08 June 2009

Green Dragon leads the way from Galway!

 The Galway stopover for the Volvo Round the World Ocean Race - what an amazing success! I had hoped to spend lots of time up there but thank God I was busy with cruiser courses - but I did get up for the final weekend. The atmosphere was electric! It was great to see our star pupils Justin Slattery and Johnny Mordaunt being such an integral part of the Dragon team. The Dragon chief guide Jim Slattery was good enough to get the family - Jo, Aisling, Eamonn and myself into the Dragon compound before the boats departed - what anticipation!

Andrew  Gallagher did SailCork proud and went out on Galway Bay chasing dragons!! As you can see Green Dragon was able to point a bit higher than Andrew! It was great to meet Andrew, the lads from Dragon and lots of other past instructors from SailCork in Galway. It was so good to get stuck in there at the deep end and feel the buzz as the boats got ready to go to sea. The shore and dockside was lined with thousands of happy spectators with a grandstand view!

I was very hounoured to be invited aboard Peter and Marie Crowleys "Spare Time" which was the official start boat. We led the parade out of the dock and anchored to set the line off Mutton Island. Race officers Bill O' Hara and Alan Crosbie did a wonderful job. It was bloody cold but the adrenalin was pumping hard to keep us going! Wind was NE gusting up to 30kn - great to fuel the Dragons fire!If you look carefully you can see me perched in the corner of the bridge deck sitting in  my throne taking it all in !  There were aerobatic displays, windsurfers and moths on foils whizzing by but best of all were the Volvo boats limbering up for their start. The duelling really began after the blue peter and at the starting gun Green Dragon was on bang the line doing 20 kn + heading towards the first mark  - within metres of my vantage point!!! Go Dragon go!!!! As the boats tore out Galway Bay Dragon held the lead - what an amazing sight!! I will come back with more photos and words for this blog but right now must dash as we are running a Dinghy Instructor Course at East Ferry!

 

 

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