Denis Doyle, who died on November 11th aged 80, has been described as the grandfather of Irish offshore racing, and perhaps those who didn't know him might be forgiven for thinking this referred to a retired old sea-dog who rarely left the comfort of a soft seat in the Royal Cork Yacht Club. But anyone who has ever sailed in Ireland and Europe over the past 60 years and competed against or cruised with him, will testify that armchair sailing was one of the few things that Denis Doyle was never very good at.
When he slipped his mooring for an end-of-season regatta earlier this month on board Moonduster, he was preparing for what was to be his last Royal Cork race. It had been a special season for him. He had completed his 20th Fastnet race - an international achievement that will be applauded at next month's Royal Ocean Racing Club (RORC) dinner in London. He had won races every year since his first offshore victory in 1944, a record-breaking run that is unlikely to be matched or bettered for many years to come.
He was the youngest of seven children born to Denis F. and Ann Doyle in Cork on January 5th, 1921. He was educated at Christian Brothers College, Cork, and Castleknock College.
He joined the family stevedoring business, D.F. Doyle and Company, in 1938 and later became its chairman and managing director. He also founded the Cork Warehouse Company and along with Richard Leonard the Crosshaven Boatyard Company.
Denis Doyle was active in IBEC and a member of its national executive committee. He was a director of Bank of Ireland from 1982-'87.
He was introduced to sailing in 1932 and became part of a young energetic band of Cork yachtsmen who formed the Irish Dinghy Racing Association (a forerunner to the Irish Sailing Association). He also enjoyed rugby and played for the Munster Schools in 1938-'39.
But ocean racing was to become his main sporting activity. In 1944, he completed his first passage race as a skipper, from Crosshaven to Schull, a week before his marriage to Mary Woodward. Such was his enthusiasm for his dΘbut performance that he only made it back to Cork for the ceremony with minutes to spare.
He was a shy person who disliked publicity and hated a fuss being made of him. He went about his racing in a quiet determined fashion from his Blackrock, Co Cork, home. He became vice-commodore of the Royal Munster Yacht Club in 1952 and joined the Irish Cruising Club (ICC) in 1956 and the Royal Ocean Racing Club (RORC) in 1957.
It was perhaps the appearance of his first yacht, Vanja, in Crosshaven in 1953 that indicated his growing commitment to sailing. His next yacht, Severn II, a classic eight-metre, arrived in 1957 and immediately challenged the stranglehold of the Crosbie family for A Class racing honours within Cork Harbour.
He acquired an interest in Crosshaven Boatyard in the early 1960s and in 1962-63 built his first ocean racer, specifically for the Fastnet race, using local craftsmen. Querida, a 38-foot Robert Clarke design, was followed two years later by the first Moonduster, a name that became synonymous with Denis Doyle and Irish offshore racing.
Denis Doyle was a flag officer of the Royal Cork Yacht Club, finishing as admiral, from 1969 to 1974, and during that period was vice-commodore of the Irish Cruising Club. He went on to be commodore of that club from 1975 to 1978.
Denis Doyle became the first Irishman to be rear commodore of the Royal Ocean Racing Club between 1975-'76.
As well as winning the Waterford Harbour Cup no fewer than 14 times, Denis Doyle took home the Donegan Memorial Trophy on 10 occasions, the Wybrant Cup and the Wright Memorial Salver four times each and finally was awarded the John B. Kearney Cup by the ICC in 1992.
He represented Ireland at eight Admiral's Cups (he captained the Irish team on four occasions), the Sardinia Cup, and various Tall Ships' races.
Among his proudest achievements was a victory in his class in the Tall Ships Race to Cork in 1991 and an overall victory in the same event which finished in Dublin in 1997.
Many of Ireland's top sailors served their apprenticeships on board Moonduster. Three-time Olympian Mark Mansfield, sailed with him in the 1981 Admiral's Cup and Ireland's round the world skipper Joe English also passed through his hands.
That mentoring took on a more formal footing in the mid-1980s when he began a mutually beneficial arrangement with the Irish Naval Service that continues to the present day.
He will probably be best remembered for his contribution to the success of the Round Ireland Race and the elapsed time record set in 1984. The time of just under 89 hours stood for more than 10 years.
The final tribute was due next month, when Denis Doyle was to lift the Royal Ocean Racing Club's Yacht of the Year trophy with his good friend and arch rival, Piet Vroon of Holland, in London. In a truly outstanding career, the award was richly deserved.
Denis Doyle was predeceased by his wife Mary in 1993, and is survived by his son Frank and daughter Ingrid.
Denis Noel Doyle: born 1921; died, November 2001