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Seven yachts join overnight race
19.06.09
Successful launch for
Sanda Race at Moville
THE FIRST ever overnight offshore yacht race
organised by Moville Boat Club has been hailed as a
success with a total of seven yachts taking part.
The four yachts from Moville boat club and three
from Coleraine yacht club set sail at 7pm on Friday
from Greencastle. Their destination was Macosh Rock
Light at Sanda Island off the Mull of Kintyre coast.
With near perfect weather conditions on the outbound
journey, the first of the boats made Sanda by 3am.
Eclipse (Coleraine) was first around the light.
After eight hours of sailing there was less than
half an hour between the first and last boats to
round the light. Unfortunately Marie Julie II (Coleraine)
missed the tidal gate making it almost impossible to
complete the race within the time limit so Marie
Julie II retired from the race and motored home. The
return journey was a much slower affair after the
weather conditions changed and wind speed dropped.
The eight-hour outbound passage became a 13-hour
return journey. |
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As first boat over the
finish line Megaera (Moville), skippered by Bill
McCann took line honours followed closely by Eclipse
and Mahuri (both Coleraine). All three boats
finished within a minute of each other after the 19
hour journey. The remaining three Moville boats
finished an hour and a half later. |
George McCormick, Commodore of Moville Boat Club
explained how the Sanda Race came about.
“Last year I took my boat Tamitroot to the Scottish
Series race in Tarbert, Scotland. I wanted to
experience a bigger event, something totally out of
my comfort zone. My crew were joined by skippers and
crew from other boats from Moville club and we all
had a fantastic time. We started to consider the
possibility of running an off shore race from
Greencastle and decided that Sanda would be a
challenge. We also wanted to include other yacht
clubs to try and get as many boats on the water as
possible.”
He continued, “We were successful in securing
funding from Inishowen Development Partnership to
buy equipment to run the off shore race which I hope
will be run on an annual or biannual basis. I
realise that we started small but with the right
level of support and a lot of effort we can grow
this race into a much bigger event. I think that the
Volvo Ocean Race has captured peoples’ attention and
I think that we have great potential on this
coastline.”
Jim Millar of Coleraine Yacht Club agreed, “When
George approached me about the Sanda race my first
thought was, why has this not been done before. I
started from Northern Ireland, sailed to Scotland
and back to the Republic of Ireland, all within 24
hours. To me that is a unique achievement. What made
it even more special was the hospitality from the
people of Greencastle. Technically this was one of
the most challenging races I have ever sailed. I
certainly will be putting my boat forward for the
next one. It was a great experience for me
personally and also my crew.”
George concluded by saying “Well done to Noel Young
skipper of Eclipse (Coleraine) who won the race on
corrected time, followed by Megaera and Tamitroot. I
have to thank Coleraine Yacht Club for all the
support, especially our own members in Moville Boat
Club and all the skippers and crews for making it
not only possible but a great success.”
(Inishowen Independent) |
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