Displaying items by tag: Oyster Marine

5th January 2013

Oyster World Rally Launches This Weekend

#Oyster - A fleet of 27 yachts from North America, South Africa and Western Europe - including Ireland - will take part in the 2013 Oyster World Rally, which sets off from Antigua in the West Indies tomorrow (6 January).

Celebrating the 40th anniversary of the sailing brand, the launch from Nelson's Dockyard will mark the start of a "16-month odyssey of endless adventure" that will take the fleet all the way round the world via more than 30 ports of call.

After passing through the Panama Canal and into the Pacific, the rally will stop at the the Galapagos Islands, Marquesas, Tahiti, Bora Bora and Moorea.

From there the fleet will head to the Great Barrier Reef, round the top of Australia, partying in Bali and heading west for Cape Town in time for next Christmas, then on to Brazil for next year's carnival, before joining up for a final grand party with the Oyster Caribbean Regatta in April 2014.

And the Irish will be in the thick of the action, via the Oyster 885 'Lush' owned by Formula 1 pundit and sailing convert Eddie Jordan.

Oyster World Rally event manager Debbie Johnson said: “It is very exciting to finally be in Antigua getting ready for the start.

"So many sailors dream of sailing around the world and the camaraderie throughout the fleet is just fantastic."

Follow the progress of the fleet as the rally gets under way via the official website HERE.

Published in Sailing Events

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About Conor O'Brien, Irish Circumnavigator

In 1923-25, Conor O'Brien became the first amateur skipper to circle the world south of the Great Capes. O'Brien's boat Saoirse was reputedly the first small boat (42-foot, 13 metres long) to sail around the world since Joshua Slocum completed his voyage in the 'Spray' during 1895 to 1898. It is a journey that O' Brien documented in his book Across Three Oceans. O'Brien's voyage began and ended at the Port of Foynes, County Limerick, Ireland, where he lived.

Saoirse, under O'Brien's command and with three crew, was the first yacht to circumnavigate the world by way of the three great capes: Cape Horn, Cape of Good Hope and Cape Leeuwin; and was the first boat flying the Irish tri-colour to enter many of the world's ports and harbours. He ran down his easting in the Roaring Forties and Furious Fifties between the years 1923 to 1925.

Up until O'Brien's circumnavigation, this route was the preserve of square-rigged grain ships taking part in the grain race from Australia to England via Cape Horn (also known as the clipper route).

At a Glance - Conor O'Brien's Circumnavigation

In June 1923, Limerick man Conor O’Brien set off on his yacht, the Saoirse — named after the then newly created Irish Free State — on the two-year voyage from Dun Laoghaire Harbour that was to make him the first Irish amateur to sail around the world.

June 1923 - Saoirse’s arrival in Madeira after her maiden passage out from Dublin Bay

2nd December 1924 - Saoirse crossed the longitude of Cape Horn

June 20th 1925 - O’Brien’s return to Dun Laoghaire Harbour