Displaying items by tag: sail training vessel

20th July 2017

Syrian Refugees & Ballaghaderreen Youths Form Bonds at Sea

The Spirit of Oysterhaven is headed for Glandore with a crew of international friendship

Five Irish young people from Ballaghaderreen, Co. Roscommon and five Syrian refugee young people also living in Ballaghaderreen, nominated by UNHCR Ireland, are currently taking part on a life-changing sailing voyage on board of the Spirit of Oysterhaven, Ireland’s largest sail training vessel. The five Syrian refugees were brought to Ireland as part of the Irish Refugee Resettled Programme.

The 10 sail trainees departed from Cork on Sunday, and will be reaching Glandore, their final destination, at lunchtime on Friday, 21st July. The voyage brings the young people together both as ship-mates and friends.

During the 5 days of the voyage, the participants have been learning how to sail a ship and how to navigate in challenging Irish coastal waters, making their own decisions about what course to plot over the week. In the process they learn the vital importance of working as a team 24-hours a day while assuming individual responsibilities, as they take the helm, set sails, stand watches, cook for each other and keep the vessel ship-shape.

ballaghaderreen youths2 The Ballaghaderreen crew aboard Sprit of Oysterhaven in the gentle weather earlier this week. They’ll have experienced more rugged conditions by the time they reach Glandore tomorrow (Friday).

Overcoming the challenges of life at sea also enables the young people to believe in their own potential, while developing relationships amongst their own peers in the new community in which they live. Sail Training induces then the development of respect, understanding and work ethic, bringing tangible benefits to communities in Ireland.

Shauna Gillan, founder of Safe Haven Ireland, says
“Integration is so important in modern Ireland - sail training is an ideal way to foster bonds between communities. Participants on board this week are from one local area – Ballaghaderreen. The young people on this voyage therefore made new friends from their own new community. The integration benefits will ripple through Ballaghaderreen once they return to dry land through their relationships with each other, their parents and wider social networks.”

Published in Tall Ships

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About Conor O'Brien, Irish Circumnavigator

In 1923-25, Conor O'Brien became the first amateur skipper to circle the world south of the Great Capes. O'Brien's boat Saoirse was reputedly the first small boat (42-foot, 13 metres long) to sail around the world since Joshua Slocum completed his voyage in the 'Spray' during 1895 to 1898. It is a journey that O' Brien documented in his book Across Three Oceans. O'Brien's voyage began and ended at the Port of Foynes, County Limerick, Ireland, where he lived.

Saoirse, under O'Brien's command and with three crew, was the first yacht to circumnavigate the world by way of the three great capes: Cape Horn, Cape of Good Hope and Cape Leeuwin; and was the first boat flying the Irish tri-colour to enter many of the world's ports and harbours. He ran down his easting in the Roaring Forties and Furious Fifties between the years 1923 to 1925.

Up until O'Brien's circumnavigation, this route was the preserve of square-rigged grain ships taking part in the grain race from Australia to England via Cape Horn (also known as the clipper route).

At a Glance - Conor O'Brien's Circumnavigation

In June 1923, Limerick man Conor O’Brien set off on his yacht, the Saoirse — named after the then newly created Irish Free State — on the two-year voyage from Dun Laoghaire Harbour that was to make him the first Irish amateur to sail around the world.

June 1923 - Saoirse’s arrival in Madeira after her maiden passage out from Dublin Bay

2nd December 1924 - Saoirse crossed the longitude of Cape Horn

June 20th 1925 - O’Brien’s return to Dun Laoghaire Harbour