On April 1, Les Sables d'Olonne welcomed the first Irish sailor in 50 years to successfully complete a solo circumnavigation of the globe. The self-taught Enda O'Coineen took 17 months to complete the route of the famous Vendee Globe circumnavigation from start to finish. He became the last member of the 2016 Vendee Globe to reach the final - though with one (big) stopover, so his sailing does not go into the race's official standings.
O'Coinen crossed the starting line of the Vendee Globe in November 2016. «On New Year's Day, he had a» gift waiting for him in the form of a broken mast. It happened 180 miles off New Zealand, at one of the furthest points from land in the world's oceans.
This would have been the end of the Vendee Globe, but not for the stubborn Irishman. He joined forces with a French Vendee Globe participant, who also had to get off the route and make a pit-stop at New Zealand for repairs. The result was a shared team with joint sponsorship.
The journey continued on 26 January 2018. Enda O'Coinen left New Zealand, crossed the Pacific Ocean, rounded Cape Horn and then made it across the Atlantic to the final point of his circumnavigation, France, covering 13,000 miles alone.
In his youth, he crossed the Atlantic in an inflatable boat to win an argument with his boss, who produced RIBs - the boss thought it was impossible. However, O'Coinen is not a professional athlete; he is primarily a businessman. After the fall of the Berlin Wall, he was one of the first to forge business ties with Eastern Bloc countries. Among other things, O'Coinen is the current President of the International Irish Pub Federation and creator of the sailing magazine Afloat.
