**29/05/25 Weather update for Ocean to City participants**

Dear All,

Thank you so much for being part of this year’s Ocean to City – An Rás Mór. We know how much anticipation and preparation goes into the event and appreciate your enthusiasm, commitment and flexibility.

After closely monitoring the weather forecast over the past week—and following detailed discussions with Race Control—we’ve made the difficult decision to implement the Sheltered River Course for this year’s race. This is due to a developing low-pressure system and forecasted strong south-westerly winds on Saturday. Multiple weather models are predicting sustained wind speeds of 15–20 knots, with gusts reaching up to 25 knots, creating conditions that would pose significant challenges across parts of the harbour.

While we acknowledge that some of you may feel ready and willing to face the conditions, our responsibility is to ensure the safety of the entire fleet—including crews in smaller or less seaworthy boats, less experienced crews and our international visitors unfamiliar with local tides and geography.

The key concern lies in Lough Mahon, where strong south-westerly winds could push boats into the mud banks at Little Island – an area that is inaccessible to our safety boats. Beyond this, splitting the fleet across multiple courses isn’t a viable option, as it would overextend our safety resources and prevent Race Control from effectively monitoring such a wide area. There’s also an increased risk of participant exhaustion in challenging wind conditions, and our shore-based volunteer capacity—critical to the safe and smooth running of the event—would be stretched too thin to support a dispersed race.

A tried and tested alternative
We’ll be returning to the Sheltered River Course, which we successfully ran in 2017 under similar conditions. Many of you will remember it fondly—it made for a highly competitive race, with boats in close proximity to one another along a historic and scenic stretch of river. While different from the lower harbour courses, this route still offers a demanding and dynamic experience. We’re fortunate to have this sheltered stretch of the River Lee available to us, and grateful that we’re in a position to safely run the race despite the challenging weather forecast.

The revised course is as follows:

Participants will start at the 19th Century Custom House, racing along the north shore to the working docks at Tivoli, before crossing towards Blackrock Castle and returning along the southern shore via the Marina.
• Crews entered on the City and Ocean Courses will complete two circuits (approx. 20km)
• Crews on the Monkstown Course will do one circuit (approx. 10km)

Logistics & next steps
As you can imagine, the team is now working flat-out to implement the changes. On this web page, we will share detailed launch and recovery instructions, updated maps, and safety briefings in the next 24 hours.

Plan E – The Sheltered River Course

See interactive Plan E map here

– Note: Please note that, due to the weather forecast, the information below is subject to change –

Registration

All participants must register inside the new marquee on Lapp’s Quay West, Cork City. Registration opening hours:

Saturday 31 May, 10:00-12:30
Update: There is no registration on Friday.

Your race pack will contain: alternative course map, launch & recovery information, orange flag, regulations and general information.

Boat Launch & Recovery Areas

Launch: We are currently developing alternative launch and recovery plan to get all craft afloat in the city. We will allocate each boat a dedicated launch and recovery area and communicate this as best as possible on Friday. Launch volunteers will be in place to assist between certain times. Update: fenders would be handy to bring.

Kayaks, SUPs, Canoes: Drop off at the pontoon at Lee Rowing Club, 10:30-11:30 (provisional times)
Sliding-seat boats that can be lifted: At the pontoon at Lee Rowing Club Update: or at Shandon Boat Club 11:00-13:00 -depending on capacity at the time. If you are able to launch your boat independently on Friday or at another location this would be a good possibility too.
All Currachs and lighter rowing boats that can be lifted / trolleyed in: At Shandon Boat Club, 11:00-13:00 (provisional times)
Heavy boats: By crane from Kennedy Quay 11:00-14:00 (confirmed times) (There are a big number of heavy boats so thank you for your patience while our team of volunteers do their best for you)

Recovery:

Kayaks, SUPs, Canoes: At the Cork City Marina / former Port of Cork Marina. Volunteers will be on hand as ususal.
Sliding-seat boats that can be lifted: At the public pontoon at Lee Rowing Club, post-race.
All Currachs and lighter rowing boats that can be lifted: need to be recovered from where they launched.
Heavy boats: Will be by crane after the race. Our team of volunteers will work hard to get every boat recovered as fast as possible. We would ask for your patience while our volunteers do their work.

Map for various launch/recovery areas: click here

Boat & trailer parking:

Before the race:

Crosshaven – at the Royal Cork Yacht Club (RCYC): Open Friday until 21.00. Saturday open from 9.00am
Friday from 09:00 until Saturday morning: Albert Quay, Cork City, access through the second gate. Open and close gate when leaving.
Friday: 18:00 – 22:00, Cork city – near Kennedy’s Quay (The corner of Marina Walk and Mill Road). Note this is a first come, first serve basis due to limited capacity.

See map below:

Horgan’s Quay
Friday: 18:00 – 22:00
Saturday: 08:00 – 11:00

Please note that there is no parking at the Port of Cork.

Kayak/SUP Information

Registration: as per above.
Launch location: Public Pontoon at Lee Rowing Club, along the Marina
Note: Car access and parking around the Marina is limited – if you can carpool, please do. We will do our best to have a traffic system in place to allow kayak drop-offs.
Arrive: 10:30-11:30 and offload your kayak & equipment onto the grass. There will be volunteers there to assist.
Parking: After you off-load your kayak you can park your car as usual near the finish: on-street parking (not in the Port of Cork).
Participants Shuttle Bus: There will be a free participants shuttle bus in operation between Albert Quay (outside of the Idle Hour pub) and the Marina : 12:45
Mandatory Kayak Safety Briefing – 13:15 at Lee Rowing Club pontoon
Launch from 13:30: Launch from the pontoon and paddle up to Custom Hse Quay together as a fleet.
Approx kayak starts: From 14:50 at Horgan’s Quay start line. You will be called from the muster area on the North Channel.
Kayak Race: Please be assured that safety is at the fore in our planning and we’ll keep the kayaks separate from the rowing boats as much as possible. However, the racing area is very restricted and all participants need to mindful of each other. City Course kayaks will do two circuits and Monkstown Course kayaks will do one circuit.
Recovery: will be as usual from the Cork City Marina / Port of Cork Marina. There will be volunteers to assist you. Kayaks must be collected from North Custom House Quay (strictly pick up only).

Map of various locations and opening hours:

https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/edit?mid=1RLwSGRwC_rk5S_GtDEcV3vp36i0&usp=sharing

Crew Shuttle Buses

To facilitate movement between the various launch locations, we will be arranging a special Shuttle Bus which will be going back and forth between Albert Quay and the Marina on Saturday morning. No tickets needed.

Mandatory Safety Briefing

There will be a mandatory and detailed safety and course briefing before the race start. A member of every crew (captain or cox) must attend this Safety Briefing and a sign-in sheet will record signatures. Crews who have not attended the Safety Briefing will not be permitted to launch or race. Briefings will be held as follows:

Boats: 13:30 near the finish line (exact location TBC)
Kayaks/SUPs/Canoes: 13:15 by the Lee Rowing Club pontoon, before any kayaks/SUPs/canoes are launched

Race Start

The first boats will be started at approximately 14:30 (Youth Race), followed by the Main Fleet from 14:50. Please muster in the North Channel, between Christy Ring Bridge and the end of Custom House Quay (blue area) and wait for your start time/call.

De-registration

Please assist our safety by de-registering as soon as you have finished the race. De-registration is an important record for us that participants have finished and are safely ashore. The de-registration tent will be located near the top of the Cork CIty Marina / Port of Cork Pontoon. Kayakers are required to return the special bibs as they are on loan from the ICU.

Race Regulations

For full Race Regulations, please check here.

Prize Giving Ceremony

With the change of course we will not be able to start the race on the usual handicap basis. We plan to present prizes as follows: (a) within Boat Type Classes (b) within Age & Gender classes within the same Boat Types (c) Special Awards (d) Fun Awards. For boats that do not have their own boat class we will also apply a retrospective handicapping calculated on times, post-race.

Update: The Prize Giving Ceremony will take place at 21:00 in Tequila Jacks on Lapp’s Quay, followed directly by the Afterparty!

Afterparty

Salty craic, waves of tunes on the dance floor for the Aprés row party in Tequila Jacks, straight after the prize giving! 21:30, Tequila Jacks, Lapp’s Quay.

Don’t forget…

Prepare for up to 3 hours on the water, with appropriate protection for the elements. Conditions can change on the open water, and protection from both cold, wind and sun is recommended: sunscreen, rain gear, layered clothing, hat/cap, shades, etc.
Bring at least 2 liters of drinking water per person as well as food
Boat safety requirements include: 20ft towline, two 2l bailers, a clearly displayed race number, mobile phone and an orange flag (in race pack). Spot checks will take place on the day.
All crew members must wear a suitable PFD at all times while afloat/near the water or the crew will be disqualified (PFD belt packs not permitted)
It is the responsibility of each competing crew to ensure that their craft is seaworthy for the area and the forecast conditions.
Retiral/rescue: participants must report to a Shore Safety Point if they retire; if rescued, participants will not be permitted to continue racing.
Rules of racing: participants must go through gates; gates are integral to the course and to safety; overtaking boats must keep clear of boats they are passing; boats being overtaken must hold their course; participants must not wash hang. Participants that do not pass through gates will be automatically disqualified.
Respect for Rules of Racing will be particularly important this year, given the restrictive racing area on the river. Please be mindful of each other and obey marshal instruction.
Detailed rules and regulations can be found here.
More guidelines to be confirmed nearer the time.