Shaking off the Saltees: 22ft Round Ireland Voyager Moonshine Finally Making Westing for Kinsale

15th September 2021

Steady windward progress? Perhaps. But when your boat is only 17ft on the waterline like the Hurley 22 Moonshine as seen here, even when you’re making best speed upwind the VMG is still very modest Credit: Eoin Keyes

With the light winds all over the place and sometimes nowhere at all, round Ireland voyagers Eoin Keyes and Leonie Conway with the little Hurley 22 Moonshine have been having an ultra-frustrating time in getting past the Saltee Islands off the south Wexford coast, and then shaping a proper ground-covering course towards their concluding destination of Kinsale.

It’s one very obtuse area to be negotiating in the current on-off wind situation, for the strong tides remorselessly turn against you every six-and-a-quarter hours, yet they’re too far offshore in water too deep to contemplate kedging, and thus on three occasions, they have significantly lost ground.

But as of lunchtime today (Wednesday) they’ve finally shaken off those Saltee shackles, and though it's not likely to be a dream of a sail the rest of the way to Kinsale, at least the distance to go is finally down into double figures.

Track chart here

Published in Round Ireland Speed Record

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About The Author

WM Nixon

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William M Nixon has been writing about sailing in Ireland for many years in print and online, and his work has appeared internationally in magazines and books. His own experience ranges from club sailing to international offshore events, and he has cruised extensively under sail, often in his own boats which have ranged in size from an 11ft dinghy to a 35ft cruiser-racer. He has also been involved in the administration of several sailing organisations.

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