This article is from page 32 of the 2006-07-04 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 32 JPG
THE Kilrush Spirit was with the 18-man crew on board Clare’s only yacht in the BMW Round Ireland Yacht Race, as they passed Loop Head at 3pm yesterday.
The 18-man crew were in an impressive 4th place overall at time of going press last evening (Monday).
Although the Clare team is in fourth position in what is known as “laps time”, when their handicap is applied they are estimated to be in about 10th position.
The Limerick boat Altana Chieftain was in 5th position in lap time, but 8th when its handicap was applied.
The provisional results which reached The Clare People last evening showed the New Zealand yacht “Konica Minolta Zana” in first position.
While the west Clare crew on board The Spirit of Kilrush are believed to be well, they, like the other contenders, are struggling with a lack of wind.
Starting in Wicklow the 704-mile round Ireland race began on Saturday with the contenders sailing clockwise around Ireland keeping all islands to starboard.
The Spirit of Kilrush is a Volvo 60 yacht.
The Volvo 60 is a 19.5m ocean racing yacht and is capable of 35 knots, which is helped by 5,000 litres of water ballast.
She comes complete with a downwind sail area of some 4,490 square metres, upwind sail area 200 square metres, carbon fibre mast and the famous big boat coffee grinder winches.
All this means that the Spirit of Kilrush is a high performance, light weight and very sophisticated race machine.
Kilrush-based Saint Gobain has sponsored the yacht for the prestigious race.
Saint Gobain Managing Director, Tony Kennedy said the enthusiasm and energy that exists around the Spirit of Kilrush would hopefully translate into a successful weeks sailing and a high finish.