Kinsale Yacht Club's second offshore race of the season indicates a south coast demand for this type of racing. Still, the absence of any Cork boats on July's K2Q 260 race course means organisers look set to alter the timing of future editions of the Dun Laoghaire to Cork Race.

The gun for Kinsale's next race will fire on August 19th for an All-In race around the Fastnet Rock. It's another offshore fixture that ISORA chief Peter Ryan says proves 'there is interest in offshore racing'.

Ryan has been in the vanguard of an offshore revival on the east coast over recent seasons bringing together Dublin and Welsh crews for cross-channel racing and local coastal races. 

Ryan, as one of the K2Q race organisers, accepts that the timing of the July 1 K2Q race (with both 160 and 260-mile course options) was too close to June's Round Ireland Race, but he also says it 'went well' for its first staging. 

As regular Afloat readers know, the K2Q is a Dun Laoghaire to Cork Race. Its staging was a collaboration between the Munster-based SCORA and the Irish Sea ISORA offshore racing associations.

As previously reported, the K2Q was a replay of the first recorded Irish offshore race of 1860.

It was won by Welsh J109, Mojito (Vicky Cox and Peter Dunlop), while the 160-mile course was won by Royal Cork yacht Grand Soleil 40, Nieulargo (Denis and Annamarie Murphy). 

2022 K2Q (160 miles) race winner - Grand Soleil 40 Nieulargo Photo: Afloat

Denis and Annamarie Murphy win the McGovern trophy for the K2Q Race 160 mile course Photo: Bob Bateman

There were 26 entries in the race but only 13 starters. Only four completed the Fastnet long course.

There were no Cork boats in the four-boat race, and three of the four ISORA boats competing were from Wales.

2022 K2Q (260 mile) race winner - J109 Mojito Photo: Afloat

K2Q winners - In 1860, It is reported that the race's winner was paid a £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, with sixteen boats racing. In 2022, Mojito was 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. Photo: Bob Bateman

Speaking to Afloat, Mojito Co-skipper Vicky Cox said, "the race was a real tough one for the crew, both physically leading to the rock and mentally coming away from it."

ISORA Chief Peter Ryan, who set up the race with SCORA's Daragh Connolly, told Afloat, "It’s a great format - dual courses. It could be an annual event but definitely a biennial one. If biennial, it needs to be later, possibly mid-August. 

ISORA and SCORA are to sit down to review the race, discuss other co-operations and set a date for a future edition.

A win for Peter Dunlop and Vicky Cox's J109 Mojito in July's inaugural 260-mile K2Q Dun Laoghaire to Cork via Fastnet Race, followed by an overall win of the IRC Coastal Division of Volvo Cork Week, is a highlight of the season so far for the visiting North Wales crew.

The K2Q race was a collaboration between the Munster-based SCORA and the Irish Sea ISORA offshore racing associations. As previously reported, was a restaging of the first recorded Irish offshore race of 1860.

"The K2Q race was a real tough one for the crew, both physically leading to the rock and mentally coming away from it, according to Mojito co-skipper Cox. 

The Mojito crew on the K2Q were Peter Dunlop, Anthony Doyle, Dave Jackson, Garrett Kinnane, Sammo Jones, Charlie Hazelwood and Ben Cartwright. At the last minute, Cox was unable to race but rejoined the boat for the Cork Week Regatta.

Only four boats completed the long course version of the race, three of them from Wales.

The Mojito crew on the K2Q were Peter Dunlop, Anthony Doyle, Dave Jackson, Garrett Kinnane, Sammo Jones, Charlie Hazelwood and Ben Cartwright. Cox was, at the last minute, unable to race but rejoined the boat for the Cork Week Regatta Photo: Afloat

K2Q winners - In 1860, It is reported that the race's winner was paid a £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, with sixteen boats racing. In 2022, Mojito was 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. Photo: Bob Bateman

Mojito's Cork Week Coastal campaign

"I must admit Cork Week has always been a favourite, and there was absolutely no hesitation from our crew when we said we would do it as they all enjoyed the fun there in 2018", Cox told Afloat. 

Twenty-one teams raced in the Coastal Class, which proved to be one of the most competitive classes of the Week. In the early stage, Robert Rendell's Grand Soleil 44 Samatom from Howth YC led the class after winning the Harbour Race by just 32 seconds. Jamie McWilliam's Royal Hong Kong YC team racing Ker40+ Signal 8 was also on the pace. 

In Afloat's Cork Week 2022 race reports, WM Nixon referred to Mojito as the 'Steady Eddy of the Coastal IRC Class' and how the crew upped their game a tiny bit for the final and closest race of the class's Week by bringing their immaculately-maintained ISORA offshore star in first on Corrected Time, which in due course gave Mojito the scoreline for winning the overall title. 

Mojito (GBR9047R) under spinnaker in Cork Week's predominantly light airs Photo: Rick Tomlinson

 "It was amazing to compete against the bigger boats such as Signal 8 and Pata Negra, but as soon as they left the start line, we could barely see them, making it difficult to gauge how we were doing in the race", Cox says. "All we could do was sail as best we could, and amazingly we won the first race".

"A third place on Wednesday, and we realised we were up against an amazing crew on Signal 8, so we'd really have to push to get a good result. We really have to thank our crew for the results as every eye was looking out for wind shifts, wind holes and the inevitable sea breeze", she told Afloat.  

Peter Dunlop and Vicky Cox on the podium in Cork Week as Coastal division champions Photo: Bob Bateman

What's Next for Coastal Champion Mojito? 

Mojito continues her busy season, heading back to Dun Laoghaire at the end of the month, racing in the next ISORA race from Dun Laoghaire to Pwllheli.

Once back in her home port, she'll compete in the Welsh IRC National Championships (5th to 7th August), followed by Abersoch Keelboat week at the end of August and an ISORA Welsh coastal race. That then sets Mojito up nicely for the last ISORA race of the season, the famous James Eadie trophy race from Pwllheli to Dun Laoghaire.

At the end of the ISORA series, Mojito returns home to Pwllheli Sailing Club to compete in the popular Autumn and Winter series and the Pwllheli Challenge. "We really find that series a great place to train for offshore, especially when the strong south-westerlies kick in on the jet stream', Cox says.

The inaugural K2Q 260-mile race from Dun Laoghaire via Fastnet Rock to Cork concluded on Sunday in Cork Harbour and was won on IRC by the J/109 Mojito (Peter Dunlop and Vicky Cox).

It was the first collaboration between the Munster-based SCORA and the Irish Sea ISORA offshore racing associations and, as previously reported, was a restaging of the first recorded Irish offshore race of 1860.

There were no Cork boats in the four-boat race and of the four ISORA boats competing, three were from Wales.

K2Q 260 IRC results overall for the four boat fleet

Earlier, a shorter version of the K2Q called the 'K2Q160' running over the same course but leaving out the 100-mile section to the Fastnet Rock and finishing directly in Cork Harbour was won by Royal Cork's Nieulargo as Afloat reported here.

Robert Rendell's Grand Soleil 44 Samatom from Howth Photo: Afloat

Second on IRC overall to Mojito was the line honours winner, the Howth Yacht Club Grand Soleil 44, Samatom. Third was the Pwllheli J125 Jackknife skipperd by Andrew Hall.

J125 Jackknife skippered by Andrew Hall departs Dun Laoghaire Harbour at the start of the K2Q Race Photo: Afloat

The only two-hander in the race was Mark and Jo Thompson's Sunfast 3200 Jac Y Do sailed by Thompson and Phil Jackson. The Pwllheli duo are aiming to compete in the 2,400 mile ocean AZAB race and the K2Q distance is a mandatory qualification length for the AZAB. 

The AZAB, also known as Azores and Back race starts in Falmouth and goes to the port of Ponta Delgada, on the Azore's Island of São Miguel. Competitors take a brief respite on the island before turning around and racing back to Falmouth.

Marc and Jo Thompson's Sunfast 3200 Jac Y Do

A K2Q prizegiving will be held next Monday on the first day of Cork Week Regatta 2022.

See race trackers below

K2Q Day Three 0600 - Royal Cork's Nieulargo carried her advantage along the south coast on Saturday to win the K2Q Dun Laoghaire to Cork 160-mile race arriving back into her home port of Cork Harbour to be first in IRC overall and first in IRC One. 

The new race echoes the first-ever ocean yacht race on Irish waters in 1860 held from Kingstown (now Dun Laoghaire) to Queenstown (now Cobh), a story told here by Afloat's WM Nixon.

Denis and Annamarie Murphy's Grand Soleil 40 was second in line honours to the First 50 Checkmate XX (Dave Cullen and Nigel Biggs), the Howth Yacht Club entry taking second overall. 

Denis and Annamarie Murphy's Grand Soleil 40, Nieulargo Photo: Afloat

It's a unique double for the Royal Cork's yacht of the year - just one of two Cork boats that competed this weekend - as she also won the early iteration of the race known as the Fastnet 450, which sailed in August 2020.

First 50 Checkmate XX (Dave Cullen and Nigel Biggs) Photo: Afloat

Paul Sutton's Jay Dreamer took third overall on IRC in the J109 Jaydreamer.

Paul Sutton's J109 Jay Dreamer Photo: Afloat

As Afloat reported, the K2Q consists of two combined events in one race. 

Five of the nine-boat fleet opted to finish at the 160-mile stage leaving just four competing in the K2Q 260, a course of an extra 100 miles out to the Fastnet and back to Cork Harbour.

Mojito leads K2Q 260

Three of the four still racing are Welsh, with former ISORA champion, the J109 Mojito (Peter Dunlop and Vicky Cox), pictured top,  leading on IRC overall. Robert Rendell's Howth-based Grand Soleil 44 Samatom is the line honours leader and lying second overall.

Robert Rendell's Howth-based Grand Soleil 44 Samatom Photo: Afloat

The J125 Jackknife skippered by Andrew Hall is lying third on IRC. Mark and Jo Thompson's two-handed Sunfast 3200 Jac Y Do is fourth.

J125 Jackknife skippered by Andrew Hall Photo: Afloat

The K2Q 260 primary race for the "The Breffni McGovern Cup" saw the fleet passing through a virtual gate at the Cork Buoy, rounding the Fastnet Rock and finishing back at Roches Point.

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 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 260 miles race.

The long-established Dun Laoghaire to Cork offshore race – reintroduced in Covid as the 'Fastnet 450' in 2020 – was further developed for 2022 as the 'Kingstown to Queenstown Race' or 'K2Q' race.

The Dublin-Cork promoters planned to facilitate all offshore sailors by providing a medium-length offshore race and a long offshore race by having two races in one, with all boats completing the shorter race. 

However, although 26 boats were entered for the race, only 12 started from Dun Laoghaire last Friday, a turnout that now calls into question the race's timing just a week after the 700-mile Round Ireland.

See race trackers for both K2Q 160 and 260 below

K2Q Day Two 0830 - Now racing on her home waters of the south coast, Royal Cork's yacht of the year, Nieulargo, leads the IRC honours race into the second day of the K2Q Dun Laoghaire to Cork yacht race.

Denis and Annamarie's Grand Soleil 40 has overtaken the two bigger boat entries after Friday's initial east coast tacking battle and now heads the reduced fleet of nine boats.

This morning the fleet is reaching along the Waterford coast at Dungarvan in the 260-mile race, which aims to replay Ireland's first offshore fixture of 1860.

Chasing Nieulargo is Welsh J109 Mojito, a former champion ISORA boat from Pwllheli skippered by Peter Dunlop and Vicky Cox that has moved up to second from third place overnight.

Peter Dunlop and Vicky Cox skipper the Welsh J109 Mojito along the Dublin boat on day of the K2Q  Photo: Afloat

Day one leader Robert Rendell's Samatom from Howth Yacht Club remains as line honours leader but has dropped to fourth overall on handicap.  

Robert Rendell's Samatom from Howth Yacht Club Photo: Afloat

Clubmates Nigel Biggs and Dave Cullen's First 50 Checkmate XX lie fifth overall on IRC.

Nigel Biggs and Dave Cullen's First 50 Checkmate XX Photo: Afloat

Regular Afloat leaders will recall that in August 2020, Nieulargo also produced this turn of winning speed when she competed in the Fastnet 450 Race, the forerunner to the K2Q and won despite it not being her preferred conditions.

See the ISORA race trackers below

Today's Dun Laoghaire to Cork K2Q yacht race has had its first retiral with the withdrawal of the customised Mills 36, Prime Suspect.

The Keith Mills skippered yacht was lying fourth in IRC 1 division when she quit the 260-mile race this evening. 

Magic Touch crew injury

The Prime Suspect retiral has been followed by the exit of Magic Touch, the Greystones yacht has reported a 'minor crew injury' and sailed to Arklow.

Howth yacht Samatom currently leads a now 10-boat fleet expected into Cork Harbour by Sunday. See tracker below

K2Q Day One 1730 - The two biggest yachts in the K2Q fleet - both from Howth - are in a tacking duel off the Wicklow and Wexford coasts this Friday afternoon. 

The Dun Laoghaire to Cork Race, which is a revival of the first-ever Irish offshore race from Kingstown to Queenstown of 1860, assembled a fleet of 12 for this morning's start off Dun Laoghaire Harbour.

An upwind start saw the fleet keep close to the shore to escape the worst of the Dublin Bay flood tide.

The first K2Q race in its new format gets underway off Dun Laoghaire with 13 starters for two races in one Photo: Afloat

And with just over six hours on the clock into an estimated 38-hour race, it's Robert Rendell's Grand Soleil 44 Samatom from Howth that narrowly leads on the water and on handicap from club mates Dave Cullen and Nigel Biggs' First 50, Checkmate XX. 

The two leaders met earlier this season on a long 120-mile Dublin coastal race with Checkmate XX coming out on top in her ISORA debut.

Dave Cullen and Nigel Biggs' First 50, Checkmate XX in against the Dalkey shore on Dublin Bay Photo: Afloat

The two boats have been swapping the lead on each update of the tracker as they navigate down the east coast of Ireland.

Peter Dunlop and Vicky Cox of Pwllheli Sailing Club sailing the J109 Mojito are one of three Welsh yachts competing Photo: Afloat

Holding third is the former ISORA champion Mojito, a North Wales-based J109 skippered by Peter Dunlop and Vicky Cox of Pwllheli Sailing Club, one of three Welsh boats competing.

George Sisk's Wow, an Extreme 37, on starboard and Andrew Hall's J125 Jackknife in the early stages of the race on Dublin Bay Photo: Afloat

As Afloat reported earlier, organised by ISORA and SCORA in association with the National Yacht Club and Royal Cork Yacht Club, the race had received 26 entries but in the end only half that number made the line this morning, the timing between the Round Ireland Race and Cork Week Regatta getting the blame for the fall-off.

Denis & Annamarie Murphy's Grand Soleil 40 Nieulargo is one of two Cork yachts competing in the K2Q Race Photo: Afloat

But regardless of the fleet size, there is no shortage of competition as the fleet stays close to the Wexford coast with over miles sailed of the 260-mile course that also features a race within a race and a shorter 160-mile option. 

See trackers for both races below

Scroll down for the 2022 K2Q Dun Laoghaire to Cork Yacht Race Tracker 

The 2022 staging of the biennial 160 and 260 mile–mile K2Q Dun Laoghaire to Cork Yacht Race race got underway at 11 am on Friday, June 1st.

Follow the race on the live Yellowbrick trackers below fro both race courses

Read all the latest K2Q 2022 race news in Afloat's regular race updates in one handy here

Robert Rendell's Grand Soleil 44 Samatom from Howth Yacht Club is the latest boat to sign-up to Ireland's newest offshore race starting this Friday, July 1st.

The 'K2Q' or 'Kingstown to Queenstown Race' has just announced a novel two races in one combination for the race from Dun Laoghaire to Cork Harbour.

The new race echoes the first-ever ocean yacht race on Irish waters in 1860 held from Kingstown (now Dun Laoghaire) to Queenstown (now Cobh), a story told here by Afloat's WM Nixon.

Rendell, who finished the Round Ireland Race just a week ago in sixth overall, second in IRC and top ISORA boat was earlier described as 'maybe but unlikely' is now confirmed which is a significant boost for the new fixture.

The race has attracted an initial entry of up to 15, with entry still open. The entrants to date comprise Welsh, Dublin Bay, and Howth boats from the ISORA ranks but also include top Cork Harbour yacht Nieulargo.

Unfortunately, the UK entry Wild Haggis has dropped out of the race, according to organiser Peter Ryan. 

Just as the 2022 Round Ireland Race concludes at the end of June, a new Irish biennial offshore racing fixture between Dublin and Cork has launched with a start in five days' time, and a 'novel set up' to provide two races in one.

The long-established Dun Laoghaire to Cork offshore race – reintroduced in Covid as the 'Fastnet 450' in 2020 – has been further developed as the 'Kingstown to Queenstown Race' or 'K2Q' race.

The Dublin-Cork promoters say it will facilitate all offshore sailors by providing a medium-length offshore race and a long offshore race by having two races in one, with all boats completing the shorter race.

The new race echoes the first-ever ocean yacht race on Irish waters in 1860 held from Kingstown (now Dun Laoghaire) to Queenstown (now Cobh), a story told here by Afloat's WM Nixon.

Nigel Biggs and Dave Cullen's First 50 Checkmate XX from Howth missed the Round Ireland Race due to COVID but will race the K2Q Photo: Afloat

The race has attracted an initial entry of up to 15, with entry still open for the July 1 fixture. The entrants to date comprise Welsh, Dublin Bay, and Howth boats from the ISORA ranks but also include top Cork Harbour yacht Nieulargo.

ISORA boss Peter Ryan of the National Yacht Club, who has developed the race in conjunction with SCORA's Daragh Connolly and the Royal Cork Yacht Club, says in the following years, the race aims to incorporate a "rally class", too.

The race is aimed to run in alternate years to the popular Dun Laoghaire Dingle or 'D2D race'.

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. 

Peter Dunlop and Victoria Cox's champion J109 Mojito from Pwllheli Sailing Club Photo: Afloat

UK Entrants so far include Nigel Ingram's RORC flagged Farr 30 Wild Haggis, Paul Sutton's Holyhead SC J109, Jaydreamer, Peter Dunlop, and Victoria Cox's champion J109 Mojito from Pwllheli Sailing Club, the Sunfast 3200i of Mark and Jo Thompson Jac y Do from Pwllheli Sailing Club. Andrew Halls' J125 Jackknife is also sailing.

Mark and Jo Thompson's Sunfast 3200i Jac y Do from Pwllheli Sailing Club Photo: Afloat

Magic Touch will be racing from Ireland Steve Hayes's Beneteau First 34.7 from Bray Sailing Club. George Sisk and Tim Kane's new Reichel/Pugh design "X-Treme 37", WOW is also confirmed.

The customised Mills 36 Prime Suspect is sailing, and so is Joe Conway's Sigma 33 Elandra from the Royal Irish Yacht Club, Elandra.

The customised Mills 36 Prime Suspect Photo: Afloat

Nigel Biggs and Dave Cullen's First 50 Checkmate XX will compete from Howth.

Cork yacht of the year, the Grand Soleil 40 Nieulargo (Denis and Annamarie Murphy), John Conlan's Sunfast 37 Humdinger and Noel Coleman's Oyster 37 Blue Oyster will also race.

Noel Coleman's Oyster 37 Blue Oyster Photo: Afloat

Ryan also says some top ISORA performers, such as the J122 Aurelia (Chris Power Smith) and  Robert Rendell's Grand Soleil 44 Samatom, are currently 'maybe but unlikely' to race, given the boats also competed in the 700-mile Round Ireland.

The plan is for both 'K2Q races' to finish at the old RCYC clubhouse on the Cobh seafront, which will require a tweak to the ISORA YB trackers.

The Sirius Arts Centre in Cobh. Originally the 1854-completed Royal Cork YC clubhouse, it was here that the first Dublin Bay to Cork Harbour Race of 1860 finished, and where the new K2Q race will finish this July

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

Download the Notice of Race details below