2007 has seen this run of success continue, with O’Rourke’s crew being the only team to take a race victory from dominant Volvo Ocean Race winner ABN AMRO 1 during Antigua Race Week.

Along with Eamon Coneeley’s TP 52 ‘Patches’, Chieftain has helped to put Irish sailing firmly back on the international stage, a process which has gained even greater momentum with Galway recently being announced as a stop over port for the 2009 Volvo Ocean Race.

Saturday, however, will see O’Rourke embark on what is undoubtedly his toughest sailing challenge yet – the 3,600 mile HSH Nordbank Blue Race from New York to Hamburg. This stretch of water can offer conditions every bit as wet, windy and miserable as the infamous Southern Ocean. Mother nature, a lack of sleep and the physical effort required to keep a powerful racing yacht sailing at full speed for up to three weeks will combine to make this an extremely tough assignment, albeit one where the rewards are justifiably high.

Chieftain is an example of the highly successful Cookson 50 class, designed by leading naval architect Bruce Farr and built by the highly respected New Zealand firm Cookson Boats. They employ the canting keel technology found in many contemporary race yachts such as Volvo Open 70’s and its performance, as a result, is electric. Chieftain’s crew enjoyed a 20 knot plus blast down the east coast of England during the Sevenstar Round Britain and Ireland race, whilst Australian sistership 'Quantum Racing’ recently recorded a top speed of 31.8 knots.

The Chieftain team is young (the majority are under 30) and Corinthian in nature. Only two professional sailors are usually employed – boat captain Mark Tighe and navigator / tactician Jochem Visser. One new recruit for this race is Scottish navigator Hamish Oliphant, who replaces the unavailable Visser. Oliphant, who helped guide BG Spirit to victory in the 2004 Global Challenge, is familiar with these waters, having made a number of crossings on the Volvo 60 Spirit which he skippered for three years.

Chieftain is one of 24 yachts in an eclectic fleet which will compete in the race. Most will start this Saturday, with the biggest boats remaining in Newport, Rhode Island, for an extra week. All participants must be over 40 feet and the largest (by a significant margin) is the 177 foot ketch Parsifal 111. Favourite to be first boat home, however, is George David’s 90 foot ‘Rambler’. David is a prominent American owner who has enjoyed a string of successes with a number of boats called ‘Idler’. ‘Rambler’ is the former ‘Alfa Romeo One, which had numerous successes under the command of Neville Crichton. The boat will be sailed by members of Ken Read’s new ‘Puma’ Volvo Ocean Race team, including ex Movistar and Amer Sports One helm Chris Nicholson and ‘the world’s oldest offshore bowman’, 51 year old Jerry Kirby. 

The race will see a fascinating battle between Chieftain and two other, similarly sized boats. Former New York Yacht Club commodore Larry Huntingdon has entered his Ker 50 ‘Snow Lion’. This is a close sister ship to Colm Barrington’s ‘Magic Glove’ and whilst it is not as quick as Chieftain, due its conventional keel, it is highly competitive under the IRC handicapping system used to determine the race’s overall winner. The fifty two foot, Greg Elliott designed ‘Outsider’, on the other hand, does feature a canting keel and as such is likely to provide Chieftain with stiff competition.

Chieftain’s record shows that she will be a serious contender for victory and whilst recognising the quality of the competition, O’Rourke and his team will be quietly confident about their chances