Displaying items by tag: Speedsailing

2nd December 2019

Oisin Van Gelderen is Sailor of the Month (Speed Sailing) for November

Despite the lucky sail number, the magic 50 knots eluded Ireland’s fastest sailor Oisin van Gelderen by one third of a knot during his November 2019 campaign

The annual November visits of Skerries windsurfer Oisin van Gelderen to the Luderitz Speed Canal in the Namibian desert in southern Africa continue to fascinate Irish sailors as he battles to achieve a sustained speed above 50 knots. He has broken the 50 knots barrier in short bursts, and did it again in November 2019, briefly registering 51.7 knots. His GPS for the course showed 49.66 knots - still a third of a knot short of the magic 50, but he continues to be Ireland’s fastest sailor.

Published in Sailor of the Month

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5th May 2015

UPDATE (Noon): Round Ireland Record – Mod 70 Reaching Half Way Point

#roundirelandspeedrecord – With arguably the hardest part of the 700–mile journey already over, the northabout Oman Sail Trimaran is 75–miles off the Sligo/Mayo coast and on target to break the Round Ireland Speed Sailing record of one day and 20 hours. Having covered 300 nautical miles in 19–hours, the fastest part of this voyage is yet to come.
The six man crew were heading in a southerly direction (190 degrees) just before noon, expecting to crack sheets and accelerate down the west coast in some forecasted big winds, ready to reach estimated speeds of over 30–knots before the Fastnet rock.

Published in Offshore

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25th May 2011

Sailrocket 2 Clocks 40 + knots on First Run

Published in News Update

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Speedsailing

30th June 2010

Leopard 3 Breaks Own 24-Hour Speed Record

The 100ft Canting Keel Maxi Leopard 3 has broken its own record for a 24-hour run, covering 495 nautical miles. The previous record stood at 466.4NM.

The record is in a special category for craft with powered winches, and doesn't come close to some of the other records on boats where humans work the lines by hand.

The monohull record outright is still held by Torben Grael's Ericsson 4 team who covered 596.6nm at an average speed of 24.85 knots during the last Volvo Ocean Race.

Frenchman Thomas Coville blasted through 628.5 nautical miles in 24 hours on his 105ft trimaran Sodebo, averaging 26.2 knots in the process.

But the absolute mac daddy of them all is held by Pascal Bidegorry in his monstrous 131ft trimaran Banque Populaire 5. Bidegorry travelled 908.2 nautical miles in one day, and with an average of 37.84 knots you can only imagine what his top speed was.

The World Sailing Speed Record Council announces the ratification of a new World Record for ICAP Leopard.

Record: Monohull. 24 hours under rule 21.c
Yacht: ICAP Leopard. 100ft Monohull
Name: Mike Slade and 20 crew
Dates: 31st May to the 1st June 2010.
Start time: 05.00; 31/05/10
Finish time: 05.00; 01/06/10
Elapsed time: 24 hours
Distance: 495.1 NM
Average speed: 20.6 kts
Comments: Previous record: 466.4nm 19.4 kts. May 08 Leopard. Mike Slade GBR

Published in News Update

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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.