THE VOLVO Ocean Race fleet is due to round “Ireland’s teardrop”, the Fastnet rock off west Cork, this morning on a brisk sprint from Brittany to the Aran islands and the Galway finish.
In a significant schedule shift, President Michael D Higgins will welcome all six skippers on the public stage in Galway docks at 8pm tomorrow, rather than at the ticket-only event for which the festival organisers had programmed him.
Mr Higgins will meet some of the 1,200 volunteers, visitors and exhibitors in a waterfront walkabout on Wednesday.
Barring encounters with whales or containers or other surprises, Kerry watch-leader Damian Foxall will be on board expected winning yacht Groupama, skippered by Frenchman Franck Cammas, early tomorrow.
However, a tense tussle was anticipated over the last 550 nautical miles of the 39,000-mile global circumnavigation, as westerly winds swept the six-boat fleet out of Lorient yesterday, shadowed by the Naval Service patrol ship LE Aisling.
Southerly winds may allow for spinnakers approaching the Aran islands, according to forecaster MeteoGroup Offshore managing director Dr Mark White.
The islands’ most westerly lighthouse, Eeragh, must be left to starboard as the fleet approaches Galway before dawn, with Naval ship LE Niamh marking the finish line off Salthill.
The two Irish sailors – Foxall, and Corkman Justin Slattery on board Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing – may even pick up the familiar smell of turf as they approach the lock gates.
The crew of legendary Galway hooker An Capall, which is berthed in the docks for the festival, has been cooking up breakfasts over burning sods below deck.
The bay was already a patchwork of colour yesterday, as hookers competed in a regatta, and a parade of sail organised by Galway sailing enthusiast Pierce Purcell was joined by former Irish-Chinese Volvo race entry Green Dragon – rebranded as Dubai 2020.
Conditions proved challenging, between rain, mist and squalls, but among the flotilla were the 12.5m (41ft) Sea Scouts-crewed yacht Yahtzee, and 9.8m Croí an Cladaigh, the first leath-bhád to be built in Galway since 1922.
The new hooker was built under a State-funded training scheme by Bádóirí an Cladaig, the Claddagh boatmen’s association, named by Minister for Social Protection Joan Burton, and blessed by the Dominican Fathers.
The traditional craft are expected to be joined by two Arab dhows, being flown in from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) today, and due to sail in UAE day on Thursday in the bay.
The Sea Scouts, first formed in Ringsend, Dublin and Bray, Co Wicklow in 1912, marks its Irish centenary this year, and up to 21 scouts from Howth and Dún Laoghaire and a number of scout leaders sailed the Yahtzee from Dublin around west, leaving three weeks ago.
Several hundred venture scouts from all over Ireland will be demonstrating rafting, canoeing, rowing and sailing, and will be participating in a skills contest held by the Irish Institute of Master Mariners. Their campsite has been provided by the Army at Renmore Barracks.
General officer commanding (GoC) 4th Western Brigade Ger Aherne says the Army has some 16 chefs on rotation, feeding the festival’s 1,200 volunteers in the docks and in the global village in South Park.
The park, known as “The Swamp”, has been ringed with metal walkways, provided when heavy rain flooded the site late last week. GoC Aherne said he wished to pay tribute to his transport and engineering staff for their response, and to Let’s Do It Global president John Killeen, who he described as “phenomenal”.
“The Defence Forces support for this event is not just for Galway but for Ireland Inc, given the number of agencies and industries participating in the festival, and Ireland needs more people like Mr Killeen,” GoC Aherne said.
Among official events today are an artisan food market, and Minister for Marine Simon Coveney will address a “smartocean” workshop at the Marine Institute.
Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore and Minister of State for Tourism Michael Ring attended the festival opening, as did up to 30,000 people in the docks area, according to estimates.
