CLIFDEN SEA SPORTS CENTRE -"ROUND IRELAND PRACTISE RUN"
Main
Sponsors; YAMAHA and STATOIL
2nd and 3rd September 1998
THE GOAL : To circum-navigate Ireland in a Speed Boat as fast as possible, therefore breaking the old Speed Record and seting a new one .
THE HISTORY : The planning began, when I undertook the challenge of beating the "Round Ireland Speed Record", in April '97, with the intension to use the following twelve months to put together a Boat, Equipment, Boat-Crew, Land-Crew and have our first attempt at The Run in April/May '98. We tested the Kit, and the Team, and proved it's worth, when we broke the "Shannon Sprint" speed record in Nov '97. It was then, just a matter of time untill the days got long enough, and the weather calm enough, untill we got our chance. I had hoped we would get a chance in May '98, but no, the only window of opportunity we got was at the end of Aug '98, and then I had to postpone, due to an unforeseen occurance, crew illness. After that, the days were getting too short, but before I postponed The Run untill next year, we did manage to make a "Practise Run", split up into two days. Here is the story of how we got on !
THE STORY : Our first attempt, on the 29th Aug '98, having been postponed, I decided to make a practise run, split up into two days, on the following Wed 2nd Sept '98. The first day to travel from Clifden, north around the country, as far as Dublin. The second day to travel from Dublin, south around the country, back home. My original crew decided he was still not well enough for the run, so I called on Carmel Conneely, Chief Organiser of my Land-Crew, to take his place. She accecpted. Carmel has worked for me at "Clifden Sea Sports Centre", for the last two years as a "Sailing Instructor", and she has had a huge roll in the planning of the whole "Round Ireland Challenge" since the start, so she knew the plans better than any one else, and she was delighted to take the position.
DAY
ONE : Wed 2nd Sept '98 arrived and we were on the shore, outside the
"Boat Club", at about 5am and departed at 5.30am (dawn). The weather was
nice, but the seas off our local Islands weren't as calm as was hoped,
but on with the show anyway. Once we passed Inish Bofin the seas calmed
a little bit, but not enough to maintain a good top speed. When we passed
Achill Island, I felt better about the whole trip, because that's as far
as we got on our last attempt. Up to Achill the journey was straight forward,
as we left the various local Islands behind us, but after Achill it got
a little boring, it was just us and the sea, no land to be seen untill
we got to Aran and Tory Islands, roughly a 100 mile trip on a fairly lumpy
sea.
On we went to reach Malin Head, about 2 hrs behind schedule, from here
the seas became calm. As we cruised at a nice speed of 50 mph from Malin
Head, a whale appeared on the surface of the water in front of us. This
was the first time I had seen a whale in real life, I was very excited
and slowed down and turned around to see if it would resurface, but it
didn't. From here to Rathlin Island was very enjoyable, we could see Northern
Ireland on our right hand side, and Scotland on our left. We passed through
the Shipping Lanes around Rathlin, and headed south again. Between Rathlin
and Portaferry, somewhere, there was an Oil Rig being towed up the the
North Irish Sea, and of course, it was right in the middle of our planned
navigation path. Considering the very basic "Rules of the Road" at sea,
we gave way to the larger vessle. That was some sight, seeing a very large
Oil Rig being towed by 4 or 5, also large, Tug Boats. At this stage we
were keeping up a good top speed in the calmer waters of the East Coast,
but not enough to make up for the 2 hrs lost on the North West Coast.
On passing the coast from Dundalk to Drogheda we encountered "Very Dense
Fog", and couldn't see a thing. Even though we had our Navigation Lights,
Search Lights, and Flashing Orange Strobe Lights all on, I had to reduce
our speed to a safer one, to avoid the chance of a collision with another
boat. The rest of the journey went well, as we passed East of Lambay Island,
and came in to refuel at Dublin, and so finish our journey for that day.
Our time of docking in at Dublin was 5.30pm, that was only 12 hrs from
point to point including all the delays and time lost during the day.
I was happy enough with that, considering the weather was not Record Breaking
material.
DAY TWO : Thurs 3rd Sept '98, by the time we got everything sorted, and were ready to depart Dublin, it was 12 midday, and so we started the next leg of our Practise Run. The weather was still good, the seas on the East Coast were nice and calm, although the forecast was for stronger winds on the South West Coast later in the evening. When we got to Wicklow Head, I stopped to check our navigation course, and check in with the Coast Radio Station there. After about 10 mins, just as we were about to resume our course, I spotted another R.I.B. approaching us at high speed. As it turns out it was a Customs Patrol Boat, which had been trying to catch us since they spotted us, while they were on route to Greystones, Co. Wicklow. I had met the same Officers the previous week at The Tall Ships, in Dublin, so they had no problems with us and wished us well on our way.
The
next waypoint we were looking for was a marker south of Tusker Rock, off
Rosslare. It seems we had a miscalculation somewhere, there was a navigational
error, and the marker we were looking for was some 500 yards away from
where we calculated it to be. As chance had it there were two fishing
boats nearby, so we cross referenced with both of these parties, and after
some 15 mins, thanks to local knowledge, we were on our way again. From
Tusker Rock our course was, pretty much, straight South West for the Old
Head of Kinsale. During the next hour, off the coast of Waterford/Dungarvan,
I could see a very nasty weather pattern appearing on the horrizon in
front of us. When we reached The Old Head, the weather pattern was right
in front of us, and I didn't like the look of it at all. I called Cork
Radio on the Marine VHF, to get an update on the weather forecast. They
told me that the forecast was for rain with Force 7 winds up the west
coast for the rest of the evening. That was it for today. There was no
need to submit ourselves to those conditions as we approached darkness,
so we pulled in to Kinsale to shelter from the weather, and discuss our
options. Pat Pryce, and Carmels husband, Michael Conneely, both part of
the Land Crew, offered to bring the trailer down to Kinsale, that night,
and bring the boat home by road, as the weather was not to improve in
the near future, and so we all went home. We were off The Old Head of
Kinsale at 5pm, that time also was good enough for me. We now have three
quarters of the course covered, just the last leg, from Kinsale around
the Blaskets and North home, left to "Time Trial". When we get this done,
I will update this story!!!!
THANKS TO : Main Sponsors - YAMAHA
and STATOIL and LENCRAFT
Advertisers - Jackie and Bernie Ward, Killen Marine, Sweeney Oil, GMT
Ireland Ltd., Brian Lynch Solicitors. Other sponsors , including the Local
Business Community , and Private Individuals .
The Team : "CLIFDEN SEA SPORTS CENTRE" Driver and Navigator : DAMIAN WARD (Advanced PowerBoat and Sailing Instructor) Co Driver and Co Navigator : CARMEL CONNEELY (Sailing and Kayak Instructor)
The Land Crew : Jackie Ward, Bernie Ward, Gemma Ward, Barry Ward, Pat Pryce, Michael Conneely, Valerie Marcus.
The
Fund Raising Committee : Blaithin De Saichy, Des Fogarty, Cathal
Walsh, Bernie Ward.
The Starting Boats : Celtic Queen - Skippered
by John Ryan. and The
Clifden RNLI Crew .
Time Keeping Witnesses : Garda Brian Moran,
and Garda Tom Naughton .
