Andy Fennell's 39ft trimaran Morpheus, the leader at the 48-hour Galway stopover in the 2000-mile Round Britain & Ireland Race 2022 from Plymouth, is now well on her way to the next stop at Lerwick in the Shetlands. But the variations in the fleet size and speed are such that the reception team from Galway Bay SC and the Port of Galway find that their services will have been on call 24-hours for a full week by the time the smallest boat, the Italian-owned vintage Vertue 25 Mea, heads on for Lerwick this coming Tuesday evening.
The skipper of the next-smallest boat in the fleet, 19-year-old Lou Boorman, was taking her boat to sea yesterday (Sunday) evening to start the passage to Lerwick when the little Mea (Matteo Ricardi) finally hove into sight under power, heading for Galway Dock after finishng Stage 1 at the line in the open waters of the Bay.
Thus as Mea won't be allowed to resume racing until Tuesday evening, it will be a clear week since Morpheus swept into town, having come zooming up the coast at a crisp 17 knots past the Cliffe of Moher. But that famous Galway "hospitality gene" has been well up to the seven-day challenge - many of the visitors said they will come back and visit Galway again, and many friendships were struck up with the members of Galway Bay Sailing Club who have been on call for a week to look after the sailors.
The Vertue 25 Mea (Matteo Richardi) finally reaches Galway
