Round Britain & Ireland Race: Anniversary of the ‘Race around the Rocks’

The Round Britain & Ireland Race is somewhat reminiscent of the Pataenius Round Skagen Race. In the German classic, the monohull record is actually a further 14 years older, dating back to the year 2000, and it just keeps on standing. Record-chasers have also been struggling to beat the records for the British classic for some time now. The records for monohulls and multihulls have stood for twelve years now, having been set in 2014.

Round Britain & Ireland Race: A bucket-list race for ocean sailors

At that time, skipper Ian Walker and his crew had circumnavigated Great Britain and Ireland aboard the VO65 “Azzam” in 4 days, 13 hours, 10 minutes and 28 seconds. The team went on to win the 2014/2015 Volvo Ocean Race. Sidney Gavignet and his crew on the trimaran “Oman Sail – Musandam” were even faster in 2014, completing the circumnavigation on three hulls in 3 days, 3 hours, 32 minutes and 36 seconds. Both records are now a dozen years old – and still stand today.

“The Round Britain & Ireland Race is unique. It’s a really tough course. And even without strong winds, it’s full of tactical challenges,” says seven-time round-the-world sailor Dee Caffari, who has competed in the “Race around the Rocks” many times. Vendée Globe circumnavigator Pip Hare agrees, saying: “It’s brilliant to be part of this race.”

"This race could and should be on every offshore sailor’s list." Pip Hare

“Apart from races like the Vendée Globe, it is perhaps the most demanding offshore race in the world. It is three times as long as the Fastnet Race or the Sydney-Hobart. And it heads as far north as almost 61 degrees north. That’s a few hundred nautical miles closer to the Pole than Cape Horn is on the other side,” says Rubert Holmes, a skipper with experience across many classes, who most recently sailed round the world in the Globe40 with Richard Palmer on the Class40 “Jangada”. In 2022, the duo won the IRC overall classification of the Race around Great Britain and Ireland aboard the JPK 10.10 “Jangada”.

Legendary lighthouses mark the course: Fastnet Rock, Tearaght Rock, Black Rock

Rupert Holmes says: “The race is a huge challenge and, at the same time, a race full of possibilities. And it’s one that you can also tackle in a standard boat during a holiday of around two weeks.” First held in 1976 by the Royal Ocean Racing Club, this British classic looks back on 50 years of eventful history this year.

Its route is legendary, taking you past striking and well-known rocks and their lighthouses. These include the legendary Fastnet Rock in the southern Irish Sea, as well as Tearaght Rock to the west of the Dingle Peninsula on Tearaght Island and the Blackrock Lighthouse on the island of the same name. Participants have a total of around 1,800 very varied nautical miles to complete.

On the course to and from Cowes All the islands and rocks around Great Britain and Ireland, including Muckle Flugga at the northern tip of the Shetland Islands, are to be left to starboard. Notorious headlands such as Land’s End, St Kilda and Fair Isle must be rounded. Tidal currents, shifting winds and all kinds of weather push the sailors to their limits.

“Frida”, “Löwe von Bremen”, “Snifix Dry” and “Varuna VI”: four GER boats in the race

Four crews on boats flying the German flag are also set to test their limits this year. Tim Behrendt and Andreas Buchheim will be taking their JPK 11.80 “Frida”, bearing sail number 8282, to the start line. Representing the ‘Segelkameradschaft das Wappen von Bremen’ sailing club, co-skippers Frederick Nabor and Carolin Bosselmann will take to the water with their crew on the Sun Fast 3600 “Löwe von Bremen” (GER 7265).

Dirk Lahmann is entering the Peterson 43 C/B “Snifix Dry” (GER 655) into the race. The 13-metre boat, designed in 1978 as a two-tonne IOR yacht by the legendary Doug Peterson and built by Abeking and Rasmussen in Lemwerder for Fredi Heins, with a fascinating backstory Dirk Lahmann and Susanne Schade took it over from the first owner in 2011.

The Bremen-based duo enjoy both cruising and regatta challenges aboard “Snifix Dry”. They have already competed in classics such as the Rolex Fastnet Race in 2021 and 2023, and in 2022 has also successfully completed the Round Britain & Ireland Race. They took part in the North Sea Week and the Pantaenius Round Skagen in 2024.

Round Britain & Ireland Race: 30 boats from eleven nations entered

The best-known German challenger this year is Jens Kellinghusen from Hamburg, who, together with his crew, is competing on the Ker 56 “Varuna VI” (GER 7111, North German Regatta Club) will be lining up at the start line. The skipper and his crew have only just won their Época Bermudian 1 class at the Puig Vela Clàssica in Barcelona on their first attempt, sailing their historic Sparkman & Stephens yawl “Varuna VII”.

They will soon be back on board their state-of-the-art Ker-56 racer, the “Varuna VI”, to compete in the Round Britain & Ireland Race. They bring with them a wealth of positive experience: in 2014, they took part in the race in which the course records – which remain unbroken to this day – were set, with her Ker 51 ‘Varuna’ won the overall IRC classification. They achieved this twelve years ago with a sailing time of 6 days, 3 hours, 10 minutes and 32 seconds.

The largest boat in the fleet this anniversary year will be the 2011 Volvo 70 “Pace”, designed by Juan K. In total, there are 30 yachts from eleven countries have entered the race. The marathon will continue to be sailed under IRC rules. The starting signal will be given on 9 August.

A look back! The last Round Britain & Ireland Race took place in 2022. Renowned skippers such as Pip Hare, Dee Caffari and the 2022 overall winner, Rupert Holmes, share their thoughts on the challenge: