The Sailing Smyths of Clontarf are spreading beyond the old family home, with Pete Smyth a force to be reckoned with in Dun Laoghaire and Irish offshore sailing with his Sunfast 3600 Searcher, while a joint job/sailing invitation to Australia to link up with former rugby legend Mick Martin enticed Trevor Smyth and his wife Krissi and family to say farewell to Clontarf and emigrate Down Under, where she has further family connections.
Working in Michael Martin's business came with the additional offer of a regular crew and helming place on his TP 52 Frantic - "amazing speed" is Trevor's comment - and now the Frantic Team have taken on the big new challenge for 2023, the proposed 1,250-mile race across the Tasman Sea eastward to Auckland in New Zealand.
Scheduled for a start on 7th October, no one is in any doubt that this is in an extra dimension beyond the Sydney-Hobart and other established semi-coastal races along Australia's east coast. It will be intriguing - and then some - to see how it all pans out.
