Irish Space Sailors take to the Seas

Ireland was represented for the first time in the 29th annual ARIANE’S CUP 2008 sailing regatta on October 3-5 by the MIRC-based Space Industry Skillnet. The yacht race, held in the waters off Lorient in Brittany, France, was contested by 87 crews from 11 European nations.

The Irish Space Industry Skillnet team was warmly welcomed by the Ariane's Cup '08 organisers in Lorient. The Irish crew had drawn an 8 man Dufour 34, which was quite competitive.

The team survived a force 9 gale in the Bay of Biscay during a practice session on Thursday 2nd Oct and returned safely to port under the expert hands of Skipper, David Gibbons of Farran Technology in Cork. The experience certainly gave the crew their sea legs and they achieved 9th & 10th places (from a group of 30 boats) in the first two races on Friday & Saturday. Overall, the team came in the top third of the fleet of 90 boats, which was excellent for a new crew, sailing first time in the race.

The overall Ariane's Cup '08 event was won by a crew from French company CNES/CLS under skipper Jacques Stum in BRAVA, a Sunfast 40.3.

The ARIANE’S Cup race is only open to those companies and organisations that have a role in the development and production of the ARIANE space launcher and is designed to foster cooperation amongst them. Sponsored by the European Space Agency (ESA) and EADS Astrium, the race organisers charter a fleet of racing yachts which are then allocated to the entrants by lottery.

The Space Industry Skillnet is dedicated to the training and development of the Irish space industry and is a member company of Skillnets Ltd, the state training agency. The award winning Space Industry Skillnet’s training programme is designed to keep Irish space companies at the cutting edge of space technological knowledge and is the only space training network in Europe. It also operates as a collaborative forum for its member companies to bid for European contracts – the ARIANES Cup is an extension of this cooperation into the sporting arena.

Commenting on the Irish entry Danny Gleeson, Network Promoter for Space Industry Skillnet and crew member says “This was networking on a grand scale as there were more than 650 participants from 40 space companies in Europe, including Ireland for the 1st time! Seizing the opportunity for Irish space companies to network with the major European space consortia in a sporting environment is an innovative way of building the international relationships that will help develop the space industry in Ireland”

“The Irish crew was drawn from senior managers of Irish space companies and the close working relationship between them is already having a big impact on the future growth of collaboration in Irish space activity between our network companies. Half of the crew were experienced sailors, the other half novices who have been trained by their space industry colleagues in the challenging environment of yacht racing where split second decisions and quick action are paramount. No management training seminar can provide the excitement, trust and close working relationship that is found on a small yacht”.