An Cosantóir

An Cosantóir September 2016 www.dfmagazine.ie 32 | The Beaufort Cup by COMDT BARRy ByRNE PhotoS by SGT KARL ByRNE ing for the inaugural Waterford Crystal Beaufort Cup. Assembling and training a Defence Forces team from scratch and sourcing the necessary boats was our first challenge, but through the generosity of John Maybury (Joker 2), Tom Roche (Meridian) and Dan Buckley (Justus), we secured three competition boats. Our contingent increased to four when we were joined by Another Adventure, an A35 skippered for the event by Stefan Hyde. Joker 2, the national champion J109, would provide our main ef- fort at winning the cup and I must thank our fantastic bowman, Flt Sgt Adrian Mulligan, for helping to secure its use. Next came the team trials to select our four competition crews. That meant fitness, sailing, sea survival and medical training to ensure all boats and their crews complied with the same Cat 3 regulations that govern the annual Fastnet Race. We schooled the beginners on our team in sail and race training with the help of the Irish National Sailing & Powerboat School (INSS), while the Joker crew were put through their paces in manoeuvres with the help of professional coach Maurice 'Prof' O'Connell. Simon Johnson kindly assisted in training up our pit and bow team, and my brother, Bryan Byrne, also came along to share some knowledge. As the event drew closer, it dawned on me that our newly as- sembled team was going to the home of yacht racing in Ireland, and the oldest yacht club in the world, to compete for a major trophy and €10,000 prize money (for a charity of one's choosing) while facing competition in our class from both national and international champions. Applying military principles, we got Joker 2 to Cork early and spent three days going through every single element of the boat, stem to stern, keel to windex. We replaced ropes, end-to-ended halyards, scrubbed, dehumidified, welded – you name it, we did it, and if I'd quoted 'Mr America's Cup' Dennis Conner's book No O n 15th January 2016, I was called to attend a meeting in Carrigaline with Minister for Defence Simon Coveney, Chief of Staff Vice Admiral Mark Mellett, and key per- sonnel from the Royal Cork and Kinsale yacht clubs. the group, headed by Kieran o'Connell, chair of Volvo Cork Week 2016, had come together to plan a new sailing event, the beaufort Cup, named in honour of Sir Francis beaufort, creator of the beaufort wind force scale. The goal was to assemble 10 yachts, with military or emergency service crews, to compete in a multi-race event for Cork Week. Many present felt that given just six months we would be doing well to recruit three boats to constitute a class. However, one of the first teams to commit to the event was from the Royal Engi- neers, and I will be forever grateful to them for the momentum they gave us at such a formative stage of the cup's development, and by the time of the event we had 12 top-class teams compet-

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