When a sailing school boat of a certain maturity starts to show consistently well in open competition in the decidedly challenging Rolex Fastnet Race, people start to take notice. And as the new-style and longer Fastnet of 2021 progressed, that attention increasingly focused on Irish Offshore Sailing of Dun Laoghaire's Sunfast 37 Desert Star. She was skippered by Ronan O Siochru (RStGYC) with Conor Totterdell (NYC) as his right-hand man, but otherwise crewed by keen-to-learn sailors of limited offshore experience but boundless enthusiasm.
With such a setup, the watching pundits expected that Desert Star would soon drop out of her position in the top three in Class 4, and would probably be in double figures by the time she'd negotiated the final difficult approach to the finish. But far from faltering, she never put a tactical foot wrong, and in Cherbourg she was just ten minutes short of winning Class IV overall. As it was, second in one of the biggest classes was a sensational performance, and her entire crew share our Sailors of the Month (Offshore) award for 2021.
The vintage Sunfast 37 Desert Star – she has sailed every Fastnet Race since 2015, and several Dun Laoghaire to Dingles as well.
In addition to Ronan and Conor they are Pat Hogan, originally from Limerick, now living in Dun Laoghaire; Tony Brennan, working in senior management in the civil service, marathon runner, from Cork originally; Eoin Cullinane, an engineer living in Co. Meath; Wayne Tyrrell, a pilot and barrister in the Air Corps where he was a lieutenant colonel, he was about to start a new job in civil aviation; Fergus McDonnell from Galway, very fit at 69, and the oldest crew member, a former rugby player who has his own online DIY business; and David O Connell, a witty GP from Dublin.
The doctor will see you now…….Dave O'Connell, missing from the header photo as he was the one who took it, on Desert Star's wheel during the Fastnet Race 2021. In another life, he is the skipper of the Howth 17 Anita
