The prospect of starting an east-west Transatlantic Race on the weekend of the Autumn Equinox would not be everyone's idea of sailing fun. But the event is popular and now fully established with around 70 starters expected on the line at Les Sables d'Olonne on France's Biscay Coast. And two of them - Mark O'Connor of the National Yacht Club in Dun Laoghaire and Grainne Costigan from Sutton on the North Shore of Dublin Bay – will emphatically be sailing for Ireland.
O'Connor – whose boat is of the latest scow-bow type - is based in France in order to avail of the strong local competition, while Costigan is Barcelona-based, where there is also a strong fleet. But although Costigan's boat SeaFever is of 2013 vintage and relatively sharp bowed, a combined fleet race round the Fastnet Rock found the scow-bow boats finding difficulty with light head-winds and a lumpy sea, whereas Sea Fever showed very well to finish fourth overall.
Mark O'Connor (NYC) making speed
LARGE NUMBERS
The members of Howth Yacht Club's active Cruising Group, led by Captain Sinead Ryan, turned out in large numbers this week to hear the background to Grainne's involvement with Mini-Transat racing. With its regular September-May monthly meeting on the first Monday of each month, starting promptly at 7.0pm, the HCG have hit upon a winning formula which seems to work well both with the many members living locally, and those who live at a greater distance, such that "Cruising Group" seems to encompass a very wide range interests indeed.
A complicated little boat – Grainne Costigan in Sea Fever
Whatever, this eclectic range of boat enthusiasts all seemed to find Grainne Costigan's calm and level-headed account of the various challenges she faces is utterly fascinating, with particular interest in how she has trained herself to get the best from the 20-minute sleep shots, which are the most you can allow yourself in this kind of racing.
SERIOUS HALLUCINATIONS
She gave a telling example of how acute sleep deprivation can cause serious hallucinations. One competitor was sailing along in the middle of the Bay of Biscay when his addled brain convinced him he was entering a sheltered anchorage. So he rounded up, dropped his anchor which simply hung vertically, stowed his sails, and stumbled below to sleep.
The course of the race starting in September 21st takes due account of the time of year , as the fleet will head southwest across Biscay to Cape Finisterre, then southward for a first stop at Las Palmas in the Canary Island. They'll stay there until October 25th, and then cross the Atlantic to Guadaloupe in the Caribbean, taking in a mandatory waypoint to keep them well south.
THREE BRIDGES RALLY
There's a lot of business done at a Cruising Group meeting, as Monday's gathering also took in an update from the Cruising Association of Ireland's three bridges rally through Dublin's River Liffey. It takes a high level of coordination, as three lifting bridges have to be activated, and it happens on Saturday, September 6th. Be at the Eastlink Bridge at 2.30 – allow yourself time to spare.
Something special – a preview of today's Three Bridges Rally in Dublin's River Liffey
