The Round Ireland Yacht Race has ambitious plans to more than double in size by 2016. The race is held every two years and the next edition sets sail from Wicklow Sailing Club on June 28th.
Among the crews hoping to take part is one pulled together by a local farmer David Ryan whose story is to be filmed for a TV documentary and broadcast by RTE in the autumn.
In many ways this is the story of an impossible dream which may just turn into reality.
Ryan only started sailing six years ago and is building a team of six professional sailors, eight members of the Wicklow Sailing Club, three from the general public and one camera man for the documentary. He has a full social media and PR campaign planned and is chartering a boat capable of standing comparison to the international racers that will be competing alongside him.
The story echoes in part that of Joe English who in 1989 brought together his dream of racing in the Round the World race under the banner of NCB Ireland (pictured above). That story captured the imagination of the nation at the start of a period when we emerged from deep recession and began to stand tall on the world stage. It ran into Italia ’90 in terms of sporting memories and was a very special story at the time.
Ryan’s tale, in similar fashion, can only be made real with an injection of sponsorship to cover the €150,000 cost of the project. NCB Ireland were the main sponsors of the dream back in the 80’s and used that as a springboard to success.
Dermot Desmond, who had founded the firm, believed in his pluck and backed the boat. The firm thrived and was subsequently sold. Approaching 25 years on it now operates under the banner of Investec. Others at the time who helped out included the ESB, Irish Life and Aer Lingus.
That was on a world stage in a race over ten months. This is more modest in scale, taking place around Ireland and lasting less than a week. The back story though could capture international headlines, and the heart of a nation once more climbing out of troubled times.
If you would like to explore the possibility of assisting David Ryan in bringing this adventure to life, email rob[at]sportsforbusiness2.ab6z.com and we will make the connection.
)
