ADMIRAL CUP INSHORE SERIES
The final day of inshore racing at the 2025 Admiral’s Cup delivered high drama, high stakes and no shortage of action, especially at race starts. Three intense races pushed crews to the limit and completed the six-race inshore series.
The Royal Irish Yacht Club's teams had their most successful day yet as Tom Kneen's Sunrise IV delivered a tenth, a second then an eighth in the AC2 class after a tough first two days of racing.
"They were tough races, especially this morning but we did a good job," said Eddie Warden-Owen, strategist on Sunrise IV. "We were able to sail our own race - the boat went fast and we picked the right shifts: we were unlucky not to win the second race."
Although Sunrise IV found her form at last in the inshore series today, offshore remains her forté especially as a past Fastnet winning crew albeit in a different boat rather than this brand new JPK1180 only recently launched.
Meanwhile, Privateer had a seventh in the opening race of the day along with a 13th which was discarded and a 12th and is steadily moving up the points table after a similarly slow start to the inshore series.
"We had a great round the cans race which was one of our best races of the series - it felt like the boat was going really well," said Ron O'Hanley. "We feel like we beat the boats we needed to beat, the boats we're most well matched against. We're ready now to do the thing we came here for which is The Fastnet Race."
The 695-mile test that starts on Saturday which so far has very light winds forecast for the start of the race.
"It's looking lighter than we'd like it so I think it's going to be a tactical race and will depend on where you put your boat, it will in some ways be an equaliser,” said Ron O’Hanley.
Both Privateer and Sunrise IV currently sit in 12th place overall in AC1 and AC2 respectively, placing the Royal Irish Yacht Club team 12th out of 15 in the Admiral's Cup standings. With the Rolex Fastnet Race as the final and decisive challenge, and light winds in the forecast, it promises to be a fascinating contest that will test each team's tactical skill.
SEE CUMULATIVE SCORES
"It has been a long few days, but we're very grateful to have had the round the cans and two windward leeward races today" said Privateer crew and RIYC member Cliodhna Connolly. "We can now focus on tomorrow and switch back into offshore mode and an exciting Fastnet which is hopefully our speciality on Saturday."
With no racing now due on Friday's layday, putting the inshore series behind them and switching attention to the offshore is on the minds of all crew-members.
"In the lighter breeze we were quite competitive against the TP52's," said Privateer crew and RIYC member James Carroll. "We got the best result we could for the inshore series and now we have to combine that with a good result in the Fastnet Race."
"It's been fantastic (competing for the RIYC) restarting where the Royal Irish was with the Admiral's Cup 20 years ago," he said. "Being here shows you just how much work gets put in - you can see it in the other teams who have been working with much more modern equipment and planned over a year ago with purpose-built boats; that's the level of detail you need in your campaign."
ADMIRALS CUP CHANNEL RACE
The opening race of the much anticipated Admirals Cup took place on Saturday 19th of July with both boats from each team lining up for the Channel Race. Both Ron O'Hanley's Privateer and Tom Kneen's Sunrise IV placed 14th out of 15 boats in their respective AC1 and AC2 divisions and so lie 14th overall on the team standings.
The Channel Race counted for double-points in the Admirals Cup leaderboard and cannot be discarded. The race spans close to 200 nautical miles sailing across the English Channel to a turning mark off Le Harve and back again for a 20 hour race.
"This is exactly why we are here, to learn and improve with some of the worlds best offshore talent" said Michael Boyd, Team Captain for the Royal Irish Yacht Club. "It was a harsh race, especially at the start where it was a bit of a lottery so we have catch-up to do but there's a lot more racing to come."
SEE FULL TEAM RESULTS HERE
The next races will be the inshore series starting today until Thursday where the newer TP52's are expected to have an edge over Privateer in AC1 fleet. Although Privateer Navigator Jesse Fielding is optimistic about the days to come.
"We're here to surprise people and disrupt where we can...but first we have to sort ourselves out and get ready for more."
Meanwhile, Tom Kneen's Sunrise IV enjoyed speeds of over 20 knots early on Sunday morning as they blasted back to The Solent in the fresh conditions.
"It was a very challenging exit from the Solent" Kneen said. "But the boat is quick and we are learning to sail together, alot has been done in the last 24 hours and there's a lot of racing left to do in this event."
While the Channel Race counted for double points, The Fastnet Race starting on Saturday 26th of July is a triple pointer and Kneen reckons that if it becomes a small boat favoured race then Sunrise could do very well.
FOLLOW RACING HERE
Next update to come ahead of Saturday's Fastnet race and in the meantime you can see the Admirals Cup Socials for some epic race footage and real time results.