New boats at Les Glenans

SAIL TRAINING:"A SAILING school, a sea school and a school of life" is how Les Glénans, the Franco-Irish sail training organisation, describes its ethos. For though it has experienced a management change, the essential "Glénans spirit" remains intact, it says.

Financial difficulties forced a merger last year between the original Les Glénans of France – founded by members of the French resistance after the second World War – and its Irish wing. The Glenans Irish Sailing Club was founded in the 1960s and had been run independently for the last three decades.

However, an ill wind has blown in some considerable good fortune. The training bases at Baltimore, Co Cork, and the magical Collanmore island in Mayo’s Clew Bay, are now part of a new sector within Les Glénans, making it Europe’s largest sail training organisation. What’s more, Collanmore has taken delivery of 18 new catamarans, while Baltimore’s fleet of specially-designed Les Glénans 570 keel boats has been overhauled, and each named after one of the seven deadly sins. Two Jeanneau Sunfast 32 cruising yachts will also be available for courses in the southwest coast’s idyllic cruising grounds.

Instruction is bilingual, and French, Belgian, Italian and Spanish members will be encouraged to sign for training in Ireland. Among the many volunteer instructors on hand for tuition (during his annual leave) will be RTÉ’s Bryan Dobson.

Courses are run from April to October. Last-minute deals:from €416 for a week, August 20th to 27th, and from €350 for September. See glenans.ie or phone the base at 028-20630.