Menu

Ireland's sailing, boating & maritime magazine

Podcast: Commandant Barry Byrne, Line Honours Winner of Beaufort Cup's Fastnet Race

17th July 2018
Commandant Barry Byrne, skipper of the Irish Defence Forces team on the J109, Joker II Commandant Barry Byrne, skipper of the Irish Defence Forces team on the J109, Joker II Credit: Louay Habib

'Incredible'. That was the one-word reaction from Commandant Barry Byrne when he crossed the finish line off Roches Point in Cork Harbour this lunchtime, snatching line honours victory in the first race of the Beaufort Cup, the Cork Week series for Services personnel. Read Afloat.ie's earlier report here.

"I never dreamt that I could repeat 2016's success. It's an incredible feeling",  the Irish Defence Forces skipper said having taken first blood with his talented crew against some very stiff competition.

"I never dreamt that I could repeat 2016's success"

In the podcast below, with Afloat.ie's Louay Habib, Byrne (who finished second in the Round Ireland Race earlier this month on the same boat), talks about how he knew he could win, if he could just hold on to the top pack in the 15–boat fleet. 

Even with the early win in the bag that counts for double points, Byrne remains extremely cautious, however, given there are three days of inshore racing still to come.

Published in Cork Week
Afloat.ie Team

About The Author

Afloat.ie Team

Email The Author

Afloat.ie is Ireland's dedicated marine journalism team.

Have you got a story for our reporters? Email us here.

We've got a favour to ask

More people are reading Afloat.ie than ever thanks to the power of the internet but we're in stormy seas because advertising revenues across the media are falling fast. Unlike many news sites, we haven't put up a paywall because we want to keep our marine journalism open.

Afloat.ie is Ireland's only full-time marine journalism team and it takes time, money and hard work to produce our content.

So you can see why we need to ask for your help.

If everyone chipped in, we can enhance our coverage and our future would be more secure. You can help us through a small donation. Thank you.

Direct Donation to Afloat button