Bantry toasts five-time maritime skills champs

Young seafarers from west Cork arrived home last night to a rousing reception after claiming, for the fifth time, the top prize in an international competition for maritime skills.

Bantry, the Republic of Ireland’s sole representative in the Atlantic Challenge since the late 1980s, triumphed over Russian and Britain in a ‘down-to-the-wire’ final.

Northern Ireland was fourth in a competition hosted by France in the south Brittany harbour of Golfe Du Morbihan which also attracted teams from Indonesia, Canada, USA, Lithuania, Belgium, Italy and the Basque country.