SAILING COLUMN:LIMERICK YACHTSMAN Ger O'Rourke has confirmed he will be the new owner of the winning entry of the last Volvo Ocean Race following a successful survey of the 70-foot yacht in the Canary Islands yesterday. His intention is to enter the forthcoming edition of the race that starts in October and stops in Galway in May 2009.
O'Rourke's comments to The Irish Timesis the first public confirmation of his intentions and clarifies weeks of speculation and online rumour. The purchase of the boat is the first step in a plan to enter the 39,000-mile race.
"I represent very good value to a sponsor and can deliver a €50 million return on a €4 million investment," he told The Irish Times last night.
The yacht, which has been used as a test boat for the Ericsson team, will depart for Irish waters this weekend and the new owner expects to place it on display ahead of the BMW Round Ireland Race within two weeks.
Following this race, the boat will undergo a refit in Limerick before sail testing and crew training from August onwards. Currently, the boat does not comply with the latest version of the rules so modifications will be made, principally to the keel that will need 150kg of lead taken out.
"The boat is still fast and has a lot of potential for this race," commented Killian Bushe from Cork, the original boat builder who also built Illbruck, the 2001/2002 race winner and is also responsible for both the Swedish team's entries for this year's edition.
"I'll enter the race before the end of July when my lead sponsor will also be announced," O'Rourke said.
The Green Team's newly-built VO70 arrived in Portsmouth last weekend. Its mast and keel will be delivered next week and is expected to be sailing by June 19th. Private funds and commercial backing are paying for the racing team while the port stop-over has been separately funded by Faílte Ireland.
Although not predicting an outright victory in the forthcoming race for which seven new VO70-footers have been built, it is widely expected that a well-maintained first generation boat can deliver stage wins, thus effecting its commercial viability.
The 2005/2006 race winner was skippered by Kiwi Mike Sanderson and Justin Slattery became the first Irish sailor to win a round the world race as he crewed on board as lead bowman.
Meanwhile, as the countdown to the sailing regatta of the Beijing Olympic Games looms closer as the highlight of the summer season, the selection of the remaining Irish athletes remains in limbo pending the appeal hearing by the Olympic Council of Ireland that has been confirmed for 14th June.
The board of the Irish Sailing Association had originally approved the nomination of Peter O'Leary and Stephen Milne for the single place at Qingdao but Max Treacy and Anthony Shanks appealed the decision.
A fleet of Laser SB3 sportsboats will compete in the annual Liffey Races today starting at 11am and continuing throughout lunchtime at the effective grandstand of the quays at the International Financial Services Centre.
