Tideway Dinghy Saoirse returns to our workshop

Saoirse, on the day she was launched in 2000,
 with Dermot O'Brien who comissioned her
 and our son Fionn, 6 months old.

After a very busy summer of sailing the Ettes all over West Cork and with the first autumn storms blowing in, the workshop is a cosy place to be. Saoirse, the first boat we ever built together in the year 2000, has returned to us for some alterations. She is nearly 14 years old, and still as good as new!

An extension is being scarfed into the mast
in order to extend it to give more head-room to
skipper and crew.

Saoirse is in fact named after the sister ship of the AK Ilen.
She was comissioned by Dermot O'Brien, the grandson of Conor Cruise O'Brien, who was the naval architect of both Saoirse and the AK Ilen. Upon selling the archives of his grandfather's work, he decided to use the money to get a little ship built for his own grandchildren....