SAILING VOLVO OCEAN RACE: SCARCELY HAD Ian Walker's words "Galway, we love you!" stopped echoing before Ireland's Green Dragon proved there was plenty of fire left for the remaining three stages of the Volvo Ocean Race which got under way again on Saturday afternoon.

The brisk, northerly wind allowed for a starting-line closer to the Salthill shore than the previous weekend’s In-Port series, and principal race officer Bill O’Hara set up for a running-start under full spinnaker.

Walker’s team revelled in the conditions, denied an invitation from overall race leader Torben Grael for a duel on the starting-line and was soon blasting downwind as the starting-gun fired.

Two miles later, the Dragon had a handsome lead, though her pursuers were able to sail a better angle upwind and Grael’s Ericsson 4 edged ahead for the high-speed flight from Galway Bay.

The spectator fleet was soon left behind, but it was the coastal road at the Burren that offered the best vantage-point as the fleet gybed in to hug the coast south towards the Cliffs of Moher.

By the time the fleet was at the passage between Inis Oír and Doolin, Grael had wrestled out what appeared to be the makings of a “horizon job”, and Walker was swapping down with Ken Read on Puma Ocean Racing.

But navigator Ian Moore had other ideas for the Galway boat and headed offshore where a squally rain-cloud delivered extra windspeed as the breeze dropped inshore.

By the time the fleet converged again, Walker and his crew were out front again. Shortly before midnight on Saturday, less than eight hours after leaving Galway, that lead stood at five miles and Green Dragon rounded the famous Fastnet Rock off the west Cork coast, taking the fleet out of Irish waters and away from a memorably successful stop-over.

By yesterday, Moore’s magic appeared to falter slightly as a move to pass west of the Scilly Isles saw Green Dragon slip down the official ranking, albeit by five miles. In less than 24 hours, the fleet had sailed from Galway to the south coast of England at speeds of 30 knots and close to world-record pace.

As the wind drops off today, further gains for the new leg-leader Bouwe Bekking on Telefonica Blue can be expected, but so too will tactical opportunities as forecasts suggest a better breeze on the French side of the English Channel.

Grael will be watching anxiously for any passing-lane he can find. Even if just one mile behind, a win for Bekking plus a mid-fleet result for the Brazilian could yet see 13-point lead in the overall standings unwind.

Bekking’s light-airs edge and much of the same type of weather expected until the finish is keeping the hungry Dutchman’s victory hopes alive.

With constant sail changes and manoeuvres, fatigue is also likely to become an issue, and that won’t be helped by a unique leg off Rotterdam where the fleet will sail a sausage-shaped course of a length to be determined according to the amount of wind.

The intensity of that mini-race within a four- to five-day sprint from Ireland to Sweden won’t be off-set much by the Marstrand pit-stop before the ninth leg begins next Sunday to take the fleet to Stockholm for the penultimate stop-over and conclusion to the race.

With less than three days remaining to the start of the Irish IRC Championships in Fenit, Co Kerry, David Dwyer on marinerscove.ie was the outright winner of the British equivalent event at Cowes yesterday.

The Royal Cork Yacht Club entry is presently being sailed home to prepare for Wednesday’s start to racing following a fast turn-around last night.

Dwyer was already on course to take the Class One title and needed to win both races yesterday to be certain of the overall title.

But a second place in the opening race of the day appeared at first to be a set-back until another contender had a collision in race two and Dwyer’s final race victory sealed the result.

Meanwhile, Mick Cotter’s Whisper won line honours in the Dun Laoghaire to Dingle Race yesterday and broke the existing course record by more than seven hours in a new time of 24 hours, 43 minutes and 45 seconds.

The final finishers of the 34-strong fleet were expected to arrive in Dingle yesterday before the final results are announced.

branigan@indigo.ie