Michael home after sailing round world

July 1999

A 34-year-old Wexford man has just completed a lifelong ambition to sail around the world.

Michael Harpur, from Blackstone, Duncormick, sailed into Gibraltar with his British fiancée Jayne Gibson two weeks ago, three years after initially setting off to circumnavigate the globe.

The voyage brought Michael, a past pupil of Bridgetown Vocational School, and his vessel ‘Obsession’ to five continents, thirty-one nations, 101 islands, and through thirty-five thousand nautical miles.

A former marketing executive, Michael gave up his job in London in November 1996 to embark on his greatest challenge, which he happily completed despite a number of setbacks.

It represented the ‘power of dogged persistence’ and hard work, after a series of troubles en route, that included three cyclones.

According to Michael, sailing into Gibraltar – which was also his starting point three years ago – was the fulfilment of a dream born almost ten years ago.

‘Upon reaching this point of my voyage, I can only say that Buddha expressed it first when he said ‘ the journey is the reward’. We both knew each and every day that we strove to achieve this goal that we were living the best days of our lives,’ he said.

He added that on completing the journey, there was also a sense of loss almost. ‘George Bernard Shaw certainly had a point when he said: ‘ there are two great evils that can befall a man. One is to never achieve his dreams, and the other is to achieve them.’

There is however one very quick remedy for this, he said, adding that he and Jayne plan to re-establish themselves in the workplace and then start planning their next escapade.

They are currently having some maintenance carried out on their vessel in the Algarve, and are producing a booklet detailing some of the highlights of their trip.