In this week's podcast, you could win one of two spaces on one of the Clipper Yachts for the sail from Kinsale to Cork this Wednesday. Plus we talk to the young guns from Schull Community College and the Pride of Wicklow about their victories in recent days.
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!
There was no deluge of overnight finishers, no sing of meteorological miracles or surging mass of racers passing Howth and heading on to Wicklow as the final stages of the Round Ireland slowed to a crawl in the short hours of darkness. The tracker shows plenty of boats stopping, spinning, and presumably anchoring off the coast of Northern Ireland as the wind dropped to a zephyr and the tide pulled at the fleet like toy boats in a draining bath.
But, firstly, Afloat.ie offers official congratulations to Tonnerre de Breskens 3, now sitting pretty in Wicklow with the major challenges to their title punctured below the waterline. Their race was near impeccable, and they add the Round Ireland win to their recent string of RORC offshore victories. To them, the glory, and it is all well deserved. Your correspondent pegged them as favourited, despite the Water Rat's predictions that Inis Mor had more in store.
Inis Mor, as it happens, slipped quietly into harbour yesterday evening at 7.38pm to take second overall. Then an overnight lull in finishers was broken by Fujitsu coming home at ten minutes to five, followed by the impressive young crew of Pride of Wicklow at ten to six, who drew a roar of appreciation from those waiting on the quays. Visit Malta Puma were next in at 6.35, and now the long wait for the next finishers, a trio of Aquelina, Bejaysus and Daft.com.
Cavatina's hoped-for intervention failed to materialise, and they have yet to cross the mouth of Belfast Lough, having spent the night close inshore where they could anchor against the tide.
Indeed there's a long way to go for those still out on the racecourse. A string of ten boats are crossing Dundrum Bay off Newcastle, with the rest in a cluster near Cushendall. For some of these competitors, depending on the weather, the race could last close to a full week, if they persist.
A word of congratulations to Wicklow town for making a proper festival of the race this year and showing its potential for growth. Official figures suggested 10,000 people hit Wicklow last weekend, but those involved were ebulliantly talking it up to 15,000 or more, which is no small achievement. It goes to show that despite its status as a sport that's not built for spectators, everyone loves to party with sailors.
Questions have been raised about the future of the race, however, in today's Irish Times. Article HERE.
Have your say on the racing in our forum thread HERE.
The race tracker is HERE, and the official site is HERE.
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
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.
As the leaders of the Conway Media Round Ireland Yacht Race enter the northern end of the Irish Sea, today will be all about current affairs, so be prepared to watch the teams' fates ebb and flow with the vagaries of Northern Irish tides. Tonnerre de Breskens and Spirit of Rosslare Europort are currently being hurried around the north-east corner by the end of a flood tide. However, Larne saw high water come and go at 08.11 this morning. That means that the leaders and those in their wake (Inis Mor and Daft.com) have maybe an hour of slack water before things turn against them and they end up jogging on a nautical treadmill. Adding to the impending misery, those east of Malin Head are in light airs, whereas those off the Donegal coast and even further back have stronger following winds whisking them up the rankings in handicap terms and helping them battle the tide. Tonnerre and Rosslare are past Rathlin, but not out of the woods yet.
Low Water at Larne is at 1418hrs, and how much the fleet will compress before then could well define how the results pan out when the finishers hit Wicklow.
One curiosity now will be who gets line honours.
Favourite before the race was the Open 60 Spirit of Rosslare Europort, the one boat in the fleet with the potential for greatest speed. However they've failed to make gains when the conditions were in their favour, and now face upwind conditions, or a fetch at best, down the Irish Sea. Open 60s are built for downwind sailing, and this will do them no favours.
They're duelling with the Dutchmen on Tonnerre de Breskens, who have sailed a near impeccable race so far, in line with their winning form on the RORC circuit, and led the IRC rankings at the last mark. From the Spirit of Rosslare Europort blog earlier this morning: "Passed Rathlin Island and chasing Tonnerre de Breskens 3 hard. We are set for a great duel down the Irish sea. We are sailing with 3.4knts of favourable tide but this is due to change at about 09.30 this morning as the tide turns foul.
"While we are on a IMOCA 60 - We have to take our hats off to the Guys on “Tonnerre de Breskens 3” - They are sailing that Ker 46 to her max."
Further back, Inis Mor is the main challenger for the overall title, with Visit Malta Puma pushing hard and the pair of them battling with the youngsters on Pride of Wicklow who have put in a valiant debut performance in a race that has thrown up ideal conditions for an opening foray into offshore sailing.
Psipsina continues to hold onto her double-handed lead, and could do some further damage to Daft.com's lead on the water around the top. Daft.com have been struggling with their on-board alternator, meaning that their on-board electronics have been used sparingly. This may have made things difficult for blind sailor Mark Pollock, reliant on a power-hungry audio nav system to help him steer the boat while Mick Liddy sleeps. (UPDATE: Mark Pollock just tweeted to say that their backup autohelm cut out during a gybe, and they report a suspected cracked spreader. Kite is down and they are assessing what to do)
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.
The race tracker is HERE, and the official site is HERE.
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
Round Ireland 2010 is half over but only just begun. Winds–as usual–are forecast to be varied on the next leg down the East coast. Experienced Round Ireland pundits say it's too early for predictions. Read this morning's analysis here. Others though have stuck their necks out to give Dutch yacht Tonnerre de Bresekens the trophy already. Read our forum thread here. Water Rat still pins his hopes on a great French win, Inis Mor is the boat to beat! Read his thoughts here. Check our weather podcast here for today and tomorrow. Is 2010 really the predicted small boat race or will this instead be a France v Holland final? We'd like your views on our forum here.
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 RaceThe Royal St George Yacht Club was founded in Dun Laoghaire (then Kingstown) Harbour in 1838 by a small number of like-minded individuals who liked to go rowing and sailing together. The club gradually gathered pace and has become, with the passage of time and the unstinting efforts of its Flag Officers, committees and members, a world-class yacht club.
Today, the ‘George’, as it is known by everyone, maybe one of the world’s oldest sailing clubs, but it has a very contemporary friendly outlook that is in touch with the demands of today and offers world-class facilities for all forms of water sports
The Royal St George Yacht Club — often abbreviated as RStGYC and affectionately known as ‘the George’ — is one of the world’s oldest sailing clubs, and one of a number that ring Dublin Bay on the East Coast of Ireland.
The Royal St George Yacht Club is based at the harbour of Dun Laoghaire, a suburban coastal town in south Co Dublin around 11km south-east of Dublin city centre and with a population of some 26,000. The Royal St George is one of the four Dun Laoghaire Waterfront Clubs, along with the National Yacht Club, Royal Irish Yacht Club (RIYC) and Dun Laoghaire Motor Yacht Club (DMYC).
The Royal St George was founded by members of the Pembroke Rowing Club in 1838 and was originally known as Kingstown Boat Club, as Kingstown was what Dun Laoghaire was named at the time. The club obtained royal patronage in 1845 and became known as Royal Kingstown Yacht Club. After 1847 the club took on its current name.
The George is first and foremost an active yacht club with a strong commitment to and involvement with all aspects of the sport of sailing, whether racing your one design on Dublin Bay, to offshore racing in the Mediterranean and Caribbean, to junior sailing, to cruising and all that can loosely be described as “messing about in boats”.
As of November 2020, the Commodore of the Royal St George Yacht Club is Peter Bowring, with Richard O’Connor as Vice-Commodore. The club has two Rear-Commodores, Mark Hennessy for Sailing and Derek Ryan for Social.
As of November 2020, the Royal St George has around 1,900 members.
The Royal St George’s burgee is a red pennant with a white cross which has a crown at its centre. The club’s ensign has a blue field with the Irish tricolour in its top left corner and a crown towards the bottom right corner.
Yes, the club hosts regular weekly racing for dinghies and keelboats as well as a number of national and international sailing events each season. Major annual events include the Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta, hosted in conjunction with the three other Dun Laoghaire Waterfront Clubs.
Yes, the Royal St George has a vibrant junior sailing section that organises training and events throughout the year.
Sail training is a core part of what the George does, and training programmes start with the Sea Squirts aged 5 to 8, continuing through its Irish Sailing Youth Training Scheme for ages 8 to 18, with adult sail training a new feature since 2009. The George runs probably the largest and most comprehensive programme each summer with upwards of 500 children participating. This junior focus continues at competitive level, with coaching programmes run for aspiring young racers from Optimist through to Lasers, 420s and Skiffs.
The most popular boats raced at the club are one-design keelboats such as the Dragon, Shipman 28, Ruffian, SB20, Squib and J80; dinghy classes including the Laser, RS200 and RS400; junior classes the 420, Optimist and Laser Radial; and heritage wooden boats including the Water Wags, the oldest one-design dinghy class in the world. The club also has a large group of cruising yachts.
The Royal St George is based in a Victorian-style clubhouse that dates from 1843 and adjoins the harbour’s Watering Pier. The clubhouse was conceived as a miniature classical Palladian Villa, a feature which has been faithfully maintained despite a series of extensions, and a 1919 fire that destroyed all but four rooms. Additionally, the club has a substantial forecourt with space for more than 50 boats dry sailing, as well as its entire dinghy fleet. There is also a dry dock, four cranes (limit 12 tonnes) and a dedicated lift=out facility enabling members keep their boats in ready to race condition at all times. The George also has a floating dock for short stays and can supply fuel, power and water to visitors.
Yes, the Royal St George’s clubhouse offers a full bar and catering service for members, visitors and guests. Currently the bar is closed due to Covid-19 restrictions.
The Royal St George boathouse is open daily from 9.30am to 5.30pm during the winter. The office and reception are open Tuesdays to Fridays from 10am to 5pm. The bar is currently closed due to Covid-19 restrictions. Lunch is served on Wednesdays and Fridays from 12.30pm to 2.30pm, with brunch on Saturdays and Sundays from noon to 3pm.
Yes, the Royal St George regularly hosts weddings and family celebrations from birthdays to christenings, and offers a unique and prestigious location to celebrate your day. The club also hosts corporate meetings, sailing workshops and company celebrations with a choice of rooms. From small private meetings to work parties and celebrations hosting up to 150 guests, the club can professionally and successfully manage your corporate requirements. In addition, team building events can utilise its fleet of club boats and highly trained instructors. For enquiries contact Laura Smart at [email protected] or phone 01 280 1811.
The George is delighted to welcome new members. It may look traditional — and is proud of its heritage — but behind the facade is a lively and friendly club, steeped in history but not stuck in it. It is a strongly held belief that new members bring new ideas, new skills and new contacts on both the sailing and social sides.
No — members can avail of the club’s own fleet of watercraft.
There is currently no joining fee for new members of the Royal St George. The introductory ordinary membership subscription fee is €775 annually for the first two years. A full list of membership categories and related annual subscriptions is available.
Membership subscriptions are renewed on an annual basis
©Afloat 2020
Ireland's Sailing and Boating Magazine
