As solo star Tom Dolan said when he arrived this week in Greystones to position himself on stand-by for his waiting-game round Ireland record challenge from the Kish Lighthouse, the current increasingly Autumnal weather pattern is much more encouragingly dynamic than it was when he made his previous attempt in the Spring.

It’s the Meath Maestro’s first time back in Ireland with the boat since he emerged as the winner of Stage 1 of the Figaro Solo Paprec 2023 in Kinsale on the last day of August, after racing over an artificially lengthened, extremely challenging and complex 620-mile course from Caen in Normandy.

While the Figaro 3 can certainly make to windward with enthusiasm - as seen here in the 2023 Figaro Solo Paprec in which Tom Dolan won the first stage from Caen to Kinsale – the strategic minimizing of windward work is essential to a successful Round Ireland challenge

The Figaro concluded, he then teamed up with fellow Figaro racer Gaston Morvan on Region Bretagne, and with three others aboard they contested the crewed season-concluding Figaro 3 Nationals at Lorient on October 7th, and won. As it was sailed while the late summer weather prevailed in heatwave conditions, subsequently choosing to sail north in Smurfit-Kappa Kingspan when the summer shutters came down with a bang on Ireland was inevitably a matter of going suddenly into a very different world. But it’s typical of Tom’s approach to challenges that he can put a cheerful spin on it all.

This was just a fortnight ago in South Brittany - Gaston Morvan and Tom Dolan and their crew basking in late summer sunshine after winning the Figaro 3 National at Lorient

STORM BABET? SHE WAS DEFINITELY “DYNAMIC”

And certainly “dynamic” is normally used in this positive way. Yet those who have been at the receiving end of Storm Babet in recent days - whether through wind damage, flooding, power outage, or just plain inconvenience - might find different and often unprintable words to describe the current rapidly moving chaotic kaleidoscope of conditions. It’s doubtful they’d enjoy being told they’ve just had a dynamic experience, accentuated by the brief bursts of sunshine lasting just long enough to emphasise the meteorological horrors in between.

These have included yesterday’s near-visit by Babet’s un-named little sister. While in development form, she went slowly past to the south of us, heading in an eastward direction in deepening mode. Then, having gained power, the nameless one unfairly turned back to have a whack at Ireland’s East Coast yesterday afternoon before settling down over England to start the messy process of fading away.

FLOATING ON DOLAN ENTHUSIASM

So what else can we do other than let ourselves be carried along by Tom’s bubbling enthusiasm? The Irish weather may be adversely under the heel of the jet-stream at its most malignant. And there are too many places in the world where intractable people-made horrors prevail ashore. Yet when we look at what this weekend has to offer as that latest low pressure area grinds away to the eastward while slowly filling, we find Irish sailors coming out for more sport at home and abroad.

Unlikely as it might have seemed early in the night, the final race may be sailed this afternoon in the monday.com Autumn League at Howth. And although there’ll be a real nip to the northerly wind, there are enough close placings at the top of various leaderboards to make it well worthwhile competing.

When Autumn sailing is good, it’s very very good – the Autumn League at Howth celebrated its 40th Anniversary last year, and memories tend to be like this, as seen with the two Howth 17s Leila and Aura, both of 1898 vintage. Photo: HYC

As for the seasonal leagues in Cork and Kinsale, being further west and using more of the weekend, they can expect even gentler conditions.

OUR NAVY OF ARMCHAIR ADMIRALS

But meanwhile, the considerable presence of Ireland’s navy of Armchair Admirals has been glued to weather observation and prediction charts as they wait and opinionate about Tom and Smurfit-Kappa Kingspan making their move.

It’s easy enough to say that wind directions were near enough just right to take off anti-clockwise on Tuesday. But severe easterly gales and zilch visibility in the shipping-busy North Channel would have been unnecessarily and extremely hazardous when the campaign has the luxury of time.

CHALLENGE OF 1986 GOT AWAY “BY SKIN OF ITS TEETH”

The last thing you need in a Round Ireland Record attempt is too much wind, even if it is favourable. Back in May 1986 when we were hanging around in Dun Laoghaire with Robin Knox-Johnston and his 60ft trimaran British Airways to inaugurate the current wave of non-racing Round Ireland records, we waited for winds from all sorts of easterly directions (with much rain) to abate a bit, and settle in a favourable direction.

Robin Knox-Johnston’s 60ft MacAlpine-Downie catamaran British Airways making away from Dublin Bay at the start of a successful Round Ireland record challenge in May 1986. Shortly after disappearing northeastwards into the murk, she was almost capsized in a sudden extra gust of wind. Photo: BA

All the ducks seemed to be in a row by Saturday, with a strong yet seemingly steady easterly. So off we went anti-clockwise in driving rain from the Kish, in sailing conditions which saw the big twin-hulled bucket at her noisy best. But she went so fast that we caught up with a line of squalls that had been retreating northwards, and one of them as near as dammit capsized us, though happily it’s a memory that had been largely obliterated by all the subsequent experiences before the job was done.

A FAVOURABLE GALE?

A favourable gale is just about manageable if you’re on a straight-line course, but a problem-filled challenge like the Ireland circuit is better off with good steady whole-sail winds and reaching conditions, just like Tom is enjoying in our header photo. So maybe after the current climatic chaos has fully departed, we can revert to the dynamic conditions the Meath skipper favours, and the show will be on the road.

And to think they might have been guiding a plough – former Meath farmboy Tom Dolan’s hands exfoliated by salt water at the end of a tough solo race

Yet while we’ve been left meteorologically punch-drunk at home by the hectic conditions, elsewhere Irish sailors are enjoying competition in something approaching summer, although it looks to be tough enough in Tangiers where Eve McMahon (Howth YC) is at the top of the table in the ILCA 6 U21 Worlds, which conclude tomorrow.

Thanks to Eve McMahon, IRL has been looking good at Tangiers this week in the ILCA6 U21 Worlds. Photo: ILCA Class

Meanwhile in Malta, it has been high summer by our standards in the countdown to today’s start in Valetta of the 609-mile Rolex Middle Sea Race, in which Conor Doyle’s xP50 Freya from Kinsale is defending an ORC Class podium place. Whether or not the strong wind conditions in Tangiers move eastward towards Malta is a moot point, as the Mediterranean weather is something of a law unto itself.

The ultimate in-harbour start: tradition dictates that the Rolex Middle Sea Race from Malta should start within Grand Harbour, Valetta. Photo: Rolex/Kurt Arrigo

She certainly gets around - Conor Doyle’s Freya from Kinsale in Dublin Bay. This morning (Saturday) she starts her second Middle Sea Race from Malta. Photo: Afloat.ie/David O’Brien

Either way, the smart money overall might be on Bryon Ehrhart’s Lucky from the US, as she is of course the former round Ireland mono-hull record-holder Rambler 88 with which George David and his team demonstrated that they probably had the best-all-round big boat on the planet, with overall victory - including a course record – being part of their track record in the Malta major.

“Sail clear through the gap….” Nobody knows how the gap opened up to let Rambler 88 through the smaller boats at the start of the record-breaking 2016 Round Ireland Race from Wicklow, but she was right there at the Naval Vessel end of the line, bang on time and going two or three times as fast as any other mono-hull. Photo: W M Nixon

TWO MONTHS TO SYDNEY-HOBART

Rambler 88 had yet to prove herself in the Sydney-Hobart Race, which is sailed again in just over two months time, but meanwhile, Down Under the new season is having its traditional opening in New Zealand this weekend with the Auckland-Russell coastal race numbering a fleet of 150-plus.

Among them is “The Irish Boat”, Mick Martin’s TP52 Frantic (ex-Patches). She won the new Sydney-Auckland Race - a 1250-mile marathon – a week ago, with Trevor Smyth, formerly of Clontarf and one of the legendary Sailing Smyths, in the afterguard. After the Auckland-Russell contest, Frantic heads back to Australia and the Hobart count-down, with Trevor Smyth aboard for his second Sydney-Hobart.

While you can have year-round sailing in Auckland, for many New Zealanders the annual Auckland-Russell Race (seen starting here) marks the beginning of “the real season”

IRISH RUFFIANS IN HONG KONG

Thousands of miles to the north in Hong Kong, yesterday they were enjoying 25 degrees Centigrade, but on a cloudy day. Over the weekend, the temperature will drop a little, but the sky will clear, while the winds – 18 km/h today from just east of north - will freshen to 23-24 km/h fr between north and northeast.

It may be the other side of the world, but it’s of nationwide interest in Ireland today, as the Irish Ruffian 23 Class is carrying its Golden Jubilee celebrations to a new level with the resumption post-Covid of the biennial inter-port contest between the Irish and Hong Kong fleets.

This weekend sees the Irish Ruffian 23 Class in Hong Kong defending the inter-port trophy which they narrowly won in Dun Laoghaire pre-lockdown in 2018

In the fast-changing Hong Kong sailing scene, the relatively venerabe Ruffian 23s are seen as something of a mascot class in the Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club, where they’re much celebrated. That will reach new heights today as Ann Kirwan of the National YC – a former Dublin Bay SC Commodore – has managed the logistical challenge of getting an all-Ireland team of twenty Ruffian 23 sailors from half a dozen widespread clubs out to Hong Kong for a long weekend of international sport and celebration.

The Ruffian 23 Hong Kong class’s trophies on display in the Royal Hong Kong YC

That Ruffian 23 international Corinthian contest is probably about as far as you can get – both in real distance and spirit – from top level sailing in France. As has been said maybe too often, the past is a different country, they do things differently there.

THE FRENCH WAY IS DIFFERENT

Certainly as far as sailing is concerned, at the top level France is indeed a very foreign and different country, with the corporate structures of its society reflected at the highest levels of professional sailing. The talented sailors compete for the support of promotion-geared companies which recognise that there’s an enormous appetite for news of extreme sailing among the population, most of whom live at some distance from the nearest bit of sea. And ashore, the gung-ho regional authorities vie with each other through big budget campaigns to host the starred events.

Obviously we’re looking at an Irish take on this with Tom Dolan’s Smurfit-Kappa Kingspan support. But in a week’s time one of the the really big one is right on top of the agenda with Le Havre hyper-alive with the crowds gathered for the start on Sunday, October 29th of the Transat Jaques Vabre to Martinique in the Caribbean.

Irish interest has never been higher, as Pamela Lee of Greystones – currently holder of two of the most meaningful Round Ireland Records as the two-handed champ and women’s record titleist - is on the line for the two-handed division with her loaned Class 40 and lead sponsorship from Brittany Ferries.

THE 2024 VENDEE GLOBE?

At the moment, there’s no noise from any of the four Irish sailors who announced potential campaigns three years ago towards the November 2024 Vendee Globe solo from Les Sables d’Olonne in IMOCA 60s, but the outcome of the upcoming Transat Jacques Vabre might put a different spin on that.

Fast women. Pamela Lee (right) and Catherin Hunt in speed mode on the Figaro 3 with which they established a solid Round Ireland in October 2020

Dublin Bay Windsurfer Oisín van Gelderen has broken his previous Irish Sailing Speed Record while participating at the 'Luderitz Speed Challenge in Namibia.

Van Gelderen is taking part in the World Record Attempt, and after three 'fruitless weeks' of moderate conditions, today the multiple Irish champion smashed his own personal best in winds gusting up to 62 knots. (Storm Force 10).

All speed sailing records are measured over a 500m course, and his aim at this event was to become the first Irish Sailor to hit 100 kmph, (54knots), and to improve his previous record and better 50 knots over the 500m course.

Video time checked - official time 49.87 knots over 500m is Aa new Irish speed sailing record for Oisín van Gelderen

Looking for an Elusive 50-Knot Record

Although he finished slightly shy of that mark at 49.87 knots (92.36kph) average over the 500m course, on Saturday the forecast promises to be even more suitable for attaining higher speeds, and he told Afloat he is more confident that the 'best is yet to come'.

"Right now the wind is a little broad, so we are sitting it out, but wind strength is perfect at 35 gusting 56 knots. My goal is to set a record above 50 knots over 500m, so still plenty to do"

All speeds are subject to final ratification by the WSSRC (World Sailing Speed Records Council).

#SpeedRecord - Oisín van Gelderen has released an extended video of his Irish speed sailing record-setting run in the south of France last spring.

As previously reported on Afloat.ie, the windsurfer took to the lagoon at La Palme in the Occitanie region on 6 April 2017, after many days of waiting for the right conditions.

His new outright Irish speed sailing record of 42.16 knots over 500 metres was later ratified by the World Speed Sailing Record Council (WSSR), smashing the late John Kenny’s then longstanding record.

“All along it was my goal to try and break the 50 knot barrier (even as a VMax peak), and push my 500m speed (and the Irish record) up as close to 50 as I could,” he told Afloat.ie.

“Unfortunately the conditions didn't allow (wind not strong enough or at the wrong angle), and although the speed I set in La Palme broke my late friend John Kenny’s previous WSSRC 500m Irish Record by a couple of knots, ironically my own GPS Speeds are much faster.

Van Gelderen added: “I have national GPS Records too by GPS - which is much cheaper to do as I can concentrate on chasing the wind and finding the perfect location such as BunBeg in Donegal, or the Dungarvan Speed Strip at Abbeyside.

“But WSSRC 500m ratified speeds are still considered the ‘official’ national/world records.”

Afloat’s sailor of the month for September 2010 said that the current season has so far not been conducive to GPS speed sailing in Ireland.

“We have had plenty of wind, but never at the right angle - when the tide is also correct to give the right conditions.

“So for me the chase continues. and I will enter the two other WSSRC events this year – one again in the south of France at Le Rouet beach, and the second in Luderitz, Namibia."

Van Gelderen said he has tried to get to Namibia’s Skeleton Coast, where Paul Larsen set the outright record on Vestas Sailrocket 2 in 2012, for a number of years.

“It’s the ultimate course,” he says of the Luderitz Speed Challenge, “where all the world records and top 40 fastest speeds in the world come from.”

Afloat.ie wishes Oisín the best of luck in his efforts to make a mark for Ireland on the world speed sailing stage.

Last night, National Yacht Club Commodore Larry Power presented American yachtsman Llyod Thornburg and the crew of Phaedo 3, with the Cork Dry Gin Round Ireland Record Perpetual trophy for August's record breaking run. A dinner to celebrate the new Round Ireland Speed Record followed at the Dun Laoghaire clubhouse. Irish World Speed Sailing Commissioner Chris Moore attended.

Thornburg set the new record in his 70–foot trimaran Phaedo 3 just a month after a new record was made by rival MOD 70 Oman Sail. Phaedo 3 crossed the Kish lighthouse start/finish line at  Dún Laoghaire, at 04.01.04am on Friday, 5th August 2016, beating the previous world record by approximately 1 hours and 45 minutes.

The 36 hours and 52 minutes time was later ratified by the World Speed Sailing Record Council.

All crew members who were onboard for the world record run attended last night's dinner, including County Kerry's Damian Foxall.

American skipper Lloyd Thornburg has set a new Round Ireland speed sailing record in his 70–foot trimaran Phaedo 3 just a month after a new record was made by rival MOD 70 Oman Sail. Phaedo 3, with Ireland's leading offshore sailor Damian Foxall on board, crossed the Kish lighthouse finish line at  Dún Laoghaire, at 04.01.04am this morning (Friday, 5th August 2016), beating the previous world record by approximately 1 hours and 45 minutes. The time has still to be ratified by the World Speed Sailing Record Council.

Thornburg and his crew, including Ireland’s Damian Foxall, set off from Dún Laoghaire on Wednesday at 15.09.00 returning 36 hours and 52 minutes later.

The previous world record of 38 hours, 37 minutes and 7 seconds was set by Musandam Oman-Sail in last June’s Volvo Round Ireland Yacht Race.

The latest record comes just weeks after Lloyd and his Phaedo 3 crew won the Round Island Race in the UK, smashing Sir Ben Ainslie’s record, and setting a new record of just 2 hours 23 minutes and 23 seconds, for round the Isle of Wight.

Round Ireland Phaedo 3 Record breakers celebrate at Dun Laoghaire marina. Photo: Rachel Fallon Langdon

Back ashore at Dun Laoghaire, Thornburg said the crew was exhausted but it was worth every second. “You really appreciate how beautiful this island is when you see it from the coast-side. The first time we came here was when we took part in the Volvo Round Ireland Yacht race last June. We had to come back and do it again and setting a new world record made it all the more worthwhile. It was intense but we’d do it again tomorrow, and we will be back!”

Celebrations will be short-lived however as Lloyd and the crew will be heading straight to the UK for the 2016 Cowes regatta, which kicks off tomorrow, Saturday.

The record-setting crew on board for the record were: Lloyd Thornburg - helm, Brian Thompson - Co-Skipper, Miles Seddon - Navigator, Damian Foxall - Bow, Paul Allen - Trim, Sam Goodchild - Trim, Henry Bomby - Grinder, Fletcher Kennedy - Grinder

Phaedo 3, hitting speeds of over 30–knots, made spectacular time covering two thirds of the northabout voyage from Dublin in a record time but things slowed dramatically in the closing stages yesterday evening when speeds dropped after rounding Tuskar Rock. Speeds as low as three knots brought the tri home past the Wexford coast and the estimated midnight arrival time slipped by with no finisher. Thornburg entered Dublin Bay at 4am, cutting things quite fine at the end.

Although the Round Ireland speed sailing record stood for nearly 22 years, clearly something very special indeed is happening in the Record Breaking Dept in 2015/16 when it is broken three times in little over a year.

Sidney Gavignet and the skipper of Oman Sail broke the 44–hour time set by Steve Fossett's 60ft trimaran Lakota in 1993 that withstood several challenges, including three by top French skipper Gavignet.

The OmanSail MOD 70 finally broke it with a time of just over forty hours in May 2015. Gavignet was back on Irish waters a year later as part of June's three–way MOD division of the Round Ireland Race. With some very exciting sailing on the 700–mile route, he broke his own record with a new sub 40–hour time of just over 38 hours.

Now that the Omani/French record has fallen to an American entry, how long will it be before another attempt is made at what is a very international dimension to Irish sailing?

 

#Speed - As British sailor Hannah White launches her bid to become the fastest woman on water, could the likes of Ireland's Olympic hero Annalise Murphy be inspired to make their own record-breaking attempts?

Yachting Monthly reports on sailor and broadcaster White's plans not only to break the women's speed record over one nautical mile with the purpose-built Moth foil Speedbird, but also reach a speed above 40 knots.

Doing so will involve a combination of state-of-the-art boat design, with titanium and carbon fibre components, and peak physical conditioning on the part of White – who is already training with a cross-discipline team to build new muscle groups for the core strength needed.

That's a challenge indeed, but nothing insurmountable for this experienced endurance sailor, who only this week became the fastest person to cross the English Channel by single-handed dinghy.

The question is, does Ireland have the calibre of high-performance sailors to attempt such a feat?

Annalise Murphy would make an excellent candidate – she might be focused on next summer's Olympics right now, but she's building up experience in the Moth, and would be well placed to launch her own speed record bid after the Games.

What other Irish sailors could take on the record? Have your say in the comments below!

#SpeedSailing - Ireland may have a new speed sailing record after Oisin van Gelderen laid claim to a 46.67-knot run at West Kirby Marine Lake in northwest England yesterday (Wednesday 28 January).

The multiple-time national champion says the WGPSSRC, the governing body for GPS speed sailing records, is currently analysing the files from his two GPS units before ratifying the new record, which he set on the man-made lake in the Wirral in winds of up to 45 knots and amid "huge squalls in hail showers".

He explained of his chosen location: "When wind direction is correct (120-135 degrees off wind) we can sail extremely close to the wall of the lake to get flattest water, uninterrupted by the strength of the wind.

"Yesterday was one of those days, though the wind turned out a little too broad, making the water too choppy and ultimately slowing us down as there was not enough space to do longer runs, meaning crashing was a huge possibility."

Van Gelderen says one fellow speedster was hospitalised with suspected concussion and whiplash from crashing "into the water - not the wall".

The potential new record, representing van Gelderen's average speed over 10 seconds, beats his previous record of 45.02. He also says he upped his average of five fastest 10-second runs to 44.97 knots, and peaked at 47.3 knots. Details of his session are available HERE.

At time of writing, the record would put him fourth in the world for GPS speed sessions in 2015 - though the table is subject to change at any time as windsurfers from around the world contribute their data.

Van Gelderen also points out that the Irish record set by his late friend John Kenny and sanctioned by the WSSRC still stands.

But the Skerries windsurfer isn't resting on his laurels, aiming for an even stronger run at Bunbeg in Donegal, where he sailed last week.

"It has huge potential [for me] to go much faster," he says. "Fifty knots is in my sights."

Bunbeg GPS Speedsailing 11-1-15. Fast Course from IR 777 on Vimeo.

#mothdinghy – A former American Fireball dinghy sailor has become the fastest dinghy sailor in the world, clocking up a time 36.5 knots on a foiling Moth dinghy. Charleston's Ned Goss who is well known in performance sailing circles is a pro racer in both inshore and offshore disciplines.

#speedsailing – The Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy (WPNSA) will be a mecca for world speed sailing this month. Weymouth Speed Week, the oldest and longest-running global speed sailing event will run from the 12th to the 18th October. Held annually since 1972, this year's edition has attracted, Zara Davis, the double women's world speed record holder to compete.

UK national, Zara, will take to the waters of Portland Harbour as part of time trials over a distance of 500 metres. Participants will use a wide variety of wind-powered craft providing an amazing spectacle, final speed is recorded as the average speed over the set distance. The flat, unobstructed waters of Portland Harbour and legendary strong winds of the South West offer ultimate time trial conditions coupled with excellent spectator viewing potential from the WPNSA's balcony.

Speed windsurfing is a passion for the UK based osteopath who has enjoyed this sport since she was 13 years old. Zara as well as being the only woman in history to hold two World Speed Sailing Records at the same time is a three time European Champion and eight times British Champion. Zara's current record stands at 45.83 knots/h breaking the previous record which stood for nine years and is now nominated for ISAF Sailor of the Year 2013.

Zara Davis will be using her event at the Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy as a final tune up before her upcoming trip to Namibia for the BSI Steel Luderitz Speed Challenge from the 7th October to 17th November.

Weymouth Speed Week (12 – 18 October) will be available to the public for viewing from the Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy, free car parking and entrance to the WPNSA.

Francis Joyon has shattered the North Atlantic record: 5 days, 2 hours, 56 minutes and 10 seconds or in other words a time that is 16 hours, 34 minutes and 30 seconds less than the previous record set by Thomas Coville in 2008.

Over the final stretch, Francis Joyon came very close to beating his own outright distance record over 24 hours (666.2 miles) and this enabled the Breton skipper to make important gains over the second half of the crossing, in spite of sailing some distance away from the Great Circle Route.