Forty’, bettering the previous record, set earlier this month by Dun Laoghaire's Mick Liddy, by one day, ten hours and eight minutes.
After a delayed start due to a defective starter engine, Kleinjans finally set sail last Saturday.
After a very fast 180 nautical mile run towards the southern tip of Ireland, he experienced very calm conditions off the south-western coast.
Liddy – who completed the 704 mile voyage in a standard production Beneteau 40.7 as opposed to the water ballasted Belgian yacht, and whose record lasted less than a month – was more philosophical about its loss yesterday.
"Records are for breaking, not for keeping" he told the Irish Times.
Kleinjans rounded Inistrahull off the Donegal coast in 22 knots of wind late on Tuesday and although the record was at that stage clearly within his grasp he knew that he would encounter a strong adverse tidal current in the Northern Channel, which in combination with the light headwinds forced him to tack close under the coastline. In the dark of night ‘Roaring Forty’ made her way south, in increasingly lighter and shiftier winds, to conclude her Irish circumnavigation at 14.49pm on Wednesday afternoon.
According to it's skipper, the Open 40 footer could easily have notched more time off the record: “If only I had been able to start when planned, a week ago, I could have made it in just three days”, Kleinjans suggests.
Colm Barrington's ‘Flying Glove’ crew continued its lead into the half way stage of the Anglo Irish Bank Howth league in steady westerlies last weekend with 185 boats racing in 13 classes, one of Europe's biggest such Autumn
leagues.
A revamp of courses by the club's Andy Sargent has not completely ended mark rounding snarl ups and in race three last Sunday, at viceroy mark, classes two and three met the one design fleets approaching from upwind that led to
something of a raft up off Ireland's Eye.
The 2nd Annual Irish Marine Federation (IMF) used boat show gets underway this morning (Friday) and organisers are offering over 150 boats for sale on the water and on hard standing at Malahide Marina, Co. Dublin.
The show is open to the public, from 12 noon to 6pm and runs until Sunday. Admission is free. A catalogue of the exhibits is available at 5 euro and exhibits range from small sailing dinghies to 40’ power cruisers.
Buoyed up by the success of the inaugural show, the second event has increased by 25 per cent; an indication, according to IMF Chairman Brian O'Sullivan, of the buoyancy of the market for second-hand boats.
In Olympic news, Irish debut Star campaigners Maurice O'Connell and Richard Peel have moved to sixth in the world rankings after their first full season in the class and, as a result of discussion with team management this month,
are to embark on a full Olympic campaign for Beijing in the keelboat class.
