#roundireland – Afloat's Round Ireland Race 2014 free to enter competition offers a great prize of a McWilliam Sailing Bag to the person who is closest to predicting the elapsed time of the winning yacht.
Last year, Inis Mor won the race, taking 4 days, 8 hours, 16 minutes and 7 seconds to complete the 704–mile course. The fastest elapsed time by a winner is the 3 days, 4 hours, 23 minutes and 57 seconds it took Jeep Cherokee to complete in 1998. In 2006, Cavatina won with the slowest elapsed time to date of 6 days, 9 hours, 20 minutes and 20 seconds, taking 1 day and 18 hours longer than she did when winning in 2002.
Please note the predicted time elapsed time is not the time taken by the first to finish, it is the time taken by the boat that is the overall winner of the race. This is the boat with the lowest corrected time (elapsed time x TCF).
A full list of the historical elapsed times can be found here.
To enter click HERE
Competition Rules
1. Entries must be received by email by 14.00 on Saturday, 28th June 2014.
2. There can be only one entry for each e-mail address
3. Each entry must be complete with valid e-mail
4. Times will be those supplied by the race organisers.
5. The winner will be the person whose predicted time is closest in time to the elapsed time of the winner in the IRC Overall category.
7. The Judges decisions is final. No correspondence will be entered into.
Fancy a free McWilliams bag? Easy! All you have to do is head to Afloat's Facebook page, hit the 'Like' button, and post the answer to the following question on our wall: Who was the overall winner of the 2010 Conway Media Round Ireland Yacht Race, run by Wicklow Sailing Club?
Winners picked Midday Wednesday, and more competitions to come on both Facebook (facebook.com/Afloatmagazine) and Twitter (twitter.com/AfloatMagazine) - stay tuned!
Markham Nolan spoke with South African Matt Trautman, boat captain of clubhouse leader Tonnerre de Breskens 3. Matt tells Afloat.ie about the crucial factors in Tonnerre's total domination of the Conway Media Round Ireland Yacht Race, which they led from start to finish.
Club house leader: Tonnerre at the start of the Race last Sunday. Photos: Bob Bateman
More on the Round Ireland Yacht Race:
Round Ireland Yacht Race 2010 Review
Round Ireland Yacht Race, Ireland's top offshore fixture
A Round up of 80 stories on the 2010 Round Ireland Yacht Race
Reports from Wicklow suggest that the crew of Tonnerre de Breskens 3, the line honours winner, have decamped to their hotel for some well-deserved rest. The ease with which they sleep will be telling.
Only two boats in the Conway Media Round Ireland Yacht Race have finished, and tradition dictates that it's a race rarely decided by first-past-the-post. With 34 of the 36 boats still on the race course, a handicap finisher can always put a fly in the ointment. One boat with potential to do that is Cavatina.
Her handicap means that she has until 10.27 on Friday morning, which gives Tonnerre enough time to have a lie-in and and Irish breakfast before watching the clock count down to an assured victory.
Inis Mor's target time has come and gone so they are no longer an issue for Tonnerre, and it will take a boat with a big handicap to cause them a sleepless night.
It will also take a lot of wind, something that's in short supply. Back-of-the-napkin calculations suggest Cavatina need to be moving at an average of 8.7 knots for the remainder of their race to win. Cavatina is currently located at Rathlin Island, says the tracker, doing exactly zero knots, with not much more than eight knots of wind forecast over the next 18 hours. Even sailing downstream in spring tides all the way, Cavatina would still need a divine intervention.
One big remaining question is whether or not Psipsina can retain her double-handed title. She's currently caught in the narrows off Strangford making just two knots while Daft.com heads into the Irish Sea at more than 7 knots. Psipsina has held the lead for the majority of the race, and the good money would back her to retain it at this stage.
Still a lot to play for, however, and tomorrow morning should see the rankings finalised in most classes.
For tracker-addicts and those with friends and relations battling in the pack, it's another evening of F5 refreshes and twitching fingers.
Tonnerre de Bresken took line honours in the Conway Media Round Ireland Yacht Race early this morning, tying up in Wicklow harbour just after 4am. The Dutch entry held off the Open 60 Spirit of Rosslare Europort in a light airs beat down the Irish Sea, but all eyes will now scan the horizon for the main challenger for the overall title, Inis Mor. Bernard Guoy's Clifden-registered Ker 39 has until 14.13 to finish if they want to claim overall honours. This is a tall order, with the Frenchman just south of the mouth of Strangord Lough, making seven knots on a fetch to Wicklow.
Light airs and strong tides either side of midnight meant that the anchors came out for some boats off Rathlin Island.
Gloom continues to be the prevailing mood on the beleagured double-hander Daft.com, operating with no electronics or autohelm. Their latest online missive read: "Rage! Wind has disappeared and we are anchored just after Rathlin Island. Very keen for the finish now. Bruised, blistered, cut, tired, sore and ready to get moving into the finish line."
Conditions are getting to Hanna White aboard Dinah, also, who tweeted: "No sleep, rubbish food, peeing in a bucket, remind me again why I do this sport?"
Two packs of three are duelling down the Northern Irish coast behind Inis Mor. Visit Malta Puma, Pride of Wicklow and Fujitsu are all within 2.5 miles of each other, and then twelve miles back, Daft.com, Aquelina and Bejaysus are battling it out.
The fleet are stretched like a swimming cap over the head of the country in a line from Strangford Lough to Bloody Foreland.
Have your say on the racing in our forum thread HERE.
The race tracker is HERE, and the official site is HERE.
Celtic Spirit has become the first retiral in the Conway Media Round Ireland Yacht Race, with a broken pole meaning they have no effective means for sailing downwind. A report on the official race site says: "Owner Michael Holland tells us crew member, Joe, had a very lucky escape as the broken pole flew across deck and knocked him down - fortunately it was just a glancing blow and the only damage was a torn jacket. All is not lost - they are closeby Inishboffin and know a nice deep hole to anchor in to enable them drown their sorrows."
Meanwhile the hobbled Daft.com has lost ground to the chasing pack with a cracked spreader, and are being caught gradually by Pride of Wicklow, Fujistu and Visit Malta Puma as they round Malin Head. A broken alternator has resulted in no electrics aboard the double-hander, which has meant that Mick Liddy on Daft.com has had to helm non-stop. His blind co-skipper, Mark Pollock, was reliant on technology to allow him steer, and the two are suffering from sleep deprivation (see video below).
From Pride of Wicklow's shore crew via their Twitter feed: "Edging their way ahead in a game of wits...ETA 2-4 pm Thursday... but they are working hard to improve that.come on Powwwwwww"
Inis Mor still holds the lead overall and third on the water, and the tide should turn soon to suck her around into the Irish Sea. Tonnerre de Breskens continues to hold off the Open 60 at the front, with Alan McGettigan's crew having to make some slow angles in light beating conditions.
Have your say on the racing in our forum thread HERE.
The latest results in the Conway Media Round Ireland show that Inis Mor had managed to sneak back in front as the fleet began to round the north coast. A 6am report from the race office puts Tonnerre in second, with Inis Mor leading the standings and Class Zero.
More as we have it.
FROM THE RACE OFFICE;
Race Office Update 23/06/2010 @ 06.30 hours
Provisional results for leaders of each class Wednesday 23rd at 06.00 hours.
Overall
1st Inis Mor
2nd Tonnerre de Breskens3
3rd Visit Malta Puma
IRC 0 Inis Mor
IRC 1 Visit Malta Puma
IRC 2 Psipsina
IRC 3 Alchimiste
Class 4 Cruisers Cavatina
Class 5 Classics Cavatina
Class 6 Sigma 38 Persistance
Class 7 Two Handed Psipsina
“Pride of Wicklow “ currently lying 6th in overall fleet and 3rd in Class 0.
The lead boat “Tonnerre de Breskens3” is approx 150 miles from the finish.
Boats can now call in race reports from the water direct to our webmaster's voicemail for use as podcasts, just dial 08652570320 and leave your report after the beep, and we'll get it up online as soon as possible.
Have your say on the racing in our forum thread HERE.
Barry Hurley, co-skipper of double-handed entry Dinah (along with Hannah White) has phoned in a quick podcast update describing conditions up the west coast of Ireland for the fleet in the Conway Media Round Ireland Yacht Race. Dinah's division is still being led by Psipsina, who also lead Class 2, with Daft.com struggling to make speed off the coast of Galway, losing some ground to the boats that stayed closer to shore.
Tonnerre de Breskens is still in the lead on the water and on paper, ploughing a furrow towards Donegal and trailing Spirit of Rosslare Europort in her wake. Those two boats have maintained speed and looks like they should get the new breeze earlier than most, too, hurrying them around the top of Ireland.
Boats can now call in race reports from the water direct to our webmaster's voicemail for use as podcasts, just dial 08652570320 and leave your report after the beep, and we'll get it up online as soon as possible.
Results below are as at 12pm.
Overall
1st Tonnerre de Breskens3
2nd Inis Mor
3rd Visit Malta Puma
IRC 0 Tonnerre de Breskens3
IRC 1 Visit Malta Puma
IRC 2 Psipsina
IRC 3 Alchimiste
Class 4 Cruisers Cavatina
Class 5 Classics Cavatina
Class 6 Sigma 38 Persistence
Class 7 Two Handed Psipsina
It was all change on the Conway Media Round Ireland Yacht Race leaderboard with on-the-water leader Tonnerre de Breskens taking pole, both elapsed and corrected, at the 9.30am check-in. Tonnerre led both Class Zero and the overall standings, and is at present holding off the Open 60 Spirit of Rosslare Europort as the breeze prepares to take a break, dying off before strengthening again later from a more westerly direction.
Inis Mor is in second, with IRC 1 leader Visit Malta Puma in third overall.
Daft.com have let their crown slip, with defending double-handed champion Paddy Cronin, sailing with John Loden, taking the lead in that class overall for the time being as the yachts chase up the west coast.
Cavatina still leads cruisers 4 and the classics, but her fate and those like her won't be known until the weather patters for the next three days play themselves out. There's still all to play for in an intriguing Round Ireland.
Overall 1st Tonnerre de Breskens3
2nd Inis Mor
3rd Visit Malta Puma
IRC 0 Tonnerre de Breskens3
IRC 1 Visit Malta Puma
IRC 2 Psipsina
IRC 3 Alchimiste
Class 4 Cruisers Cavatina
Class 5 Classics Cavatina
Class 6 Sigma 38 Persistance
Class 7 Two Handed Psipsina
{form1}
More on the Round Ireland Yacht Race:
Round Ireland Yacht Race 2010 Review
Round Ireland Yacht Race, Ireland's top offshore fixture
A Round up of 80 stories on the 2010 Round Ireland Yacht Race
Just over half the fleet have rounded the Fastnet Rock in the Conway Media Round Ireland Yacht Race, with the leaders stretching their legs in plenty of breeze up the west coast. With between 14 and 20 knots of wind from an average direction of 200 degrees, those that have pointed their noses north up the west coast have been able to pull away, with Tonnerre de Breskens now 40 miles clear of the nearest challenger on the water, the Open 60 Spirit of Rosslare Europort. Tonnerre is off Slyne Head, with yesterday's overall leader, Inis Mor, 55 miles behind the leader and both are heading inshore, which would seem to be the smart thing to do, keeping them in the stronger band of wind for longer.
French Yacht Inis Mor is among the leaders at the halfway stage of this week's Round Ireland Race. Photo: Bob Bateman
The winds look like lightening and veering, which would mean the boats further inshore would not only be in stronger wind for longer, but when it does drop and veer, they will be on a hotter angle up the west coast than those further out.
The leader is now almost at the halfway point in terms of distance, while the boat bringing up the rear has covered approximately 25% of the total distance, a spread from top to bottom of 175 miles.
The top four are spread out over 70 miles, with fifth to eighth all within six miles of each other. From eleventh back, the fleet snakes from Dursey Island all the way back to Glandore.
Have your say on the racing in our forum thread HERE.
The race tracker is HERE, and the official site is HERE.
Results at 1500hrs yesterday are the most recent provided:
Overall 1st Inis Mor
2nd Visit Malta Puma
3rd Tonnerre de Breskens 3
IRC 0 Inis Mor
IRC 1 Visit Malta Puma
IRC 2 Psipsina
IRC 3 Alchimiste
Class 4 Cruisers Cavatina
Class 5 Classics Cavatina
Class 6 Sigma 38 Persistance
Class 7 Two Handed Daft.com
Ireland has a proud representation in sailing at the Olympics dating back to 1948. Today there is a modern governing structure surrounding the selection of sailors the Olympic Regatta
Ireland’s representation in sailing at the Olympics dates back to 1948, when a team consisting of Jimmy Mooney (Firefly), Alf Delany and Hugh Allen (Swallow) competed in that year’s Summer Games in London (sailing off Torquay). Except for the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City, Ireland has sent at least one sailor to every Summer Games since then.
Ireland has won two Olympics medals in sailing events, both silver: David Wilkins, Jamie Wilkinson in the Flying Dutchman at Moscow 1980, and Annalise Murphy in the Laser Radial at Rio 2016.
The current team, as of December 2020, consists of Laser sailors Finn Lynch, Liam Glynn and Ewan McMahon, 49er pairs Ryan Seaton and Seafra Guilfoyle, and Sean Waddilove and Robert Dickson, as well as Laser Radial sailors Annalise Murphy and Aoife Hopkins.
Irish Sailing is the National Governing Body for sailing in Ireland.
Irish Sailing’s Performance division is responsible for selecting and nurturing Olympic contenders as part of its Performance Pathway.
The Performance Pathway is Irish Sailing’s Olympic talent pipeline. The Performance Pathway counts over 70 sailors from 11 years up in its programme.The Performance Pathway is made up of Junior, Youth, Academy, Development and Olympic squads. It provides young, talented and ambitious Irish sailors with opportunities to move up through the ranks from an early age. With up to 100 young athletes training with the Irish Sailing Performance Pathway, every aspect of their performance is planned and closely monitored while strong relationships are simultaneously built with the sailors and their families
Rory Fitzpatrick is the head coach of Irish Sailing Performance. He is a graduate of University College Dublin and was an Athens 2004 Olympian in the Laser class.
The Performance Director of Irish Sailing is James O’Callaghan. Since 2006 James has been responsible for the development and delivery of athlete-focused, coach-led, performance-measured programmes across the Irish Sailing Performance Pathway. A Business & Economics graduate of Trinity College Dublin, he is a Level 3 Qualified Coach and Level 2 Coach Tutor. He has coached at five Olympic Games and numerous European and World Championship events across multiple Olympic classes. He is also a member of the Irish Sailing Foundation board.
Annalise Murphy is by far and away the biggest Irish sailing star. Her fourth in London 2012 when she came so agonisingly close to a bronze medal followed by her superb silver medal performance four years later at Rio won the hearts of Ireland. Murphy is aiming to go one better in Tokyo 2021.
Under head coach Rory Fitzpatrick, the coaching staff consists of Laser Radial Academy coach Sean Evans, Olympic Laser coach Vasilij Zbogar and 49er team coach Matt McGovern.
The Irish Government provides funding to Irish Sailing. These funds are exclusively for the benefit of the Performance Pathway. However, this falls short of the amount required to fund the Performance Pathway in order to allow Ireland compete at the highest level. As a result the Performance Pathway programme currently receives around €850,000 per annum from Sport Ireland and €150,000 from sponsorship. A further €2 million per annum is needed to have a major impact at the highest level. The Irish Sailing Foundation was established to bridge the financial gap through securing philanthropic donations, corporate giving and sponsorship.
The vision of the Irish Sailing Foundation is to generate the required financial resources for Ireland to scale-up and execute its world-class sailing programme. Irish Sailing works tirelessly to promote sailing in Ireland and abroad and has been successful in securing funding of 1 million euro from Sport Ireland. However, to compete on a par with other nations, a further €2 million is required annually to realise the ambitions of our talented sailors. For this reason, the Irish Sailing Foundation was formed to seek philanthropic donations. Led by a Board of Directors and Head of Development Kathryn Grace, the foundation lads a campaign to bridge the financial gap to provide the Performance Pathway with the funds necessary to increase coaching hours, upgrade equipment and provide world class sport science support to a greater number of high-potential Irish sailors.
The Senior and Academy teams of the Performance Pathway are supported with the provision of a coach, vehicle, coach boat and boats. Even with this level of subsidy there is still a large financial burden on individual families due to travel costs, entry fees and accommodation. There are often compromises made on the amount of days a coach can be hired for and on many occasions it is necessary to opt out of major competitions outside Europe due to cost. Money raised by the Irish Sailing Foundation will go towards increased quality coaching time, world-class equipment, and subsiding entry fees and travel-related costs. It also goes towards broadening the base of talented sailors that can consider campaigning by removing financial hurdles, and the Performance HQ in Dublin to increase efficiency and reduce logistical issues.
The ethos of the Performance Pathway is progression. At each stage international performance benchmarks are utilised to ensure the sailors are meeting expectations set. The size of a sailor will generally dictate which boat they sail. The classes selected on the pathway have been identified as the best feeder classes for progression. Currently the Irish Sailing Performance Pathway consists of the following groups: * Pathway (U15) Optimist and Topper * Youth Academy (U19) Laser 4.7, Laser Radial and 420 * Development Academy (U23) Laser, Laser Radial, 49er, 49erFX * Team IRL (direct-funded athletes) Laser, Laser Radial, 49er, 49erFX
The Irish Sailing performance director produces a detailed annual budget for the programme which is presented to Sport Ireland, Irish Sailing and the Foundation for detailed discussion and analysis of the programme, where each item of expenditure is reviewed and approved. Each year, the performance director drafts a Performance Plan and Budget designed to meet the objectives of Irish Performance Sailing based on an annual review of the Pathway Programmes from Junior to Olympic level. The plan is then presented to the Olympic Steering Group (OSG) where it is independently assessed and the budget is agreed. The OSG closely monitors the delivery of the plan ensuring it meets the agreed strategy, is within budget and in line with operational plans. The performance director communicates on an ongoing basis with the OSG throughout the year, reporting formally on a quarterly basis.
Due to the specialised nature of Performance Sport, Irish Sailing established an expert sub-committee which is referred to as the Olympic Steering Group (OSG). The OSG is chaired by Patrick Coveney and its objective is centred around winning Olympic medals so it oversees the delivery of the Irish Sailing’s Performance plan.
At Junior level (U15) sailors learn not only to be a sailor but also an athlete. They develop the discipline required to keep a training log while undertaking fitness programmes, attending coaching sessions and travelling to competitions. During the winter Regional Squads take place and then in spring the National Squads are selected for Summer Competitions. As sailors move into Youth level (U19) there is an exhaustive selection matrix used when considering a sailor for entry into the Performance Academy. Completion of club training programmes, attendance at the performance seminars, physical suitability and also progress at Junior and Youth competitions are assessed and reviewed. Once invited in to the Performance Academy, sailors are given a six-month trial before a final decision is made on their selection. Sailors in the Academy are very closely monitored and engage in a very well planned out sailing, training and competition programme. There are also defined international benchmarks which these sailors are required to meet by a certain age. Biannual reviews are conducted transparently with the sailors so they know exactly where they are performing well and they are made aware of where they may need to improve before the next review.
©Afloat 2020
Where is the Paris 2024 Olympic Sailing Competition being held? Sailing at Paris 2024 will take place in Marseille on the shores of the Mediterranean Sea between 28 July and 8 August, and will feature Kiteboarding for the first time, following a successful Olympic debut in 2018 at the Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires. The sailing event is over 700 km from the main Olympic Games venue in Paris.
What are the events? The Olympic Sailing Competition at Paris 2024 will feature ten Events:
How do you qualify for Paris 2024? The first opportunity for athletes to qualify for Paris 2024 will be the Sailing World Championships, The Hague 2023, followed by the Men’s and Women’s Dinghy 2024 World Championships and then a qualifier on each of World Sailing’s six continents in each of the ten Events. The final opportunity is a last chance regatta to be held in 2024, just a few months before the Games begin.
50-50 split between male and female athletes: The Paris 2024 Games is set to be the first to achieve a 50-50 split between male and female athletes, building on the progress made at both Rio 2016 (47.5%) and Tokyo 2020 (48.8%). It will also be the first Olympic Games where two of the three Chief roles in the sailing event will be held by female officials,
July 28th – August 8th Paris Olympics Sailing Marseille
Ireland's Sailing and Boating Magazine
