Yacht race raises €3k for Hospice
THE recent Volvo Round Ireland Yacht Race saw the highest number of boats taking part in the event and among them was a crew predominantly from Sligo who completed the race successfuly.
Dave O’Connor and his fellow 8 crew members on board Lynx were sailing for the Northwest Hospice and already have managed to raise in excess of €3,000.
Conditions were testing enough and a number of boats had to pull out of the race along the West coast.
Photographer and fellow crew member Kristof was documenting the whole trip and caught fantastic videos and photographs of the voyage, including dolphins and spectacular sunsets.
Dave told the Sligo Champion: “We got across the line anyhow! It took us 5 days and 13 hours.
“We were 23rd out of 53 boats so we were happy to be in the top half.
“It was a real mix bag of a race, three sections there was no wind while in the middle of one of the sections there was a lot.
“A good few boats had to pull out from Kerry up as far as Donegal Bay as there was pretty strong winds.
“When we left Wicklow on the Saturday the weather was gorgeous and everyone was in their shorts but a short time later it was time for the heavy gear!
“We actually made gains when the winds increased as it is a heavy boat and suited to stronger winds.
“There was very little wind at Tory Island so we lost a lot of time there and Malin Head too but it picked up off the Irish Sea and we got up to 16 knots at Belfast, we were absolutely flying.
“That was probably the most fun part along there and the Glens of Antrim.
“It took us about a day to get from there to the finish in Wicklow.
“The breeze died again and the last 20 miles in particular was very light.
“The last 12 miles took us 8 hours which was ridiculous how long it took to go that distance.
“There was one boat 2 miles in front of us and we managed to finished 20 minutes before them,” Dave added.
He praised all the crew for their hardwork.
“Everyone got on really well there were a few people sick along the West coast but everyone was prepared for that and stayed positive.
“We did it in shifts of 2 people on 4 hour watches throughout.
“It worked out pretty good an most of us had sailed together before and we hope to sail together again.
“There wasn’t any real mishaps, we managed to wrap the spinnaker around on the first day so that cost us time and we ripped a few sails later on but those are the shenanigans in heavy weather.”
The celebrations after the finish took place in Wicklow Sailing Club. “We finished closely to some of our friends on boats who got in around the same time as us so that was good craic.”
The fundraising for the Northwest Hospice is still ongoing and people who would like to donate to the Sail4Hospice can follow the link https://give.everydayhero. com/ie/sail4hospice.
Dave said: “Thanks a million to everyone who has donated so far.
“We really appreciate it. A special thanks too to Ronan Armstrong & Sean Flynn for all the hard work, long hours & great craic!,” Dave added.
For now it’s back to his sailing business and there’s a voyage planned in 10 days with a group along North Mayo and up to Donegal.
“I’m planning on doing another race too Fastnet next year.
“It’s a prestigious race starting in Portsmouth and going around Cork and finished in Plymouth.
“It’s another six or seven hundred mile race in August.
“We’re putting together a team for that and looking at sponsors and all that.
“Another project I’m working on is on the lake here training the students from Summerhill so hopefully that will start up.
“With PE on the Leaving Cert now sailing is one of the modules students can do as part of the subject.
“I do a bit of work with Sailing into Wellness too, which is about taking people from residential addiction centres and bringing them sailing,” Dave added.
To donate to their fundraiser for the Northwest Hospice you can follow the link https://give.everydayhero.com/ie/sail4hospice. Competition Results Open Thursday July 12th 1st Eoin Kelly(12)y 40pts b9 2nd Daniel Mimnagh(11)g Co Longford 40pts
3rd Tristan Probst(4)g jnr Strandhill 41pts b9
4th Charles McGoldrick(5)y jnr 41pts b9
5th Evan Nealon(12)y jnr 41pts css Home: yellow 37pts green 38pts
visitors: yellow 36pts green 37pts.
Ladies Open Thursday July 12th
1st Deirdre Rogers(24) 39pts 2nd Angela Morrison(21) 35pts b9 css 37pts Ladies Semi Open July 14th 1st Maura Dargan(15) 39pts 2nd Ellie McCormack(20) 37pts.
CO SLIGO GOLF CLUB
RESULTS: Sat 14-Jul-2018: Mr. Joe Keyes’ Captain’s Prize; 18 Holes Stroke; White Tees; 1st David Harte (16) 68, 2nd Brian Feeney (14) 70, 3rd Mark Millar (12) 72 (B6), 4th Peter McGuinness (26) 72 (B6), Gross Prize: Ruairi O’Connor (0) 73, 5th James Barnicle (8) 72, 6th Kirk Poth (12) 73 (B9), 7th Sean McLoughlin (14) 73 (B9), 8th Pat Heelan (13) 73, 1st 9: Charlie Carr (19) 33.5, 2nd 9: Kieran McDonagh (16) 35, Past Captain: Joe Gannon (25) 74, Men’s Committee: Karl Demmel (10) 74, Guest (Member): Michael McDonnell (13) 75, Guest (Non-Member): Niall Burgess 36 Pts; Senior’s Prize (played 12th July): Ben Daly; Junior Prize: Daniel Ford (2): 37 Pts; Captain;s Prize To Ladies: Deirdre Connolly (14) 72 (B9); Hole-In-One: Tommy Rooney (13th); Entries: 153; CSS: 74.
RESULTS: Sunday 15-Jul-2018; 18 Holes Singles Stableford; White Tees; 1st James Creed Jnr (21) 39 Pts; Entries: 26; CSS: 73.