Fastnet 450: 16 Entries & Counting for New Dublin to Cork Offshore Sailing Race

10th August 2020

The National Yacht Club's Sunfast 3600 Hot Cookie, with multi-dinghy champion Noel Butler on the tiller, is the latest entry into the Fastnet 450 on August 22nd Credit: Afloat

John O'Gorman's Sunfast 3600 Hot Cookie from the National Yacht Club is the latest entry into Ireland's newest offshore sailing race.

With 12 days to go to the start of the inaugural Fastnet 450 Race from Dublin to Cork via the Fastnet Rock, SCORA organisers are reporting a 16-boat fleet already assembled since entry opened at the weekend.

The fact that there has been such disappointment over the cancellation of the Round Ireland Race, WAVE Regatta and the ICRA Nationals may attract more entries to August 22nd's novel event that does not feature any shoreside activity. As a result, it is certainly living up to its 'pop-up' moniker with the National Yacht Club and Royal Cork all behind the SCORA efforts to launch the race in record time.

Andrew Algeo's J99 Juggerknot II is among the ISORA entries from Dublin entered into the Fastnet 450. Also in is the weekend ISORA Race five winner More Mischief (Grzegorz Kalinecki) Photo: Afloat

As Afloat's WM Nixon related at the weekend, the Fastnet 450 is a modern-day re-enactment of a Victorian race in a year that marks special 150th and 300th anniversaries for the NYC and RCYC respectively.

Some of Ireland's top offshore boats were early sign-ups after 21 registered an interest when news of the new race broke last week on August 2nd.

Ronan O Siochru's (pictured centre) Sunfast 37 Desert Star from the Irish Offshore Sailing School Photo: Afloat

The top four overall from the weekend's ISORA race from Dun Laoghaire are all now racing to Cork, one of the latest entries also being Ronan O Siochru's Sunfast 37 Desert Star from the Irish Offshore Sailing School.

As Afloat previously reported, Cian McCarthy's 3300 Cinnamon Girl from Kinsale Yacht Club plus, Howth's Samaton and the J109 Indian are also now officially entered.

Download the Notice of Race here and entry form here.

Published in Fastnet 450 Race, Royal Cork YC, National YC, SCORA

K2Q - 260 mile course

K2Q - 160 mile course

'K2Q' Dun Laoghaire to Cork Race Live Tracker 2022

Track the progress of both the 160 mile and 260 mile K2Q Race fleet on the live trackers above and see all Afloat's K2Q Race coverage in one handy link here

The K2Q will consist of two combined events:

The primary race for the "The Breffni McGovern cup" will be approximately 260 miles, starting in Dun Laoghaire, passing through a virtual gate at the Cork Buoy, rounding the Fastnet Rock and finishing at Roches Point.

The "restricted" race for a still-to-be-announced trophy will start with the primary fleet in Dun Laoghaire but finish at the same virtual finish gate at Cork Buoy – approximately 150 miles.

All boats starting will be included in the "restricted" race. Boats passing through the finish gate at Cork Buoy and continuing to round the Fastnet and finish at Roches Point would also qualify for the primary K2Q event. Yachts can only win prizes in one of the events.

The race for the ISORA points will be the primary race – 260 miles.

The plan is for both 'K2Q races' to finish at the old RCYC clubhouse on the Cobh seafront.

Published in Fastnet 450 Race

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Fastnet 450

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The Kingstown to Queenstown Yacht Race or 'K2Q', previously the Fastnet 450

The Organising Authority ("OA") are ISORA & SCORA in association with The National Yacht Club & The Royal Cork Yacht Club.

The Kingstown to Queenstown Race (K2Q Race) is a 260-mile offshore race that will start in Dun Laoghaire (formerly Kingstown), around the famous Fastnet Rock and finish in Cork Harbour at Cobh (formerly Queenstown).

The K2Q race follows from the successful inaugural 'Fastnet 450 Race' that ran in 2020 when Ireland was in the middle of the COVID Pandemic. It was run by the National Yacht Club, and the Royal cork Yacht Club were both celebrating significant anniversaries. The clubs combined forces to mark the 150th anniversary of the National Yacht Club and the 300th (Tricentenary) of the Royal Cork Yacht Club.

Of course, this race has some deeper roots. In 1860 the first-ever ocean yacht race on Irish Waters was held from Kingstown (now Dun Laoghaire) to Queenstown (now Cobh).

It is reported that the winner of the race was paid a prize of £15 at the time, and all competing boats got a bursary of 10/6 each. The first race winner was a Schooner Kingfisher owned by Cooper Penrose Esq. The race was held on July 14th 1860, and had sixteen boats racing.

In 2022, the winning boat will be awarded the first prize of a cheque for €15 mounted and framed and a Trophy provided by the Royal Cork Yacht Club, the oldest yacht club in the world.

The 2022 race will differ from the original course because it will be via the Fastnet Rock, so it is a c. 260m race, a race distance approved by the Royal Cornwall Yacht Club as an AZAB qualifier.

A link to an Afloat article written by WM Nixon for some history on this original race is here.

The aim is to develop the race similarly to the Dun Laoghaire–Dingle Race that runs in alternate years.

Fastnet 450 in 2020

The South Coast of Ireland Racing Association, in association with the National Yacht Club on Dublin Bay and the Royal Cork Yacht Club in Cork, staged the first edition of this race from Dun Laoghaire to Cork Harbour via the Fastnet Rock on August 22nd 2020.

The IRC race started in Dun Laoghaire on Saturday, August 22nd 2020. It passed the Muglin, Tuscar, Conningbeg and Fastnet Lighthouses to Starboard before returning to Cork Harbour and passing the Cork Buoy to Port, finishing when Roches's Point bears due East. The course was specifically designed to be of sufficient length to qualify skippers and crew for the RORC Fastnet Race 2021.

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