The Atlantic Challenge group at Bantry is working on a new development project for a marine centre in the West Cork town which would encourage more young people to become involved in the maritime sphere.
The Atlantic Challenge International began in 1984 to bring young people from different nations together in competitions through friendly contests to preserve and sustain traditional seamanship skills.
The Atlantic Challenge longboat can be rowed and sailed, though when sailed, it depends on the weight of the crew to balance the boats, which don’t have keels underneath to steady them. I once sailed in the Bantry longboat, and it was quite an experience, moving from side to side to keep it upright.
The message of the Atlantic Challenge
The longboats hearken back to the attempted French invasion of Ireland at Bantry Bay in West Cork when Wolfe Tone was aboard the invasion fleet and the boats would have been used to land the invasion force, but that didn’t happen, gales decimated it and never invaded.
The longboats are replicas of the original, dating back to the late 1700s. There are now a hundred of them around the world. The original was restored and is displayed in the National Museum at Collins Barracks in Dublin.
Diarmuid Murphy of the Atlantic Challenge Bantry group has been telling me about their plans for a marine development programme in Bantry and the next Atlantic Challenge event in Belfast next year. There had been a plan to hold it in Russia, but Putin’s invasion of Ukraine scuppered that.
In this week’s podcast, my guest is Diarmuid Murphy. Listen below.
