Fastnet

FASTNETA SOLID DESIGN PUBLICATION

FASTNETSENTINEL OF THE SEA
THE
LIGHTHOUSE
A MULTI-TOUCH VIDEO BOOK

FASTNET
A MULTI-TOUCH VIDEO BOOK
BY
WWW.SOLIDDESIGN.IE
A SOLID DESIGN PUBLICATION
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FASTNET – A MULTI-TOUCH VIDEO BOOK
First published 2013
BY
SOLID DESIGN
WWW.SOLIDDESIGN.IE
Copyright © Solid Design 2013
ISBN 978-1-909212-04-6
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v
INTRODUCTION
In December 2005, I got a rare opportunity to visit an extraordinarily extreme
place, off the southern Irish coastline. It was the Fastnet Rock lighthouse.
As the helicopter rounds the rock before landing, the vast surrounding turquoise
wilderness surrounds this obstinate scar. A majestic building that was once
home, to the men who maintained it, it stands a testament not only to the
engineers, arichitects and lightkeepers but to the construction workers who toiled
for long hours through extraordinarily harsh conditions to man-handle 2,074
granite stones into place using primitive equipment. Miraculously not a single
stone was lost or damaged. The precision and accuracy of its builders became
legendary. On completion a plumb bob was hung from the top to check variation;
the tolerance was minimal: -3/16th of an inch.
A lighthouse whose infamous location has made it a myth among sailors,
trawler-men, historians, and the general public alike. The Fastnet tower is
considered to be among the ﬁnest examples of faultless masonry, a truly
perfect representative of the ancient art of pharology. Standing on that helipad,
in the shadow of the tower, one can only ask how did they do this? No longer
occupied by man, who against extraordinary odds, had risked all in order to
build it, ﬁghting to keep fear at bay.

THE FASTNET LIGHTHOUSE
There is not much time to prepare for the landing you’ve got to be able to go quickly when the
time comes. Getting into a survival suit requires its own rescue service! Not all attempts to land
the helicopter are successful. This time it takes three attempts, before it is comfortably
positioned on the heli-pad. There is little room to manoeuvre once on this unprotected square
of concrete, open to all the elements. No railings protect you from the sheer sides that drop
down to the sharp rocks and angry sea below. With the wind blowing hard from the northeast
and with the addition of whirling rotor blades just a few feet above your head. The helicopter is
loaded up with the cargo for the trip to the lighthouse and takes off.
The main door thunders open, all 3/4’s of a ton of it. Such a massive door is needed when the
sea gets to be particularly threatening. In times past, light keepers have been trapped inside the
lighthouse because the sea managed to unhinge the bolt lock on the outside. The routine of the
keeper begins early, especially with maintenance checks done every number of months. Up at
the galley and VHF radio, contact from Castletownbere is made, with the E.T.A. of the chopper
given. Donney Cassidy at the station relays the information about conditions at other stations,
Bull Rock, Skelligs, Inistearach.
Examples of ﬁne craftsmanship in terms of building are unfortunately not that common. Every
aspect of this building is sublime, its shapes, colours, angles, shadows, change constantly
with the varying light. The night-time too takes on its own theatrics, with the great lantern and
its intense, compact beam, penetrating spectacularly into the night sky. The vibrating sound of
the generators, and the occasional blast from the emitter, send seagulls scattering to all points
of the compass. As the dawn begins to slip over distant black lands, the blocks of the tower,
glow, like embers. For a few moments the entire lighthouse shimmers pink, while the globe still
swoops across the horizon with its warning beam. As the sun continues to rise, the tower
gleams as if brand new, and all around nature awakes to its dominant presence. Piercing the
clear blue sky, it curves toward the double balcony railings and globe at the top, that house the
smooth circular movement of the huge double lens that ﬂoats on mercury. Its rhythm is as if its
at the point of lift-off, the structural tension mesmerising.
7
THE IRISH LIGHTS SERVICE HELICOPTER.

THE ROCK’S HISTORY
As far back as c261BC., Ptolemy II started building the Pharos of Alexandria: A giant stone
structure over 400 feet tall with an open bonfire at the top to help guide sailors back into port
from as far as 29 nautical miles away. It was one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World
and stood for over 1,500 years, giving rise to the name ‘lighthouse’. It was eventually
destroyed by a sucession of earthquakes. As the Roman empire started to expand, lighthouses
were built along its coastal territories as quickly as Roman trading routes expanded.
With the arrival of the Dark Ages, these lighthouses were extinguished for fear of attracting
marauding Vikings. According to “A History of Lighthouses”, by Patrick Beaver, as stability
returned to Europe, monks and hermits began tending beacons in lonely outposts around the
British Isles. After Henry VIII's dissolution of the monasteries in Britain, the monks’ place was
taken by philanthropic laymen, and lighthouses began to re-emerge as far across the
continent as the Bosphorus. The boldest advances came in the 17TH
Century, when Henry
Winstanley, an eccentric inventor and practical joker (he had chairs in his house that flew up in
the air), took it upon himself to build a lighthouse on the lethal Eddystone Rock, 14 miles from
the English port of Plymouth. Ultimately this lighthouse killed him and his men, when his oriental-
looking tower was washed away in a storm in 1703. This marked the beginning of man's
realisation that lighthouses could be built in the most inhospitable of places. Two hundred years
later, the Fastnet became the latest testimony to that belief.
The Fastnet Rock is about as rugged as they come. Its Irish name, An Charraig Aonair, means
‘The ‘Rock that Stands Alone’. Its name in Old Norse, ‘Hvastann-ey’, signified “Sharp-Toothed
Island”. The rough waters round this area claimed numerous lives and were sung about in 17TH
Century laments. The rock was considered mysterious as well as dangerous. Legend had it
that on the summer equinox, it would set sail and visit the neighbouring rocks of Bull, Cow,
Calf and Heifer. For centuries it was part of the rich fishing waters of West Cork's O'Driscoll
clan, and the locals would not have been averse to the odd shipwreck giving them an
opportunity for plunder. “Please God, send us a ship”, was long a private prayer along the
coast, according to one of the Fastnet's keepers, who had been brought up near
Crookhaven, the nearest port.
10
THE BASE OF THE LIGHTHOUSE.

By the Victorian era (1837–1901), the benefits of trade and a sense of the common good were
taking hold so strongly that the importance of the trade routes and safety at sea became
paramount. In 1810 a lighthouse was built on nearby Cape Clear Island, which was the
highest point in the area. By 1848 it was considered that this light was too far inshore to signal
the outlying dangers and it was at such a high elevation that it was frequently obscured by fog
and mist. In 1847 the American packet ship, the ‘Stephen Whitney’, while carrying a cargo of
cotton, corn, clocks and cheese, emerged from dense fog after three long days. Its captain
got his bearings wrong and the vessel was smashed to pieces on the rocks near Fastnet. Of
its 110 passengers and crew, 92 souls were lost at sea. The disaster led the authorities to
decide to mount the first lighthouse on Fastnet rock.
In 1853 the Ballast Board’s inspector of works and inspector of lighthouses, George Halpin,
designed the new lighthouse which would sit on top of the rock, at a height of 83 feet above
low water spring tides. Taking advantage of the new iron age, Halpin designed a tower made
of cast iron: 63 feet 9 inches high; 19 feet 6 inches in diameter at the top. It comprised of iron
plates averaging more than an inch in thickness curved all round on the inside, like a
protecting collar or ring. There was a cast iron column of 12 inches in diameter running
through the centre of the tower. This column was intended to accommodate the weight-trunk:
the driving weight of the machine for rotating the lenses. There was an inner brick lining and a
cast iron internal winding staircase. The lantern was 27 feet 8 inches high and 12 feet in
diameter. The total height of the tower and lantern was 91 feet and the top of the whole
structure was 173 feet above low water. The light was a fixed dioptric apparatus of the first
order. The oil was stored in tanks on the second floor, and the lightkeepers were
accommodated in a single-storied three-compartment house on the north-east side of the
tower. Four dwellings were erected on the mainland at Rock Island, at the entrance to
Crookhaven, for the light-keepers’ families. The light shone for the first time in 1854. The total
cost of the station, including the shore dwellings, was about £20, 000.
Even at this height it was pounded mercilessly by high seas, and during storms the crockery
would rattle off the table. It became evident after a few years that the tower was not strong
enough to withstand the raging power of the Atlantic Ocean. Large portions of rock were
broken off and carried away by the force of the sea from the south side, and blocks of stone
were torn off the face of the cliff and thrown to the top of the rock, one of which weighed
11
MOVIE 2.1 FASTNET — THE ROCK

almost three tons. A 60 gallon container of water lashed to the gallery 133 feet above high
water was washed away, and it was frequently impossible for the Lightkeepers to cross from
the tower to the dwelling. In 1865 a number of steps were taken to try and make the tower
more secure. One of these was to fit an external casing or petticoat around the base of the
tower as high as the second floor. The space between this and the original casing was filled in
with masonry. The lower storeys of the lighthouse were filled up solid, and the dwellings
abandoned as such, the upper storeys of the tower were then fitted out as dwellings and
stores. In addition to this the rock itself was made more secure by removing loose and
projecting rocks, and any large chasms or hollows were filled in with concrete. This helped to
present the island as a smoother rounded surface to the seas in order to offer less resistance.
Finally, the newly-formed Commissioners of Irish Lights (1867) decided on a replacement for
Fastnet. Their chief engineer was William Douglass. In the 1800s lighthouses and their
construction were a family affair, handed down from generation to generation. The Douglass
family was legendary in the lighthouse-engineering business. William Douglass and his family
had already built lighthouses in locations from Wolf Rock in Cornwall to Ceylon. Douglass
surveyed the Fastnet Rock and submitted two models, one showing the rock as it was and the
other as it would be when the new lighthouse was built. The estimate cost amounted to
£70,387, which is modest by today's standards, and this included £10,000 for building the SS
Ierne as a special ship for the work. The contract to supply the granite was won by John
Freeman and Sons of Penrhyn, Cornwall. In 1897 workers started cutting and chiselling the
2,074 granite stones, each weighing from 1.7 to 3 tons, in order to create the interlocking blocks
like pieces of a puzzle. Douglass surveyed Fastnet and quickly realised that the existing tower
was built on the wrong part of the rock. He favoured the harder slate, which was lower down
and facing the Atlantic head-on; the base would be built below high-water level at the water's
edge, but that meant the tower would receive the blow of the heaviest seas before they reached
full height. It turned out to be an enlightened proposal. Douglass's method of building was one
invented by his father, Nicholas, on another lighthouse in the 1860s (and used long afterwards in
British lighthouses). Meticulous to a fault, Douglass ordered the contractors to assemble the
tower in sections, first in their Cornish stone yard, to ensure that not one granite block was out
of place; each block was then to be delicately wrapped and shipped to Ireland. The method
Douglass would use to build Fastnet was to dovetail each granite blocks into those around it,
and cemented these into those above and below, like a Chinese puzzle. This made it impossible
13
SKETCH OF THE 1865 CAST IRON LIGHTHOUSE

to remove any one block without removing those above it. “This system of dovetail joggles absolutely bonds the
entire structure into a virtual monolith,” wrote C.W.Scott.
From the start of the building work in 1898, bad weather and problems in sourcing sufficient good granite
delayed the project. Douglass was use of such setbacks and so set out for the rock in 1898 to move things
along. Despite poor weather the work on the rock continued. Partial ring courses and the foundation were ready
for the first solid course by the end of August 1899. Unfortunately Douglass was compelled by ill-health to resign,
but before he did he completed his designs for the entire masonry, the landing, the setting gear and the designs
for stairways and doors. He never fully recovered from his illness, and the “quiet, reserved man” retired in 1900.
“There was probably no man in the world so well fitted by experience to carry out this important and difficult
piece of work,” wrote Scott, who then took over the project. Scott was now officially leading the project, but the
execution fell into the hands of another remarkable man, James Kavanagh, a young stonemason from Wicklow
Town near Dublin, Ireland. Kavanagh had first landed on the rock as foreman in 1896 and was personally to
place every stone laid in the tower. A sad footnote to the operation was the death of James Kavanagh, the
highly-skilled mason foreman who had by his own desire lived on the rock almost continuously from 1896 to
June 1903. He came ashore at the end of June feeling ill and died of a stoke early in July. He resolutely refused
to ever go ashore while any work on the Rock was going on. In Scott's book the ‘History of the Fastnet’, full
credit must be given to all who were involved with building a faultless example of masonry, on an extreme and
isolated rock. Living conditions on the rock must have been difficult. It is said that as many a 3 men slept in a
bunk, were woken at 5a.m. each day, and were to keep the barracks clean and tidy. A labourer's wage at that
time was 2s.6d., and an extra shilling per day while on the rock. 3 serious accidents occurred during the
construction. Two men lost an eye, one receiving £45 in compensation. Another broke a leg, but claimed against
the Commissioners and was awared £350 compensation.
While C. W. Scott was in charge, he designed the lantern and optical apparatus. A very attractive and unusual
feature of the Fastnet lighthouse is the double balcony: one around the service room, the other around the
lantern. Chance Brothers Ltd., Smethwick, built the bi-form four-sided lantern, and both tiers are made of 4
square panels. In the centre of each tier, there was an incandescent petroleum vapour burner, designed by C. W.
Scott and manufactured in Dún Laoghaire, County Dublin. The Commissioners decided to have a biform rather
than a monoform apparatus for several reasons, but primarily that if by accident one burner failed the light was
14

not totally extinguished. The whole apparatus floated on a mercury bath, and this
system was later adopted on the Bailey, Blackhead, and Maidens lighthouses.
The SS Ierne took delivery of the pedestal and apparatus, the latter consisting of
the mercury trough, float, and revolving table, on the 14TH
of September 1903, but
the weather was unsuitable for landing anything until October. On the 10TH
of
October, there was violent storm, which destroyed much of the new units, and
they all had to be removed and returned to the workshops in Birmingham. The
extra cost of this setback was £1,000 and the parts could not be replaced until
the following May.
In March 1904 J. Kavanagh, son of the former foreman, and four labourers
demolished the former tower, as far down as the casing. This was then roofed
and used as an oil store and is still functioning today. The new light was exhibited
for the first time in July 1904. The Commissioner’s Inspecting committee, and Sir
Robert Ball, the scientific advisor, went to see the site on 21ST of July 1904 and all
were satisfied with the works. Here is part of Ball's report;
“It was about eleven o'clock when the Alexandra was headed round to return to
Crookhaven. By this time the night had become much darker, for the moonlight
had disappeared and there was occasional rain as well as haze. As to the beams
of the Fastnet during all the time of our return to harbour, I cannot describe them
otherwise than by saying they were magnificent. At ten miles’ distance the great
revolving spokes of light, succeeding each other at intervals of five seconds, gave
the most distinctive character possible. Almost before one spoke had
disappeared the next came into view, but the effect was doubtless in part
attributable to the haze. It was a most beautiful optical phenomenon. Each great
flash, as it swept past, lighted up the ship and the rigging like a searchlight. After
the ship entered Crookhaven harbour, and the direct light from Fastnet was, of
course, cut off, the glow of each successive beam showed in a most striking
manner over the high land that bounds the harbour.”
15

He continued: “The next day, July 21ST, we landed on the Fastnet Rock,
and I had the opportunity of inspecting the superb structure which
produced the effects I have endeavoured to describe. It seems to me
hardly possible to over-estimate the advances in lighthouse construction
which may be expected from the flotation of the lens in mercury. By this
method of support the friction is reduced so as to be no more than an
inconsiderable fraction of its previous value. Hence it follows that by
flotation on mercury the rotation may be made several times as rapid as
was previously possible. The source of the light in the Fastnet is the new
and most successful incandescent burner. By reason of its splendid
brightness, and its compact size, that definiteness and intensity is
produced which I have tried to describe.
In conclusion I may say it is a matter of congratulation to everyone
concerned that the Fastnet is now at length provided with a
monumental tower and a superb light, well worthy of the position of
this lonely rock as being, from the navigator’s point of view, the most
important outpost of Europe.”
The Commissioners had every right to be proud of their new Fastnet
Lighthouse. Not only was it technically ahead of its time but it was, and
remains, the highest and widest rock tower in Ireland and Great Britain
and is regarded as one of the most beautiful lighthouses in the world.
16IMAGE – ROLEX/CARLO BORLENGHI
MOVIE 2.2 FASTNET BY NIGHT

MR. GEORGE HALPIN
In 1848 George Halpin designed the first lighthouse tower on the Fastnet rock, which reached a height of
83 feet above the low waterline. The cast iron tower casing was itself was 63 feet and 9 inches high from
base to gallery, and was made up of flanged plates all round the inside, fastened by metal bolts, one inch
thick. The lantern was 27 feet high from the gallery to the top of the dome. Between 1864 and 1868 the
tower was strenghthened after various surveys were carried out, by C. P. Cotton, consulting engineer at
Dublin port, and George Stevenson, consulting engineer at the Commissioners for Northern Lighthouses.
It became apparent that substantial work had to take place in the future and in 1892 the board of Dublin
port sanctioned another more accurate survey carried out by William Douglass. On November the 28TH
the
Board of Trade and Trinity House, London (The English Lighthouse Authority) sanctioned the building of a
new lighthouse on the Fastnet rock. Douglass employed J. Middleton and S. W. Nugent as draughtsmen
on the project, which commenced immediately.
MR. WILLIAM DOUGLASS
William Tregarthen Douglass was chief engineer for the Commissioners of Irish Lights in the late
nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. He was responsible for the design and construction of a
number of lighthouses and other auxillary buildings around the English coastline. He was a consulting
engineer for lighthouse construction for several governments around the world. His father was Sir
James Nicholas Douglass and his uncle William and his grandfather Nicholas were also famous in the
lighthouse construction industry. William T. Douglass was assistant engineer to Thomas Edmond in the
construction of the fourth Eddystone Lighthouse, and superintendent of work after Edmond was
seconded to another project. William T. Douglass supervised the whole work of ﬁtting up the internal
arrangements of the new Eddystone Lighthouse, as well as dismantling and removing the upper portion
of Smeaton's tower, leaving the foundation intact. One of William Douglass's most impressive
achievements was his supervision of the renovation and reinforcement of the Bishop Rock Lighthouse.
Wiliam T. Douglass designed the second Fastnet Rock Lighthouse, the one still in use today. The
Douglasses were an old Scottish border family who settled in Northumberland in the 13TH
century.
William's father, Nicholas Douglass, was born in Blaydon, Northumberland, and served his engineering
apprenticeship under a Mr. Burnett of Newcastle-on-Tyne. Nicholas joined Trinity House in 1839 as a
construction engineer, advancing to superintendent engineer. Nicholas was a man of iron nerve and
tireless energy. He carried out several dangerous engineering operations entrusted to him, with a
remarkable record of no serious accidents.
19
BISHOP ROCK
Bishop Rock is a tiny rock at the western-
most tip of the Isles of Scilly in Cornwall,
United Kingdom. The base of the rock
perfectly ﬁts the lighthouse leaving no
room to spare around it.
Coordinates:
49°52′24″N 06°26′41″W
Height 49m (167 ft)
Intensity 600,000 Candela
Range 24 miles
Opened 1858
Automated 1992
WIKIPEDIA WEB LINK

William T. Douglass was born in London in 1831. Apprenticed to Robert Stephenson & Co, Newcastle-
on-Tyne, he studied under Robert, the son of George Stephenson. In 1852 he replaced his brother
James as assistant engineer to his father on the construction of Bishop Rock Lighthouse. In 1858 William
was appointed Trinity House Construction Engineer on the building of Les Hanois Rock Lighthouse,
Guernsey, which was completed in 1862. The design and construction experience which William
acquired on this project was to prove invaluable forty years later when, as Engineer to the Commissioners
of Irish Lights, the arduous task fell on him to design a replacement structure for the original Fastnet cast
iron lighthouse. Both structures share many similar design and construction details.
On the Les Hanois project, William's father Nicholas invented the construction method of bedding and
side-dovetailing each masonry block. When the blocks are laid and set in a Portland cement mix the
bonding effect is nearly as homogeneous as solid masonry. Working in the severest of site conditions,
exposed to inventive design and construction methods, William, as a 21 year old man, acquired his
formative lighthouse-engineering training and character building. Both were to serve him well in later years.
In 1862, when his brother James was appointed engineer-in-chief of Trinity House. William replaced him
as construction engineer in the building of the lighthouse on the Wolf Rock which is situated about half
way between Land's End and the Scilly Isles. The base station for the construction of the lighthouse was
at Penzance, Cornwall.
The Wolf Rock is submerged during half tide and had long been a fear to mariners in all weathers as the
rock is exposed to the full force of the Atlantic. It took three years to prepare the foundation before the
ﬁrst stone could be laid. To prevent the workmen from being washed away it was necessary to tether
each of them to heavy iron stanchions sunk into the rock. Landing on and leaving the rock invariably
required that the men be hauled through the surf on a line. To effect this procedure William, being a
strong swimmer, was the ﬁrst to land and last to leave. The lighthouse took eight years to complete.
In 1869 William was appointed Executive Engineer on the construction of the lighthouse on the Great
Basses Reef, eighty miles eastwards of Point de Galle, Ceylon. The granite lighthouse was designed by
his brother James, and both brothers played similar roles in the erection of a lighthouse on Little Basses
Reef, which was built in a more exposed location a further 20 miles from Point de Galle.
20
LES HANOIS LIGHTHOUSE
Les Hanois was first constructed in 1862
and was the first lighthouse of its kind with
dove-tailed stones, to create a solid strong
structure. It was designed by William
Douglass. It sits approximately 2Km off the
West coast of Guernsey, United Kingdom.
Coordinates
49°26′1″N 2°42′1″W
Height 33 m (108 ft)
Focal height 33 m (108 ft)
Range 20 nmi (37 km)
Automated 1996
TRINITY HOUSE
Royal Charter
By Henry VIII 1514
Trinity House is the organisation for the
well-being of sea vessels and seafarers and
the General Lighthouse Authority for
England, Wales, The Channel Islands and
Gibraltar. Set up in the year 1514 and given
a royal charter by King Henry the VIII, prior
to Irish Independence Trinity House also
had charge of lighthouses around Ireland.

On completion of the Little Basses Reef Lighthouse in 1878, William was appointed Engineer to the
Commissioners of Irish Lights, succeeding John H. Morant. Thus, the Douglass brothers achieved the
unique distinction of serving simultaneously as Engineer-in-Chief to two lighthouse authorities. Both made
their distinctive contributions to their respective organisations. James introduced electricity as a
lighthouse illuminant while William perfected the efficiency of oil and gas as illuminants.
William’s advancements in engineering and success in administration matched his remarkable innovations
during the 26 years he spent in the construction of lighthouses for Trinity House. His tenure as the
Commissioners' Engineer ended a relatively dormant engineering period in Irish Lights. Being qualified and
experienced in both civil and mechanical engineering, William was instrumental in the introduction of long-
overdue new technology and a revived construction programme. In 1894 Charles W. Scott was sanctioned
as assistant engineer. Notwithstanding Scott's capable assistance, the ever-increasing works programme,
coupled with age and building difficulties on the Fastnet, took its toll on William's health. From 1898
onwards ill-health became an increasing drain on his strength.
Still William persisted in taking overall responsibility for work on the Fastnet. Continuous bad seas and
inclement weather disrupted progress to such an extent that by spring 1899 the foundation preparation
work had all but ceased; not a single masonry block had been laid. In May William went to the rock to
bring his vast construction experience to bear on the problematic site. On his leaving the rock in early July
the fourth foundation course had been laid. By August the work had progressed to the point of receiving
the first full solid course.
On returning to Dublin, having overtaxed his strength, William was compelled to take sick leave. He
returned to the office in September 1899 but again overtaxed himself. Two further attempts to resume
full-time duty failed. Eventually, ill health finally forced him to retire in September 1900. Privately a man of
strong religious beliefs, practising more than he professed, he showed his faith by his works. Fearless of
his own well-being, however mindful of the wellbeing of others, he was greatly respected by those in his
charge. Under William's leadership Irish Lights experienced a renaissance in lighthouse architecture and
improved construction methods, detailing, and interior fitting out.
21
EDDYSTONE LIGHTHOUSE
The Eddystone Lighthouse sits on the
treacherous Eddystone Rocks, 14.5
kilometers south of Rame Head, England.
Coordinates
50°10.80′N 04°15.90′W
Height: 161' (49 m)
Opened: May 18, 1882
Automated: 1982

The Fastnet is the quintessential tower lighthouse. In its creation, William Douglass brought the art of
masonry design and construction to a pinnacle of perfection. The overwhelming wonder of its
construction, can only truly be experienced when viewed from the rock's shoreline. A hundred years of
continuous Atlantic seas and storms have failed to blemish the inspired architecture of its designer or the
craftsmanship of its builders. A considerable number of other buildings, both domestic and industrial,
from the Douglass era are still intact. Each contains architectural gems and are examples of construction
of excellence which are worthy of wider appreciation. The depth of detail in the drawings prepared for
these works set the standard for builder and craftsman alike. The painstaking attention given to the
draughtsmanship ensured that after the drawings had fulﬁlled their original intended function they would
survive as engineering works of art from the period. William Douglass retired to Stella, Penzance,
Cornwall. He died on the 10TH
of March 1923, aged 92 years.
JAMES KAVANAGH
In August 1896, the board’s best retort setter Mr.James Kavanagh, a good all round mason, was sent to
the Rock to prepare a landing place, foundations for the new tower and a storage place and barracks for
the workmen. He was not a lighthouse-man by background, but he had that same stubbornness of
character as Douglass and was single-minded in his devotion to his duty. He lived on the rock
continuously for 10 to 12 months of each year from August 1896 to June 1903. He slept on a damp bed
of rock close to the landing strip in quarters carved out of the rock face, known to this day as
“Kavanagh’s Hole”. There was no time for sickness and he was fastidious about safety. Though the men
worked with no safety harnesses on the rock, there were only a few minor accidents. Kavanagh drove
himself harder still. In the years that he allowed himself a few months off, he would return to his wife and
eight children in Wicklow. Even then, he often remarked on a ﬁne day that he ‘should be back on the
rock, ‘not wasting time’.
The white granite rocks, once shipped from Cornwall, would be dropped at a staging post near
Crookhaven, then shipped out to Fastnet on a specially-built steamer, the Ierne. Landing was impossible;
high swell at the rock meant that a boat could dock on average only 12 times a year. Instead, the Ierne
was moored at sea, and steam derricks from the rock and the ship hoisted the stone out into the sea
before lifting it up to the tower. There, Kavanagh would tenderly tease each of the giant stones into place;
only six were chipped during the whole process.
22
GREAT BASSES
REEF LIGHTHOUSE
Great Basses Reef Lighthouse is an off-
shore lighthouse in the south of Sri Lanka.
It is located on a reef 13 km off the coast of
Yala National Park, near Little Basses Reef
Lighthouse. The two Basses lighthouses,
'Great' and 'Little', are among the most
famous offshore lighthouses of Asia.
Coordinates:
6°11′N 81°29′E
Material Scottish granite
Tower shape Round tower
Height 37 m
Range 34 m
Year constructed 1873
Opened March 10, 1873

It remains a remarkable feat of masonry. The stones are still smooth to the touch. The gunmetal windows
fit perfectly. There are elegant mosaics in the floors. Inside, there is no hint that a century of storms have
battered the flawless exterior. Unfortunatley James Kavanagh had no time to admire the result of his
craftsmanship. The project ultimately cost him his life. Seven years of living in a hole in the rock, progress
frustrated by maverick tides and his delayed shipments, ruined his health. Having set the last stone, he
went ashore with his son (also a mason on the rock) at the end of June 1903 complaining of illness, and
died of apoplexy a week later. He never even saw the lantern, which was still being assembled in
Birmingham. Five days later, his obituary in the Wicklow Newsletter said that more than a thousand
people turned out in his home town to follow his remains from the quayside to his family home. ‘The
greatest respect was shown towards the deceased, all the business houses being shuttered and
business suspended while the cortège was passing through.’ He was only 47 years old.
SIR ROBERT BALL
Sir Robert Stawell Ball FRS, 1840—1913, was an Irish astronomer. He worked for Lord Rosse from 1865 to
1867. In 1867 he became the Professor of Applied Mathematics at the Royal College of Science in Dublin.
In 1874 Ball was appointed Royal Astronomer of Ireland and Andrews Professor of Astronomy in the
University of Dublin at Dunsink Observatory. In 1892 he was appointed Lowndean Professor of Astronomy
and Geometry at Cambridge University. His main interest was mathematics and he devoted much of his
spare time to his Screw theory.
Every summer he would join the members of the Irish Lights Board on a three week steamship cruise
round the Irish coast, examining the lighthouses. Ball, as scientific advisor to the board carried out many
tests with gas, oil and electricity to see which gave the best light in different conditions. One of the main
problems was fog, and in later years he enlisted the help of Ernest Rutherford who at the time was
experimenting with electromagnetic waves. On the 21ST of July 1904 Ball was commissioned to examine
the Fastnet light with The Commissioners Inspecting committee.
But Ball’s unfading reputation will not just rest on his achievements as a lecturer and populariser of
science, great as they were, or even as an astronomer, in which capacity he lacked the advantages of
professional training. It must also be based on his work as a great mathematician, which was his most
absorbing interest, and to which he devoted much of his leisure.
23
Fastnet Lighthouse
INTERACTIVE 3.1 LIGHTHOUSE MAP
1 of 6

THE BUILDERS
The men who built the lighthouse were not seamen, nor would they have been particularly accustomed to
the huge swells that batter that part of the Irish coastline. They were a tiny group of civil servants, far
more fascinated by the precise details (weights, measures, sizes and costs) of the engineering feat they
were attempting than the human courage that the project required.
C. W. Scott’s book ‘History of the Fastnet Rock Lighthouses’ in 1906, while overlooking the most
dangerous aspects of the work and the living conditions that the men on the rock endoured he was a
great examiner and recorder of the technical aspect of the construction and the lighthouse itself. Workers
who wanted to go home too often “were gradually got rid of, and their places filled with men who were
better satisfied with their rock quarters.” Yet their work, technical as it appears, may seem symbolic or
romantic, their day-to-day toil was technical, meticulous and dangerous.
Building a lighthouse could be considered as one of man's most noble endeavours and dangerous.
George Bernard Shaw put it like this: “I can think of no other edifice constructed by man as altruistic as a
lighthouse. They were built only to serve.” History bears this out. Since the beginning of seafaring, families
and friends have lit bonfires at night to guide sailors home, as Mr. lankford remarks of the west Cork
island of Cape Clear, “From rush to splinter, to a shellful of fish oil, to candle, to paraffin and eventually to
electricity, keeping the light burning has been part of the husbandry of the islander.”
The labourers who worked on the construction of the new tower did not live locally, and remained on the
rock, seldom going ashore and not wishing to break their time on the rock for the possibility of losing
wages, particularly as there was always the possibility of bad weather, which could prevent them
returning to the rock. The locals however, were not happy unless they returned ashore frequently, and
went in rotation 2 or 3 at a time. Over time these workers were dispensed with and replaced with those
more suited to 'rock life', and it was unusual for a worker to request leave more often than once in two to
four months. The original foreman Mr. Kavanagh indefatigably refused to go ashore, so long as there was
any work to be done on the rock. The men supplied their own provisions, and were not allowed to let
their stock run below two weeks’ supplies. If any neglected this rule they were sent ashore. The
Commissioners kept reserves on the rock, which the men could buy if needed. The quantities were
approximately, 2cwt. salt beef, 2cwt. tinned meats, 18lbs tea, 1cwt. sugar, 12 tins cocoa, 180 tins
condensed milk, 2 half cwt barrel of biscuits, 70lbs biscuits in tins, 20lbs rice, 65lbs green peas, 32lbs
split peas. Biscuits, tea, sugar, and milk, were in most demand but not meat.
24
MOVIE 3.1 FASTNET ANIMATION

The staff and keepers of the Fastnet Lighthouse at that time numbered six, four being on the rock at any
one time, two being ashore on leave. Two men were changed at each relief, brought by the steamer
Ierne, from Castletownbere. The changeovers happened twice each month, weather permitting. Each
keeper spent one month on the rock, then two weeks off. One man kept watch during daytime–in case of
fog, while another would work the fog signal as required. At night time two keepers kept watch. The
lighthouse became fully automated in 1989, 85 years after the ﬁrst parafﬁn light was lit.
25
WOLF ROCK LIGHTHOUSE
Located four nautical miles southwest of
Land's End, in Cornwall, England and nine
nautical miles off the Isles of Scilly.
Coordinates
49°56.72′N 05°48.50′W
Height 41 m (135 ft)
Range 23 miles (37 km)
Year first constructed 1861
Year first lit 1870

The Fastnet lighthouse changed little from its completion in 1904 up until the 1960s. There
was no electricity at the station except for a small generator used to charge radio telephone
batteries. The main navigational light was an incandescent paraffin vapour which had the
equivalent power of 1,300,000 candelas. The fog-signal that was used by the lighthouse was
an explosive charge.
Cooking was done on a coal-fired range and an oil stove, while all the internal domestic
lighting was by oil lamps. In 1962 the Board of Irish Lights asked their engineer to report on
the provision of domestic electric lighting and the use of bottled gas for cooking. The engineer,
A.D.H. Martin, reported that the combination of paraffin for the main light, explosives for the
fog-signal and bottled gas for cooking was too dangerous to continue. He recommended the
installation of electricity for light, heat and domestic purposes, ut not for the main light, which
remained parrafin based. This proposal was approved by the Board and the expenditure
involved was sanctioned by the Ministry of Transport in the 1963–1964 budget.
Originally it was planned to have two diesel-powered alternators in the tower, and storage
heaters would be used when a generator was on and running. But a more efficient design for
heating the lighthouse was implemented, which employed the waste heat from the water used
to cool the engines. The plan entailed constructing a water storage tank in halves and erecting
it around the central weight trunk. The two engines would be on the first floor and the water
tank would be on the floor above. The two half-tanks would be connected together and each
half of the water tanks would contain the two cooling coils from one of the engines. The hot
water from the engines, passing through the coils, would heat the water in the tank, which
would be circulated by a thermo-siphon through radiators to heat the tower in winter. In
summer, when the radiators were not required, the heat would be dispersed through a fan-
assisted radiator on the balcony.
An electric cooker would be installed in the lighteepers’ quarters but could only be used when
the generator was running. Electric lighting would be from a battery which would also be
charged when the engine were running, so lighting would always be available. This would be a
big advantage as some of the stores on the rock were pitch dark, even in daylight.
27
MODERNISATION AND AUTOMATION
GALLERY 4.1 ELECTRICITY

It was however necessary to provide additional diesel oil storage tanks. It was also decided to
install a water-and oil-pumping system, with pipelines from the boat landing cemented into
chases cut in the rock. This would eliminate the tedious labour of carrying water barrels from
the ship to the landing and hoisting them up to the tower where they were emptied by hand
into the water tank. The need to hand-pump the oil was also eliminated.
A third generator was employed as a safety measure in the case of the failure of one generator
while the other was being overhauled. It would be smaller than the others but of sufficient
capacity to operate the main light in an emergency. The Board of Trade sanctioned the
electrification of the light but asked the Commissioners to consider BCF instead of carbon-
dioxide for the fire-extinguishing system. The Commissioners approved the installation of BCF
(bromo-chloro-difluoro-methane, also known as halon). At that time it was considered safer
than carbon-dioxide but it is now recognised as a major cause of ozone depletion in the upper
atmosphere, and more recently its use has been discontinued at all Irish Lights stations.
Electrification of the main light went ahead and the new light was put into operation on the
10TH
May 1969. The electric light had the same character as the paraffin vapour light—one
flash every 5 seconds—but the flash was of a shorter duration and greater intensity—
2,500,000 candelas, creating a luminous range of 28 nautical miles (51.856Km). As part of the
modernisation of the lighthouse some of the rooms were re-arranged, and new, specially-
designed bunks and other furniture, were installed. The total cost of the modernisation was
£13,241, excluding the electrification of the main light which cost £4,264.
In 1971 it was found that more diesel oil was being consumed than expected and two
additional storage tank sections were installed, bringing the total capacity to 9,300 gallons. In
the early 1970s the storage of explosive charges and detonators for fog-signals at lighthouses
became a security issue and the Commissioners decided to discontinue explosive fog-signals.
The explosive fog-signal on the Fastnet was replaced by an electric horn in 1974.
28

AUTOMATION
Following the Commissioners’ annual tour of inspection in 1978 it was proposed that the
automation of Fastnet Lighthouse should be included in the development programme for the
service. At that time it was envisaged that a limited number of lighthouses at strategic
locations would continue to be watched by Lightkeepers. As time went on the automation of
all lighthouses around the coast became inevitable, however, and a plan was developed to
achieve this objective within an agreed timescale.
The work of automating the Fastnet Lighthouse began in mid 1988 and continued into the
early part of 1989. The original biform optic was retained, rotated by a gearless optic drive
instead of the rotation motors which had been installed in 1969. The lamp was changed to a
one kilowatt metal halide lamp with a lamp changer, which automatically brings a spare lamp
into service if the first lamp fails. In addition, two 300mm emergency lanterns with a range of 6
nautical miles were fitted on the upper balcony rail, designed to switch on automatically
should the main light fail. The generator plant was replaced by new equipment. Automatic
control systems were installed for the light and to control the fog-signal, generators, automatic
water cooling, fuel management, fire protection and security systems. In addition, all the
electrical services in the tower were renewed. A remote control and monitoring system was
also installed, linking Fastnet by UHF radio to a base station at Mizen Head, and from there by
telephone line to the central monitoring room in Dún Laoghaire. Every six hours this system
checks the status of the equipment at the station. In the event of any equipment failure the
system immediately communicates an alarm signal through Mizen Head to the Telemetry and
Security Officer at Dún Laoghaire. The system incorporates facilities for remotely controlling
equipment from either Mizen Head or Dún Laoghaire. On completion of the installations the
Keepers were withdrawn and the lighthouse became automated from the 5TH
April 1989.
29

THE FASTNET
YACHT RACE5
IMAGE – ROLEX/CARLO BORLENGHI

THE ROYAL OCEAN RACING CLUB
On an August evening in 1925 after a memorable yacht race and a few celebratory drinks, the
Ocean Racing Club was formed in a large Victorian building on the Hoe, Plymouth England.
Although large yachts with paid crews had raced in the open sea in the previous century for private
wagers or special occasions. In 1887 there was a Round Britain race for yachts of between 40 and
200 tons, during the Golden Jubilee year of Queen Victoria’s reign, in all 11 yachts took part. At the
beginning of the 1920s, yacht racing in Britain meant day racing, the best talent being in the 12, 8
and 6-metre boats of the International Rule of the IYRU (renamed ISAF in 1996).
The Cruising Club of America was formed in 1922, along the same lines as the Royal Cruising
Club (founded 1880). It held a 600-mile race from New London to Bermuda in 1923 and again in
1924. These races were open to small yachts and amateur crews. Weston Martyr, a British
yachting writer who had taken part, spoke of them enthusiastically on returning to England. By
1925 there was sufficient interest from individual owners of seaworthy cruisers for the Fastnet
Race. It started from Ryde, on the Isle of Wight, off the south coast of England, inaugral 600
nautical mile round trip to the Fastnet Rock, off the southwest coast of Ireland. On the 15TH
of
August 1925 the very first Fastnet yacht race was held. It was to be about the same length as
the Bermuda race. Although it did not pass off without much debate in the press.
The select gathering at Plymouth appointed its first commodore of the Ocean Racing Club, Lt
Cmdr E.G.Martin OBE RNVR, who had already won cruising awards from the RCC and from
whose committee he had resigned owing to its disapproval of "the ocean race". Owner of the
converted Havre pilot cutter, Jolie Brise, he was no stranger to racing having won the One Ton
Cup in the 6-metre class in 1912. There were thirty-three other founder members, among whom
were Robert Somerset DSO, R.Maclean Buckley MC and Major T.P. Rose-Richards, these three
later becoming flag officers. The word "ocean" was as used in America, meaning racing in the
open sea rather than in confined waters as previously. The object of the club was "to provide
annually one ocean race not less than 600 miles in length".
A second race was introduced in 1928, on a triangular course in the English Channel of about
250 miles and known as "the Channel Race". As for the name of the club, an application to use
the word ‘Royal’ in its title was made in 1929, but rejected by the Home Office. However
32

permission was eventually granted in November 1931, possibly because King George V was himself an
active yachtsman. The club the assumed its present title. The Fastnet Race has remained a central fixture of
the club. There was a race each year until 1931, but in 1933 it was reduced to six starters, only three of which
were British. For the second race the start line had been changed from Ryde to Cowes but the yachts were still
sent around the eastern end of the island, a course which was thought more seamanlike. The 1935 race was
unique in that it started from Yarmouth, then westward, finishing at Cowes. Ryde eastward was the start again
in 1937. The 1947 race had a start to the east from the destroyer HMS Zephyr off Portsmouth, but ever since
has been westward from the Royal Yacht Squadron line at Cowes.
The club initially used various premises for its meetings and dinners in London; by 1935 it had the use of
rooms at 3 Old Burlington Street. By February 1936, the membership at about 600 was enough to open a
club house at 2 Pall Mall. The club then moved nearer the water. A lease was taken on a house at 20 St.
James's Place, and was opened on the 23RD
July 1942 by King Haakon of Norway. In 1956 it was enlarged
by the purchase of number 19 next door.
In 1935 (when the race became biennial), there were 17 starters and thereafter the numbers increased to 29
in 1939, 1947 (first post-war) and 1949. Numbers then rose to 42 in 1957 (the first year of the Admiral's
Cup) to 151 in 1965, and to an all-time maximum of 303 in 1979. Wide international participation meant that
winners came from different nations: for instance there was no winning yacht, that was both British-
designed and British-owned, between 1953, when Sir Michael Newton's Robert Clark designed ‘Favona’
was first overall, and 1975 when ‘Golden Delicious’ owned by Peter Nicholson, designed by Camper and
Nicholsons and sailed by the Bagnall twins, had best corrected time.
Numbers for the race in later years have steadied down to the middle 200s, with for instance, a few below
250 in 1985, 1991, 1993 and 1995. 1997 saw 260 start in light weather and the course record broken by a
multihull. As quantity improved over the years, so did passage times. George Martin's Jolie Brise, which won
in 1925, took just six and one half days (4.0 knots); the current course monohull record, set in 1999 is 2
days 5 hours 8 minutes 51 seconds (11.38 knots) and is held by RF Yachting (Ross Field, NZL). Multihulls
have raced since 1997, resulting in the outright course record (also set in 1999) of 1 day 16 hours 27
minutes 0 seconds (14.96 knots) by Fujicolor II (Loock Peyron, FRA). More common in the Fastnet course
are long beats to windward or patches of calm.
34
Isles of Scilly
INTERACTIVE 5.1
THE ROLEX FASTNET YACHT RACE COURSE
1 of 6

However, unlike many of the world's race courses, it is impossible to predict Fastnet weather
(therefore happily impracticable to design a special kind of boat to win). For instance in 1981
(next after the 1979 storm) there was light weather; 1983 had light weather and some calm,
but easterlies on the way home; 1985 was the worst weather since 1979 and resulted in a
higher proportion of retirements than in the previous storm; 1987 was generally light, but with
a 200-mile beat on the way home including a short blow; 1993 was a beat to the Fastnet rock
and a run home; 1995 was very light with a moderate beat, freshening later, all the way back
to Plymouth. 1997 started with fog and light air and ended in calms with moderate breezes in
between. 1999 was light for many boats, but the leaders carried a fresh breeze. 2001 featured
fast speeds for most of the course, but light air before the ﬁnish, and 2003 turned out to be a
long race in mainly light airs.
Prior to 1939, the number of races started by the club had expanded considerably. In 1930
there were 4 (Fastnet, Channel, Santander, Dinard); in 1934, 6; 1937, 8; 1938, 10. 1937 was
fairly typical, with Fastnet, Channel, Dinard, Heligoland, Maas, Southsea to Brixham, Ijmuiden
to Solent and Solent to La Baule. In the 1980s, by contrast, the number of events averaged
17 per year, not counting short parts of modern inshore-offshore circuits.
There were notable members over the years, and one giant of ocean racing in particular who
gave a massive push to competitive sailing in Britain: Captain John H. Illingworth RN. He
raised the standard of racing; he wrote a classic book called ‘Offshore’; he revolutionized the
rating rule and design; challenged the Americans; started races overseas (Sydney-Hobart,
Giraglia, sail training events and others); he showed that small yachts could race as daringly
as big ones and he presented, with others, the Admiral's Cup, a private challenge for a three-
boat team of American yachts which might be visiting for Cowes Week and the Fastnet. He
won the Fastnet Race in ‘Myth of Malham’, (Fastnet overall winner 1947 and 1949), Mouse of
Malham, Merle of Malham, Monk of Malham, Oryx and other yachts, scores of races.
The old metre boat dominance disappeared and clubs around the coast began offering races
for habitable handicap boats. The apex of these events was the annual programme of the
RORC. Further, both in Britain and abroad, the challenging offshore courses improved vastly
the design and construction of ocean racers. For a time it appeared that they were able to
36
NOTABLE POINTS ALONG THE COURSE

Cowes

—
Needles

016 nm

Needles

—
Portland Bill
034 nm

Portland

—
Start Point

054 nm

Start Point

—
Lizard

060 nm

Lizard

—
Lands End
022 nm

Land's End
—
Fastnet

170 nm

Fastnet Rock
—
Scillies

154 nm

Scillies

—
Lizard

051 nm

Total

608 nm

37IMAGE – ROLEX/CARLO BORLENGHI

keep the sea in almost any weather. Owners and crews had, for what some see as this idyllic period, an ocean
racer, a cruiser, somewhere to sleep in harbour, and an inshore racing boat, all in the same yacht. Such a
vessel was manned by amateurs, probably members of the club, with the galley and chart table aft and of
moderate displacement, so that the sail area could be reasonably handled.
In 1928 the CCA started a new rule for the Bermuda race, but by 1932 had split from others to form a different
from of handicapping.The RORC was on its own and their efficiency was such, that from 1945 other British
clubs began to specify the RORC rule for their races and insisted that boats arrived with a certificate of
measurement issued by the RORC.
From 1971, the club used the IOR for all its races. Such a "world rule" caused for a number of years an
immense expansion in offshore racing and offshore boats. A major influence on the whole process was the
One Ton Cup, an award owned by the Cercle de la Voile de Paris, used previously for the IYRU 6-metre class.
The CVP had transferred it in 1965 to a fixed rating under the RORC rule with a few extras such as headroom
and equipment to be carried; with the arrival of IOR, it was agreed to move it under the same concept to within
IOR. Under the latter rule it provided intense annual international competition from 1971 until 1994. In 1998 the
famous and remarkably handsome cup was allocated to a 45ft one-design class.
As mentioned, the Admiral's Cup began as a private challenge in 1957, but in 1959 the RORC was asked to
run the series. Although the Americans did not return that year, Holland and France took part. The story was
then one of continual expansion of the number of teams, which reached a maximum of 19 teams (57 boats)
between 1977 and 1979. After 1985, in terms of the number of three boat teams, there was a decline as the
kind of yacht needed to compete both offshore and inshore courses became progressively more unusual and
expensive, as did the paid crew.
The Admiral's Cup was almost inaugurated by accident (because the allotted courses were already in
existence) a novel kind of yacht racing which combined inshore and offshore racing. It steadily became a model
of its kind, spawning welcome imitators including the Southern Cross (Australia), the Onion Patch (NE USA),
Hawaii (Kenwood) Cup, Sardinia Cup, the RORC/IOR Ton Cups and a range of regional and local competitions.
In 1970 the Commodore and two advisers decided to inaugurate a publication for members, entitled Seahorse.
It was first a quarterly, then a monthly magazine. It has had two changes of ownership and copies have always
been for sale to non-members.
38
PANTAENIUS BOUY
In 1997 the Royal Ocean Racing Club
decided that it was too dangerous to
sail directly around the Fastnet Rock
on the returning leg while other
competitors where heading in the
opposing direction and at high
speeds. It was decided to place a
marker buoy aound which all yachts
would have to sail once past the
Fastnet rock on their returning leg,
making the race course safer. The
bouy is approximately 13 kilometers
southwest off the Fastnet rock and is
called the Pantaenius Bouy.

39IMAGE – ROLEX/DANIEL FORSTER

From about 1978, there were calls for the RORC to adopt a one-design boat, for those who
did not wish to struggle with rating rules. The club preferred to welcome different classes into
its races and give individual white prizes, but leave them in the hands of their owners'
associations. One-designs, which have competed regularly offshore in all lengths of race,
include the Contessa 32, the OOD 34, the Sigma 33 and the Sigma 38, all built in England. In
1993 the club took its own one-design initiative with a 36ft ﬂat out racer, designed and built in
the USA, and nominated it as a compulsory team boat for the Admiral's Cups from 1995 to
1999. Sponsorship was involved and the class was named the Mumm 36. Expectations that
the class would have wider use in the club's races were not realised.
Eighty years of racing, many memorable, have not passed without incident. The fatalities are few
but ocean racing always carries that risk. In the 1931 Fastnet Race a man was lost overboard
and in the 1950's some French sailors were lost in the Biscay race. The 1956 'Channel Storm'
caused significant difficulties for sailors but without doubt the 1979 Fastnet Race disaster were
15 sailors and 3 rescurers lost their lives during an extreme storm. The RORC held an inquiry
along with the Royal Yachting Association (RYA). Many of the inquiry recommendations have had
a major effect on safety equipment and the rules of the conduct of racing.
The Rolex Fastnet Race is now a biennial event with qualiﬁng taking place during each odd-
numbered year. Some 20 events appeared on the annual programme, the climax being the
RORC racing division of the ARC race from Las Palmas, Canary Islands, to Rodney Bay, St.
Lucia. In the Mediterranean there was the Middle Sea race of 630 miles from Malta, and the
China Sea race of 650 miles was from Hong Kong to Manila. In addition there was a non-stop
700-mile round Ireland event.
The RORC run an unparalleled racing program and is recognised worldwide. It is a
quintessentially British institution within the sailing world and continues to host sailing events that
bring the best in the world to compete at the highest level. The Fastnet Race is a cornerstone of
its existence and so long as the Fastnet remains, the RORC will no doubt use it as a lasting
symbol to extreme yacht racing.
40IMAGE – ROLEX/DANIEL FORSTER

The Rolex Fastnet Yacht Race Route

FROM COWES TO FASTNET
The Fastnet Rock holds an almost mystical fascination for many racing yachtsmen
who have no other connection with the south west corner of Ireland other than the
ambition to compete, or the achievement of having competed in, the Royal Ocean
Racing Club’s biennial Fastnet Race (or in recent years carrying the sponsor Rolex’s
prefix). 2013 will be the 44TH edition of the most classic of the classic offshore yacht
races, which in the last 30 years has seen a regular entry list of over 250 boats.
That’s over 2,000 people, of all nationalities and on boats coming to the start in Cowes
from all over the world. For some, such as myself, it has become as close to
pilgrimage as we might get; I have started and completed the race 15 times, missing
three races between 1977 and 2011, I have also raced around the Rock in a ‘Round
Ireland Race’, it’s a strange sensation to pass it to starboard.
The Rock never fails to impress, in clear weather standing proud and visible from ten
miles distant, against the distinctive backdrop of Clare Island and Mizen Head.
Rounding at night has a magical aura, with the light beams rotating and illuminating
the competition. It is awesome in heavy weather, with steep seas crashing around and
onto it. In thick fog, once at daybreak the first sight was the top of the tower, high in
the air at less than half a mile and at night the light is diffused as it pushes its way
through the murk but always its presence is known from the booming horn.
For the racer, it is a turning point in many ways. It marks the end of the third stage of
the race (of five), and frequently brings welcome relief from an upwind slog, a chance
to get out the kite and dry out a little. After several days the fleet comes together and
positions against competitors are clarified. It’s the start of the trip home. For a few
years the RORC was able to put a race team on the Rock, to monitor progress of the
fleet and provide a welcome. This has now ceased but for a daytime rounding there
are frequently boats out from Schull or Baltimore with cheerful spectators.
Mike Greville
R.O.R.C. Commodore 2011–Present.
MOVIE 5.1 FASTNET IN THE FOG

THE FASTNET RACE —1979
In 1979 the RORC held the 28TH Fastnet Race. the course ran from Cowes, in the
Isle of Wight, to the Fastnet rock, turning then to head towards the finish line at
Plymouth via south of the Scilly Isles. On the third day of the race severe weather,
which originated from a depression forming off the coast of Newfoundland, made
its way east across the Atlantic Ocean, eventually reaching County Wexford,
Ireland, on the 13TH and 14TH, until reducing in strength on the 15TH of August.
The Fastnet Race was well underway with over 300 yachts taking part. Not all of
the vessels were actually involved in the race; some of the yachts were spectators.
During the evening of Monday the 13TH of August the weather depression
deepened rapidly and turned northeasterly towards Ireland. The storm hit violently,
ranging from force five to force six, eventually hitting storm force ten by the early
morning of the 14TH of August.
Yachts ran into trouble late on the night of the 13TH of August, from Lands End off
the Coast of England all the way to the Fastnet Rock, off the south coast of
Ireland. The Rescuers had to contend with a search area of over 140 square miles
and the number of vessels in distress increasing every hour. Rescue services
came from all areas, and included military and civilian forces. Rescue operations
began at 22.15 GMT on the 13TH of August when the Baltimore life-boat left her
station in response to a distress signal from a yacht that had lost its rudder. A
short while later between midnight and 2pm the following morning, four more
lifeboats were launched in reply to numerous red flares and Mayday calls from
several distressed boats.
15 sailors and three rescuers lost their lives during during this period. Out of the
303 ships that started in the race only 86 finished and 194 retired. Five ships were
sunk and 19 others were abandoned but recovered later.
Weather chart of the storm off the coast of Ireland,
dated 14TH of August 1979 at 00:00 GMT.
Maps courtesy of Met Éireann.
GALLERY 6.1 WEATHER CHART

THE FASTNET RACE —1979
Rescue operations were carried out by the English and Irish Coast Guards, The
Royal Navy, the Dutch and Irish Navies, The Irish Air Corps, The Royal Air Force
and other civilian crafts and trawlers, saving a total of 139 souls.
On reading the report of the Enquiry into the Fastnet Race of 1979 and other books
and newspaper articles at the time, it is still very difficult to contemplate the terrible
loss of life. What is clear is how difficult conditions were and the immense bravery of
everyone involved during those crucial days and nights. The weather charts of those
days make sobering reading, as they record the steady increase of the storm’s
pace, and its immense and unabating power.
The wind conditions observed by the Fastnet lighthouse on the 13TH and 14TH of
August 1979 were as follows: a gale developed during the evening of the 13TH
with gale to storm force 10 (F10) followed by strong gale to storm force F10 or
F11 from the west, later on in the night; on the following day of the 14TH there
were northwesternly winds or westernly gale or strong gale force. Other recordings
from the Marathon Gas Platform stationed in the Irish Sea, showed wave heights
over a twelve hour period ranging from 1.7 metres to a maximum height of 14.5
metres recorded at 06:00 GMT on the day of the 14TH of August. This shows at
the peak of the storm there were winds of 89—102 km/h while at the same time
gusting even stronger with waves reaching enormous heights of 14.5 metres.
MOVIE 6.1 ANIMATED MAP OF THE STORM

FASTNET – 100 YEARS ON
The building of the second Fastnet tower was surely the zenith of lighthouse construction in
Ireland. Given the familiarity with satellite technology and digital aids for navigation, it is difficult
to imagine that in the early 1900s navigation was comparatively crude, dependent on clear
skies for sun and star fixes, and on the observation of coastal lights and marks. Lighthouse
towers projecting beams of light out to sea were of enormous significance and were built all
around our coasts to assist mariners in their perilous profession.
The Irish Lights Board determined to mark the centenary by unveiling two identical plaques,
one at Crookhaven, and one at Rock Island, which was where the cut stones were
assembled. The commemorative events took place on the 29TH
of June 2003. The
Commissioners’ guest of honour was James Kavanagh. Not the man who built the lighthouse,
but the grandson of the Foreman, who himself worked for many years in Irish Lights as a
Coast Building Tradesman.
The pleasant duty of the Chairman was to unveil a plaque commemorating the men who built
the Fastnet. This event took place in the Crookhaven Sailing Club where the plaque is now
temporarily housed. With the assistance of the Cork County Council and the local community
it is planned to construct a more permanent monument in Crookhaven in the coming year.
There was an informal gathering in the local pub prior to preparing for the second ceremony
and embarking on the ‘Wet and Wild’ (a local boat, obviously well named for the occasion!) for
the short passage to Rock Island.
This plaque commemorates the centenary of the second Fastnet Lighthouse: The tower was
designed by Mr. William Douglass, and built under the direction of Mr. C. W. Scott and Mr.
James Kavanagh. In memory of those who built this masterpiece of lighthouse engineering for
the safety of all mariners. This plaque was unveiled by the Chairman of the Commissioners of
Irish Lights, Mr. T. C. Johnson.
47

A CENTENARY OF LIGHTING
On the 27TH
of June 2004 there were celebrations at Mizen Head Fog Signal Station to mark
the centenary of the lighting of the Fastnet Lighthouse. Among those from Irish Lights who
attended were Captain Kieran O’Higgins, Eoghan Lehane, Stephen O’Sullivan (Manager,
Mizen Head Signal Station visitor centre), Dick O’Driscoll, Jim Power, Geoff McCarthy, Mick
Tevlin, Paddy Coughlan, Michael Kavanagh, Mick Culligan, Brian O’Regan, Flann Egan, Denis
O’Leary, William Shanahan, John Coughlan, Anthony Burke, John O'Brien, Reggie Sugrue,
John Griffin, and representatives of the Roddy, Byrne, Walsh, Coughlan, and Hegarty families.
Hundreds of people made their way to the celebration on a beautiful hot sunny day that was
enjoyed by all. During the afternoon a Commemorative Roll Call of the Keepers of Fastnet
Rock Lighthouse (compiled from the records of the Irish Lights) was unveiled. This is now part
of the exhibition at Mizen Head Signal Station visitor centre. The Mizen Collection—three
DVDs of films and TV programmes present an informative record of a life which, although just
past, seems to belong to a different era. Some of this documentary film would have been lost
but for the initiative of those behind the compilation.
Another event on the same day was the dedication of a plaque on the propeller of the SS
Irada, an English cargo ship. She went down on the rocks north of the Mizen in 1908 with
three crew members and her captai missing while the Mizen Bridge was being constructed.
The lightkeepers and builders helped to rescue the crew up the cliffs to safety. The propeller
was found and salvaged in 1994 and the crew of ILT Granuaile raised it. One blade fell off
during the salvage and returned to the sea, but a group of divers brought that ashore in 2001.
48

IMAGE – ROLEX/CARLO BORLENGHI

51
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I would like to thank all the staff of the National Library of Ireland. Many thanks
also to: The Commissioners of Irish Lights (CIL); Frank Penny (CIL); Royal
Ocean Racing Club (RORC); Commodore Mike Greville (RORC), Rolex, Met
Éireann, Ciaran Kavanagh (Camera Man); Dick O’Driscoll (Light Attendant); all the
team at the Castletownbere lighthouse station. All have been a tremendous help.
A very special thank you to the artist Leonard Sheil, without whom this book
could not have been made.
Finally a lovely warm thank you to my family who have been amazing and
supportive throughout the year and my lovely new family that is about to begin.
Thank you all.

52
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Fastnet Rock Lighthouse.

W. C. Scott
National Library of Ireland

Commissioners of Irish Lights
Lighthouses of Ireland.

Edward Ledwich
Beam – Issue No. 32, 33,

Commissioners of Irish Lights
The Journal of Irish Lightshouses Services
Exceptional Weather Events 1979

Met Éireann
Storm – The Fasnet Disaster
1979 FASTNET RACE INQUIRY

Royal Yachting Association

Royal Ocean Racing Club
Lighthouses of Europe

Daniel Charles,

Philip Plisson and

Guillaume Plisson

53
SKELLIG MICHAEL
With high peaks and very steep ledges, Skellig Michael is one of the most dramatic
monasteries in the world. The island breathes and changes on the wind as the Atlantic
waves and rains sweep over its craggy rocks. This interactive video book shows a
spectacular rock out in the Atlantic Ocean where an early Christian medieval settlement
was once built and developed over several centuries, from the seventh century onwards
until its demise. It has been weather beaten and ransacked by storms and Vikings but
has never given up its core roots as a hermitage and place of worship. The island is now
protected and is designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
GLENDALOUGH,A MEDIEVAL TOWN
Glendalough was a prominent and politically powerful monastery in medieval Ireland. More
of a large town than a small monastery, it was founded by St. Kevin in the 6TH century.
Saint Kevin became the first abbot of Glendalough. It was to become one of the main
pilgrimage destinations of Europe with its array of seven churches and many holy crosses.
After the death of St. Kevin the monastery remained dominant for about six hundred
years. The famous Book of Glendalough was written here, around the mid 12TH
century and is now housed in the Bodleian Library in Oxford, England. After years of
development and many attacks by Vikings it eventually fell away into disuse.
NEW TITLES
SKELLIG MICHAEL
FOLLOW US ON FACEBOOK
GLENDALOUGH
AVAILABLE SOON
AVAILABLE
AVAILABLE ON THE iTUNES BOOK STORE NOW.

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