Round Ireland Race Day 2 (Sunday) 0900 - Conditions have been ideal for swift and steady progress by the fleet in the SSE Renewables Round Ireland Race since they cleared Wicklow Head and passed Arklow. An area of light breezes off the East Wexford coast had filled in with the very favourable northwest to north wind by the time the leaders had reached that part of the course, and with the full ebb giving them a mighty push, there was still plenty of useful tide in their favour as they shaped their sailing round the Tuskar Rock and on southwestwards for the Coningbeg.
The powerful Cookson 50 Kuko 3 (Franco Niggeler, Switzerland) and the nimble HH42 InoXXX (James Neville. Commodore RORC) were firmly in the lead as they swept past Arklow, and have stayed mainly in front ever since with the solid northerly (“the wind is off the grass” as the appreciative buoyage-working staff of Irish Lights would put it in offshore breezes) giving them a drag race all the way along the south coast.
The breeze seldom reached sufficient strength in the night for the third-placed Class 40 Influence (Andrea Fornaro, Italy) to develop her full potential and challenge their position, but she did briefly pass InoXXX well to sea off Courtmacsherry, as did the Volvo 70 Green Dragon which has been taking some time to show her full performance abilities.
But Kuka 3 stayed firmly in charge of the prime position, and was past the Fastnet Rock by 0620 this morning, with Green Dragon now second though quite a few miles astern, InoXXX back ahead of Influence in third, and the American Class40 Kite fourth of the water.
At 0900 Kuka 3 was closing in on Dursey Head and the Bull Rock beyond with InoXXX again in second on the water, heading into much more rugged conditions of a fresh and sometimes strong northerly to seaward off the West Kerry coast to provide all the conditions for a crew-testing, boat-breaking day.
Meanwhile astern, all along the South Coast back as far back as Cork Harbour, the bulk of the fleet are continuing to enjoy the benefits of having “the wind off the grass”, and though InoXXX and Kuko 3 are currently first and second overall on IRC, Samataom (Robert Rendell, HYC) is second in IRC1 with Darkwood (Michael Boyd) third, the French J111 SL Energies Groupe Fastwave leads IRC 2 with the J/122 Aurelia (Chris & Patanne Power Smith, RStGYC) third.
Cinnamon Girl (Sunfast 3300, Cian McCarthy & Sam Hunt, KYC) leads Rockabill IV (Paul O’Higgins, RIYC) and Snapshot (Mike & Richie Evans, HYC) in IRC3, and Tony Kingston’s classic Swan 40 Shindig (KYC) leads IRC 4 from Ian Hickey’s Cavatina (RCYC).
The Race Tracker is below