Madam, - I have many great memories of being a trainee sailor on the Asgard II on wet, cold nights off the west coast of Ireland or during the 1988 celebrations off the southern coast of Australia.
I remember seeing fluorescent plankton in the wake of the ship at night, lying on the forward rigging with dolphins chasing the bow, clinging onto the yard of the top sail as the sea rolled 30 metres below. And always laughter.
What the Asgard II taught its sailors best was that only a classless society could exist on board. People from influential families were paired with people from disturbed backgrounds and after a few days at sea they soon learned to depend on each other so much that class, colour, family background, poverty or wealth mattered little.
That is Asgard II's best legacy to all the lucky ones who sailed on her. - Yours, etc,
KEVIN McDONNELL,
Meadow Court,
Berrings,
Co Cork.