Anxious night ahead for Round Ireland Race fleet off Atlantic seaboard
by Kyran O'Grady 22 Jun 11:27 PDT
22 June 2026
Graeme Lewis skippered Venemous at the start of the 704 nautical-mile Round Ireland Race © David Branigan / Oceansport
After 48 hours of non-stop competition in the Round Ireland Race, the fleet of 52 boats is located along the Atlantic shoreline stretched from west of Clifden back to the Blasket Islands off Kerry in the south.
Unusually, the fleet remains compressed but the light winds means a longer race than usual which has taken a first retirement as Polished Manx opted to retire to Kinsale.
The remaining boats are facing an anxious third night at sea with very little wind though a forecast of fresher conditions in the early hours of Tuesday will be critical in the overall race standings.
Guy Gillon's Botin 56 footer Khumbu leads the field on the water but since passing Mizen Head in the early hours of Monday, has opted sail deeper into the Atlantic in the hunt for wind.
Graeme Lewis on Venomous took a similar decision earlier which does not appear to have paid off, at least for now as the smaller entries continued to make further gains northwards further inshore.
However, the gamble could pay dividends if the 60-footer picks up the new wind sooner than the others.
On current weather predictions, the first finisher is not likely to reach Wicklow until Thursday and looks certain to be Gillon's crew who will take line honours.
Depending on the weather, currently dominated by depressions to the west and south interacting to cause the light winds Khumbu could gain an advantage and a chance at the overall corrected time if the following pack gets cut-off by forecast headwinds on Tuesday evening.
Otherwise, the provisional leaderboard continues to be dominated by John Murphy's J109 Outrageous from Howth Yacht Club though with plenty of contenders close by to cause an upset.
With the halfway point still ahead, the prospect of an on-time prize giving ceremony at 6pm on Friday at Wicklow Sailing Club is beginning to slip towards Saturday.
Track the fleet here.