Owner hopes yacht’s Spirit will go on

A leading yachtsman hopes that whoever buys his magnificent yacht — Ireland’s de-facto national sail training vessel — will continue her legacy of inspiring a new generation of mariners.

Respected sail training instructor Oliver Hart, who runs Oysterhaven Marine in Cork, said there is an opportunity for the State to consider buying his 70ft steel schooner The Spirit of Oysterhaven which filled the vacuum left after the sinking of the former national sail training vessel, Asgard II, in the Bay of Biscay in 2008.