Most of us thought that all Round Ireland Sailing Records at the lower end of the size scale had been long since put to bed. After all, it was way back in 1961 that Kevin & Colm MacLaverty with Mick Clarke in the Belfast Lough 18ft LOA Waverley OD had put down the marker for the smallest keelboat. Then in 1976, James Cahill of Clew Bay in Mayo went round in a semi-open 13ft 6ins clinker-built sailing dinghy. Following that, in the early 1990s, Rob Henshall of Fermanagh went round totally unaccompanied on a Bic Sailboard and then – again unaccompanied – in a Laser.
More recently, two more Lasers have made the solo circuit, but with support afloat for Gary “Ted” Sargent of Howth in 2016, and with shore support for Richard Hayes of Galway in 2018, while in 2015 the Ogden brothers from Baltimore had added a new dimension by making the minimum 704-mile venture in a Drascombe.
But with the advent of foilers, there are fresh areas of Ireland-girdling in small and ultra-small craft to conquer, and in Carlingford Lough where the Louet-Feisser family from The Netherlands pioneered the revival of the oyster fishery, they relaxed by also pioneering windsurfing in all its forms, with the patriarch Peter Louet-Feisser becoming an Irish champion in several disciplines.
These days it is his son Hannes who is setting the pace on the boards, and at a family gathering he mused on the possibility of going round Ireland solo on a windfoiler, as for some years he had shown himself a master of this new sailing form.
Getting the hang of it. The year is 2018, and Hannes Louet-Feisser is having his first year with a windfoiler in Carlingford Lough. Photo: Oisin van Gelderen
His father didn’t allow him to let the idea go by, and this year they’ve quietly done it. There has been enough publicity to raise €13,000 and counting for the RNLI, yet without so much razzmatazz that some coastal authorities might have been spurred into wondering if it all complied with every obscure corner of our seagoing regulations, which are made even more complex by Ireland’s meandering coastline – they say there are 7,500 kilometres if you go into every inlet in reasonable detail – being covered by two jurisdictions.
It’s a family thing…Hannes Louet-Feisser and his father Peter
But now with more than a month elapsed since the circuit was completed, we can look at it all more calmly, and the statistics and reality are remarkable. For although Hannes – who is the fittest 51-year-old you’re ever likely to meet – had huge support from shore teams led by Gene O’Hara of Newry with his colleagues at the Carlingford Oyster Company running a series of land-travelling support rotas, the fact is that there are vast tracts of the Irish coastline which are inaccessible to any road system, and thus when the lone foiler set out into the wide blue yonder, he was totally reliant on his own abilities and stamina, often for very long periods
The Hannes Louet-Feisser Ireland-circling achievement in its essentials. There’s now one change – the figure raised has gone through the €13,000 mark, and you can add to it through justgiving.com/fundraising/windfoilroundireland
He sailed a French-built Tabu windfoil setting a Dutch-made Gaastra sail, and while this is a potent combination in a usable breeze, the reality is the requirement for foiling board shape provide a bit of a clunker if there is not enough pressure to get up and flying, as the ever-so-wonderful foil with wings can be a real drag in light airs.
But when the going is good, it is very very good indeed. And it got off to a flying start, with the first day’s passage being 170km south from Carlingford to Bray and then on to the first overnight at Wicklow.
Hannes made a point of always being comfortably ashore before dark, but his options were broadened by not needing a harbour or even a recognized landing place. If a handy beach was available, he could get himself safety on land with his actions dictated in the first instance by not doing any damage to the foil, and then by the ease – or not – with which he could link up with his shore squad.
With the chosen landing-place selected, the challenge was getting ashore without damaging the foil
Every so often, a landing place would provide a site where an impressive but very temporary shore base could be provided…
…….then next day it would be off again, very much on his own
Every so often they would find an ideal set-up where a good beach and a spacious vehicle-parking site made it look like they were all having a relaxed holiday, but for much of the time this was a high-alert continually-planning venture.
And as for the powers of endurance required, they’re beyond imagination. The man is so fit he can face seven hours of standing on a windfoil while sailing it to maximum advantage, and can manage it for a little longer if need be. The very large section of the general population which suffers from chronic back and skeletal joint problems can only wonder and marvel at a 51-year-old who can confidently take on such a challenge, and then maintain the mind-set to see it through to the end.
Wind power in two very diverse forms off the Wexford coast as the Carlingford Round Ireland Challenge makes good progress while leaving no trace
Interacting with the wonders of the Irish coast in sailing across a sea forest at Ballinskelligs in County Kerry. The non-compromising shape of the board seen here reveals why it was so important to have enough wind pressure to get up on the foil.
But as it happens, it’s second nature for such people build up teams of supporters, and if the main player is at a low point psychologically, or simply worn out, the supporters are worth their weight in gold, making it a group effort in which, nevertheless, there is just the one clearcut star.
Kit and team after a safe landing on a remote Connacht beach
Back to the modern world – the lone foiler meets commerce in the shape of a bulk super-carrier
The quality and achievement of this unique sailing circuit of Ireland - sweetly leaving no trace whatever - is difficult for even the most experienced sailor to grasp. But just what it means to non-sailors is beyond our powers to guess. So we leave it to Elaine Ingram of the Newry Reporter to give a comprehensive overview of how it all looked from land when the project came to a successful conclusion back home in Carlingford.
The definite view from land by Emily Ingram in the Newry Reporter.
