Just ten months after sailing away into the wide blue yonder, Conor Fogerty of Howth has returned this week with his SunFast 3600 Bam with more than 12,000 miles logged in just ten months away, and a Class win recorded in the RORC Caribbean 600 as “just another element” in a remarkable Atlantic circuit cruise writes W M Nixon.
He will barely have time to savour being home before being swept up into the Volvo Round Ireland Race in a fortnight’s time. When Afloat.ie caught up with him at lunchtime today, Bam was being lifted in Howth Marina in order to get a proper assessment of her weight, as she rates a whole 8 points higher than the other SunFast 3600 entered for the Volvo Round Ireland, and the reasons for this have to be identified.
Then next stage is participation in tomorrow night’s ISORA Race from Dun Laoghaire to Douglas in the Isle of Man for some crew qualifications for the Ireland circuit, and when this necessary business has been sorted, maybe there’ll be time to properly savour the quality of the achievement of Bam! and her skipper.
While he got to the Caribbean from the Canaries by way of the ARC, and raced fully-crewed in the RORC Caribbean 600, in order to qualify for events such as the OSTAR he sailed home single-handed non-stop from St Maarten back across the Atlantic to the Azores, while for the final 1,200 mile passage from the Azores back to Howth, he was crewed by longtime shipmate Daragh Heagney. As our photos show, Conor Fogerty has returned looking hyper-fit and well, while Bam! looks as if she has only been away for a sail round the bay.
Conor Foger with Bam! in Howth – his Jeanneau SunFast 3600 looks as though she's just back from a day sail round the bay, rather than 12,000 mile Transatlantic Circuit cruise. Photo: W M Nixon