#aranislands – A record fleet descended on the recently extended harbour at Kilronan in the Aran Islands last weekend (July 5-7) in an initiative co-ordinated by Pierce Purcell of Purcell Marine in Clarenbridge, with John O'Malley rounding up the North Shore fleet. With the all-embracing title of the Galway Afloat West Coast Gathering Cruise-in-Company, just about every option was covered, and the west coast fleets responded with enthusiasm.

In all, boat numbers topped the 50 mark, with the main group sailing from within Galway Bay to bring 37 boats west to the Inishmore and the hospitality of Kilronan. As well, there were others from Ballyvaughan and Connemara, but more impressively the event attracted cruisers from the Shannon Estuary, Fenit and Dingle, while a cruiser from Barcelona on Spain's Mediterranean coast found herself involved as she'd sailed into Kilronan from the Azores to find a right come-all-ye getting under way.

On the Saturday, 15 young sailors from the new Sailing Club in Kilronan (where the Commodore is Michael Gill) joined with members of Galway Bay SC for a taste of inshore racing, and an impromptu prize-giving in Ti Joe Watty's rounded out the sport.

The hospitality was the high point of the weekend, with the welcome led by Kilronan Harbour Master Patrick McDonagh, who had been liaising with Galway Harbour Master Brian Sheridan. On the island, the celebrations at Ti Joe Watty's were well matched by the fine food provided by P J and Grace Flaherty, and through Sunday, it was a very contented fleet which dispersed towards their many home ports. It had been an impressive turnout, but Pierce Purcell isn't one to rest on his laurels. He notes that his Galway Afloat database lists 220 boats in the region, so he'll be rattling some cages to get more of them into action and availing of the wonderful sailing waters of the west with more events like this.

#VOLVO OCEAN RACE - Sailing runs in the blood of Dun Laoghaire native Pierce Purcell, following a family tradition that goes back for generations.

The new director of the Irish Sailing Association (ISA) has called Galway his home since leaving school in 1970, and has been involved with the Galway Bay Sailing Club (GBSC) since the beginning, as he told the Galway Independent recently.

Purcell is also the proprietor of Purcell Marine in Clarenbridge, a family-run business that began as a sailing school in 1973 before branching out into selling boats and sailing accessories.

“We supply all kinds of chandlery equipment; boats, trailers, and engines, whatever people need," he says.

More recently, Purcell established the Galway Afloat programme to organise rallies and events for owners of smaller boats in the region.

His efforts more than paid off in his organising of the Parade of Sail in Galway Bay ahead of the arrival of the Volvo Ocean Race fleet, which attracted more than 150 boats for the largest event of its kind in the City of the Tribes.

The Galway Independent has more on the story HERE.