News
ISORA News Items all in date order.
Rockabill VI wins race and 2019 Series and becomes the 2019 ISORA Overall Champion for the Wolf's Head trophy and Class O winner. Congratulations Rockabill VI.
Silver Class Champion is More Mischeif and Windjammer takes Class 2
Class one was won by 2018 ISORA Champion - Mojito.
The results are available here and the full report wil be published here shortly.
“Rockabill VI” takes James Eadie Race and ISORA Overall Offshore Championship 2019.
The 2019 ISORA Offshore Championship was decided in a tight contest between three boats – Paul O’Higgins “Rockabill VI”, Chris Power Smith’s “Aurelia” and Andrew Hall’s “Jackknife”. All any of those boats had to do to win the 63 boat, ISORA Offshore Series 2019, was to beat the other two boats in the last race.
The race was the annual James Eadie Race from Pwllheli to Dun Laoghaire, a distance of 80 miles. There were 23 entries for the race but only 14 managed to get the Pwllehli for the start. The starters included a new to ISORA boat from Arklow Sailing Club, John Conlon’s “Humdinger”.
The forecast for the race was moderate North-Westerly winds veering North-Easterly and eventually going very light. The weather for the race was as forecast.
Due to the light forecast in the evening, it was decided by the race committee to select a direct course. The course was:
Read more: Report on Race 16 James Eadie Race – Pwllheli to Dun Laoghaire
Holyhead Marina Ltd are in the process of seeking consents for the re-build of Holyhead Marina following its destruction during Storm Emma in March 2018.
We have been asked to share the consultation document with our members and seek suggestions and comments on the proposals - please reply send to
Mojito won the Global Display Race on Saturday 24th August - this was the second race in the series which will be concluded on Sunday night 25th August with the Global Display Coastal Night Race.
The series is led by Jackknife on equal point count back to Jack y Do.
The Viking Marine ISORA Coastal Race from Dun Laoghaire to Greystones was won by by Greystones yacht Eleuthera - Frank Whelan.
A race report is available in AFLOAT.ie here
The Viking Marine Coastal Series overall winner (best three races from the four sailied races) was Mojito.
“Mojito wins Viking Marine Coastal Series without striking a blow.”
Race 14 of the ISORA Offshore Series 2019 took place from Dun Laoghaire on the 24th August 2019. The race was a Coastal Day Race with an 10.00 start. The race was part of the ISORA “Viking Marine” Irish Coastal Series and also a feeder race to the Greystones Regatta.
The race was the last race in what was to be a five race series for the Viking Marine Coastal Series. However, one of the earlier races was cancelled due to severe weather. The disccard was still to be applied after this race. It was hoped that this could open the challenge for the series. Peter Dunlop’s “Mojito” was leading the series into the last race followed by Lindsay Casey’s “Windjammer” and Paul O’Higgins “Rockabill VI”.
Of the 24 entries, 14 boats came to the start line at DBSC “Pier” mark and were sent on their way by Barry MacNeaney and Larry Power. The race organiser for the race was Grainne Ryan and the Safety Officer was Anita Begley.
The series leader “Mojito” was not to be seen. It was back home in Pwllheli taking part in the ISORA UK Global Communications coastal series taking place the same day. Just prior to the start Rupert Barry’s “Red Alert” developed steering problems and retired.
The forecast for the day was for SSE winds 10-15 knots and possibly reaching 20 knots. The winds were very local with very light winds in all other parts of the Irish Sea. To ensure that the fleet finished in Greystones in sufficient time to take part in the “Taste of Greystones”, a 33 mile course was selected by the Sailing Committee
The course was:
Start at DBSC “Pier Mark”
Muglins (S)
North India (S)
Wicklow Outfall (S)
Finish at Greystones.
As the boats exited Dun Laoghaire harbour for the start the winds were SSE 14-18 knots. However, soon after the start the wind dropped to 10 knots. At the start there was still two hours of south going tide. The first leg to the Muglins was a beat with the fleet splitting, some heading inshore and the remainder staying out in the tide offshore.
Frank Whelan’s “Eleuthera” led the fleet from start to finish followed closely by Chris Power-Smith’s “Aurelia” and George Sisk’s “WOW”. The second leg down the coast started with a fetch but the veering wind to South headed the fleet inshore and produced another beat. The fleet made landfall at Greystones but had to keep going another 8 mile to North India. Close tacking along the beach to avoid the tide, paid off.
Eventually the fleet had to strike out into the tide for North India. As the leaders arrived at North India the wind dropped to 3-5 knots making rounding the buoy very difficult for all boats. The leading Class 0 boats managed to round North India before the tide became too strong in the light winds to make any progress to the mark. Many of the boats retired at this point, unable to reach North India.
Those boats that managed to round North India crabbed their way against the tide in the zephyrs for the 6 miles fetch to Wicklow Outfall. Once Wicklow Outfall was rounded, good progress was made in a dead run towards the finish in Greystones.
Finish times were recorded automatically using the YB trackers and results were displayed immediately a boat crossed the finish line.
“Eleuthera” took line honours, Class 0 and the Overall IRC. “Windjammer” took Class 2. Grzegorz Kalinecki’s “More Mischief” took Silver Class. Full results are available here
The Greystones Regatta committee presented prizes for 1st and 2nd Overall in the ISORA Race.
The results in this race, after the discard was applied, did not knock “Mojito” off the top, despite not even taking part. “Mojito” won the Viking Marine ISORA Coastal Series and Class 1. “Windjammer” took 2nd Overall and Class 2 while “Rockabill VI” took 3rd Overall and Class 0. “More Mischief” took Silver Class.
The next race is the final offshore to take place on the 7th September from Pwllheli to Dun Laoghaire. It will be the decider race for the Overall ISORA Championship with Andrew Hall’s “Jackknife” leading the series. A weighting of 1.3 will be applied to the results of this race. This weighting with an anticipated large fleet taking part could topple “Jackknife”, “Aurelia” and “Rockabill VI” are in position to challenge for the coveted Wolf’s Head trophy and Overall ISORA Offshore Championship.
To encourage ISORA boats to take part, the entry fee for the race is been waived for any boat that has raced in ISORA in the past. A complimentary Crew Bus is also being organised to bring crew taking the afternoon ferry, from Holyhead to Pwllheli.
To further encourage boats to take part, an end of season party has been arranged in the National Yacht Club after the race, no matter what time the boats finish. This is always a great social event where the new ISORA Champion will be toasted.
Entries for any of the remaining ISORA races are welcomed. Online entry can be made on the ISORA website – www.isora.org
Peter Ryan
Chairman ISORA
“Rockabill VI steals the light in the ISORA Night Race”
Race 12 of the ISORA Offshore Series 2019 took place from Dun Laoghaire on the 16th August 2019. The race was a Night Race with an 20.00 start. The race was part of the ISORA “Viking Marine” Irish Coastal Series.
The race has taken place in the past with mostly balmy conditions when the fleet glided down the coast, illuminated by the lights on land. Well, this year was not to be like that. The weather for the previous day and for the morning of the race was very windy with a Gale Warning in operation for most of the country. The weather was so unsettled that the Night Race from Pwllheli, that was to take place at the same time, was postponed.
Fortunately the weather moderated on the west Irish Sea and the forecast for the race was for SW 10-15, Gusting 25 knots. This was the weather that existed for much of the race except when conditions became very squally when winds up to 35 knots were recorded.
Of the 22 entries only 13 boats came to the start line at DBSC “Pier” mark and were sent on their way by Barry MacNeaney and Larry Power. The race organiser for the race was Grainne Ryan and the Safety Officer was Anita Begley.
Conditions at the start were light with 8-10 Knot SW winds providing a spinnaker start for the fleet towards the first mark. The tide on the day was a strong spring tide so the course for the race, as set by the Sailing Committee, ensured that the least amount of tide plugging took place. The tide was fast flooding north at the start. The fleet headed north.
The 39 mile course was:
Start at DBSC “Pier Mark”
ISORA Dublin (Virtual Mark ) (P)
Taylor’s Rock Cardinal (S)
Lambay Island (S)
Bennet (S)
ISORA Dublin (Virtual Mark ) (S)
Finish between the pier heads in Dun Laoghaire.
Conditions leaving Dublin Bay became light with winds dropping to 5-6 Knots for a time. Chris Power-Smith’s “Aurelia” led the charge out of the bay and was first to round ISORA Dublin virtual mark. As the fleet rounded ISORA Dublin the first of many squalls hit and caused a huge amount of frenzied activity on many boats, trying to get spinnakers down and jibs up. The squalls did not last long, but it changed the Leaderboard.
“Aurelia” and Paul O’Higgins “Rockabill VI” led the fleet north towards Taylors Rock Cardinal, located just north of Lambay Island. This leg was a tight reach and suited those boats with asymmetric spinnakers. Rounding Taylor’s Rock caused some confusion to the fleet as there was no light on the buoy and the first boats approached the buoy in darkness. Well used to rounding virtual marks, the fleet successfully rounded the “dark shape” and turned south toward Bennet. This leg was a fetch. Squalls were still blowing through.
The Line Honour placings within the fleet remained the same except that the faster boats could not get sufficiently away from the remainder of the fleet to take overall leading positions. The leg from Bennet to ISORA Dublin Bay was a beat and the final leg to the finish was a very tight reach.
Finish times were recorded automatically using the YB trackers and results were displayed immediately a boat crossed the finish line.
“Aurelia” took line honours but not sufficiently far ahead to prevent “Rockabill VI” taking the Overall IRC and Class 0 win. Simon Knowles, J109 “Indian”, took 2nd place Overall IRC and 1st in Class 1, just ahead of Peter Dunlop’s “J109, “Mojito”. Lindsay Casey’s “Windjammer” took Class 2. Grzegorz Kalinecki’s “More Mischief” took Silver Class. Full results are on the ISORA website >here
The result for “Rockabill VI” tightens the top of the ISORA Overall Championship and focuses the spotlight on the top four contenders – Andrew Hall’s “Jackknife”, “Rockabill VI”, “Aurelia” and “Mojito”. As the championship uses the high point scores, the Champion for 2019 will not be known until after the last offshore race on the 7th September, from Pwllheli to Dun Laoghaire. This race is of further importance as the weighting for the points in the race is 1.3. In the Silver Class, “More Mischief” and Joe Conway’s “Elandra” are close together for the Silver Class Series.
As we head into the last coastal race next Saturday the Viking Marine Coastal Series will be decided in Greystones. A discard will kick in after that race and this will open the Series to several boats. At this stage “Mojito” is leading in Overall but “Windjammer” and “Rockabill” are close behind. Class winners will also be decided.
The next race is a coastal race and takes place next Saturday 24th August. The start is in Dun Laoghaire and finishes in Greystones. It is the final race in the Viking Marine Coastal Series and acts as a feeder race to the Greystones Regatta. Greystones Regatta is a great social and sailing event and takes place on Sunday the 25th. ISORA boats are encouraged to enter this event and join in the fun.
The Pwllheli ISORA Night Race, postpones from last Friday, is rescheduled for next Sunday 25th August, a Bank Holiday in the UK.
Entries for any of the remaining ISORA races are welcomed. Online entry can be made on the ISORA website – www.isora.org
Peter Ryan
Chairman ISORA
Amendment 1
Race 13 (Pwllheli Night Race) is Postponed and has been re-scheduled for Sunday 25th August 2019
Amendment 2
The re- rerunning of the postponed Race 2 is Cancelled
Stephen Tudor
ISORA Hon Sec
16th August 2019
The build-up to race 11 showed a consistent NW wind in the mid Irish Sea, with potentially less in both Dublin and Cardigan Bays. The general consensus of the sailing committee, was to start as published and route direct to the finish line at Pwllheli, with the only mark of the course the ISORA bay mark to keep clear of Dublin Port. The talk in the bar the night before however was the tidal gate at Bardsey, and its impact on the race - with a potential in light airs for the class 2 boats to take advantage of a parked fleet, or in stronger winds to allow the faster boats to get through before the tide turned.
Saturday dawned brightly, and a fleet of 15 gathered off the Dun Laoghaire harbour entrance, ready for the 75 mile race to Pwllheli, with the up to date forecast promising a little more wind, particularly on the Welsh side.
Barry MacNeaney and Larry Power of the National Yacht Club started the fleet from the pier mark, with the fleet getting away cleanly in a 10 kts North Westerly breeze, with spinnakers hoisted on the line on Starboard Gybe
J125 Jackknife taking an early lead, chose to remain on starboard and go south of the rhumb line, with most of the fleet gybing onto port shortly after passing Muglins. Leaving Dublin bay the wind built as promised averaging 12-17kts allowing a fast crossing, with the fleet bunching in class order! The south going tide was with the fleet for 5 hours, allowing most of the fleet to sail just south of the rhumb line, and soak further down when able, to mitigate the later tide turn. The fleet enjoyed a great spinnaker run, with some impressive boats speeds, and frankly champagne sailing!
YB Tracking – Jackknife approaching Bardsey Sound
Approaching the Welsh side, the north going tide didn’t trouble the fleet too much, particularly as the wind veered a little to the north as the tide changed, which was very helpful in being able to lay the sound without gybing. A few boats went close to the North coast of the Llyn Peninsula , and reported some big windshifts and turbulent water. Jackknife managed to get to Bardsey Sound just at the end of slack water and blasted through with speeds of 10-12ts over the ground, with Aurelia arriving as the tide turned. The rest of the fleet lead by Rockabill and Mojito got to Bardsey a little later and had to sail though against 4-5 kts of tide, but with the wind holding at 15 kts were able to maintain good boat speed. The sound was reasonably calm considering wind over tide, but a few boat experienced the overfalls and disturbed water south of the tripods!
Champagne sailing in the Irish Sea – Jac Y Do
The whole fleet got through Bardsey against the tide without any major problems.
Once through Bardsey a straight forward sail to Pwllheli with a few wind holes for the backmarkers to negotiate, in a generally dying northerly breeze, with a fetch from St Tudwals to the Plas Heli finish line under white sails, manned by ISORA finishers Brian Metcalf and Robin Evans. The last boat finished at 21:20 , and all enjoyed a “boisterous” aprés sail in Plas Heli, with Richard Tudor (Jackknife) and Pete Ashworth (Zig Zag) celebrating a special birthday milestone this weekend. Congratulations to Andrew Hall J125 “Jackknife” who took line honours, class O and overall, Peter Dunlop and Vicky Cox J109 “Mojito” who won class 1 and Lindsay Casey and Denis Power J97 “Windjammer” who won class 2 giving the J109’s a great race. Silver Class was won by Gregorz Kalinecki “More Mischief” and they now lead the Silver Class Series table chased bt Joe Conway on Elandra.
“Jackknife” leads the ISORA overall from “Rockabill VI” with coastal races on both sides of the Irish sea in August, before the high point scoring “James Eadie” race from Pwllheli to Dun Laoghaire in September
Race management by Peter Ryan at the Dun Laoghaire end, with Jo Thompson and Awel Tudor managing the trackers in Pwllheli. Thanks also to safety officer Anita Begley .
The next races are the Exposure lights night races on August 16th
Follow the link for the full results - Race Overall Race Results, Class Results and the full series results
The Course for the 11th Race in the ISORA 2019 series, which was weighted at 1.2, with 15 competitors on the start line.was as follows:
Start in Dun Laoghaire in Scotsman Bay and leaving the ISORA Dublin Mark (Waypoint) N53 17.110 W6 00.100 to port.
to the finish at Pwllheli being a line from the bridge at Plas Heli the Welsh National Sailing Academy to the Pwllheli Fairway
Remember to subscribe to the ISORA (priority racing) so that you will receive the latest racing information. >here.
If you need help with anything whatsoever please contact
35 boats took part in the Hendrick Ryan Royal Dee Offshore Championship 2019 that took place over two weekends and over 5 races. The championship included the ISORA Offshore from Douglas IOM to Dun Laoghaire on Sunday the 7th July and the four Offshore races of the Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta. The series was decided on points from the five results with no discards. The ISORA race had a weighting of 1.2. The High Point scoring system was used.
At the end of the series, J109, “Mojito” (Peter Dunlop and Vicky Cox), from Pwllheli, the current Championship holders, just regained the title, but only by 0.4 of a point over 428 points. Another J109, “Jetstream”, Nigel Ingram from Holyhead took second place. Paul O’Higgins from the Royal Irish in his JPK10.8, “Rockabill VI” took third place.
“Rockabill VI” took Class 0 Overall with “Mojito” taking Class 1 Overall. Lindsay Casey’s J97, “Windjammer” took Class 2 Overall.
The race winners were:
Race 1 – “Jackknife” – Andrew Hall
Race 2 – “Mermaid IV” – Seamus Fitzpatrick
Race 3 - “Mermaid IV” – Seamus Fitzpatrick
Race 4 – “Mojito” – Peter Dunlop & Vicky Cox
Race 5 - “Mermaid IV” – Seamus Fitzpatrick.
Prizes were presented as part of the Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta prize giving and they were presented by the Royal Dee Yacht Club Commodore, Charlie Jones.
Full results can be found on this link
Peter Dunlop & Vicky Cox with Crew of “Mojito” with RDYC Commodore Charlie Jones.
Paul O’Higgins with crew of “Rockabill VI” with RDYC Commodore Charlie Jones
Seamus Fitzpatrick of “Mermaid” with RDYC Commodore Charlie Jones
Aurelia won the 100th edition of the Midnight Race and Jackknife won race 9 back to Dun Laoghaire - full report to follow shortly
Race 6 was originally planned as an offshore race from Holyhead to Dun Laoghaire, but had to be re-planned to start and finish in Dun Laoghaire, due to ongoing infrastructure issues at Holyhead, following last years devastating damage to the marina.
The build up to the race gave the race committee the usual course setting conundrums with light winds forecast, and tides to consider. The forecast seemed to consistently indicate a light SW wind building to a stronger 10 - 12kt westerly as the day progressed
After much deliberation, a course was agreed as follows:
Start (DL Pier Mark)
Muglins (S) and keeping the ISORA Dublin Bay Virtual mark to port (this mark is to keep the course away from the TSS)
West Codling (p)
South Codling (p)
East Codling (p)
Kish Lighthouse (p)
ISORA Dublin Bay VM (s)
Finish (DL Pier heads)
A distance of 43 miles, with hopefully 2 hours of south going tide to help the fleet on its way.
Mojito, the 2018 ISORA Champions, wins the Dun Laoghaire Offshore Race on Saturday 25th May with Winjammer in second place.
Jackknife got line honours, completing the course in 10.31hrs and holds her overall lead of the ISORA Championship, but is being chased hard by Windjammer
The full results are available by following the link below.
Dun Laoghaire – 18th May 2019
“Windjammer” gets their first ISORA win in tricky winds and strong tides.
The first Irish Coastal race of the Viking Marine ISORA Coastal Championship 2019 took place on the 18th May with a starting time of 10.00. 21 boats from the entry list of 22 came to the start line in Dun Laoghaire.
Setting the course was difficult for the Sailing Committee as very light northerly winds were forecast for the race. To add to the difficulty, strong spring tides were also predicted. With this combination it was decided that the course should try and accommodate the tide by heading north at the start and south later in the race. It had been hoped that the course would be 40 miles by heading to South Burford, Lambay Island and back by the Kish Light. Instead, Lambay was substituted by using Howth Yacht Club’s “East” racing mark and North Kish Cardinal mark was substituted for the Kish Light.
When this course was first published Dublin Port requested that South Burford not be used as it meant that the fleet would be crossing the TSS (Traffic Separation Scheme) at South Burford. To comply with their request, ISORA have now created a permanent virtual mark, “ISORA Dublin” mark, just south east of South Burford. It is now intended that this virtual mark will be used for all future ISORA races, acting as a Turning mark for boats entering or leaving Dublin Bay. It is also proposed that all TSS’s will be no-go areas in future races.
The above course provided a 30 mile race.
The wind at the start was as forecast – 4-7 knots north-easterly. The start at 08.00 was provided by NYC’s Barry MacNeaney and Grainne Ryan at the DBSC’s Pier Mark.
The fleet of 21 boats slowly moved east off the start line in a tight reach towards the new ISORA Dublin mark. Frank Whelan’s “Eleuthera” was the first to break from the pack but was soon overtaken by Ben Shanahan’s “Ruth”, Chris Power-Smith’s “Aurelia” and Lindsay Casey’s “Windjammer”. Just south of these, Vincent Farrell’s “Tsunami” was sneaking along toward the first mark.
“Ruth” and “Aurelia” rounded the first mark and hardened onto a beat north toward HYC “East” mark. In an effort to minimise the effects of the tide and to seek stronger winds many of the fleet tacked out to sea while the remainder stayed close to the land. It was on this leg that the wind started to play tricks. On the outer east side of the course the wind was north east and varying while on the inside of the course the winds was north west and strengthening. At one stage boats on each side of the course were sailing the same heading while on opposite tacks!! The stronger winds on the inside were sufficient to counteract the strong tides against those boats close to Howth Head and these boats gained hugely.These wind conditions changed the whole dynamic of the race and allowed the smaller boats to take control. “Eleuthera” rounded the HYC East mark first followed by George Sisk’s “WOW” and then by “Ruth”. However, “Windjammer” was close by to the leading pack.
The leg to North Kish was a run south in the ebbing tide. When the first of the fleet rounded North Kish they had to beat for the ISORA Dublin turning mark and towards the finish line while the boats further back took advantage of another massive wind shift and they had a fast reach past the turning mark to the finish line.
While “Eleuthera” took line honours, “Windjammer” took the Overall win and Class 2. Second place went to another Class 2 boat, Leslie Parnell’s “Black Velvet” and Class 1 “Ruth” took third place. Class 0 boats only managed to get on the leader board at 9th position with Paul O’Higgins “Rockabill VI”. Sean Hawkshaw’s “Wardance” took Silver Class. Full results and the YB tracking of the race are on the ISORA website.
After the race, many of the crew headed to the National Yacht Club for the usual “Apres Race”.
On the same day a coastal race was held in Pwllheli. At this stage in the series Andrew Hall’s “Jackknife” is just ahead of “Rockabill VI” in the leadership table for the Wolf’s Head.
The Race Organiser for Race 4 was Grainne Ryan. Anita Begley was Safety Officer. The finish was automatically recorded using the YB trackers.
The next race, is the second Offshore of the season and takes place on Saturday 25th May with an 08.00 start from Dun Laoghaire. The original race schedule was for the start to be in Holyhead and finish in Dun Laoghaire but Holyhead were unable to accommodate the start. The start and finish is now in Dun Laoghaire and it is hope that the race will be 60 miles. Boats considering taking part in this race can enter online at www.isora.org
Peter Ryan
Chairman ISORA
During the build up to the race, a changeable forecast showed winds potentially less than 5 kts and as much as 12kts in Cardigan bay, giving the race committee a challenge to set a course catering predominantly for the class 2 boats, with big spring tides to contend with. With more gradient wind forecast to the west, a course was set to Gwylan Islands, close to Bardsey sound, and return to a mark outside of the St Tudwals Islands, a distance of 30 miles.
The fleet was a little depleted with several boats in Ireland, sailing in race 4, so just five boats left the Plas Heli pontoons for the midday start, with the wind just indicating 5kts. The forecast showed an increase after midday and for about four hours.
Luckily as the start time approached, the wind built to a steady 10 kts from the NNW, which looked favourable for a fast race.
Race Officers Robin Evans and Brian Metcalf started the fleet from the PSC bridge, and it was the two Sunfast 3200’s “Jac Y Do” (Mark and Jo Thompson) and “Zig Zag” (Pete Ashworth) that got way together at the front of the pack with a fetch down to PSC1 a turning mark just after the club start line. “Jac Y Do” along side and to windward of “Zig Zag” had a premature kite deployment when setting the tack, giving visibility issues for the helm, and whilst hoisting was unable to fully bear away due to “Zig Zag” having spinnaker issues of its own and holding its course. After a tense 30 secs or so, “Jac Y Do” was able to settle down with an A2 reachy run towards St Tudwals sound, pinching as much to windward to give a better angle through the sound where the winds can be notoriously fickle. The shenanigans at PSC1 allowed Andrew Halls J125 “Jackknife” to overtake the two Sunfasts, and start to open up an early lead. Once through the sound and turning more to the west towards hells mouth, the wind had built up to a steady 12 kts, and as the apparant wind came forward, and with a need to head a little inland, it was time to drop the kite and fetch the Gwylan Islands under white sails.
Keith Greenwood’s “Hullabaloo Encore” and Simon Windle’s “Shaula” were also making excellent progress, just behind the two SF3200’s, both under spinnaker.
First round Gwylan was “Jackknife” a mile ahead of “Jac Y Do” and “Zig Zag”, almost along side each other. “Jacknife” relished the conditions, flying an A5 to start really pulling away from the fleet, with the small boats holding the A2 back toward Abersoch Bay. “Jac Y Do” briefly flirted with a code zero, but finally settled on the Jib for the fetch to the finish after passing Carreg Y Trai, the final mark of the course. With the wind holding at a steady 9-10 kts the fleet all finished reasonably close to together. “Jackknife” took line honours, class 0 and overall, 6 minutes ahead of class 2 winner “Jac Y Do”
After racing crews had a great social evening in the Pwllheli Sailing Club Club bar at Plas Heli. The next race sees the fleets from both sides of the Irish Sea combine for an offshore race starting at Dun Laoghaire on May 25th
Dun Laoghaire to Holyhead – 4th May 2019
“Rockabill” takes first blood in 2019 series.
The first offshore race of the ISORA Offshore Championship 2019 took place on the 4th May with a starting time of 08.00. 19 boats from the entry list of 20 came to the start line in Dun Laoghaire.
The course was decided early by the Racing Committee due to the long term forecast of northerly winds. The forecast promised gusty and cold conditions in the Irish Sea. With Races 1 & 2 blown out due to Storm Hannah on the previous week, the fleet needed some “comfort racing” conditions. It was decided that the race would be from the start, direct to the finish in Holyhead harbour leaving South Burford to Port – approximately 55 miles.
The weather forecast for Race 3 was predicting northerly 15-20 knots however the winds picked up in the afternoon and veered more north-easterly.
The start at 08.00 was provided by NYC’s Barry MacNeaney and Larry Power at the DBSC’s Pier Mark. Difficulty in distributing trackers to boats at the line caused the race to be postponed for 5 minutes.
Technical issues arose with some boats even before leaving Dun Laoghaire harbour. Paul Sutton’s new J109, a replacement for “Pipedreamer” that was damaged on the Holyhead marina failure, developed a slight rudder problem and he decided to pull out of the race. Peter Dunlop and Vicky Cox’s, “Mojito” form Pwllheli, the current ISORA Champion, developed a rig issue just at the start and also had to retire.
Early in the race John Hughes “Rebellion” and David Bolger’s “Lady Rowena” retired and returned safely to Dun Laoghaire.
Those less experienced with offshore racing would suggest that the course selected would just be a “soldier’s race”. Nothing could be further from the truth. The direction of the wind tested crew who attempted to fly Code 0s. The apparent wind direction was too far forward for those boats on the rhumb line to fly anything but a jib. Decisions had to be made whether pushing up north of the rhumb line early to allow the use of the Code O later in the race also taking into account the strong south going tides that will be present as the fleet approached Holyhead.
As the fleet crossed the Irish Sea, Andrew Hall’s “Jackknife” led the way followed closely by Chris Power-Smith’s “Aurelia”, Brendan Coughlan’s “YoYo” and Paul O’Higgins “Rockabill VI”. The lead position on IRC changed constantly during the race amongst these four lead boats. However, it was “Rockabill VI” ability to fly a Code 0 for the last hour and a half of the race that got them over the line to take the race Overall and Class 0.
Class 1 was won by Nige Ingram’s “Jetstream” and Class 2 was won by Irish Offshore Sailing’s boat “Desert Star”. They also took the two handed prize.
Full results >here.and the YB tracking of the race is available >here.
After the race, many of the visiting boats tied up at the Holyhead Sailing Club who had put on entertainment for the arriving crew.
The Race Organiser for Race 3 was Grainne Ryan. Anita Begley was Safety Officer. The finish was provided by Dawn Russell of Holyhead Sailing Club.
The next two races, as part of the Viking Marine and Global Display Coastal Series, are on the 18th May. These are coastal races with one starting and finishing in Dun Laoghaire and the other in Pwllheli. It is hoped that great numbers will take part in these races as “champagne sailing conditions” have been booked for the events.
Boats considering taking part in these races can enter online >here
Peter Ryan
Chairman ISORA
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.
More DetailsPlease Get in Touch to Know More About ISORA
The Association is run by volunteers for the benefit of competitors by working in partnership with boat owners, crew, yacht and sailing clubs, other associations and the governing bodies for boating in Ireland, Wales and the UK.| Home | About | Contact | Declaration | Disclaimer | Results |
Web site Designed by offshore sailors for offshore sailors ISORA.