Tally-ho, arrives at Fastnet Rock, Ireland, 99 years after she won her maiden Fasrnet Race in 1927. She’s due to enter next year’s edition of the super famous race. Which my sailing mate, and cross Africa mate, Gordie did in his TP-52 Zen, this year.
I have great admiration of young Leo Sampson Goolden. Signature intro: “Hi, I’m Leo. I’m a boatbuilder and a sailor”. True words. He’s so capable, so high end at both.
Well done Leo and crew! This is a huge accomplishment. Historic. Inspiring.
Tally-ho arrives at the land of my forebears. Who came from Northern Ireland. Which they were driven to, from their native Scotland by the forebears of my mother. We Scottish Forsyth’s became Irish Forsythes by adding the “e”.
My father’s father, Andrew, was born to farmers in rural Ballymena, County Antrim, in 1877. He left for Australia in 1900. As soon as he could, iow. A young man in the Leo mould, my granddad Andrew created things: a transport service company, a retail company, a store named "Forsythes", on the corner of Pitt & Goulburn, central Sydney. Like Leo, Andrew was clearly a self-starter.
Better get back to Leo, or I’ll sound like Alec Baldwin: in his infamous eulogy to Sam Neill, Baldwin mentioned Sam once at the beginning, then spent the rest of the time talking about himself….
I have huge admiration for any folks like Leo. Like his crew. Practical people. Down to earth. Common sensical.
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| Tally-ho passes Fastnet Rock, 99 years after her 1927 win |
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| Tally-ho welcomed by Irish wooden-boat enthusiasts, Baltimore Harbour, Ireland |
I was proud of my lone effort at wooden boat building. But it pales compared to what Leo and his legion of helpers did over the seven years of total restoration.
