However, I’m not sure that even the most experienced old sea dog would have seen anything like the scenes on board the Julia as she sailed out of Cork on a glorious June night two weeks ago. Fastnet Line had agreed to sponsor Ciara Crossan from weddingdates.ie and her team who were taking part in the World Wife Carrying Championships in Sonkajarvi, Finland. Their departure was fully captured on video and their madcap exploits certainly seemed like a world away from reality.

We loved the sheer nuttiness of the idea and wished them well as they started their epic journey by road to Finland in a borrowed campervan and boundless enthusiasm. Well the team arrived back from Finland yesterday with a third place finish in the relay race and Ciara and James won “Most Entertaining Couple” for the second year in a row. So although Ireland may not have been at the World Cup this year, the country, represented by the best Cork has to offer, did win a prize at an international tournament few can have dreamed existed – not even those jaded veterans of the ferry industry!

Wife carrying competitors with Fastnet Line