This article is from page 14 of the 2006-07-10 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 14 JPG
SPIRITS were high in the Kilrushbased Western Yacht Club this week as its two ships that took place in the Round-Ireland Yacht Race came first and second in the large ship category.
Limerick’s Atlanta Chieftain, whose crew came from the Kilrush Yacht Club, came in first in the Super Zero class, with Clare’s only yacht in the race, The Spirit of Kilrush, coming in second place.
Skipper of ‘The Spirit of Kilrush’, Tom Whelan, was overjoyed with the result and adamant that the crew never dreamed of such success.
“Kilrush never had a ‘Super Zero class’ boat before and this year we had two and won the category,” he told The Clare People .
The Kilrush crew sailed around Ireland in an impressive 116 hours. The overall winner, Cavatina, completed the sail in 153 hours, but when the handicaps were applied it was deemed the overall winner.
Mr Whelan said there were many high points for the crew along the way. One of the biggest highlights was when The Spirit of Kilrush came in ahead of the professionallymanned New Zealand yacht, Konica Minolta Zana. The New Zealand boat later finished third behind the two Western Yacht Club yachts.
The elated businessman said the crew hoped to get home first but that was before they learnt that the Konica Minolta Zana was entering.
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 a 5,000 litre of water ballast.
The only other Volvo 60 yacht in the race was sailed by the yacht’s designer, Roy Heiner, who last year sailed around the word in a similar yacht.
“When we saw him entering, we were nervous but then we passed him in Tory Island,” said Mr Whelan. This was another highlight of the trip for the amateur Kilrush crew.
The Spirit of Kilrush was sponsored by local business people who wished to raise the profile of the West Clare capital.
“This costs a lot of money but they supported us so well,” said the Kilrush yacht’s skipper.
Among the local sponsors were Shannon Ferries, Whelan’s Garage, Kilrush Credit Union and 3Ps solutions. Starting in Wicklow, the 704mile round-Ireland race began on Saturday, July 1, with the contenders sailing clockwise around Ireland, keeping all islands to Starboard.