Displaying items by tag: Round Ireland
How to Make a Start in a Big Boat – Lessons 1 to 7
The nearer you were to today’s start of the Volvo Round Ireland Race 2016, the more amazing it all seemed. Yet it was difficult to see clearly what was happening as Teasing Machine and the mighty Rambler 88 came slicing through gaps which hadn’t even existed ten seconds earlier. Seen from a distance, it still looked both utterly marvellous – and totally scary. Photos: W M Nixon
See Round Ireland tracker here and keep to up to date with the fleet's progress with Afloat's regular Round Ireland 2016 updates here
Day one 1815hrs: If you want to cut a dash in the Volvo Round Ireland Race 2016, make sure your boat’s a silver bullet writes W M Nixon. The two grey flyers – Eric de Turckheim’s A13 Teasing Machine from France and George David’s Rambler 88 from the US – emerged as the true stars of a ferociously close start in which other boats seemed to have done marginally better, but turned out to have been OCS.
And as of 1815hrs this Saturday evening, they have been powering ahead to such good effect that the lead in IRC Overall has been bouncing between the two of them.
The hoped-for fair winds for the early stages had faded before the start, and it has been hard on the wind or beating all the way since the fleet set out at 1300hrs from Wicklow, with Teasing Machine and Rambler being in the right place at the start, spot on the committee vessel LE Aisling as the signal went. Quite how the mighty Rambler found her way through the maze of smaller craft is anyone’s guess, but George David’s top people gave a master-class in making a start with things getting difficult as the ebb was already running south with full vigour.
Inevitably the MOD 70s with their later start have since taken up the lead on the water, and they are now well past the Tuskar and feeling less adverse effect from the new flood tide making northwards, with Concise 10 marginally in the lead. But Rambler – having passed the Tuskar – has started making knots again after a sticky period in towards Carnsore Point.
As for Teasing Machine, having worked out a lead on most of the rest of the fleet, she took the gamble of seeking less strong adverse tides by heading inside the Wexford Banks through the sandy channels just south of Cahore Point, and at 1815 was making 4.8 knots over the ground very close inshore off Blackwater village. Two miles astern of Teasing, Michal Kleinjans in the Open 40 Visit Brussels, aka Roaring Forty 2, has used the same inshore tactic, and he leads IRC 0, which would be fine and dandy were it not for the fact that it underlines what a remarkable performance Teasing Machine is registering.
A completely different offshore tactic has been adopted by defending 2014 winning navigator Richie Fernie aboard Alan Hannon’s Reichel-Pugh 45 Katsu, he’s as far south as Teasing Machine, but well out in the open to the eastward ten miles offshore, making 4.5 knots over the ground, and lying 4th in IRC I.
However, it’s in the body of the fleet that we find the third placed boat in IRC overall, it’s Dave Cullen’s J/109 Euro Car Parks, (above) and despite the adverse tide she was logging 5.5 knots over the ground, very good going in the circumstances.
The wind outlook is for moderate headwinds along the south coast through the night, with the sou’westers starting to pipe up seriously around noon tomorrow.
See Round Ireland tracker here and keep to up to date with the fleet's progress with Afloat's regular Round Ireland 2016 updates here
Seascapes Podcast: Round Ireland's Justin Slattery, Brian Thompson & Dublin Port's Eamon O'Reilly
Hello and welcome aboard this week’s edition of your maritime programme Seascapes ... we have music from Starboard Home and an exclusive wide ranging interview with the Chief Executive of Dublin Port Company – Eamonn O’ Reilly on the life of the port and its ongoing development ………….……we have music from Andy Irvine who headlines this weekend’s Fastnet Maritime and Folk Festival in Ballydehob in West Cork as Molgoggers head for the Falmouth Festival we wish them fair sailing ….……..more on that competition where you can propose a youngster for a Sail Training Bursary this Summer courtesy of Sail Training Ireland and Seascapes ; we congratulate Royal Ulster Yacht Club on their 150th Anniversary with the celebrations starting this weekend …….first this week as the Volvo Round Ireland Yacht Race vessels and crews gather in Wicklow Sailing Club. David Branigan went along for Seascapes to Dun Laoghaire this week to have a word with record holder Brian Thompson, first we hear from Justin Slattery.....
David Branigan talking there to Justin Slattery and Brian Thompson ..the Volvo Round Ireland Yacht Race begins this weekend from Wicklow Sailing Club ..we’ll have a full report on next Friday's edition of Seascapes …
Further north on the East coast …………… Greystones Sailing Club will officially open its new premises this Sunday when Minister Simon Harris will perform the official opening………. The Club, originally established in 1968, caters for over 350 members and is very much a family club, rooted in the Greystones community. Initially sailing was confined to Mirror dinghies launched from a rubber mat rolled out on the shingle on North Beach with boats transported to and from the harbour on the tops of cars. The old clubhouse was built in the early 1970’s and has continued to be a part of the Greystones community since then. Now with the opening of the new facility, the club boasts over 100 dinghy’s and 20 keelboats and has one of the strongest junior sections of any club along the East Coast and is set to grow.
This weekend one of our great musical troubadours and treasures plays the Fastnet Maritime and Folk Festival Ballydehob here is the man himself Andy Irvine with this classic “Banks of Newfoundland” taken from his album Abocurragh…..
Next here on Seascapes to Dublin Port Company where we recently met up with the Chief Executive Eamonn O'Reilly and talked about the current dredging of Dublin bay to facilitate the expansion of the Alexandra Basin Container Ferry and Cruise Liner traffic and his perspective on spoil being dumped at the Burford Bank and the Starboard Home Concert in the National Concert Hall as part of the 2016 Commemorations which is on next Wednesday and Thursday…….
Finally Seascapes talked with Eamonn O Reilly about the port’s dredging spoil which is deposited on The Burford Bank in Dublin Bay since the beginning of the last century……
Eamonn O Reilly Chief Executive of Dublin Port we’ll hear more about the brand new Dublin Port Company Seafarers Centre which houses the Mission to Seafarers and Stella Maris and we’ll also be talking to Dermot Desmond Ships visitor for the Mission to Seafarers…..if you are attending the Starboard Home concert we hope to see you there also they’ve added an extra night on Thursday next …. tickets on sale now www.nch.ie
Starboard Home Features new works by Paul Noonan, James Vincent McMorrow, Cathy Davey, Duke Special, Gemma Hayes, Jape, Colm Mac Con Iomaire, Lisa O’Neill, Declan O’Rourke, John Sheahan Paul Cleary and novelist Caitriona Lally.
Royal Ulster Yacht Club are celebrating their 150th anniversary …
The first event of the 150th Anniversary celebrations for the Club will take place this weekend ……………The Randox Health Sigma 33 UK & Irish National Championships has attracted twenty boats from throughout the UK and Ireland. From Lough Swilly to Waterford, from the Clyde to Falmouth taking in Liverpool and the Isle of Man on the way. The visitors will join the local boats for three days of racing on the open waters of Belfast Lough.
On next Saturday 25th June there is to be an Anniversary Sail Past of all the competing boats and visitors from the other Club in Belfast Lough. This should be quite a sight with the old and the new processing past the RUYC Clubhouse along with . The Sail Past will commence at 12.00 midday and will be followed by the Club’s Annual Regatta supported by Templeton Robinson.
The fortnight of celebrations concludes on Friday 1st July with a gala dinner. The RUYC acknowledge the support of Ards and North Down Borough Council in running these special events.
“Well that’s all folks for this weekon the sound desk this week Niall O Sullivan ………….. next Friday night here on your maritime programme Seascapes we meet some Sail Training Ireland sail trainees aboard the brig “Morgenster” in Cork and Waterford and hear about their experiences at sea we talk to the Captain of the vessel Harry Muster and speak with the Chairman of Sail Training Ireland Seamus McLoughlin ………………….. we’ll have music from Fairport Convention with “A Sailor’s Life” and a report from the Volvo Round Ireland Yacht Race ….plus we visit the Seafarers Centre in the heart of Dublin Port all that and much more until next Friday night tight lines and fair sailing.”
Marcus Connaughton
RORC's Volvo Round Ireland Race Preview
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Round Ireland's Sailing Race's Record Entry – 64 Boats Here
Three Multi-One-Design (MOD) 70s, and the maxi-yacht Rambler 88 have added extra spice to a record-breaking 64-boat Volvo Round Ireland fleet that starts the 700-mile offshore race tomorrow at 1pm from Wicklow as David O'Brien writes in the Irish Times sailing column this morning. Although predictions of a summer solstice record are being made, if any such time is to fall then the record-breaker, and that includes holder Musandam-Oman Sail, must be back off Wicklow Head within one day, 16 hours, 51 minutes and 57 seconds, or approximately 5am on Monday. It’s a tall order even for the fastest sailing boats in the world. Read more here
See the final entry list from Wicklow below:
Entry No | Boat Name | Entrant/Skipper | Boat Type | Sail No | TCC | Club | Year of build | CLASS |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Xanadu | Simon Costain | X-50 | GBR905R | 1.147 | RAFYC RORC | 2008 | 1 |
2 | Mojito | Peter Dunlop & Vicky Cox | J/109 | GBR9047R | 1.010 | Pwllheli S.C. | 2008 | 3 |
3 | Bam | Conor Fogerty | Sunfast 3600 | IRL1471 | 1.047 | Howth Yacht Club | 2015 | 2 |
4 | Groupe 5 | Carpentier Patrice | Sunfast 3200 | FRA 38483 | 0.995 | SN La Trinite Sur Mer | 2012 | 4, 6 |
5 | Lynx | Irish National Sailing & Powerboat School | Reflec 38 | IRL 7386 | 1.044 | Irish National SC | 1999 | 3 |
6 | Aurelia | Chris & Patanne Power Smith | J122 | IRL35950 | 1.077 | Royal St George YC | 2008 | 2 |
7 | Pyxis | Kirsteen Donaldson | X332 | GBR5963T | 0.956 | RORC | 1997 | 4, 6 |
8 | Polished Manx2 | Kuba Szymanski | Beneteau First 40.7 | GBR 7003 T | 1.029 | Douglas Bay Yacht Club | 2001 | 3, 6 |
9 | Wild Spirit | Paul Jackson (LYC Sea School) | Jeanneau 40 | GBR8799T | 0.981 | RORC, JOG | 1999 | 4 |
10 | Quid non? | Nigel Philpott | Swan 40 (92) | GBR7384T | 1.005 | Royal Navy Sailing Assoc. | 2001 | 6 |
11 | Arthur Logic | Sailing Logic | Beneteau First 40 | GBR 7408R | 1.070 | RORC | 2014 | 3 |
12 | Pegasus of Northumberland | Ross Hobson | Open50 | GBR715R | 1.501 | RORC | 2003 | CK - 6 |
13 | Maybird | Darryl Hughes | Gaff Ketch | GBR 644R | 0.904 | Poolbeg Yacht & Boat Club | 1937 | 5 |
14 | Heimatau | Tom McLuskie | Farrier F36 | GBR708M | 0.000 | Port Edgar Yacht Club | 2000 | M |
15 | Lisa | Michael Boyd | First 44.7 | GBR4947R | 1.101 | Royal Irish YC / RORC | 2005 | 1 |
16 | Wakey Wakey | Roger Smith | J109 | GBR5909R | 1.015 | Poolbeg Yacht and Boat Club | 2008 | 3 |
17 | Rockabill VI | Paul O'Higgins | JPK 10.80 | IRL10800 | 1.046 | Royal Irish YC | 2016 | 2 |
18 | Arcsine | Kathy Claydon | Arcona 370 | GBR8643T | 1.009 | Weymouth Sailing Club | 2004 | 3, 6 |
19 | Euro Car Parks | David Cullen | J109 (Storm) | IRL1141 | 1.016 | Howth Yacht Club | 2009 | 3 |
20 | Change of Course | Keith Gibbs | C & C 115 | GBR9070R | 1.031 | Channel Sailing Club | 2005 | 3 |
21 | Bellino | Rob Craige | Sunfast 3600 | GBR 3657 L | 1.039 | RORC | 2014 | 3, 6 |
22 | Rambler | George David | Juan K canting keel | USA25555 | 1.827 | New York Yacht Club | 2014 | CK |
23 | Andante | Keith Miller | Yamaha 36 c | IRL375 | 0.947 | Kilmoer Quay SC | 1982 | 5 |
24 | May Contain Nuts | Kevin Rolfe | Rogers Whitbread 30 | GBR9030 | 0.995 | Cardiff Bay Yacht Club | 1996 | 3 |
25 | Sarabande | Rob Mably | Swan 47 | GBR 1238 | 1.051 | Royal Cornwall YC | 1977 | 3, 5 |
26 | Fuji | Ari Känsäkoski | Class 40 CC40 | GBR 38 | 1.220 | RORC | 2007 | C40 |
27 | Masai | Ben Korner | Class 40 Pogo S2 | 109 | 1.258 | Team Masai | 2011 | 1 |
28 | Fulmar Fever | Robert Marchant | Westerly Fulmar | FR14 | 0.879 | Waterford Harbour SC | 1980 | 4, 5 |
29 | Lula Belle | Liam Coyne & Brian Flahive | First 36.7 | IRL 3607 | 0.992 | Wicklow Sailing Club | 2005 | 4, 6 |
30 | Hissy Fit | Simon Baker | Dazcat 1495 | GBR 788M | 0.000 | Saltash Saling Club | 2015 | M |
31 | Port of Galway | Martin Breen / Nigel Moss | Dehler 37Cruising | IRL 5687 | 0.952 | Galway Bay Sailing Club | 1997 | 4, 6 |
32 | IOS Desert Star | Ronan O Siochru | Jeanneau Sunfast 37 | IRL 1397 | 0.970 | Irish Offshore Sailing | 2002 | 4 |
33 | Katsu | Alan Hannon | Reichel-Pugh | RP45 | 1.241 | RORC | 2011 | 1 |
34 | Albireo | David A Simpson | Swan 371 | IRL 3435 | 0.939 | Royal Irish YC | 1982 | 4 |
35 | J Taime | Christopher Dowd Palmer | J109 | GBR6709R | 1.011 | RORC | 2006 | 3 |
36 | Musandam - OmanSail | Sandrine Pelletier | MOD70 | OMA 07 | 0.000 | AL Mouj - Muscat | 2012 | M50+ |
37 | Concise 10 | Tony Lawson | MOD 70 | GBR 70 | 0.000 | RORC | 2012 | M50+ |
38 | Pipedreamer VI | Paul Sutton | Dufour 40 | GBR 2271L | 1.016 | Holyhead Sailing Club | 2003 | 3 |
39 | Just Plain Krazy | Ian Knight | JPK 1010 | GBR3789L | 1.008 | Royal Western | 2015 | 3, 6 |
40 | Teasing Machine | Teasing Machine | A13 | FRA 38757 | 1.169 | SRR | 2014 | 1 |
41 | BigDeal | Derek & Conor Dillon | Dehler nova | IRL 3492 | 0.922 | Foynes YC | 1992 | 4, 6 |
42 | Fortissimo | Dream or Two Sailing Ltd | Class 40 - Akilaria RC1 | GBR 97 | 1.257 | Portchester Sailing Club | 2008 | 1, C40 |
43 | Desperado of Cowes | Richard Loftus | Swan 65 | GBR1665 | 1.112 | RORC | 1977 | 1 |
44 | Denebola | Alain Poncelet | Mount Gay 30 modified | BEL1265 | 1.010 | Royal North Sea YC | 2008 | 3, 6 |
45 | Persistance | Jerry Collins | Sigma 38 2.08 | IRL 8237 | 0.978 | Royal St George YC | 1990 | 4 |
46 | Cavatina | Ian Hickey | Granada 38 | IRL3861 | 0.928 | Royal Cork YC | 1979 | 4, 5 |
47 | Colombre XL | Massimo Juris | Class 40 Pogo S2 | FRA 101 | 0.000 | Compagnia Della Vela Venezia (CDV Venezia) | 2011 | 1, 6 |
48 | Suenos | Rupert Kidd | Dazcat 1195 | GBR741M | 0.000 | Royal Western Yacht Club | 2010 | M |
49 | Bare Necessities | Bruce Sutherland | Dazcat 1150 | GBR 725 M | 0.000 | Saltash Sailing Club | 2009 | M |
50 | Ajax | Paul Macro | J109 | GBR 6908R | 1.009 | Royal Armoured Corps YC | 2006 | 3 |
51 | Roaring Forty2 | Roaring Forty2 | class 40 kiwi fc | BEl 107 | 1.304 | Royal YC Belgium /Royal Belgium SC | 2011 | Z |
52 | Phaedo^3 | Lloyd Thornburg | MOD70 | 03 | 0.000 | New York Yacht Club | 2011 | M50+ |
53 | Medicare First Aid | Joe Conway | Beneteau First 40 | FRA39886 | 1.096 | Royal Irish YC | 2011 | 2 |
54 | Adelie | Peter Hall | Beneteau First 34.7 | IRL 9631 | 0.987 | National Yacht Club | 2006 | 4 |
55 | Crackajack | Philip Quinn | Beneteau First 40.7 | GBR7664T | 1.048 | Strangford Lugh YC | 2001 | 3, 6 |
56 | Lambay Rules | Stephen Quinn | J97 | Irl 9970 | 0.971 | Howth Yacht Club | 2009 | 4 |
57 | Applegreen Sail for Kids | Stephen Mullaney | Beneteau First 375 | IRL7963 | 0.947 | Howth Yacht Club | 1987 | 4, 5 |
58 | Dear Prudence | Barry Lyons | J109 | IRL 1095 | 1.004 | Royal Irish YC | 2005 | 3 |
59 | Concise 8 | Team Concise | Class 40 | 129 | 0.000 | RORC | 2013 | C40 |
60 | Concise 2 | Team Concise | Class 40 | 93 | 1.291 | RORC | 2010 | C40 |
61 | Tan It | Robert Floate | Sydney 36 | GBR 731T | 1.051 | Isle of Man Yacht Club | 1998 | 2 |
62 | Palpatine | Doug Innes | Provina 42 Sport | GBR907R | 1.098 | RORC | 2006 | 1 |
63 | Team Fujitsu | Team Fujutsu | J111 | GBR 8191R | 1.093 | Army Sailing Association | 2014 | 2 |
64 | Spailpin | Louis Mulloy | First 31.7 | 00 | 0.000 | Mayo Sailing Club | 2000 | 4, 6 |
64 | Trilogic | Trilogic Offshore Racing | Multi 50 | FRA05 | 1.489 | Trilogic Offshore Sailing | 2003 | M |
Ireland's only multihull entry in the 2016 Round Ireland Race is skippered by Dun Laoghaire sailor Hugo Karlsson-Smythe and crewed by Bowen Ormsby. The Trilogic is a record setting Multi 50 Trimaran and pulled into Wicklow Harbour for Saturday's race after an 1800 mile shake down trip from Gran Canaria.
After this first ocean race on the Tri, Hugo's long term objective is the single handed Route du Rhum transatlantic race 2018.
Having bought the boat in April this year Hugo has been busy recommissioning her and getting her back into racing spec. The trip up from Las Palmas gave him the opportunity to shake her down a little however, but he was 'hampered somewhat' as the sail wardrobe was not complete.
The Trilogic is a record setting Multi 50 Trimaran
Hugo told Afloat.ie 'At the moment we are just getting used to sailing fast and recalibrating ourselves to a new normal, 10 kts now feels slow, a pause for coffee at 16kts is comfortable and 25kts feels like we are just getting going!'
'The Round Ireland is the perfect opportunity for us to get a better feel for the boat in a competitive environment before we move to France later this year for an optimization program to prepare the boat for the challenge ahead, he said. You can follow Trilogic at www.trilogic.ie
Round Ireland Race competitor Phaedo3 came through Dalkey Sound under full sail this morning, touching speeds of 17–knots. The MOD70 skippered by American Lloyd Thornburg was on a training for Saturday's Volvo Round Ireland race start off Wicklow Head. Scroll down for 30–second video clip.
Onboard for Phaedo3's race is Justin Slattery, a Cork offshore sailor who is a double winner of the Volvo Ocean Race. Also onboard the giant trimaran is British sailor Brian Thompson, the first Briton to break the Round the World sailing record twice. He is also the first to sail non stop around the world four times.
A Round Ireland Race J/109 crew consisting of six national champions from three classes from last weekend's ICRA championships at Howth Yacht Club is setting its sights high for Saturday's race start.
The well known Howth based J/109 Storm has been chartered for the 700–mile circumnavigation and rebadged as 'Euro Car Parks'. The entry is skippered by ICRA class two champion Dave Cullen from the half–tonner Checkmate V.
Cullen's crew line up is: Mark Mansfield (currently at the Quarter Ton Cup in Cowes), Maurice O’Connell, John Murphy, Eddie Bourke, Aidan Beggan, Franz Rotschild and Gary Murphy.
As a further boost to race hopes, last night Cullen's campaign announced Windward Hotels as a 'major sponsor'.
Windward Management is one of Ireland's leading hotel operators owning and managing hotels both in here and abroad. The company has just completed the purchase of the Hilton Dublin Airport Hotel.
Euro Car Parks joins a fleet of 65 boats, nearly double the 2014 entry, for Saturday's Round Ireland start off Wicklow at 1pm.
Record Times Add The Fizz To Round Ireland Race
There’s a problem with the Round Ireland sailing record if you’re hoping to set a new one in the Volvo Round Ireland Race when it starts from Wicklow at 1300hrs this Saturday, June 18th writes W M Nixon.
The problem is set by that very specific date and that time. It in turn has been set for a long time now, two years and more. But the absolute unlimited round Ireland has become refined to such an extent that you have to allow flexibility and a very broad window of time in which to make your start, and within that arc of time you wait for conditions to come just right.
Yet even then, as all your ducks of wind and weather come into the required neat row, it could well be that a few minutes either way in actually getting the record challenge on track may ultimately make a difference. It has become as sophisticated as that.
However, when it’s a matter of the gun firing and the race going off at a pre-ordained time, while it’s the same for everyone, equally the possibility of a new record – other than for the race itself – is very much in the lap of the Gods.
Yet it was the 704-mile Round Ireland Race which first began serious interest in an open record time. After Denis Doyle with the great Moonduster – a Frers 51 – set an astonishing time of 3 days 16hrs 15mins and 43 seconds in the race of 1984, it became open season for an open record.
People inevitably speculated what might be done, going for it exactly when you wanted when wind expectations were optimised, and going with a multi-hull too. But if anything, the times initially recorded served only to emphasise what an astonishing achievement The Doyler with The Duster had made in 1984. Yet within a decade, a new plateau had been reached when Steve Fossett, with the 60–ft trimaran Lakota, enticed to Ireland by Con Murphy and Cathy MacAleavey who crewed with him, rocketed round in 1 day 20 hours 42 minutes and 20 seconds in September 1993.
Lakota departs Dublin Bay on her record challenge in September 1993
That open record stood for 22 years – it was only finally bested by Sidney Gavignet with the MOD 70 Musandam-Oman Sail in May 2015 with a time of 1 day 16 hours 51 minutes and 57 seconds. The fact that the MOD 70’s crew didn’t come anywhere near knocking the ten hours they’d expected off the Lakota record tells us what a fantastic performance it had been in the first place, but equally it means that it’s unlikely that anyone will be trying to better Musandam’s time any time soon, unless the wind and weather chips fall exactly the right way during a Volvo Round Ireland Race.
The MOD 70 Musandam-Oman off the Irish coast for her successful record challenge in May 2015
But with Saturday currently forecast to see light nor’easterlies giving way to fresher sou’westers, while conditions aren’t entirely unfavourable, they could be much better. Everyone will have to take it as it comes, knowing that for a speedy round Ireland you need either nor’westers or sou’easters, not too much, not too little, and holding up well. It’s a big ask.
However, we’ve plenty of other stats to be going along with, as the Volvo Round Ireland Race will almost certainly see a Race Course Record for multi-hulls established, for although a little cruising catamaran went off with the original pre-RORC fleet from Wicklow in the first race of 1980, nobody seems too sure that she even finished, and if she did, she certainly wasn’t first.
But as the race developed its own mythology over the year, its own record elapsed times became interesting. That said, it took a long time to do better than Moonduster, but Lawrie Smith finally managed it in 1990 with the 83–ft Maxi Rothmans, shaving the Doyler’s time downwards by just three hours to set a time of 3d 12h 56m 06seconds.
The 83ft–Rothmans (Lawrie Smith) finally shaved a bit off Denis Doyle’s monohull record time of 1984 during the Round Ireland Race of 1990
Interestingly enough, Gordon Maguire was aboard Rothmans when she set that time in 1990, and he was aboard Mike Slade’s 100ft Leopard when she set what is still the current course record of 2d 17h 48m 47s.
But there was another course record in between those two times, in 1998 when Colm Barrington raced round Ireland with the Whitbread 60 Jeep Cherokee, and did it in a time of 3 days 4 hours 23 minutes and 53 seconds.
When we remember that the Barrington time with a 60-footer was sandwiched between the times of an 83-footer and a 100-footer, it gives the Jeep Cherokee record an added lustre. But this Saturday, the MOD 70s and the likes of Rambler 88 will know that they have to be looking at a time of less than 2 days and 17 hours if they’re going to be making any sort of a dent in Leopard’s record.
Mike Slade’s 100ft Leopard currently holds the course record for the Volvo Round Ireland Race after taking line honurs in 2008
And for those looking for fresh records to conquer, you can forget about the single-handed record of 4 days 1 hour and 52 minutes established by Michel Kleinjans of Belgium in the Open 40 Roaring Forty in October 2005, for if you tried to do the same, you’d probably get arrested, as ambitious single-handed sailing is officially frowned upon in Irish waters. But there is a growing area of interest, the two-handed record, so we’ll watch what this year’s race serves up in that department.
However, as for the open mono-hull record independent of the race, here again we have the same kind of time, in its way, as was set in 1993 by Lakota. It was in 2006 that the fully-crewed Open 60 Cityjet/Solene (Jean-Philippe Chomette) went round in 2 days 9 hours and 41 minutes, and even the mighty Leopard in 2008 took eight hours longer than that.
CityJet/Solene established an very impressive unrestricted monohull record in 2006. Photo: David O’Brien
CityJet/Solene had ace meteorologist Chris Tibbs calling the strategic and tactical shots, and he got it so right that it has an unbeatable look about it, but then they used to say the same about the Lakota figure. Be that as it may, here’s a shortened tabulation of sorts, and it all starts from Moonduster’s performance of 1984, the Great Mother of All Round Ireland records.
Round Ireland Race Record times:
1984 Moonduster (D. Doyle, RCYC) 3d 16hrs 15mins 43s.
1990 Rothmans (L Smith, LTSC) 3d 12hrs 56mins 06s
1998 Jeep Cherokee (C. Barrington, RIYC) 3d 4h 23m 57s
2008 Leopard (M Slade, RORC) 2d 17h 48m 47s
Round Ireland Open Record Times
1984 Moonduster (D Doyle, RCYC) 3d 16h 15mins 43s
1986 British Airways (R Knox-Johnston) 3d 4h 5m 36s
1986 Novanet (R Gomes, RUYC) 2d 22h 25m 16s
1993 Lakota (S Fossett) 1d 20h 42m 20s
2015 Musandam-Oman Sail (S Gavignet) 1d 16h 51m 57s
Round Ireland Monohull Record Times
1984 Moonduster (D Doyle, RCYC) 3d 16h 15m 43s
1990 Rothmans (L Smith, LTSC) 3d 12h 56m 06s
1998 Jeep Cherokee (C Barrington, RIYC) 3d 4h 23m 57s
2005 CityJet/Solene (Jean-Philippe Chomette) 2d 9h 41m
Round Ireland MOD Fight: OmanSail v Phaedo3 v Concise 10
Damian Foxall and Oman Sail’s crew on the Sultanate of Oman’s giant trimaran Musandam-Oman Sail are determined to fly the flag for Oman (and Foxall's home county Kerry) in Wicklow Sailing Club's Volvo Round Ireland Yacht Race this Saturday by beating the two other Multi70s and defending their Round Ireland world record.
When the race starts in Wicklow on Saturday, Sidney Gavignet’s team will have their sights on defeating Phaedo 3 and Concise 10, the two other 70–foot trimarans competing for honours.
Lloyd Thornburg's Phaedo3 has on board some Irish talent too. Double Volvo Ocean Race winner Justin Slattery is on board. Also on Phaedo3 is the UK's Brian Thompson, one of the most famous sailors in the world. He was the first Briton to break the Round the World sailing record twice. He was also the first to sail non stop around the world 4 times.
Despite a win over Team Concise in the recent Myth of Malham Race, they will have to pull out all the stops to achieve their aim, according to Gavignet, but after some intensive preparations, they were savoring the opportunity to compete.
“We see this as the most important race of our season,” said skipper Gavignet who will share helming duties with Omani Fahad Al Hasni and Irish offshore heavyweight Foxall over the two to three-day challenge.
“We do not know how we will get on against the other two but we really want to finish ahead of them both! They have done a lot of sailing this year and from the Myth of Malham, I’d say that Team Concise are sharp and we understand that Phaedo has had a complete refit with new 3D sails.
“But we know from when we set a new Round Ireland world record last year that this is a difficult course.
“We want to retain that record because achieving it meant so much to us and we were very happy to hear that the Round Ireland race has attracted the largest ever entry this year with teams motivated to beat our record. It feels like there’s been a renewal which makes us even more determined to win.”
The 704nm race clockwise round the Emerald Isle, as it is known, is a mix of coastal and offshore challenges so French navigator Jean Luc Nelias will have his work cut out while everyone is prepared for heavy weather along the way.
“Ideally it will not be too bad on the west coast - we do not want to be hammered by a massive low,” said Al Hasni.
“And if we could pick a breeze, we would go for fast reaching conditions because we are difficult to beat in that mode. We have good boat speed on Musandam-Oman Sail and a good crew especially with Sidney and Damian who seem to be able to put on extra knots!”
Gavignet will leave it until Friday when the team assembles in Wicklow for final training to announce his six strong crew for the race but his options will include debutant Raad Al Hadi, the 95kg powerhouse known as ‘Thunder’, after he participates in delivering Musandam-Oman Sail from Lorient to Wicklow.
Also available are Yasser Al Rahbi and Sami Al Shukaili who were on board for the record-breaking voyage in 2015 when Musandam-Oman Sail smashed the Round Ireland record completing the course in 40 hours, 51 minutes and 57 seconds, slicing four hours off a record that had stood for 22 years.
All have been in France competing in the J80 class at Normandy Race Week which has helped with refining boat handling skills and building on a strong team spirit in preparation for the Round Ireland Race and also for the 2016 Transat Quebec-St Malo race across the Atlantic in July.