The Ilen is the last of Ireland’s traditional wooden sailing ships.

Who designed the Ilen?

The Ilen was designed by Conor O’Brien, the first Irish man to circumnavigate the world.

Where does the name Ilen get her name?

Ilen is named for the West Cork River which flows to the sea at Baltimore, her home port.

The Ilen was built by Baltimore Sea Fisheries School, West Cork in 1926. Tom Moynihan was foreman.

What is Ilen built from?

Ilen's wood construction is of oak ribs and planks of larch.

What are the dimensions of the lIen?

As-built initially, she is 56 feet in length overall with a beam of 14 feet and a displacement of 45 tonnes.

How did the Ilen get from Baltimore to the Falkland Islands in 1926?

Conor O’Brien set sail in August 1926 with two Cadogan cousins from Cape Clear in West Cork, arriving at Port Stanley in January 1927 and handed it over to the new owners.

How much did the Ilen cost in 1926?

The Ilen was delivered to the Falkland Islands Company, in exchange for £1,500.

What roles has Ilen performed in her lifetime?

Ilen served for over 70 years as a cargo ship and a ferry in the Falkland Islands, enduring and enjoying the Roaring Forties, the Furious Fifties, and Screaming Sixties. She stayed in service until the early 1990s.

Who from Ireland rediscovered the Ilen in the Falkland Islands?

Limerick sailor Gary McMahon and his team located Ilen. MacMahon started looking for her in 1996 and went out to the Falklands and struck a deal with the owner to bring her back to Ireland.

What condition was Ilen in when she was found in the Falkland Islands?

After a lifetime of hard work in the Falklands, Ilen required a ground-up rebuild.

How did the Ilen come back to Ireland?

A Russian cargo ship transported her back on a 12,000-mile trip from the Southern Oceans to Dublin. The Ilen was discharged at the Port of Dublin 1997, after an absence from Ireland of 70 years.

Who restored the Ilen?

It was a collaboration between the Ilen Project in Limerick and Hegarty’s Boatyard in Old Court, near Skibbereen. Much of the heavy lifting, of frames, planking, deadwood & backbone, knees, floors, shelves and stringers, deck beams, and carlins, was done in Hegarty’s. The generally lighter work of preparing sole, bulkheads, deck‐houses fixed furniture, fixtures & fittings, deck fittings, machinery, systems, tanks, spar making and rigging is being done at the Ilen boat building school in Limerick.

How long did it take to restore Ilen?

Ten years. The boat was much the worse for wear when it returned to West Cork in May 1998, and it remained dormant for ten years before the start of a decade-long restoration.

What is the role of the Ilen today?

Ilen now serves as a community floating classroom and cargo vessel – visiting 23 ports in 2019 and making a transatlantic crossing to Greenland as part of a relationship-building project to link youth in Limerick City with youth in Nuuk, west Greenland.

What is so good about Ilen’s relatively small size as a sailing cargo ship?

At a mere 56ft, Ilen is capable of visiting most of the small harbours of Ireland.

23rd October 2023

Irish Crews Second and Third at 44Cup in Spain

Irish crews were second and third overall in the 44Cup Alcaidesa Marina in Spain at the weekend.

Just two points separated the top four boats, and with nine points on the table, mathematically, any of the top six could still win.

Donaghdee's Oisin McClelland and Dublin Bay's Cian Guilfoyle were on board Aleph Racing, and Wicklow's Simon Johnson was on the Black Star Racing Team, finishing second and third, respectively.

"First podium for this boat. Eight events in the making. First bullet this event, too", Johnson told Afloat after the much improved Black Star performance.

Ireland's Oisin McClelland and Cian Guilfoyle and the Aleph Racing crew with their second overall prize at the 44 Cup in Spain Photo: Nico Martinez

Racing started in moderate wind and rain beneath an ominously dark sky before building to 20+ knots in the gusts for the third and final race.

Wicklow's Simon Johnson was on the third places Black Star Racing Team at the 44 Cup in Spain Photo: Nico Martinez

Leading by one point going into this race, life was made easy for owner Igor Lah, tactician Adrian Stead and the crew of Team Ceeref powered by Hrastnik 1860 as their most threatening rivals tied themselves up.

Ceeref won the pin, claimed the left and, returning on port, screeched into the starboard layline and, from there, rounded the top mark just ahead of Team Nika and Chris Bake's Team Aqua. At this point, their top four rivals were not featuring: leader going into the final day and generous host of the 44Cup Alcaidesa Marina, John Bassadone and his Peninsula Racing and star of the first two days – Christian Zuerrer's Black Star Sailing Team – were eighth and ninth respectively both having committed to the unfavored right.

The closest of Ceeref's rivals was Aleph Racing in sixth.

44Cup Alcaidesa Marina Results: (After nine races)

1. Team Ceeref powered by Hrastnik 1860, 34
2. Aleph Racing, 38
3. Black Star Sailing Team, 41
4. Peninsula Racing, 41
5. Team Aqua, 42
6. Charisma, 46
7. Team Nika, 47
8. Artemis Racing, 48
9. Noticia, 69

44Cup Overall Results:

(After four events, with one discard)

1. Charisma - 2 1 1 6 - 4
2. Team Ceeref powered by Hrastnik 1860 - 1 5 5 1 - 7
3. Aleph Racing - 3 3 4 2. - 8
4. Peninsula Racing - 4 2 6 4 - 10
5. Team Nika - 5 4 3 7 - 12
6. Team Aqua - 7 7 2 5 - 14
7. Black Star Sailing Team - 8 6 7 3 - 16
8. Artemis Racing - 6 8 8 8 - 22

Published in 44Cup

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8th April 2022

Ireland's Simon Johnson Part of Swiss Black Star Sailing Team for 44Cup

Ireland's Simon Johnson is in the pit of Switzerland’s Black Star Sailing Team when the crew joins the 44Cup for the second event of the 2022 season in Cascais, Portugal, over 11-15 May.

As regular Afloat readers will recall, the former crew on Anthony O’Leary’s Ker 39 Antix showed he was in peak physical condition in his then new role with the British-owned RC44 Championship Tour mainstay, Aqua back in 2017 here

Led by passionate amateur sailor Christian Zuerrer, Black Star Sailing Team will be running their 44Cup programme alongside their successful GC32 Racing Tour campaign, in which they finished third overall in 2021. In Cascais, the team will be racing on the class’s own RC44, which is available for potential owners to try, before their new boat, which only came out of the factory last week, is ready to race.

RC44 Racing

Some old and new faces will join Black Star Sailing’s crew. RC44 veteran, New Zealand’s Cameron Dunn, will be calling tactics and guiding the new team through the challenges of racing their lively, high performance yacht against the fleet of eight other RC44 one designs and their highly experienced, competitive crews. Dunn brings with him onto the team fellow Kiwi, Emirates Team New Zealand grinder Guy Endean and experienced RC44 pitman Simon Johnson, from Ireland.

Transferring over from Black Star Sailing’s GC32 crew will be mainsail trimmer Flavio Marazzi, trimmer Will Alloway and Swiss sailors, offside trimmer Grégoire Siegwart and bowman Nick Zeltner.

Founded in 2019, Black Star Sailing Team initially set out as a campaign to promote amateur sailors. Owner/driver Christian Zuerrer explains: "The 44Cup's pro/am rule, the simplicity of the one-design boat and the highly professional racing circuit allows me to achieve my goal of providing a pathway for young sailors into the world of professional racing. It is the perfect platform to understand what goes into an international regatta of this level".

Despite having two teams unable to compete due to the World Sailing sanctions, the 44Cup still has at least eight regular teams confirmed as being on the start line at each of its five events this season, plus there is a ninth, the RC44 class boat, booked out for potential owners to get a taste of RC44 racing.

One of the few professional sailing classes that maintained its full schedule of racing in 2021; plus the continued devotion to the class of it enthusiastic owners’ group and considerable interest from new teams wanting to join the 44Cup, on top of a fleet of at least nine boats – the 44Cup is bucking the trend and enjoying a period of growth, despite these troubled times.

Published in 44Cup

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14th July 2017

Simon Johnson Racing Full-Hearted With RC44 Team Aqua

#Offshore - New footage from Team Aqua’s RC44 shows their Irish pitman Simon Johnson in the heart of the action.

And the video takes that literally — as it tracks his heart rate topping out at 181bpm after a leeward drop, a left-hand turn and an early tack.

The former crew on Anthony O’Leary’s Ker 39 Antix is clearly in peak physical condition in his new role with the British-owned RC44 Championship Tour mainstay.

Published in Offshore

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9th August 2010

Commodores Cup: Send YOUR Good Luck Wishes HERE!

MANY OF YOU SENT GOOD LUCK WISHES AND NOW YOU CAN SAY WELL DONE TOO! SCROLL DOWN THE PAGE TO LEAVE YOUR CONGRATULATION MESSAGE!

The ICRA Team Celebrations in Cowes, Photo: David Branigan

After a series of near misses in the Commodores Cup, there are many reasons why 2010 was an entirely appropriate timing for an Irish win in Cowes today.

Ireland's single three boat team (below) faced stiff opposition in the final ten team line up. Individual performances this season though, including a win at the British IRC Nationals, is proof, were it needed, that Ireland still was always on course to win the Commodores Cup.
Ireland's team on the Solent was Royal Cork based; Antix, Anthony O'Leary (Ker 39); Marinerscove.ie David Dwyer (Mills 39) and Roxy 6 Robert Davies (Corby 36). The full crew list for each boat is below, representing the very best of Irish sailing talent.
Third time lucky is how it was scripted in 08, but not how it was acted out. After first being jilted by the French and now, for the second time, by the English, the Irish could be forgiven for giving up on the cup but we never did. This victory represents the final week of eight months preparation for superb assault on the title.

PLEASE SCROLL DOWN TO THE END OF THE PAGE AND LEAVE YOUR CONGRATULATIONS MESSAGE!

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