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Displaying items by tag: Hibernia Racing

#Powerboats - An Irish-based powerboat racing team is aiming for a full 11 offshore endurance and speed records over the next three years.

“It’s ambitious, but it’s do-able,” as Red Bull hears from John Ryan, team driver and throttle man with Allblack Racing and an Afloat.ie Sailor of the Month in his own right for Team Hibernia’s record-smashing Round Ireland powerboat run.

The 11 challenges of the Union International Motonautique (UIM) offshore ocean endurance long distance and speed records represent a step beyond for Ryan and his team mates.

Allblack Racing will take to Irish waters again for the Cork-Fastnet loop and the Round Britain and Ireland challenge, as well as the Round Anglesey run in the Irish Sea and Menai Strait.

The team will also tackle various taxing European routes such as an Italian speed trial from Naples to Capri, a blast between the Channel Islands and the Isle of Wight, and a straight 60-hour run from London to Monte Carlo.

That’s not to mention the epic routes from London to St Petersburg and Miami to New York that will complete the list — all raced on the team’s Swedish-designed Allblack SL44 that's been specially adapted for extreme racing.

Allblack from Konjow Films on Vimeo.

What’s more, there’s an opportunity for additional passengers to join Ryan and his team mates Philip Fitzgibbon and Ant Middleton — if you can bring funding for the demands of each record, you could get trained up and listed as co-driver for the fourth seat on the boat.

Red Bull has much more on the story HERE.

Published in Powerboat Racing

About J/80 Sailing

Easy to handle the J/80 is said to be less intimidating, safer and better suited for sailing offshore than other modern sport boats. 

It even has a full-length V-berth and 12-foot-long cockpit.

Thanks to its combination of stability, speed, durability, low maintenance and age-friendly deck layout, the J/80 has proved to be a great club boat around Irish yacht clubs with fleets popular in Dublin on both sides of the Bay at Howth and Dun Laoghaire. 

The key to a racing keelboat is that it holds the attention and interest of many types of sailors, young and old.  The J80 does it all, with thrilling 15-knot rides under spinnaker or relaxed sunset cruises with mainsail only. 

The Irish J/80 Class Association was formed in 2017 to represent owners, sailors, associated clubs and to help develop J/80 racing in Ireland.