A man with the wind in his sails
The young man from Crosshaven swung the trophy up over his head and then headed off to celebrate. He didn’t go crazy, settling for a quiet meal with the runner-up in the competition.
Sporting behaviour from the Cork Institute of Technology business studies graduate? You could say that.
Of course, you could also say he didn’t have much choice in the matter. The competitor who came in second was Anthony O’Leary.
His father.
“I had a lie-in that morning, I didn’t see him at breakfast,” says O’Leary junior. “Ah no, when we’re out on the water he’s just another competitor. If he gets a chance to pass me out he’ll take it, and vice versa. He could tack on top of me going upwind and slow me down. I did that a couple of times on Sunday to him.”
And he can see what you’re doing?
“He can, he tacks away and clears his air, and tries to get me the next time. He was happy I won but he wanted to win himself, obviously. It was grand. I haven’t been kicked out of home just yet.”
The affable Cork man, who sails out of the Royal Cork Yacht Club, explains the basic challenges of the sport to a nautical ignoramus (see byline picture to identify): “Last weekend there were thirty-degree wind shifts, so obviously that changes the angle you can sail at. Cork Harbour is great to sail in because it’s a great challenge.
“There’s local knowledge everywhere you go, obviously, and in Cork you have to be aware that you’re going to have the river coming in through East Ferry, while the shipping channel would have a two- or three-knot movement of water.”
All that information comes together to test a sailor’s skills in a game of three-dimensional chess with an unstable playing board.
Last Sunday afternoon, it was O’Leary who eventually delivered the checkmate.
THERE’S a certain irony in O’Leary picking up an Irish title last weekend. He shared a classroom in Cork IT with inter-county football stars from Cork and Kerry for the last four years, but unlike them, he has a genuine international outlet for his sporting ambitions.
“Not so much the Olympics, more something like the Volvo Ocean Race,” he says.
“That’d be a great challenge, particularly as I got the chance to come back from Sweden to Ireland on Green Dragon, the Irish entry in that race.
“It’s hard to convey how good that boat is – it’s like comparing a Formula One Ferrari to an old Mini, it’s as advanced as that. The technology on it is just unreal – the sail development, the rig set-up, the design – it’s that good.”
That’s a long-term target. Next summer the RCYC’s O’Leary will be driving a boat in the Commodores Cup. Ireland have come second twice in this competition and this time he hopes to go one better.
The opposition will be top class: you’re up against the best, and O’Leary is clear as to who the very best in his sport are.
“The New Zealanders’ style of sailing is just above anybody else; they sail in school – they have sailing programmes as early as primary schools, so it’s like the rugby, they start very early. When you race against Kiwis you know what you’re up against.”
However, last weekend was also something of a swan song for O’Leary. Next week he heads over to London to begin working in insurance, but the Royal Cork Yacht Club won’t be too distant from his thoughts. He’s due back every weekend this month to race. Not surprising, given his eulogy for the sport.
“It’s just freedom,” he says. “You’re out there, you can see whales, dolphins, and there’s nothing driving the boat only the wind and the waves.
“Okay, it’s an expensive sport, but once you have a boat and you’re out there with nature, you’re not restricted by anything.
“You’re out there and it’s like nothing else.”
* contact: michael.moynihan@examiner.ie; Twitter: MikeMoynihanEx
