Dutch team are quick off the mark

SAILING:WOULD IT or won't it? The big question of whether the weather would oblige was answered yesterday at mid-day when the starting-gun was fired aboard the LE Aoife off Wicklow Harbour and the 37 entries for the Conway Media Round Ireland Race made a perfect start to their 704-mile course.

The youth squad on Pride of Wicklow made good on their early night on Saturday by leading the charge across the line, surging ahead in clear air that was a short fetch to the lighthouse where sheets could be eased and spinnaker hoisted.

Ashore, dotted along the pier and past the black castle at the edge of town, a crowd of around 2,000 had a grandstand view as the fleet headed steadily south as the first effects of the flood tide took hold on the slower boats.

Also ashore and around the world, more than 550 “armchair sailors” started a virtual race online that mimics the course in real time and weather.

Unsurprisingly, race veteran Piet Vroon’s Dutch team on the newer, 46-foot Tonnerre de Breskens 3 quickly over-hauled Pride of Wicklow and became the fleet leader.

Unfortunately, Vroon and his son Carlo were not on board as the 80-year-old owner/skipper became ill on Saturday and has been receiving hospital treatment in Dublin.

Last night his crew were performing well, duelling for the on-the-water lead with the much bigger Open 60-footer Rosslare Europort, though more importantly that raises expectations the Ker design is a strong contender for the overall handicap win that would doubtless both please and sadden Vroon.

Though the course record is unlikely to be broken, due mainly to an absence of super-maxis and a forecast of relatively light winds, a classic round Ireland of sorts does appear on the cards as a low-pressure system could deliver fresh sou’westerlys from tomorrow for the first boats fast enough to reach the Atlantic coast by then.

Tonnerre and Europort were last night separated by the East Coast sandbanks en route to the Tuskar Rock, as the later has a draft of more than four metres and might have been restricted or at least obliged to make slowing manoeuvres had they opted to stay with the main fleet on the traditional inshore route south.

Astern of the leaders, the tussle to get into open water was being led by Team Daft, with co-skippers Mick Liddy and Mark Pollock leading the two-handed class on the water. The pair were fearful prior to the start that their high handicap that gives away 12 minutes per hour of racing to the smaller rivals could prove costly unless a windy get-away can be staged early in the race.

Meanwhile, a measure that caused some boats some angst ahead of the race appears to have been relaxed during the inspection phase.

Wording in the ISAF (International Sailing Federation) rules for offshore racing that each boat “be provided” with a transponder, for locating, identifying and tracking vessels, has been taken literally by some boats.

While many entries have fully-fitted systems, at least one boat has reportedly avoided the significant cost involved by carrying its system in its original packing box – ready to be returned to the retailer on completion of the race.

It has been suggested the rules provision was intended for use in races around the busy shipping lanes of the English Channel.

branigan@indigo.ie