Over the course of the five-day Tall Ships fiesta there were countless parties, both on and off boats. There was the Captain's Dinner at the Point on Sunday night which was attended by El Capitaine himself, Taoiseach Bertie Ahern as well as all the ship captains and captains of industry who sponsored the event, and on Saturday there was a giant barbecue for the 6,000-strong crews, which also took place at the Point Theatre. There was a last minute panic that there would not be enough women, as the majority of the ships' crews are male, but the finest of Irish womanhood rallied round. On Monday, the invite to have was for the party on board the Asgard hosted by Michael Smith, the Minister for Defence. Smith proved himself a more than adequate host - as he was the only person really able to mingle on board the hugely packed ship, he made himself busy getting drinks for his guests, personally delivering a pint to The Irish Times Marine Correspondent, Lorna Siggins.
Such was the craic on board the Asgard that all the passers-by on the quays stopped to gawk down at the party. Again, the Minister rose to the occasion - spotting a couple of his Tipperary North constituents on the quayside, he immediately issued an invitation to the party. Among his guests on Monday night were numerous foreign skippers including Jorge Omar Godoy of the Argentinian ship Libertad and Salvador Jimenez of the Mexican ship Cuauhtemoc; the captain of the Asgard, Rohan McAlistair; Seamus Brennan TD; the flag officer of the Naval Service, John Kavanagh and his wife Pauline; David O'Callaghan, secretary general of the Department of Defence; ain, the tallest man present and the press officer of the Defence Forces, and Bill O'Dwyer, the acting chief of staff of the Defence Forces.
The last fandango of the whole Tall Ships race was aboard the Mexican ship, the Cuauhtemoc, and it proved to be one of the best parties of the season. While all the rest of the tall ships headed out to sea, the Mexican crew had decided to stay on one more night and party - and this decision was made before they won the Cutty Sark trophy for contributing the most to "international friendship and understanding". Hosted by Daniel Dultzin, the convivial Mexican ambassador, and Salvador Jimenez, the Mexican captain, it was a party that demonstrated the old diktat that it's all in the details. There were lights in the rigging, bright green tequilas, wandering groups of Mexican mariachi singers, a whole poop deck covered in food and best of all, two life boats converted into impromptu bars from which matelots complete with striped shirts handed down a never-ending supply of Mexican beer. Those who came to celebrate Mexicano-style included the Minister for Defence, Michael Smith; Seamus Brennan TD; Barbara Dawson of the Hugh Lane Gallery; Mafra O'Reilly; the ambassador's young sons, Adrian and Diego Dultzin; Desmond and Penny Guinness and Desmond Fitzgerald of the Irish Georgian Society, who made up a party with publisher Kevin Kelly and his wife Rose Kelly. The younger generation of this crew was represented by Hugo Jellett, former publisher and present manager of Gowran race course in Kilkenny; his sister Minnie Jellett and girlfriend Cynnie Ryan.