Last updated Original course showing the different legs
The Round Britain and Ireland double handed Yacht Race was established in 1966 and is held every four years starting and finishing in Plymouth, England. There are four compulsory stops of forty-eight hours, initially at Galway, Barra, Lerwick and Lowestoft.[1]
Following the success of the first two OSTARs, Herbert Hasler proposed to the Royal Western Yacht Club that there should be a two-handed race around the British Isles. The proposal was considered and the first Round Britain and Ireland race was held in 1966. The course, of about 2,000 miles (3,200km), was split into five legs separated by compulsory stop-overs of 48 hours each at Crosshaven in Ireland, Castle Bay, Barra in the Outer Hebrides, Lerwick in Shetland, and Harwich on the East Coast. It would circumnavigate Britain and Ireland and, with the exception of the Channel Islands and Rockall, all islands and rocks would be left to starboard.
The first race was a great success and the RB&I was established on a four year cycle although this and the course has varied a little over the years.
The RB&I grew rapidly to a multinational entry of many boat sizes and types. In 1982 the 85 starters included an 80ft monohull, a 70ft catamaran, several 60 and 65ft trimarans, down to a 25ft monohull, and represented over a dozen nationalities.
The following race was held in 1985, since 1986 was given over to the second TwoSTAR so it could run two years apart from the OSTAR. The four year cycle continued with races in 1989 and 1993, but reverted (following the last TwoSTAR in 1994) to its original schedule in 1998 and on to the latest race in 2018.[2]
The race is renowned for being very tough due to the variable conditions, large number of turning points and frequent hazards and of course have only two sailors to cope with all the navigation, sail changes etc. This has resulted psychological stress and in a number of disagreements between the skipper and co-skipper resulting in retirements and disqualifications - some of which are described in the individual races below.
Whilst the mandatory stopovers on the course have changed a number of times some of the details, and thus challenges of the race, have remained throughout this 2000nm race.
Leg 1
This has finished at Galway, Castlehaven and Kinsale. Always starting in Plymouth Sound, often with hundreds of spectator boats and more watching from Jennycliff to the east of Plymouth Sound, the yachts have to pass outside the Eddystone Rocks, Isles of Scilly and if the first stop is on the west coast of Ireland, also the Fastnet Rock and its Lighthouse.
Leg 2
Leg 2 has always finished at Castlebay, Barra which in bad weather has a tricky harbour entrance but once ashore the sailors are guaranteed a warm welcome. On the way the west coast of Ireland (including the Fastnet rock if not already passed) has to be negotiated. Some yachts have gone offshore, sometimes off the continental shelf whilst others have stayed further inshore where sailors have to be wary of the salmon nets and fishing boats.
Leg 3
This has always been from Barra to Lerwick, via the beautiful and haunting St Kilda, remote Sula Sgeir and infamous Muckle Flugga - often referred to as the Cape Horn of the north. The leg finishes in Lerwick where the Lerwick Boating Club are amazingly hospitable to all involved in the race- especially the smallest class which they sponsor and celebrate.
Leg 4
This leg proceeds down the North Sea, presenting challenges of oil rigs to dodge, and often the first vessels seen at sea by the crews which are not part of the race for some time. The finishes for this leg have been variously Blyth, Lowestoft and Hartlepool.
Leg 5
On the final leg, the tired crews and battered boats have to run the gamut of the sand banks in the Thames Estuary and Kent; and shipping in the Dover Straits and English Channel. Even at this late point the psychological stress have been known to cause issues, with one crew retiring into Torbay (only 40nm from the finish) because they were unable to spend any more time together. The finish at Plymouth (originally at Millbay Docks, now at Queen Anne's Battery) is always welcome.
Race 1: 1966
The first race was held in largely fair winds and attracted 6 monohulls and 10 multihulls, allowing the latter to prove for the first time what they could achieve in ocean racing. The yacht Tao was disqualified for finishing with only one crew member after the skipper and co-skipper "had a disagreement". The race is summarised below[3][4].
Number of entries
Number of finishers
Number of nationalities
Winning boat
Winning skipper/co-skipper
Overall
16
10
1
Toria
Derek Kelsall / Martin Minter-Kemp
Race 2: 1970
In the second running of the race there was the first overseas entrant: Philip Weld of the USA. The fleet was split almost evenly between multihulls (13) and monohulls (12). Fresh from his victorious single handed round the world race Robin Knox Johnston was part of the winning crew.
The race started in light airs and they ran into fog off the Lizard. A gentle breeze brought the leaders into Crosshaven leaving the back half of the fleet becalmed and rowing (which is permissible but difficult in short handed ocean races). The second leg to Barra and 3rd leg to Lerwick saw much higher winds and retirements. Another gale on the last leg saw more damage and ensured that the multihulls could not catch Ocean Spirit for the overall win despite her 12 hour penalty. The race is summarised below[3][5]
Number of entries
Number of finishers
Number of nationalities
Winning boat
Winning skipper/co-skipper
Overall
25
20
2
Ocean Spirit
Leslie Williams / Robin Knox-Johnston
Race 3: 1974
The third race saw a big increase to 61 entries, partly due to a growth in international entries as the reputation of the race grew. This reputation is also evidence by the growing list of globally recognised sailing stars. These included Knox-Johnston (again); Peter Blake; Mike Birch; Tony Bullimore and Claire Francis. The yachts were also changing from a more rag-tag group to having dedicated ocean racing yachts including Qualio II which had represented Britain in both the Admirals Cup and Southern Cross as well as Robin Aisher's Frigate.
The race was sailed in gale force winds for much of the time, permitting a new record of 10 days, 4 hours 26 mins at sea. There were a number of dangerous incidents including Yacht Maureva when she and a Greek merchant ship collided. Earlier in the race Mike McMullen had been tossed overboard when changing a headsail on yacht Three Cheers, his co-skipper Martin Read luffed the boat and dropped all sails, drifted backwards to Mike who was winched onboard using a halyard.
Once again a crew pairing could no longer sail with equanimity and so Martin Wills on Tower Casper was disqualified after his crew Colin Hoare asked to be put ashore in Barra.
Entries and international interest continued to rise, now with a mix of ocean racing yachts and cruising boats. For the first time entries had to be capped at 120 to avoid undue pressure on some the small stopover ports, especially Barra. The race was largely conducted in light winds and some of the boats ran out of time. Some of the more famous entrants included Chay Blyth aboard Great Britain IV, Robin Knox-Johnston back with Great Britain II, Giles Chichester aboard his father Sir Francis Chicheste r's Gypsy Moth V and Peter Jay, then ambassador to the USA, aboard Norvantes. The two boats rafted up whilst becalmed off the East Coast in order to eat dinner together. This breach of the rules was not protested. The race is summarised below[3][7].
Number of entries
Number of finishers
Number of nationalities
Winning boat
Winning skipper/co-skipper
Overall
120 (74 starters)
62
10
Great Britain IV
Chay Blyth / Rob James
Race 5: 1982
The reputation of the race had continued to grow which was recognised with the total entries and overseas interest, though unfortunately not in media coverage. Robin Knox-Johnston was back again but incurred a penalty of over 19 hours for late arrival. There were three strong multihull entries from France and also entries from as far afield as South Africa, Australia, St Kitts and the USA. Mary Falk, who would become a stalwart of the race made her first appearance with one of the 3 experienced all female crews.
The weather was generally good, though catamaran Jan II capsized and was rescued by an Irish naval vessel and the Australian trimaran Twiggy capsized and the crew rescued by the Oswald twin in Pepsi- another entrant.
Racing was tight and the lead changed numerous times, but eventually Rob and Naomi James broke the record with a sailing time of 8 days 15 hours and 3 minutes in their 60 foot trimaran Colt Cars GB, with Chay Blyth only 43 minutes behind them. The first monohull was Voortrekker in a time of 18 days 16 hours and 10 minutes. The race is summarised below[3][8].
Number of entries
Number of finishers
Number of nationalities
Winning boat
Winning skipper/co-skipper
Overall
85
69
12
Colt Cars GB
Rob James/Naomi James
Monohull
Vootrekker
Bertie Reed/John Martin
Race 6: 1985
Sponsored for the first time by the City of Plymouth, the 6th race was held after only a 3 year gap in 1985. A strong entry list included Tony Bullimore and Nigel Irens in Apricot; and Mike Whipp and Adrian Thomson in BCA paragon, both 60 foot Trimarans. Robin Knox Johnston returned with Billy-King Harman. There were also large monohulls including Warren Luhr’s Thursday’s Child, Voortrekker returning from the previous race and Donald Parr’s Qualio of Wight.
At the finish of the first leg at Crosshaven only a minute separated Apricot and Paragon, but Apricot suffered halyard troubles and had to have the mast lifted at Lerwick, Paragon meanwhile beat the 2nd leg course record but then was forced to retire with a torn mainsail and structural damage. Red Star/Night Star (former Colt Cars GB) hit an unlit buoy and damaged the port float which they had to repair. Peter Philips and Bob Fisher retired at the end of leg 1 with rigging problems.
A gale on 17 and 18 July cause many problems resulting in 23 boats holing up in Castle Bay waiting for the weather to abate. This led to many retirements, and another gale between 2 and 4 of August caused more mayhem, however the biggest destruction was the destruction of Glucometer II by a Dutch coaster off Beachy Head. Fortunately, the crew were saved. The race is summarised below[3][9].
Back to its 4 year cycle the 1989 race was sponsored by The Observer. French sailors Francois Boucher and Loic Linglois in Saab Turbo (ex Aquitaine II) smashed the record with a sailing time of 15 days, 7 hours and 30 minutes (an average of over 11 knots). The race is summarised below[3][10].
Number of entries
Number of finishers
Number of nationalities
Winning boat
Winning skipper/co-skipper
Overall
60
47
6
SaabTurbo
Francois Bucher/Loic Linglois
Race 8: 1993
The 8th edition saw a new sponsor - Teesside Development Corporation, and in consequence a new stopover on the East Coast- Hartlepool. Entries overall were down, especially in the larger classes, however the classes for smaller boats - especially monohulls under 30 foot increased substantially. Steve Fosset's 60 foot trimaran looked set to beat the record with strong winds from good angles but light winds in the English Channel foiled him. Brian Thompson did however set a new class V record of 9 days 21 hours 30 minutes. The strong winds that helped the bigger classes rotated to being on the nose for the smaller boats who suffered greatly, resulting in a large number of retirements. The race is summarised below[3].
Entries were down somewhat though included the legendary Ellen MacArthur and one remarkable entry was from Alan Grace, a paraplegic in Paradox. Together with co-skipper Chris Biggs they were lying 8th after leg 1, but forced to retire with rudder and hull problems. Another race with a lot of gales, however these were from a head for the bigger yachts so the finishing times were relatively slow. The race is summarised below[3].
The course changed for this race and whilst it started and finished at Plymouth as always, the stopovers were now at Kinsale, Castle Bay (Barra); Lerwick and Lowestoft.[11]
Storm Hector hit the 2018 edition, causing Cariberia to drop sails and ride out the storm with towed warps. Unfortunately neother their tracker or AIS was working so Lerwick Coastguard, Lifeboat and helicopter were all looking for them.[12]
Race 15: 2022
The course changed again, with the mandatory 48 hours stopovers now being at Galway, Lerwick and Blyth. The intent was to provide legs that were more balanced in length, and where each leg was of similar length to that of the double-handed offshore race in the 2024 Olympics[13].
Race 16: 2024
With another change to the scheduling the 16th edition was in 2024. The race was expanded to permit crew changes in Galway and at Blyth[14]
Race 17: 2027
The 17th edition of the race is scheduled for 2027[15].
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