It has warned pirates and smugglers, guided currachs and caravels, and signalled visiting craft from all over the world. One of Europe's oldest lights at Hook Head is now etched on the memory of thousands of young tall ships sailors who left the Suir estuary at the weekend.
And Waterford, Viking port, clearly didn't want them to go. As if responding to the mood of the residents on the quays, the elements almost conspired to hold the 87 vessels that little bit longer in southeast waters. Lack of wind delayed the start of the race, planned for some five miles off Hook Head on Saturday afternoon.
Anchors were prepared for a night - and the prospect of waterfights - at Dunmore East, which was location of Saturday morning's spectacular sailpast. The ships were a good 12 hours out of Waterford port, and the crews were already making inroads into victuals, when it was decided to start the race at midday yesterday at a waypoint on the racecourse about 66 miles southeast of the Hook.
For Captain Michael Coleman, retired Cork harbour pilot and master of the Jeanie Johnston, the sailpast represented a "marvellous maritime experience". The fact that three Irish sail training ships - the Asgard II, Dunbrody and Jeanie Johnston - were leading the fleet represented a "magic moment in Irish maritime history", he said.
"Here we are with the mighty Russian Mir to port, the German Alexander Von Humboldt sporting green sails to starboard, Kruzenshtern, the leviathan, and it is quite amazing," he told The Irish Times. Fore and aft sails had been set after the Kerry-built ship left the narrows and before Cheekpoint, but some of the larger vessels, like the Norwegian Christian Radich, sported bare poles - perhaps because of concern over inshore navigation.
"When we were passing Duncannon fort, there was just 100 feet between the three Irish vessels, and it was a moment to remember," Capt Coleman said. His 40 crew will compete in the first leg only to Cherbourg-Octeville, as the ship has been acquired by the Dublin Docklands Development Authority.
Certification limitations restricted the Dunbrody's participation to the sailpast, but its very presence brought lumps to the throats of New Ross folk who know it.
Its master, Capt Tom McCarthy, has skippered all three Irish ships. There was also significant Irish representation on board the British Tall Ships Trust brig, Prince William, with Capt Liam Keating in command.
Irish Coastguard and Air Corps helicopters flew overhead, the Army manned the gun, and the Naval Service ships LE Eithne - fresh from its participation in the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Trafalgar - and LE Aoife officiated at the parade of sail, along with the Irish Lights vessel, Granuaile.
Veteran was the French-owned barque, Belem, which was built in 1896, and the most theatrical vessel was the Indonesian three-masted barquentine, Dewaruci, which approached Dunmore East with drumbeats, melody and mirth.
"With the price of fuel going up, we'll be back up the yardarms yet," one spectator remarked.
Gardaí estimate is that 450,000 people visited Waterford over the four-day festival - almost twice the original estimate - and the 3,000 crew hailed from 21 states. The Tall Ships race continues to Cherbourg-Octeville, to Newcastle-Gateshead, and finishes in the Norwegian port of Fredrikstad. Progress can be followed on www.sailtraininginternational.org
