Khumbu takes line honours in Round Ireland Race as countdown to overall win begins

Guy Gillon's Khumbu crosses the finishing line at Wicklow in the 704 nautical-mile Round Ireland Race © David Branigan / Oceansport

Despite one of the lightest airs Round Ireland Races in recent memory, Guy Gillon and his team brought Khumbu home to Wicklow to take line honours victory in the 704 nautical mile Round Ireland Race on Wednesday morning.

The 56-footer had held the on the water lead from early in the race though it wasn't until halfway around and a brave decision to head deep offshore on the Atlantic seaboard before the chasing pack could be left behind.

That pursuit race is under way in earnest now as the overall victory has still to be decided on corrected time with several contenders for the title still only on the north coast and the continuing prospect of further light winds.

Compounding the challenge are the adverse tidal flows along the North Channel that proved challenging for Khumbu also.

Despite not knowing the overall outcome, Gillon was elated after coming ashore at Wicklow Sailing Club with most of his crew.

"This is our first Round Ireland but we'd love to come back for the renowned high winds and all of Ireland's weather glory," Gillon said. "We didn't see much of the coastline due to fog and also going halfway to America looking for wind so we'd love to that again at high speed.

There was plenty of wildlife entertainment including seabirds and whales throughout the race, especially on the North coast while dolphin were a constant presence, even at night which made sleeping a challenge when off-watch.

"Some of the crew had never been to Ireland before, others never this far north especially some antipodeans who were very impressed," he said. "We've had amazing hospitality and we can't wait to come back."

The Khombu team are training for next year's Admiral's Cup and Gillon wanted at least three days at sea to test the teamwork within the crew

"People are brilliant sailors but when you're tired and emotional, different skillsets come through so it's been about steamship," he said. "Those are the things we wanted for three days."

The high-point for Khumbu was the start and especially the atmosphere of all the people attending the start along with the Naval Service guard ship then tacking down the coast past the pristine beaches of Wicklow and Wexford.

Attention now switches the boats still at sea and aside from four boats that have pulled out due to slow progress, the bulk of the fleet is stretched from Antrim to Mayo. While the back-markers face the prospect of possibly another three days sea, Thursday night is likely to decide the overall standings in terms of who might beat Khumbu's corrected time.

Provisional leaders include Gery Trentesaux on Courrier Pogo and John Murphy's Howth entry Outrageous. However, standings are highly interchangeable as the wind and tide fluctuate so the race remains wide open.

Track the fleet here.