The Royal Irish Yacht Club was the focus on Saturday afternoon for the beginning of celebrations of the centenary of Conor O'Brien's departure in Saoirse from Dun Laoghaire Harbour on his pioneering global circumnavigation.
An Irish Cruising Club/Royal Cruising Club gathering was hosted by Royal Irish Commodore Jerome Dowling and ICC Commodore David Beattie, with O'Brien's restored ketch Ilen moored alongside the clubhouse.
It was also an occasion when Ireland’s sail training gaff ketch fleet, the Ilen, the Leader and Brian Ború, were in the same harbour for the first time and they came together to mark the famous departure by sailing in procession in a misty Dublin Bay.
The three boats left the RIYC and Dun Laoghaire Marina at 4.30 pm, accompanied by a flotilla of ICC yachts and RIBs, and motor sailed down to the Muglins Rock at the southern tip of Dublin Bay before hoisting sail.
As Afloat reports, a hundred years ago, next Tuesday, June 20th, O'Brien took his departure aboard his 42-ft Saoirse from the harbour and headed south.
Unfortunately, Saturday's tribute saw the boats become shrouded in a sea mist as they reached the edge of the bay.
The three ketches bore away to the north east on a starboard reach in a synchronised fashion.
The Ilen then headed south to Madeira as part of the centenary celebrations, Leader headed northabout to Clare Island, and Brian Ború returned to Dun Laoghaire.
The great voyage of the Saoirse is now seen as a cornerstone of world sailing history.
As Afloat reported earlier, in 1923 she was noticed by only a few when she arrived in Madeira, but this time the Ilen – with the initial flotilla expanded to a fleet as Iberian and Mediterranean-based boats of the ICC and the RCC join the trail – will begin an official visit on July 3rd – the Centenary of O’Brien’s arrival – inaugurating a prodigious welcome and round of celebrations.