Two more international entries into August's SSE Renewables Round Ireland Yacht Race brings the fleet total to just under 50 registered entries so far.
Franz Bouvet's Yoda from Caen, France and Greg Leonard's Mach 40.3, Kite brings to four the number of Class 40s now racing Round Ireland this summer.
Entered last week was the Lorient based Mach 40.3, Taras Boulba skippered by Charles-Louis Mourruau. The first Class 40 in was Antoine Magre's Palanad 3 from La Trinite sur Mer back in early June.
Class 40 is a monohull sailboat primarily used for short-handed offshore and coastal racing and popular in France.
With six weeks still to go, the first gun at Wicklow Harbour, preparations are well underway for the 700-mile classic and it is unlikely the Class 40s will be the last of the international entries with half a dozen Welsh yachts from the ISORA fleet still expected to enter.
Round Ireland preparations get underway in earnest off Dun Laoghaire this Saturday as ISORA gets its first coastal race of the Viking Marine mini-series underway, an important shakedown on the way to August's biennial classic.