Seascapes' take on the Asgard sinking

16th September 2008

"She was probably the only man-made object that I came across that had a personality, had a soul." That's how Capt Tom McCarthy, a former skipper of the Asgard II, described Ireland's only sail training vessel. His was just one of many voices on yesterday's Seascapes programme, leading with memories of the ship lost off the coast of France.

The podcast of the edition is available online here and in light of the heartbreaking news, it paints a wonderful picture of how and why the Asgard had such a grip on the heartstrings of anyone who sailed her, and the marine community at large.

McCarthy cited as 'insulting' suggestions that the skills were no longer available to replicate a boat like the Asgard, saying that the shipwrights responsible for the Jeanie Johnston and the Dunbrody were among the best of their kind in the world.

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Published in Asgard II

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