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Displaying items by tag: Gwylan Islands

An 11 mile beat to Gwylan Islands was a challenging part of ISORA's race three – the Pwllheli Day Race –  and the crew on the J109 Sgrech made the best of the upwind leg getting to the Islands well ahead of the rest of the fleet.

The race was a fantastic advert for offshore racing with something for everyone and a little of everything.

The forecast was for a 4 to 5 NW with WNW later and the scenic, triangular 40 mile course was set with a start from the CHPSC bridge and a short close reach to PSC 2. We then had a long (11miles) white sail reach to the Causeway cardinal buoy. The fleet at this point was bunched together with Xpletive slightly ahead but Mojito and Wennol III looking good.

The 11 mile beat to Gwylan Islands was challenging and the crew on Sgrech making the best of the upwind leg getting to the Islands well ahead of the fleet.

Then the start of the downwind spinnaker leg with what was billed as an exciting 15 miles of fast and furious not going to plan. A squall came through at Cilan Headland and caught Sgrech with her spinnaker up on the outside track. This squall brought a new head wind and allowed white sailed Xpletive to take an inside track to take the lead.

Early problems with Mojito's spinnaker allowed Wennol III through to third place at Cilan. Wennol III spotted the squall and wisely doused her spinnaker early and closed up on the leaders.

The wind backed and allowed a close reach for the finish with Expletive taking line honours closely followed by Sgrech with her a-sail closing the gap.

New to ISORA, Nanuaq, a Moody 38s thoroughly enjoyed the racing and they are now looking forward to the Pwllheli to Wicklow race on Saturday 28th May (and the party in Wicklow after racing).

Rank Fleet Boat SailNo Type Rating Start Finish Elapsed Corrected Points
1 Class 1 Xpletive 4242 X Yachts 1.027 10.35.00 16.25.55 5.50.55 6.00.23 92.7
2 Class 2 Sgrech GBR9319R J109 1.026 10.35.00 16.27.03 5.52.03 6.01.12 82.1
3 Class 2 Wennol GBR 1347  1.008 10.35.00 16.46.00 6.11.00 6.13.58 71.4
4 Class 3 Mojito GBR4184 Bravaria 38 0.998 10.35.00 16.57.24 6.22.24 6.21.38 60.7
5 Class 3 Nanuq 6395  0.965 10.35.00 17.55.00 7.20.00 7.04.36 50.1
Published in ISORA

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.

At A Glance – K2Q (Kingstown to Queenstown) Race 2024

The third edition of this 260-nautical mile race starts from the National Yacht Club on Dublin Bay on July 12th 2024 finishes in Cork Harbour.

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