SAILING OCEAN RACE:IN ANY yacht race, if the wind changes direction anything can happen. The last few months have been like that for Ger O'Rourke, chasing his dream of entering next month's Volvo Ocean Race. It's an against-all-the-odds story, and that's even before the race begins.
The Limerick sailor confounded pundits when news of the last-minute bid broke in this column on May 30th, but by July O'Rourke's bid was sinking before it left the dock due to lack of sponsorship.
The news this week that he has secured sponsorship at the 11th hour puts him back on course for his entry in sailing's most gruelling race round the world in 29 days.
An official announcement is due next week.
Many scoffed at his chances of making the line at all. O'Rourke's low-cost approach was dismissed as a backmarker and his bid was on the rocks within months of its announcement. By late July he was ready to pull the plug on a €4 million project because much-needed sponsorship vanished when capital markets nosedived.
Now, after a gap of 20 years since Ireland last had an entry, the news that Delta Lloyd, a Dutch financial services provider, has backed O'Rourke will underpin his 39,000-mile voyage around the world. It also gives Ireland two of the seven teams in the 2008/09 race.
The Galway-backed Green Dragon team are already at the race start in Spain making final preparations.
O'Rourke has been cast as underdog since he dared square up to the other round-the-world campaigns, some spending as much as €40 million.
But from a similar position O'Rourke previously shot to prominence in his 50-footer Chieftain, bringing home some of the biggest trophies in world offshore sailing, including a class win in the 2006 Sydney-Hobart, and the overall win in last year's Fastnet race.
In April, he bought the old ABN/Amro One boat which won the 2005/06 race, and spent the summer bringing it up to 2008 standard.
The boat wiped the eye of the rest of the fleet in that race, and O'Rourke was quick to realise that, even after all the development work carried out by teams over the past two years, it remained the benchmark for all new designs entered in the current race.
But having missed the Round Ireland race in July after a high-profile exit, when the boat was holed in harbour, the campaign started to take on water when it did not attract sponsorship in spite of substantial support from McConnells Advertising.
The boat, now in Limerick docks completing a refit, has undergone costly modifications to bring it up to the required VOR Version 2 rule, including rewiring electronics, fairing and deck work, plus new engines and a modified keel.
To his credit, substantial work has been completed from a standing start, including the assembly of a professional crew who have agreed to put their salaries into the campaign, resulting in what O'Rourke says is the lowest-cost VOR project with a reasonable chance to make its mark.
O'Rourke would not comment on the sponsorship yesterday; he is, however, scheduled to make an official announcement next Wednesday. Delta Lloyd is a supporter of Dutch sailing and it is expected part of the deal will include O'Rourke taking two Dutch sailors as part of his 11 crew.
O'Rourke is yet to complete the compulsory, 2,000-mile qualification passage, and it's expected this will be the delivery trip from Foynes to Alicante in the next week.
His crew line-up includes Stu Wilson, a Kiwi veteran with four round-the-world races under his belt who is understood to be the number one watch leader. Another New Zealander, Stu Molloy, will be another watch-leader.
O'Rourke is also taking with him crew from his Chieftain campaign, including boat captain Mark Tighe, Edward O'Connor and Brian Heuston. The navigator position is yet to be filled.
When O'Rourke crosses the line it will be a significant achievement in itself. How will he fare against the might of the big entries? As any ocean racer will tell you, at sea just about anything can happen.
