The Global Ocean Race from Mallorca, Spain and back again with four stops along the way now has 17 boats and crews signed up. An Irish team is the latest to commit.
From the press release: With the entry list for the double-handed, Class40, round the world Global Ocean Race 2011-12 (GOR) rapidly filling, an Irish team has confirmed participation by reserving a place on the start line on 25th September next year in Mallorca. While the Irish GOR campaign has been underway for the past 12 months, the duo wishes to remain anonymous until their sponsorship details have been confirmed.
The Irish co-skippers have a formidable depth of offshore and inshore experience including adventure sailing and fully-crewed and shorthanded racing in Europe, Australasia, the Caribbean and the Far East with impressive sailing CV’s. Both skippers are already familiar with Class40 racing and represent a powerful force in the GOR fleet with a potent, combined skill set linked with stamina and competitive drive.
“People think we are mad of course,” comments one of the anonymous Irish skippers. “Ireland is in recession and bad news comes daily, yet, here we are risking everything we have on a pipe-dream!” he continues. “Through our campaign, we hope to remind people that Ireland is an island nation. We have stood alone for centuries, we have a long history of suffering and sorrow, but, we also have a more recent history of success and achievement, disproportionate to our size,” he states. “Like our country, we have the drive, ambition and talent to show the world that not only can we compete against bigger nations and budgets, but that we can win.”
His Irish co-skipper agrees entirely: “Those at the top of the mountain didn’t just fall there!” he points out. “We hope to bring a little bit of Ireland with us to each of the host ports,” he explains. “There are 75 million people around the world who claim Irish ancestry, so we hope that some of them will get behind us and hopefully join us in port for a taste of true Irish Craic!” he adds. “The Celtic Tiger may be asleep, but you can’t put the Celtic Spirit down.”
