News 2021
Next year ISORA will be celebrating 50 years of Racing in the Irish Sea
Following the 2021 AGM on Saturday 4th December a new schedule of Races has been agreed and this is now published below.
The web-site is now being updated with to reflect the 2022 Musto ISORA series of races, a balance of Offshore Races and Coastal Races.
The Notice of Race will be published shortly.
The schedule includes a qualifyer for Round Ireland, the Kingstown to Queenstown race and Round Ireland Race.
There is also Coastal Series in Ireland and also in the UK.
Article about the 2022 season proposals in Afloat.ie
ISORA Race Management Team have been working on the 2022 Series Programme and the following DRAFT is now published as a discussion document for wider comment and subject to the feedback from competitors and potential competitors it will be put to the AGM for amendment /approval.
Your comment on the draft programme would be appreciated .
John Morris has been a prominent figure in the sailing fraternity both locally and throughout the Irish Sea for many decades. After his early years of sailing Square Metres and Dragons in Cardigan Bay he then in 1972 bought a She 31 called “She Wolf” that dominated the racing locally, as well as successfully campaigning her on the South Coast where in 1973/74 won many of the RORC Class V races and series.
John competed on Tiderace in the 1976 Round Britain Race and after moving to Pwllheli in 1977 and establishing Firmhelm Limited, Pwllheli Boatyard he went on to build the High Tension 36 “Force Tension” for Tony Vernon which he gained line honours in the inaugural 1980 Round Ireland Race, from here on John was a very well respected sailor, racing and skippering boats throughout the Irish Sea in ISORA and beyond such as Autonomy, Greased Lightning, Teambuilder, Jackhammer, Jackabout, Korimako and Glider to name but a few.
John served on the ISORA Committee and was the ISORA Trophy Secretary for many years.
In later years he will be remembered for his volunteering with his Catamaran Sirena as committee boat or pin end boat at many of the national and international events hosted by Pwllheli Sailing Club and Plas Heli.
Together with sailing John’s other interests were horses and skiing.
John Morris
1933-2021
The Funeral is on Wednesday 10 November 2021 at 3.30pm at Bangor Crematorium. (Please take and wear a mask as per Welsh Covid rules.)
The family request no flowers, any donations to be made to Bob Champion Cancer Trust, collection will be on the day or via Ifan Hughes Funeral Director, Llanaelhaearn, Caernarfon LL54 5AG – 01758 750238.
Everyone is welcome back to Plas Glyn y Weddw, Llanbedrog LL53 7TT for refreshments after the funeral.
The Racing this weekend (28th and 29th August) produced two Champions
Rockabill VI - Viking Marine Coastal Series Winner in Ireland
Mojito - Plas Heli Coastal Series Winner in Wales
Congratulations to the teams - follow the link for the results
The James Eadie Race from Pwllheli to Ireland (11th September) produced two Champions:
Rockabill VI - Musto Series Winner in Ireland
Mojito - Musto Series Winner in Wales
Congratulations to the teams - follow the link for the results
Please note the Noticeto Mariners and the requirement to adheare to Regulations
Amendment to SSIs for Race No. 7 Offshore Wales (OW)
1. PSC1 substituted for PSC2
2. In the event of the course being shortened - pass Archdeacon as per mark of the course - the finish line is an undefined length north of the Buoy, not 0.3m as previously published.
3. Course shortening will be announced. by the lead boat on CH17, and subject to phone signal posted on the ISORA UK 2021 WhatsApp group
Amendment to SSIs for Race No. 3 Coastal Wales (CW)
1. The warning Singnal is changed from 11.15hrs to 12.15hrs - this amends the Race 03 CW SSIs
2. Notifications on Trackers in SSIs 13.3 and 13.6 should now be by the WhatsApp Group messaging (WhatsApp - ISORA -UK Series)
Amendment to SSIs for Race No. 5 Offshore Wales (OW)
1. Notifications on Trackers in SSIs 13.3 and 13.6 should now be by the WhatsApp Group messaging (WhatsApp - ISORA -UK Series)
2. Retirements - in addition to texting the race officer, please type in the boat name and "retired" on the WhatsApp - Skippers ISORA -UK Series which will be monitored by ISORA race management.
Kenneth Rumball a previous successful competitor on the ISORA circuit, along with team mate Pamela Lee has been competing in the toughest offshore sailing circuit, the one-design Figaro circuit in France. This circuit has produced some of the worlds greatest sailors including Jean Le Cam, Armel Le Cleach and Mike Golding to name a few.
In the past 18 months, RL Sailing have been racing, training and coached by the most experienced French coaches in the training hubs of Lorient and St Gilles Croix De Vie. The aim of RL Sailing is to qualify and represent Ireland in the mixed double-handed offshore class at the Paris 2024 Olympics.
RL Sailing has similar aims to grow the sport of sailing in all disciplines in Ireland. A key ethos for enjoyment of the sport is understanding. If more crews and skippers alike have a better understanding of the sport, they are more likely to enjoy their time on the water and will want to spend more time on the water.
RL Sailing in conjunction with a sponsor of the team are offering pre and post-race analysis of the two ISORA training races pre the Dun Laoghaire to Dingle race and also a pre-race briefing for the D2D race. These sessions will be delivered via Zoom unless restrictions ease to allow briefings to be held in an outside well ventilated area such as a marquee.
Pre-Race briefings will be conducted to look specifically around the wind and tides to be expected during the training races and also to look at some generic boat setup discussions.
Different weather models will be discussed along with local weather trends such as sea breezes, tidal variances and current changes.
However given the wide variety of boats sailed in the ISORA races, specific boat type settings and setups will not be discussed. These briefings are standard practice in the Figaro circuit to help skippers and crews discuss and understand the weather ahead of them to give a better understanding of the race and race course.
Post-Race analysis will be a led discussion centring around which weather models were most accurate, the course and route taken by the leading boats, sail selection and options for different boats.
A certain amount of this discussion will be prepared from the Yellowbrick trackers to give skippers and crews an understanding of boat speeds and courses taken by each boat.
Once again this information sharing is a key training tool used in the Figaro circuit. While we are all competitors on the water, for all sailors to improve, information is shared and discussed to build knowledge.
We believe that training like this is invaluable to all skippers and crews and will only lead to a better understanding of offshore racing which will improve the standard of sailing and the performance of Irish offshore sailors both in home waters and abroad.
These sessions are currently subsidised by a generous sponsor of RL Sailings to all ISORA sailors competing in the training races on the 15th and 29th of May 2021 and the Dun Laoghaire to Dingle race, however in due course, there will be a modest fee for later races for this service.
The initial weather briefing for the race commencing on the 15th of May will take place on the 14th of May at 20:00 hours summertime and will last for approximately 1.5 hours.
Updates will be given on the RL Sailing Facebook page. https://www.facebook.com/RLSAILINGTEAM/
Zoom link here;
Topic: ISORA Training Race 15-5-21 Pre Race Weather Briefing
Time: May 14, 2021 08:00 PM Dublin
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87838370799?pwd=ZHpQZU44UWtHa2ROT2lTY0Q3Q1RqUT09
Meeting ID: 878 3837 0799
Passcode: 297492
The Revised 2021 MUSTO - ISORA Schedule of Races is published - this amends the version in the Notice of Race (2.1)
The 2022 MUSTO - ISORA Schedule of Races is published
The Notice of Race and entry form are now published for the classic Lyver Trophy Race 2021
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The Lyver Trophy race was first introduced as a bi-annual race by Gordon Dewar from Liverpool Yacht Club, as a joint initiative with the Royal Dee Yacht Club. The aim is to provide a R.O.R.C. Fastnet qualifying race for boats based in ports around the North West, including Liverpool, Blackpool, Fleetwood, Pwllheli, Holyhead and the Irish ports.
Requiring a minimum distance of 75 nautical miles, the first race in 1997 started in Liverpool and ended in Pwllheli. Since then the start of the race moved to Holyhead to maintain the growing reputation of the event and to attract yachts from Ireland and South Wales. The start of the event returned to Liverpool in recent years following the devastation of Holyhead marina during storm Emma in 2018.
The race is independently organised and managed by LYC forming a committee every 2 years for the purpose of providing a testing course and a qualifying race for the world famous Fastnet race and is funded jointly by members of LYC and Royal Dee Yacht Club.
Entries are welcome from all handicapped yachts and all issues regarding the running of such an event are strictly observed.
The Race Committee are determined that the Lyver Cup will take place on the 2nd July 2021 subject the UK Covid restrictions. This will allow competing boats to qualify for the 2021 Rolex Fastnet Race.
The ultimate finishing location will be dictated by any restrictions that may be in force in the Republic of Ireland due to Covid. The intention remains to sail to Dun Loaghaire if possible.
The entry form is below:
Some of you may remember Simon Byrne who wrote “alternative” blogs for ISORA for many years. He is now in the process of self publishing a book of his crazy stories - some ISORA, some rugby and some holiday blogs. A smorgasbord of his eclectic musings over the years gathered together in a book. 25 stories, 56k. words, 190 pages. A steal at a mere €20.
This is NOT a novel. His weird take on life and events may not be for everyone - marmite perhaps? Peter Ryan did, however, award him the Spirit of ISORA Penmaen Plate in 2016 for his efforts with the quip “there’s a book in this Simon.” And here we are.
If anyone is interested he can be contacted on Whatsapp, Messenger or by text at + 353 86 225 9208. Hurry though, the book is with printers for final proofing and there’s not many left.
2025 Class bands are anticipated as follows:
Class 0 = 1.070 or greater
Class 1 = 1.010 to 1.069
Class 2 = 1.009 or less
2025 bands will be published before the first Race.
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