISORA Commodore Peter Ryan.

In particular second overall John Maybury's Joker 2 from the Royal Irish YC could not travel. From the list of 22 entries only 12 starters came to the North Wales line at 08.00.

Despite the bad weather on Thursday night and Friday, the weather forecast for Saturday was for light fickle winds, westerly going south westerly but increasing slightly on Saturday evening.

With this forecast in mind the Racing Committee set the course directly to the finish in Dun Laoghaire with Bardsey not being a mark on the course.

Expecting a "mill pond" on the start line boats left the marina to be greeted by 8-10 knots south westerly. The first leg to Tudwal's Island was a beat with "Sgrech" leading the charge. From Tudwal's to Bardsey, the winds veered westerly giving another beat. With the tidal gate closing at mid-day most of the fleet led by "Sgrech" got through with only three boats remaining when the gate closed. However, there was sufficient wind for them to eventually battle through.

The fleet that made the gate were well bunched as they headed towards Dun Laoghaire on a white sail reach in winds of up to 22 knots. The three J boats, "Sgrech", "Jedi" and "Jetstream" led the bunch. For most of this leg no places changed until the winds became fickle again approaching the Irish coast. Spinnakers appeared with 10 miles to go until Dublin Bay threw in its usual "wobbler" with the winds verring westerly. "Jedi" just inched past "Sgrech" during this stage of the race. The last five miles of the race to the harbour mouth was a beat.

The finish provided by Peter Rowley of the NYC was suitably exciting with "Sgrech" on the transom of "Jedi" as she crossed the line. They were soon followed by "Midnight Mojito" and "Jetstream". "Jedi" won the race overall and Class 1 while the new ISORA Champion "Sgrech" took 2nd place overall and 2nd in Class 1. "Yahtzee", a long ISORA campaigner, had it best race result by taking 3rd Overall, winning Class 2 and also Silver Class.

At the end of what was a very successful and enjoyable season the ISORA Offshore Champion for 2012 is Stephen Tudor and "Sgrech". Peter Hall's " Adelie" managed to hold off the two handed, Liam Coyne and Brian Flahive's "Lula Belle" to take Class 2. Neil Eathough's "Lancastrian" did not need to start in this race to win the Silver Class overall. Richard Mossop's "Yahtzee" won Silver Class 2.

All prizes and trophies will be presented at the ISORA Dinner in the NYC on the 17th November. We are honoured that Derek Mathews, Commodore of the Royal Dee Yacht Club will be there to present their "Wolf's Head" trophy to the new ISORA Champion, Stephen Tudor and "Sgrech".

The ISORA AGM will be held at 15.00 on the 17th November in the NYC – the day of the ISORA dinner.

#isora – There was a great turn out for Saturday's ISORA's day race to the M2 buoy run in conjunction with the Royal Alfred Yacht Club writes ISORA Commodore Peter Ryan.

18 boats came to the start line where RAYC Commodore, Barry McNeaney, sent the fleet off towards the M2 Buoy.

The forecast for the day was south westerlies, 15-20 knots. With the forecast the course direct to M2 and back would ideal giving a dead run out and a beat back. However, the wind backed more southerly turning the run to

a tight reach and the beat into a long leg short leg affair. The tides were also ideal with north going tide at the start for three hours helping progress toward the M2.

After the start the fleet split with half gybing north and the others gybing east. When the fleet converged at the M2 the northern approach appeared to have the advantage with "Lively Lady" rounding first followed by "Tsunami". Immediately behind them were "African Challenge", "Jedi", "Loose Change" and "English Mick"

The wind for the leg back to the finish was very shifty, constantly back and veering between the W, SW and S. The wind strength varied all the time from 8 knots to 22 knots and back!!!! "Lively Lady" held the front position to the finish. The beat across Dublin Bay was tricky as the winds got flukier and lighter.

"Lively Lady" held their position to cross the line first at 17.41 after nearly eight hours racing. However, not far enough ahead to prevent "Tsunami" from taking 1st Overall and 1st in Class 1. "Tsunami" managed to keep far enough ahead of "Jedi" who took 2nd Overall and 2nd in Class 1.

"Lively Lady" took 3rd Overall and 3rd in Class 1. "Lula Belle" took 1st place in Class 2 ahead on "First of September" and "Guillemot".

In the Silver Fleet "Lancastrian" continued its winning run with "Yahtzee" taking 2nd and "African Challenge" taking 3rd.

The next race is the Pwllheli Day Race next Saturday, starting and finishing in Pwllheli. The following Saturday is the last of the 2012 Series, The James Eadie Trophy race from Pwllheli to Dun Laoghaire and will determine the 2012 ISORA Offshore Champion. Can "Sgrech" hold their lead or can "Joker 2" overtake them in the final strait? This race has always been very popular and a large number of starters producing high points for the race could have a significant effect on the results of the Series. A good night is planned in Pwllheli on the Friday before the last race and, weather permitting, an "End of Series" soirée is planned in the NYC after the race.

There is a requirement for crew on some boats for the last race. Anyone interested in crewing should contact me. If there is sufficient demand, the usual "Crew Bus" will be organised for that race to bring crew travelling on the HSS from Holyhead to Pwllheli on the Friday afternoon.

#isora – After the weekend's cross channel offshore race to Pwllheli, the North Wales J109 yacht Sgrech is in a commanding position for ISORA's Wolf's Head Trophy overall but Dublin Bay's Joker 2 (John Maybury) can still steal the silver by good results in the remaining races that are usually well supported writes ISORA's Peter Ryan. RESULTS AVAILABLE FOR DOWNLOAD BELOW AS EXCEL FILE.

The light weather forced the retiral of four boats from the fleet of 12 starters. Some boats retired within sight of the finish line.

The weather forecast for the race was deadly accurate with south westerly 8-10 knots at the start rising to southerly 16-19 knots and falling again in the evening to south easterly 4- 6 knots.

The upwind start crowded many of the boats at the Committee boat end of the line where NYC Vice Commodore, Larry Power, sent the fleet of 12 boats off toward the Muglins. The course for the race was: Start – Muglins (S) – Moulditch Buoy (P) – Finish in Pwllheli. The course allowed boats to pass either side of Bardsey Island and St Tudwal's Island on route to Pwllheli.

Lula Belle got the best clear start from the pin end and raced towards the Muglins while most of the fleet at the other end of the line shadowed each other from the little wind that was there. Lula Belle's early lead soon disappeared as the fleet left Dublin Bay and sailed into a hole in Killiney Bay.

This was not the last hole to be found by the fleet. Killiney Bay caused problems for most of the boats who got trapped with no wind and a strong foul tide. Again, Lula Belle, made a spectacular break from Killiney Bay by sailing deeper into the hole and coming out the other side with a stronger different wind than the remainder of the fleet. Only four boats managed to get away early from Killiney Bay while the rest of the fleet were stranded.

The four boats proceeded towards Moulditch – Lula Belle followed by Sgrech, Joker 2 and Adelie. After Moulditch the leg to Pwllheli was a tight white sail reach. No distance was gained or lost between the four boats as they crossed the Irish Sea. Lula Belle held it lead until the wind dropped as they approach St. Tudwals. Sgrech overtook Lula Belle for the lead heading into Abersoch Bay.

The last section of race to the finish was a light air run. Sgrech managed to pull away from both Lula Belle and Joker 2 to take 1st place Overall and Class 1. Lula Bell held off Joker 2 to take 2nd Overall and 1st in Class 2.

Lancastrian took 1st place in the Silver Fleet to extend his overall lead in this division. For full results see the attached links. The finish in Pwllheli was provided by Gerry Williams, past Commodore of Pwllheli Sailing Club.

The present results puts Sgrech in a commanding position for the Wolf's Trophy overall championship. However, Joker 2 can still steal the silver by good results in the remaining races that are usually well supported.

The next race is the M2 Day Race on the 1st September with a 10.00 start.

The course will be set to ensure that all boats are back in Dun Laoghaire at 19.00 latest.

#isora – With overall ISORA series points very close, Saturday's race from Dun Laoghaire to Pwllheli will be a critical one, being the penultimate cross channel race of the ISORA season. Scroll down to download the overall points file.

Consistent performer Welsh yacht Sgrech skippered by Stephen Tudor continues to lead Dublin bay's Joker 2 (John Maybury). These two J109 designs are followed by “Adelie”.

The actual course for Saturday's cross chanel race will be decided on Friday evening at the National Yacht Club with blustery conditions forecast. Scroll down to download the entry list for Saturday's race.

Meanwhile 21 boats crossed the start line for ISORA's sixth race last Friday for the sleigh ride down to North India buoy off Wicklow with wind and tide behind the fleet.

The 15-20 knot west / north west wind provided a spinnaker start at the Pier mark where Commodore of the Royal Alfred Yacht Club, Barry McNeaney sent the
21 boats off racing toward the Muglins.

On route to North India, the wind veered left to right and from 10 knots to 20 knots. At the North India there was a strong south going tide that swept the fleet past the mark when rounding.

The following two eastward reaching legs around South Codling and East Codling were a practice for the beat to the Muglins and the finish, mostly against the tide.

The clear sky conditions for the race provided a spectacular display of stars and planets to keep crew occupied for the final leg.

The finisher, Peter Rowley was waiting to receive the finishing boats as they crossed the finish line between the Dun Laoghaire harbour lights. “Lively Lady” took line honours. Despite this, the J109’s took the wining and second places with “Joker 2” taking First overall and first in Class 1. “Jedi” took 2nd Overall and Class 1 while “Tsunami” took 3rd  Overall and
Class 1.

“Legally Blonde” won Class 2 while “Adelie” took 2nd place and “First of September” took 3rd place.

#ISORA – J 109s continue to fight it out at the top of the ISORA fleet with John Maybury's J109  Joker II taking first place in the 40 mile East coast fixture.  21 boats crossing the start line off Dun Laoghaire on Friday evening for a night time sleigh ride down to North India buoy with wind and tide behind them.

The 15-20 knot west / north west wind provided a spinnaker start at the Pier mark where Commodore of the Royal Alfred Yacht Club, Barry McNeaney sent the 21 boats off racing toward the Muglins.

On route to North India, the wind veered left to right and from 10 knots to 20 knots. At the North India there was a strong south going tide that swept the fleet past the mark when rounding.

The following two eastward reaching legs around South Codling and East Codling were a practice for the beat to the Muglins and the finish, mostly against the tide.

The clear sky conditions for the race provided a spectacular display of stars and planets to keep crew occupied for the final leg.

The finisher, Peter Rowley was waiting to receive the finishing boats as they crossed the finish line between the Dun Laoghaire harbour lights.

"Lively Lady" took line honours. Despite this, the J109's took the wining and second places with "Joker 2" taking First overall and first in Class 1.

"Jedi" took 2nd Overall and Class 1 while "Tsunami" took 3rd Overall and Class 1.

"Legally Blonde" won Class 2 while "Adelie" took 2nd place and "First of September" took 3rd place.

In the ISORA series "Sgrech" continues to lead with "Joker 2" snapping at their heels. "Adelie" is right behind "Joker 2". There is all to play for with two main cross channel races still to take place.

The next race is the race from Dun Laoghaire to Pwllheli on the 18th August.

#isora – Offshore commodore Peter Ryan will accept entries right up until the pre-race briefing for tonight's popular 40 mile offshore race from Dun Laoghaire.

Making much of the fact that no ISORA offshore race has been cancelled this year (when – in stark contrast – the inshore Dublin Bay season has had a record number of cancellations), Ryan is keen to attract as many new boats as possible to try out some offshore sailing convenient to Dun Laoghaire.

"The safety requirements is only Category 3 for this race so it is a great opportunity for many  'Bay Racers' to broaden their horizons! he told Afloat.

Tonight's suggested course based on the weather forecast this morning is published above. The course is 40 miles long and should give a beat to the finish. The course will take the fleet around the Codling Bank who are advised that that low water is 00.24 tonight but fortunately there are neap tides.

The briefing will be at 18.45 at Dun Laoghaire marina.

#isora – J boats look set to continue their success in ISORA next weekend when the Irish and Welsh offshore fleets come together for a night time coastal race. J boats that have dominated both ISORA and the Round Ireland race this season (see below) are entered for next Friday's race including top rated Sgrech, Joker II and Jedi.

After a break in proceedings since the Round Ireland race at the end of June ISORA has published the sailing instructions and provisional entries for the ISORA/RAYC Night Race for Friday 27th July starting at 8pm. This popular night race along the scenic east coast down to Wicklow and back is 35 miles long.

This ISORA race will be run with the Royal Alfred Yacht Club 2012 Offshore Series race using the same start, course and finish. Boats may enter both series. Boats entered in the ISORA series only shall not be scored in the RAYC series nor are eligible for prizes in that series.

Full sailing instrcutions and a provisional entry list are downloadable below as attachments.

J Boats take top four at Round Ireland Yacht Race

For the thirty-six boats that entered the Round Ireland Yacht Race, the majority of crews found the course as tough as ever. Conditions ranging from 3 knots of wind close to the shore to ripped sails and seasickness on day two, combined with the island's large tidal gates made for some great offshore racing.

J Boats dominated IRC3, with Stephen Tudor's J/109 Sgrech taking the lead. In second was John Maybury's J/109 Joker 2, with Andrew Sarratt's J/109 Jedi in third. Nick Martin's J/105 Diablo-J took fourth place.

Though he's undertaken the Fastnet Race it was Stephen's first Round Ireland Yacht Race, with only two of his eight strong crew having entered before. Commenting on Sgrech's performance Stephen said 'as expected the race was challenging but fantastic. We got off to a cracking start and then kept the boat driven hard and managed to extend our lead. The boat and sails handled and performed superbly in all conditions, keeping speed and cross tacking amongst the bigger boats. The conditions were varied, from light winds at the start to a tough beat under a force 6 on the nose towards the end of the week. It's a great race, I can see us competing to keep our title in 2014.'

The success of the IRC3 J Boats was furthered by their achievement of securing top ten places overall. Jedi owner Andrew commented; 'This was great racing between the 3 J/109s as we were only 5 miles apart and swapping positions – Jedi took the lead from Sgrech on the Northern coast only to lose it again near Belfast – light to no winds – a game of chess. Then within 4 miles to the finish line Jedi finds a windless hole only to watch the hunting Joker 2 take 2nd place. Great close offshore racing that shows how competitive the J/109s are.'

Other J Boat successes included Bruce Douglas' J/133 Spririt of Jacana achieving first place in IRC1 and James Tyrell's J/122 Aquelina taking second in IRC2.

#ISORA – In a change to the earlier results posted Dun Laoghaire's First 36.7 Lula Belle a two hander sailed by Liam Coyne and Brian Flahive won the weekend offshore trophies including the new lynx metmAsts Perpetual Offshore Trophy writes ISORA Commodore Peter Ryan. Revised results and times are avaliable to download at the bottom of this post.

First over the finish line for line honours was "NUI Galway" with "Aquelina" close behind. "English Mick" was third over the line . "Lula Belle" was fourth over the line taking overall, Class 2 and the lynx metmAsts Trophy. "NUI Galway" took secod overall and first in Class 1."Joker 2" took 3rd Overall and 2nd Class 1.

On the Friday evening, in the blistering sunshine in Pwllheli Sailing Club, the lynx metmAsts Pre-Race Reception was well attended. The three new lynx metmAsts trophies were on display – the Perpetual Offshore Trophy, the winners trophy to keep and the trophy for the photographic competition. In attendance and making short speeches was the Commodore of PSC, Phil Ranner and Director of lynx metmAsts, John Rutter. The party continued into the night!!

The forecast for the race was for light to little winds at the start building to moderate NE winds going SE by late Saturday / early Sunday. In view of the forecast the course set by the Sailing Committee was :

Start from PSC Bridge

South Arklow (S)

metmAsts and Turbines on Arklow bank (s)

South India (P)

Finish in Wicklow (in a notherly direction)

Well, the forecast was correct for the 08.00 start. A strong westerly tide pushed fours boats over the start line at the gun. These boats were unable to re-cross the line due to the light winds and strong tide for some time. The remainder of the fleet headed towards St. Tudwal's Islands in the tide and tide generated wind. At Tudwal's, the fleet began to bunch again when whatever winds were around at the start dropped – possible due to the turning of the tide. Two boats went out between the islands, "Aquleina" and "Joker 2". This appeared to pay off.

Punching against the tide towards Bardsey, the fleet again got dispersed, however "Aguelina" and "Joker 2" appeared to hold their advantage. It was not until after 16.00 that the wind started to fill in from a NE direction and built steadly to 18 knots by the time the fleet was approaching South Arklow at approximately 21.00. By the time the first boats had rounded the wind backed to a northerly direction and increase to 20-24 knots.

The leg to South India was a full beat against the now strong south going tide requiring most of the fleet to "rock hop" in the dark along the Arklow coast. At approximately around midnight there was sudden veer in the wind back to NE that sent the beating boats fetching for South India in the increasing winds.

Rounding South India was no "piece of cake" as the N/NE winds had whipped up the seas. The first boat, "NUI Galway", rounded approximately 02.00 and headed for the finish at Wicklow. Conditions in Wicklow were bad with a big swell at the harbour mouth. The main light house was not operating and the outer finish mark was unlit. These with the large swell did not make the run through the finish easy.

First over the finish line for line honours was "NUI Galway" with "Aquelina" close behind. "English Mick" was third over the line . "Lula Belle" was fourth over the line taking overall, Class 2 and the lynx metmAsts Trophy. "NUI Galway" took secod overall and first in Class 1."Joker 2" took 3rd Overall and 2nd Class 1.

We are awaiting the outcome of the lynx metmAsts Photographic Competition. Photographs of the before, during and after the race are acceptable and should be emailed to Koyelia Sirkar this week ( [email protected] )who will select the overall winner. The winner will be announced next weekend.

I would like to thank our sponsors lynx metmAsts for their generous help in providing the Crew Bus, Reception in Pwllheli and the great trophies. I would like to thank PSC for the great hospitality on Friday night and Richard Tudor for providing the start. Wicklow Sailing Club had laid on food and were awaiting our arrival. However the light winds wrecked those arrangements. I would like to thank Sadie Phelan all her help and Wicklow sailing Club for the arrangements – let's hope we get there next year.

Photographer Andy Green from Pwllheli took a great series of photographs at the start of the race. You can view these by clicking here

The next high point in the Offshore Calendar is the Round Ireland. While not in our race schedule, we will be awarding a trophy for the best performance of an ISORA boat to be presented in our Prize-Giving Dinner on the 17th November in the NYC.

The next ISORA race is the Pwllheli Day Race on the 14th July followed by the popular ISORA / RAYC Night Race on the 27th July.

Results are attached for download below.

Additional Race Report from NUI Galway below:

Since the ICRA Nationals, Reflex 38 "NUIGalway" and crew have been kindly hosted by the Royal St. George Yacht Club, Dun Laoghaire in preparation for the Round Ireland. Last Thursday and Friday was a frenzied assault on the job and kit list as we got ready for the ISORA race from Pwelheli (Wales) to Wicklow.

After a bit of a rush, once clear of Dun Laoghaire harbour Friday evening it was a very chilled out affair, with the auto pilot on we motored across a glassy Irish sea. Most of the were crew asleep as we snook into an eerily quiet Pwelheli marina at dawn and tied up. A quick update of the weather forecast and a power nap was had before cracking into boat prep and breakfast in time for an 8am race start...

As the 15 boats filed out of the marina, we took stock opposition; the cool still air onshore was a bad omen as we arrived out to a start line where not a puff was to be seen. The start sequence got under way nonetheless as a 1knot tide pushed boats down towards the line. In a confirmed case of young bull and old bull, we were amongst 6 boats that were over on the start line. Not alone were we over the line but we hadn't a hope of getting back up to it to restart so it was anchor out!! We sat alongside the other misfortunes for 40 minutes biting our nails as we watched the rest of the fleet drift off towards the Bardsey Sound at the South tip of Holyhead. With a whisper of breeze and a waning tide we eventually got away in earnest.

Picking off boats was the name of the game. With the kite up we followed channels of breeze and we did well dodging the first of the tide that was now starting to build against us, to our favour the fleet stayed relatively compressed. By 2pm we were already well through a session of headsail and kite hoists as the wind flicked and spluttered while just breaking out into the Irish Sea. It was clear this wasn't going to be a rapid transit and quips were being made about rationing! Overall we had regained a good position again though most of the fleet were beating us on handicap but at least they were back at the proper side of our stern. Out into the Irish Sea we all spread out, we followed the breeze and let the tide the ebb tide take us south waiting for the new tide take us back north to our rhumb line to the first mark off Arklow.

Later around 10pm as boats reconverged on the mark off Arklow, our position to the north of the rest of the fleet would have been paying dividends as the predicted easterly wind shift was late arriving. The wind had steadily built up to ~17kts while we trucked in on the mark with our asymmetric kite up in rain and low visibility. For the first time in 6 hours we got sight of a boat ahead and to leeward, as we climbed up over them we were disappointed to see it was the J109 "Joker" who we needed to be ahead of on handicap. This was compounded by our struggle to find the South Arklow navigational mark that we were to round, only to see it 400 metres below us, letting Joker slip by us we crawl dead downwind! Other competitors have since reported similar issues with the mark having been recently moved south.

The last 3-4 hours was a misery for the crew on the rail!! The rain now driving, we tacked our way up against the wind and building tide, tiredness creeping and very wet, wishing the new gear we're ordering had arrived for Friday! We peeled to a bigger headsail as the wind died down a bit and shifted east only to build again in time for rounding of a mark 5 miles east of Wicklow. Having passed Joker again on the beat upwind, the last run home downwind with the kite up was exciting stuff for the last 40 minutes. In almost pitch darkness "UP 10!"; "DOWN 5!" was being roared from the nav table below, homing in on an unlit finish line, this interspersed with the odd big bear away to avoid lobster pots. Coming in hot on a leeshore, as soon as we were across the line at 2.47am, we did a "letter-box" drop of the kite and got out of dodge fairly hastily in case we would have a couple of boats down on top of us!

The finish of the race was only part of the saga, as we made our way back to Dun Laoghaire 20 miles north with the engine on and the main up pushing tide the wind speed built. By 6am off Dalkey Island it was gusting over 30kts from the East, in the early light "The Muglins" was awash with white water. While taking a wide berth of the rocks, we were broadside to short steep waves and dodging the occasional pot. After a recce of the entrance to the harbour and a "chicken gybe" around, we came powering in through the entrance. With the 8 crew after 24 hours on the go, cold and wet it took in one last big effort getting the main down and secured on the boom inside the harbour wall. With mooring fields akin to a pinball table we headed into the sheltered pontoon of the Royal Irish Yacht Club. Once alongside, we got changed out of the back of the van in an underground carpark, too early to find a breakfast roll in Dun Laoghaire, we scattered for the nearest hot shower and warm bed/ couch!

Still provisional, but it looks like we placed third overall.

- nuigalwayroundireland2012.com

#ISORA – Welsh J109 Sgrech starts as clear favourite for this Saturday morning's offshore race from Pwllheli to Wicklow, the last qualifying race for this year's Round Ireland yacht race. As an added bonus this race is for a new ISORA trophy from race sponsor Lynxmetmasts.

The 2003 built J109 skippered by Stephen Tudor has already won two of the three ISORA races this season. The 18-boat fleet is expected into Wicklow late on Saturday afternoon in this the fourth race of the ISORA programme.

The suggested course for the race is available to download as an attachment below but the actual course will only be decided on Friday and will be texted and emailed to all competitors. Also available to download is the entry list and local tidal info.