Aloha – IRL2468 – Summer 21014 update

Now based in South Wales. Update from Jonathan july 2014=

Have spent all winter getting Aloha ready. We have done a lot of work on her deck. Had some sponginess in places this has been sorted. At some point I will post pictures. Cost loads…. Ah well only money. She now has a new deck colour – grey 🙂 She now looks the business. Strip her down inside and painted cream. Will repainting hull next winter when my back balance stops screaming.

Now started racing with Neyland and PHYC. Very tweeky 😉 We were use to racing a sunfiz 42 -a bit of a tub but we had great times. Next year we start the old boys bucket list of racing. Round Ireland etc here we come 🙂 Will keep you up to press on our success. If you don’t here much it’s because we are still crap 😉 decided to stay white sail for a while. Have to take on some pesky impalas. White sail turn us into bandits. We can just about outstrip them with just a genoa. They hate it, been a bit of muttering but hay…. The old mgre34 rules. Well soon in West Wales.

Conor if you read this we intend to have a trip to Malahide and Howth. Great places. Might look at doing one of the races of Howth for old times sake…. But only when we can nearly emulate your success 😉

Aloha once raced on the Clyde and also in Poole Harbour, using sail number K2468.
Pete Wetherington ( not sure if that was his name after all this time) sold her to me from Poole Harbour in 2000.

We raced her out of Howth for nearly 10 years, until kids and work kept too many of the crew away. We notched up numerous race wins at events such as ICRA National Championships, Sovereigns Cup Kinsale and local landmark events like the Howth Lambay Race.

We didn’t make any material changes to her apart from replacing the full rig after a mishap on the hard at Howth in 2005 (boat yard snagged mast during ground manoeuvres before we arrived on launch day!). We dressed her in a full set of UK-McWilliams Tape Drives, and these really lifted her to the top of the national fleet.
Our ambition had always been to take part in the Round Ireland, but sadly it never came to pass.

We enjoyed many years of terrific racing and local cruising on Aloha and would certainly recommend the MGRS34 to anyone looking for big boat racing on a budget!

Conor Nolan