All about The BMW Round Ireland Race

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The BMW Round Ireland Race

Well what a fantastic year last year, after the excitement of the first leg in which we came 1st in class in the Azores and Back yacht race and then followed it up with a 4th on the return leg, to give us 2nd over all, in our class. We were drained, both physically and mentally and our return home to Scarborough took us slightly longer than we had anticipated but we were buoyed by the knowledge that our efforts had helped our two charities.

On October 13th we gave a short talk to family and friends and presented a cheque of £11,186.80p to be shared equally between our two charities. Scarborough Branch for the Riding for the Disabled and St. Catherine's Hospice.

So what's next?

The first race we had in mind was the triangle race from Torquay to Kinsale to Treguier and back to Torquay, a distance of 620 miles but with a little more research we came across a race which fulfilled our need for adventure and excitement and presented us with the biggest challenge to date, The BMW Round Ireland Race a non-stop race around Ireland, two handed, with the additional difficulty presented by coastal navigation and another race of international standing but for this one we would need to be fitter and stronger than before.

As for 'Ruffian' she seems to be going better than ever, her performance last year in the AZAB was outstanding, she looked after us in some pretty bad conditions and we managed to sail her well above her handicap, beating many other boats on the water that should have hammered us! With most of the improvements and upgrades already done our main addition this year is the inclusion of a diesel heater, as last year we were wet and cold for so long, at times it was difficult to function properly.

For the two handed class, this race is billed as 'only for the extreme sailor', but the opportunity to race and pit our wits against the best around, (amongst others are the two handed Fastnet winners), the lure and challenge is too good to turn down, so all we can say is...........Bring it on! For details on the Round Ireland Race Click Here

Preparations are well underway, with a daily swim and sessions in the gym, and as much sailing as time permits with any spare time spent on navigational issues. Our final plans will include night sailing as this is an area we feel the biggest gains can be made.

Our departure date will be on 2nd June and will see us travelling North to the East coast of Scotland, through the Caledonian Canal down the West coast of Scotland before arriving at Wicklow, Ireland for the start of the race on 21st June.

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