CLASS CREW OF ANDANTE

Killinick farmer Keith Miller and the crew of his yacht ‘Andante’ were the only Co. Wexford entrants in this year’s Volvo Round Ireland race which is one of the longest and most difficult international yacht races in the world.

The race set off from Wicklow with an international fleet racing a gruelling 704 miles around the coastline, passing Tuskar Rock Lighthouse on the evening of day one and Fastnet Rock on day two.

On reaching the west coast, weather conditions took a rapid change for the worse with northerly winds of up to force seven producing a challenge for the sailors. Waves of 3.5 metres hammered the contestants and a number of yachts retired with gear failure.

Some of the fleet were becalmed for a number of hours at Tory on the north west coast. Strong northerly winds did help the competing yachts race down the east coast. On reaching the Wicklow coast, ‘Andante’ was leading its cruiser class but was unfortunately becalmed once again with less than 12 miles to the finish line. With little or no wind, it took 12 hours to complete the last eight miles, moving to third position in its class.

‘Andante’ was crewed by four RNLI members – Keith Miller (Rosslare), Michael McNicholas (Rosslare), David Maguire (Wexford) and Keith’s daughter Alice Miller (Galway) – along with Jack Tim Murphy of the Surf Shack in Curracloe and Keith’s youngest daughter Beth Miller.

At 15 years old, Beth was the youngest ever crew member to take part in such a long and gruelling race. ‘Andante’ took six days and 18 hours to complete the route.