Displaying items by tag: An Tóstal

8th May 2013

An Tostál Fest Rescheduled For End of May

#AnTostal - Galway's An Tostál maritime festival will take place on 26 May after strong winds forced the postponement of the originally scheduled date last Sunday, according to the Galway Independent.

Cian O’Lorcáin of the organisers said the decision to delay the event was made "for the benefit of water safety. We were really thinking of the crews on the water because, with the winds, it could have proved hazardous...

"Safety is the number one thing for us so when that couldn't be guaranteed, we decided to postpone."

As previously reported on Afloat.ie, the festival - reactivated in 2011 after a 50-year gap - celebrates Galway's maritime traditions with currach racing along the Salthill promenade. This year's event is also set to feature a Galway Hooker parade of sail.

Published in Maritime Festivals

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Crowds Come Out for An Tóstal Revival

Currach teams from around Ireland came together in Galway Bay last weekend for the revival of the An Tóstal Fesival, the Irish Times reports.

Up to 10,000 spectators are believed to have watched the nine Galway hookers brave the winds over two days of sailing in the event, the first in almost 50 years.

Members of the winning currach team from 1955 An Tóstal were also on hand for the opening ceremony.

The Irish Times has more on the story HERE.

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2011/0502/1224295868146.html

Currach teams from around Ireland came together in Galway Bay last weekend for the revival of the An Tóstal Fesival, the Irish Times reports.

Up to 10,000 spectators are believed to have watched the nine Galway hookers brave the winds over two days of sailing in the event, the first in almost 50 years.

Members of the winning currach team from 1955 An Tóstal were also on hand for the opening ceremony.

The Irish Times has more on the story HERE.

Published in Galway Harbour

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About Conor O'Brien, Irish Circumnavigator

In 1923-25, Conor O'Brien became the first amateur skipper to circle the world south of the Great Capes. O'Brien's boat Saoirse was reputedly the first small boat (42-foot, 13 metres long) to sail around the world since Joshua Slocum completed his voyage in the 'Spray' during 1895 to 1898. It is a journey that O' Brien documented in his book Across Three Oceans. O'Brien's voyage began and ended at the Port of Foynes, County Limerick, Ireland, where he lived.

Saoirse, under O'Brien's command and with three crew, was the first yacht to circumnavigate the world by way of the three great capes: Cape Horn, Cape of Good Hope and Cape Leeuwin; and was the first boat flying the Irish tri-colour to enter many of the world's ports and harbours. He ran down his easting in the Roaring Forties and Furious Fifties between the years 1923 to 1925.

Up until O'Brien's circumnavigation, this route was the preserve of square-rigged grain ships taking part in the grain race from Australia to England via Cape Horn (also known as the clipper route).

At a Glance - Conor O'Brien's Circumnavigation

In June 1923, Limerick man Conor O’Brien set off on his yacht, the Saoirse — named after the then newly created Irish Free State — on the two-year voyage from Dun Laoghaire Harbour that was to make him the first Irish amateur to sail around the world.

June 1923 - Saoirse’s arrival in Madeira after her maiden passage out from Dublin Bay

2nd December 1924 - Saoirse crossed the longitude of Cape Horn

June 20th 1925 - O’Brien’s return to Dun Laoghaire Harbour