Celebrations here in WSC Clubhouse as David Ryan and his crew cross the line at 18:25 this evening. The crew, very tired but very happy, came ashore in great form and, after enjoying a massive local welcome, have retired to the safety of the clubhouse, hot showers, hot food and flowing Guinness. Well done to them all!
Unfortunately though, Ocean Tango was forced out earlier this afternoon, retiring to Burtonport with Eugene F Collins/Amazing Grace; we’re sorry to see them have to leave the race.
Coming in later tonight, probably around 23.00 this evening or slightly earlier, should be Teng Tools, unless Newstalk can make up the few miles separating them at the moment.
So, Monster gets Line Honours, but Newstalk comes higher on corrected time.
Libertalia lies about 15 miles behind the other two 60 ft boats, and the shore crew are here already to prepare the welcome.
Inis Mor is now 19 miles behind Libertalia, off Dundalk Bay. 20 miles behind again, off Ardglass come Phosphorous, May Contain Nuts and Arwen. The fleet then stretches from Ruth half-way down the Ards peninsula to Dreamcatcher off Malin Hd.
On estimated corrected time, Cavatina and Ruth are 1st and 2nd on VMG from start and also recent, with not much time between them. They should both get the benefit of the tide around Antrim. Inis Mor, Endgame & Tanit are also doing well.
With the bulk of the boats coming in from early tomorrow morning onwards, we’re looking forward to a very busy, but very interesting, two days!
UPDATE:
After another busy and exciting day, it really seems that Tanit, Richard Harris and his crew from the Clyde, have done enough to claim the overall winner’s prize in this the 18th Round Ireland Yacht Race. A strong challenge from Liam Shanahan in Ruth just failed due to slack winds and a foul tide, and Cavatina would seem to have to much to do in contrary winds and again, foul tides. The Race Office will make a statement shortly.
This leaves twelve boats now safely berthed in Wicklow Harbour, with Classes CK, Z, and 1 – 3 all having winners. Counting the 3 retirals, that means that twenty boats are still racing, with some classes still to be decided, although Cavatina looks good for most of them, and Big Deal for Class 7. We have had a small break in the arriving boats, and the next few are due to start arriving in around one and a half hours.
Arthur Logic is about 4 miles north off Wicklow, followed by Mojito a few miles behind, but beating into the freshening southerly wind. Lynx Clipper is another ten miles behind, out off Dublin Bay. A group of ten boats are clustered in a group between Skerries and Lambay Island which means a busy couple of hours here at some point overnight. We would hope to see Dreamcatcher sometime tomorrow afternoon, and all going well, that will bring this edition of this great race to a close.
