What is the date and time of the 2020 Round Ireland Yacht Race?

August 22nd. Starting times: Monohulls 1300 hrs and Multihulls 13.10 hrs.

What is the Round Ireland Yacht Race distance?

Approximately 704 nautical miles or 1304 kilometres

2024 SSE Renewables Round Ireland Yacht Race is Launched in Wicklow

Q: What is the Round Ireland Race speed record?

The Round Ireland race record of 38 h 37 min 7s is held by MOD-70 trimaran Musandam-Oman Sail and was set in June 2016.

2024 SSE Renewables Round Ireland Yacht Race is Launched in Wicklow

30th January 2024

Afloat.ie Team

Director of Services at Wicklow County Council Michael Nicholson, Senator Pat Casey, Cathaoirleach of Wicklow County Council Aoife Flynn Kennedy, Commodore of Wicklow Sailing Club Karen Kissane, Head of offshore Ireland at SSE Renewables Barry Kilcline, Director of Services at Wicklow County Council Lorraine Gallagher, Kyran O’Grady of Wicklow Sailing Club and Head of Finance at Wicklow County Council Brian Gleeson at the launch of the SSE Renewables Round Ireland Yacht Race 2024 in Wicklow County Campus

2024 SSE Renewables Round Ireland Yacht Race - Director of Services at Wicklow County Council Michael Nicholson, Senator Pat Casey, Cathaoirleach of Wicklow County Council Aoife Flynn Kennedy, Commodore of Wicklow Sailing Club Karen Kissane, Head of offshore Ireland at SSE Renewables Barry Kilcline, Director of Services at Wicklow County Council Lorraine Gallagher, Kyran O’Grady of Wicklow Sailing Club and Head of Finance at Wicklow County Council Brian Gleeson at the launch of the SSE Renewables Round Ireland Yacht Race 2024 in Wicklow County Campus Credit: Michael Kelly

Wicklow Sailing Club has officially launched its 2024 SSE Renewables Round Ireland Yacht Race with entries coming in as soon as race registration opened.

Event details were announced on Monday, January 29th, at the official launch in the Wicklow County Campus, Clermont House, Rathnew.

The 704-nautical mile-race, which has been described as the Kilimanjaro of Sailing will commence on Saturday, 22 June 2024.

SSE Renewables, a leading renewable energy developer, owner and operator, continues to provide its support as the title event sponsor for the 2024 event.

The race will offer both competition and personal achievement for boat owners and crews alike. Since the success of the 2022 event, significant interest has grown in the race with a promising level of pre-entry enquiries already submitted to the race organisers.

Berthing facilities at the pier and quays close to Wicklow Sailing Club's base will be available, in addition to marina options at Greystones and Dun Laoghaire Harbour for big boat entries.

The course for the classic biennial offshore event follows the traditional route first contested in 1980 that states - “leave Ireland and its islands to starboard - while starting and finishing at the scenic port of Wicklow on the East Coast of Ireland”.

Kyran O’Grady, Round Ireland 2024 race organiser, Wicklow Sailing Club said: “The race event in 2022 was very successful, with close to 50 vessels entering. This year, we are looking forward to an even larger turnout. With less than six months to go before the 2024 race, we look forward to welcoming an array of both national and international competitors across the various classes seeking to complete in one of the bucket-list events in the sailing calendar.”

The partnership with Wicklow Sailing Club continues as the company works to develop Arklow Bank Wind Park 2 off the coast of Arklow, Co. Wicklow, which will seek its third and final planning consent from An Bord Pleanála later this year.

Barry Kilcline, Head of Offshore (Ireland) at SSE Renewables said: “We are delighted to partner again with Wicklow Sailing Club to deliver an eagerly anticipated event, which we hope will offer the domestic and international sailing community an exciting competition and something to look forward to in June. This event reflects the potential that the Irish maritime space offers, and we look forward to seeing competitors sail past our proposed development site at Arklow Bank in Wicklow.”

Entries will be accepted from 29 January to 31 May 2024. Enter here

Published in Round Ireland

Round Ireland Yacht Race Live Tracker 2022

Track the progress of the 2022 Wicklow Sailing Club Round Ireland Race fleet on the live tracker above and see all Afloat's Round Ireland Race coverage in one handy link here

Published in Round Ireland

Tagged under

Round Ireland

About The Author

Afloat.ie Team

Email The Author

Afloat.ie is Ireland's dedicated marine journalism team.

Have you got a story for our reporters? Email us here.

We've got a favour to ask

More people are reading Afloat.ie than ever thanks to the power of the internet but we're in stormy seas because advertising revenues across the media are falling fast. Unlike many news sites, we haven’t put up a paywall because we want to keep our marine journalism open.

Afloat.ie is Ireland's only full–time marine journalism team and it takes time, money and hard work to produce our content.

So you can see why we need to ask for your help.

If everyone chipped in, we can enhance our coverage and our future would be more secure. You can help us through a small donation. Thank you.

You might also want to read...

Round Ireland Yacht Race Information

The Round Ireland Yacht Race is Ireland's classic offshore yacht race starts from Wicklow Sailing Club (WSC) and is organised jointly with the Royal Ocean Racing Club (RORC) and the Royal Irish Yacht Club (RIYC). This page details the very latest updates from the 2008 race onwards including the race schedule, yacht entries and the all-important race updates from around the 704-mile course. Keep up to date with the Round Ireland Yacht Race here on this one handy reference page.

2020 Round Ireland Race

The 2020 race, the 21st edition, was the first race to be rescheduled then cancelled.

Following Government restrictions over COVID-19, a decision on the whether or not the 2020 race can be held was made on April 9 2020 to reschedule the race to Saturday, August 22nd. On July 27th, the race was regrettably cancelled due to ongoing concerns about COVID-19.

Because of COVID-19, the race had to have a virtual launch party at the Royal Irish Yacht Club for its 21st edition.

In spite of the pandemic, however, a record entry was in prospect for 2020 with 50 boats entered with four weeks to go to the race start. The race was also going big on size and variety to make good on a pre-race prediction that the fleet could reach 60. An Irish offshore selection trial also looked set to be a component part of the 2020 race.

The rescheduling of the race to a news date emphasises the race's national significance, according to Afloat here

FAQs

How many miles duration is the Round Ireland Yacht Race?

704 nautical miles, 810 miles or 1304 kilometres

What is the distance around Ireland's coastline?

3171 kilometres is the estimate of Ireland's coastline by the Ordnance Survey of Ireland.

Who is the sponsor of the 2020 Round Ireland Yacht Race?

SSE Renewables are the sponsors of the 2020 Round Ireland Race.

Who organises the Round Ireland Yacht Race?

Wicklow Sailing Club in association with the Royal Ocean Racing Club in London and The Royal Irish Yacht Club in Dublin.

Where is the Round Ireland Race Start?

Off Wicklow Harbour on Saturday, August 22nd 2020

What is the Round Ireland Race Start time?

Monohulls 1300 hrs and Multihulls 13.10 hrs

What is the Round Ireland Race course?

Leave Ireland and all its islands (excluding Rockall) to starboard.

How long does it take to sail Round Ireland?

It depends on the boat. The elapsed record time for the race is under 40 hours but most boats take five or six days to complete the course.

Is there a Round Ireland Race Tracker?

The Race Tracker is https://afloat.ie/sail/events/round-ireland/item/25789-round-ireland-yacht-race-tracker-2016-here.

What is the history of the Round Ireland Race?

The idea of a race around Ireland began in 1975 with a double-handed race starting and finishing in Bangor organised by Ballyholme Yacht Club with stopovers in Crosshaven and Killybegs. That race only had four entries. In 1980 Michael Jones put forward the idea of a non-stop race and was held in that year from Wicklow Sailing Club. Sixteen pioneers entered that race with Brian Coad’s Raasay of Melfort returning home after six days at sea to win the inaugural race. Read the first Round Ireland Yacht Race 1980 Sailing Instructions here

What is the Round Ireland Race speed record?

The Round Ireland race record of 38 h 37 min 7 s is held by MOD-70 trimaran Musandam-Oman Sail and was set in June 2016.

What is the Round Ireland Race Monohull Speed record?

George David’s Rambler 88 (USA) holds the fastest monohull race time of two days two hours 24 minutes and 9 seconds set in the 2016 race.

What was the first round Ireland voyage?

William Power's 45ft Olivia undertook a round Ireland cruise in September 1860

What is the Smallest Boat To Sail Round Ireland?

Richard Hayes completed his solo epic round Ireland voyage in September 2018 in a 14-foot Laser dinghy. The voyage had seen him log a total of 1,324 sea miles (2,452 kilometres) in 54 sailing days. in 1961, the Belfast Lough Waverly Durward crewed by Kevin and Colm MacLaverty and Mick Clarke went around Ireland in three-and-a-half weeks becoming the smallest keelboat ever to go round. While neither of these achievements occurred as part of the race they are part of Round Ireland sailing history