Round Ireland Race Day Four (Tuesday) 0830 hours: When the on-water leader, the Swiss Cookson 50 Kuka3 (Franco Niggeler), came past Rathlin Island at 03:00 hrs this morning, her crew knew that they had barely two hours of tide still in their favour at this most notorious of the Round Ireland Race’s tidal gates, and that as they made southing into the North Channel along the impressive Antrim coast, they’d be sailing into an area of much lighter breezes than the moderate westerly they’d enjoyed through the night along the North Coast.

The Swiss Cookson 50 Kuka3 (Franco Niggeler) pictured right in a downwind duel with the now retired INO XXX (James Neville) in Saturday's Round Ireland race start Photo: Bob Bateman

And so it has come to pass. At 0800 hrs Kuka3 was making barely 2 knots off Red Bay, knowing that it will be 1100hrs before the tide shows signs of turning in their favour. But meanwhile, the Volvo 70 Green Dragon (Enda O Coineen & Conor Ferguson), which had been all of 30 miles astern west of Donegal, has been taking full advantage of Kuka’s inevitable stop and has closed up to just 12 miles astern, making a slightly better speed of 5 knots off Fair Head, though steadily slowing to 1.5 knots as she got more completely into the condition which has brought Kuka to an effective halt.

Volvo 70 Green Dragon (Enda O Coineen & Conor Ferguson) Photo: Bob Bateman

With light winds, the turn of the tide may not see a dramatic change in progress over the remaining 140 miles to the finish at Wicklow. But all is relative in these conditions, and the full surge of the new south-going flood in the North Channel may encourage some local breezes to liven up the sailing.

Michael Boyd’s J121 Darkwood

Meanwhile astern, only the leading Class40 Kite (Greg Leonard, USA) has managed to get past Inishtrahull in the westerly wind, and having tacked to lee in towards the coast, they are now off Lough Foyle and managing to make 5.8 knots over the ground as the ebb continues to pour westward.

Eagle Island off the County Mayo coast shrouded in mist as seen by the crew of the Sunfast 3600 Yoyo on the evening of day three of the 2022 Round Ireland Race Photo: Maurice O'Connell

The two leading “normal” IRC boats, Michael Boyd’s J121 Darkwood and Robert Rendell’s Grand Soleil 44 Samatom are still west of Malin Head and due north of the Lough Swilly, with Darkwood leading Samatom on the water while being second on IRC Overall, where Paul O’Higgins’ Rockabill VI – currently making the turn at Tory Island while registering a respectable 6.9 knots – is narrowly leading overall on Corrected Time.

All details and Race Tracker below