THE speed record for the Dún Laoghaire to Dingle Yacht Race was smashed on Sunday when the leading vessel arrived at Dingle harbour in under 25 hours.
Thirty seven boats left Dún Laoghaire for Dingle at 10am on Saturday in the bi-annual yacht race sponsored by the Dingle Skellig Hotel. It was the largest entry for the event since it was inaugurated in 1995.
The race normally takes up to three days but one vessel set a remarkable speed record for the 320-mile course this year. Whisper, owned by Mike Cotter, crossed the finish line just outside the harbour's mouth shortly before 11am on Sunday, breaking the previous record by around eight hours.
That record was set by the yacht Patches in 2005 but the new record, the result of strong north easterly winds for most of the way down the east and south coasts, is expected to last for a long time.
Not all the participants made it to Dingle because of various mishaps along the wa.
The sole local yacht, Southbound.ie, was lying in seventh place as she neared the Skelligs on Sunday evening but then she lost the wind and had to drop anchor. This allowed the following fleet to catch her and she crossed the line early on Monday morning. The Corby 33 was sponsored by Southbound Properties and the Dingle Distillery owned by Jerry O'Sullivan.
The crew of eight included two sets of brothers, Yannick and Olivier Lemonier from France and Yannick's brothers-in-law Liam and Niall Farrell from Dingle.
"That race was one of the most exhilarating and at the same time one of the most frightening experiences of my life. We were belting along at up to 20 knots with walls of water on either side as we cut through the waves in the dark. Somebody said they heard people praying!" Jerry O'Sullivan said.
The race is run on a handicap basis and the overall winner was Legally Brunette from Dublin.
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