#rockall – The three boats competing in the first ever Round Rockall race from Galway are due back in the West coast port sometime tomorrow after an epic 750 mile race. All three yachts - two Irish and one German- rounded Rockall around midnight on Tuesday.
The German yacht "Bank Von Bremen" first made a 1,000 mile trip from its homeport of Bremerhaven to come to Galway for the race around Rockall. It has a crew of nine and is skippered by Rainer Persch.
The two Irish boats are being raced by veteran single-handed sailors Jamie Young, from Killary in Connemara and Barry Hurley from Cobh in Cork.
Barry Hurley is sailing his JOD 35 "Dinah" the boat in which he won his class in the 2009 OSTAR the singlehanded 3,000 mile transatlantic race from Plymouth in England to Newport Rhode Island in the US. He completed the crossing in what race organisers described as "a flawless 21 day run"
Jamie Young has taken to the seas in his classic Admiral's Cup 50 foot Frerer's designed "Killary Flyers". He competed in the 1976 OSTAR Race and he and his wife Mary spent their honeymoon completing a two handed transatlantic crossing. He now runs the Killary Adventure Centre in Connemara.
Race organiser Larry Hynes said "The idea of a non stop race around Rockall came about because of the enormous buzz created in Galway by the 2009 Volvo Ocean Race stopover. We thought we would like to do something spectacular to coincide with the 2012 Volvo Ocean Race finale and we ended up sending three boats racing around Rockall"
"The crews of the three boats are certainly taking the hard route to the party but they will certainly be given a great welcome home when they arrive back in the city tomorrow"
