Volvo Ocean Race ignited lifelong love affair with competing over the waves

Cian Mullee’s passion for racing on the high seas was properly ignited when he sailed into Galway for the arrival of the seven big boats for the first Volvo Ocean Race stopover.

He was just 13 when thousands of people descended upon the docks to watch the seven formula one racing yachts cross the finish line in the early hours of a balmy May night.

He and his dad had sailed up from Westport and were staying on their yacht in the harbour with a bird’s eye view of the biggest party the City had ever seen.

“That would be the big dream, the Volvo Ocean Race, my lofty goal. You never know. Three years ago I wouldn’t have dreamt that I would have just skippered around Ireland and I’m still only 26,” he exclaims.

Cian, who divides his time between Galway and Sligo working for the sailing school Wild West Sailing, has just scored an impressive victory in his first Round Ireland Yacht Race.

The native of Westport, who was the second youngest skipper in the fleet of 60 boats in the competition, was placed first among boats crewed by sailing schools and 25th overall. The competitors included Volvo Ocean racing vessels Telefonica and Green Dragon.

The six men, two women crew on Lynx spanned ages from 17 to 52 years old – five of them came through the Wild West Sailing Social Sailing and Fair Winds Schools Programmes, with only a few years of sailing under their belts.

The school has a base in Rosaveal from where it does excursions, mainly around the Aran Islands, and in Sligo, where it teaches people to sail on Lough Gill.

“It took us six days, we slept on the boat and did shifts, two teams of four, four hours on, four hours off. It was my first time in the race and my first time racing around Ireland.”

The race goes nonstop around Ireland clockwise, starting and finishing in Wicklow leaving all of Ireland’s islands to starboard. This year’s edition had it all, from 35-knot winds on the southwest coast to calm conditions on the east where every decision has to be carefully calculated.

Cian recently won the Monohull Line Honours in the Transatlantic Atlantic Rally Challenge, a race from the Canary Islands to Cape Verdi and then onto Granada in the Caribbean, where he joined his brother for the winter.

As a youngster he was a member of the Mayo Sailing Club, first sailing his family’s dingy before graduating to his parent’s “small” 23ft yacht.

In 2018, at just 22, he received a scholarship from the Ocean Cruising Club and made his way to New Zealand to meet up with the captain and crew on what was to be an epic challenge: cross the South Pacific Ocean from New Zealand to Australia, followed by a journey over the Indian Ocean from Australia to South Africa.

He reflected on his experiences at that time: “From walking on the rim of an active volcano, to swimming in the middle of the ocean thousands of miles from land, experiencing diverse and unique cultures, landing in tiny remote villages and big coastal cities, to witnessing a vast array of wildlife.”

One of his favourite destinations was Vanuatu, which lies between Australia and New Zealand. Another was Grenada, the Spice Island in the Caribbean.  “The people are really friendly, there’s amazing fruit, it’s amazing, really, really beautiful. The Caribbean lived up to all my expectations.”

On his return to Ireland in 2019 he set his sights on being a professional skipper and joined Wild West Sailing where he earned his qualifications as a Yachtmaster giving him the licence to coach both youth and adults. He is also a cruising instructor, teaching offshore sailing.

“I really like the racing side. I’m competitive by nature, but I also like the cruising and the teaching and training. That’s seasonal here. There’s no sailing work in Ireland in the winter. Next winter I’ll probably looking for work in the Caribbean or the Med.”

Next year he hopes to skipper another Wild West Sailing entry in the Rolex Fastnet Race, which goes from the south coast of England to Fastnet in Cork and onto Cherbourg in France over between four and six days.