Way back in March 1983, Frank Cogan, twice European Champion in the Y.W. Cat class, came down from Coleraine to Skerries to demonstrate the Hawke Surf Cat to Afloat Magazine. Frank was Irish Agent for the catamaran. With him was his 15 year old son Peter who did most of the sailing. That was my first meeting with this amazingly enthusiastic catamaran sailor. Peter Cogan raced the Hawke at our Open Championships for the next few years. In 1986 He met Tony Bullamore at a Multihull seminar we ran in Dublin and Tony was so impressed that he took Peter back with him to sail on the famous trimaran "Spirit of Apricot". He later sailed on "Novanet Elite" with Peter Philips. In 1987 Peter crewed veteran Condor sailor, Pat O'Connell into third place at the Irish Open Championship.

Then he disappeared from the cat scene. I heard that he was crewing on large multihulls in the Caribbean and other sunspots around the world.

Last year shortly after we set up the IRIDA web page, my son Neil received an email from the States, from one Peter Cogan, asking if he was a related to Dermot Mangan who used to sail ( the nerve ) catamarans.

Peter hoped to come home last summer but he did not make it.

Peter Cogan from Coleraine, Northern Ireland

In April we saw his name on the entry list for the famous Worrell 1000 catamaran race. He was working for Nacra and was to sail a Nacra 6.

There were 25 entries and 21 actual starters, all 18ft and 20ft catamarans and all sporting gennakers. This is one of the toughest sailing races in the world. The race covers 1000 miles, divided into 14 legs along the American Atlantic coast from Fort Lauderdale in Florida to Norfolk in Virginia. Some of the legs are over 100 miles long. Many crews took ten to twelve hours to complete some legs. On the last leg the last cat to finish in the light winds took over 22 hours. The crew with the shortest overall time wins.

The full story of this race reads like an adventure novel, the photographs are just amazing. Check it out on http://www.worrell1000.com

I will stick to a synopsis of Peter's participation. Peter was sailing the NACRA 6 "Team Florida Keys" and celebrated his 30th birthday as the race started.

Having finished the first leg in a very respectable 6th place, Peter was caught on the wrong side of a thunderstorm in leg 2 and dropped to 13th overall. (His email to us on the lay day mentioned "fifty knot winds, hail and nasty electric stuff" which "led to a few good pitchpoles." ) The crew on another cat was hit by lightning and lost the power of his arm for a while. Peter finished 3rd in leg 7 and by leg 9, he was up to 7th overall. There were 18 cats left in the race on May 13th at the start of leg 10 from Atlantic Beach to Cape Hatteras.

Three miles out from the finish and twelve hours into the leg Peter and his crew Steve Lohmayer saw the strobe light marking the finish. The wind was offshore, 25 -35 mph, they were sailing just outside the huge breakers in company with Australia 2. Peter was feeling the effects of the cold and had hurt his back earlier in the day. They stood by while the Australians got the cat upright after a nasty capsize and both cats battled on in the dark, not able to see the waves coming at them. They finally tacked for the beach, surfed in on some good waves and were carried right onto the sand. Steve stepped off the cat but the backwash from the wave turned the boat just enough for the mainsail to fill, capsizing the cat. Peter was thrown face down in the surf. The next wave broke the mast , slamming the trampoline down on Peter and a strong surge of water pulled everything back into deep water. Peter was tangled and caught up in wires and ropes under the upturned cat. Quick action by the ground crew and race officials got one hull raised enough to free Peter and pull him to safety. The Aussies were directed in with flashlights and landed safely. Six cats were either written off or pulled out of this leg.

Rough conditions at the start of Leg 12. (The Skerries to Clogher Head Race was never quite like this).

Leg eleven was cancelled because of horrible conditions around Cape Hatteras. The cats were transported by land to the start of the next leg.

Twelve cats started leg twelve with huge waves crashing in on the beach. At least two cats were written off trying to leave the beach and two more did not finish. The last boat home took nearly 23 hours in the dying wind and was disqualified. Peter had re-rigged his cat and, surviving the horrifying surf at the start and failing wind later, finished the leg in fourth place. The last leg was cancelled due to lack of wind. Peter and Steve finished the Worrell 1000 in 6th place overall. Only eight catamarans out of twenty one starters finished this gruelling race and one of those was disqualified for being out of time. Thirteen men and one woman finished the race, all were winners. A lot of people followed the race on the internet and look forward to meeting Peter Cogan when he next gets home.

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