T
ired of our usual family
summer sailing, my 16-year-
old brother Fergus and I had
been discussing taking our
1996 Drascombe Lugger
Lughnasa on her first
proper voyage for some time. An entire
circumnavigation of Ireland, however, was
a slight escalation of any previous plans.
Dad had always insisted on the
seaworthiness of our open-decked Lugger,
something we rarely put to the test in
Baltimore harbour, although we certainly
found other uses for her build quality.
‘They’re unsinkable,’ he said as we once
packed 11 people plus a dog on board
before making the treacherous journey
to Sherkin Island, 1NM away.
We were more accustomed to weighing
Lughnasa down until her gunwales met
the waterline than experiencing seas any
higher than her freeboard. Although the
Drascombe’s ocean-sailing capabilities
are well proven, ours had barely left
Roaringwater Bay – something Fergus
and I wanted to change. Lughnasa had
diligently served as our family’s ‘cargo
ship’ for almost 20 years before we finally
decided it was time to let her stretch
her legs a little and see how she fared in
foreign waters. With a bit of time on our
hands over the summer, it was a case of
now or never. I was on a gap year that
had ground to a halt by January, which
allowed me to begin preparing for the
challenge. Fergus was in transition year at
school, which allowed him some freedom
to think about the voyage – just not theNathaniel Ogden and
his teenage brother
Fergus undertake
a 29-day sail over
two months around
Ireland in their family’s
1996 Drascombe
Lugger – during
Ireland’s stormiest
summer in 41 years
A Lugger
round
Ireland
time to help prepare!
While researching for the voyage,
I noticed that a Lugger hadn’t yet
completed a circumnavigation of Ireland.
Not quite the ocean crossing they’ve
become famous for, but it gave us
another incentive to leave the confines
of Baltimore harbour!
With a departure date set for 1 June,
I spent a hectic five months trying to
organise everything for our round-Ireland
voyage. We didn’t leave ourselves much
time to prepare, only fully committing to
the task at the end of January. Not having
much of a benchmark to work from I was
lucky to get some advice from Jeremy
Warren and Phil Kirk of Hafren Round
Britain, and Rob Henshall, who has
completed four solo circumnavigations of
the country since 1990. As this would be
our first attempt at something like this, it
was a great boost for morale to hear their
first-hand experiences – that our goal
wasn’t as unattainable as many people
thought appropriate to tell us. Obviously,
though, there was work to be done,
even more so once we decided to try
completing the circumnavigation in aidNathaniel
and his
father
prepared
Lughnasa for
the voyage
in CorkNathaniel, left, and Fergus,
right, in their Drascombe LuggerDavid HareAlan BetsonCruising
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
A recent graduate of
geology, 23-year-old
Nathaniel Ogden is
currently taking time
out from university
before (possibly)
pursuing an MSc
in Digital Media. Having raced and
instructed in dinghies since his
childhood, he is now hoping to take
up more ocean sailing.