Every four years, an elite group of sailors endeavour to sail single handed, non-stop in a circumnavigation of the planet, through the most unpredictable and perilous conditions imaginable.

They are the competitors in the Vendee Globe – one of the most arduous, challenging and dangerous events in sport.

These sailors know the real adversaries are the waves and the weather, the ice and isolation. The 2016 race had an Irish skipper competing for the first time, as Irish businessman Enda O’Coineen sailed the Kilcullen Voyager into the history books.

But this grand solo voyage did not go to plan.

Enda O’Coineen has a strong background in hospitality, technology, finance and corporate governance. He has worked in investment management, has led enterprises in the chairman and CEO roles and has a broad range of small and large transaction experience – investing directly, and on behalf of third parties. He also has an extensive domestic and international multi-channel sales and brand building background.

A graduate of the National University of Ireland, Galway in management and finance, Mr. O’Coineen has worked extensively in the US and in Central and Eastern Europe. Mr. O’Coineen has led and played key roles in several highly successful turnarounds and start-ups. He has professional acquisition and exit expertise and extensive experience in the technology and internet early mover space.

He founded AFLOAT Magazine, Security World Magazine and Aquabroker Insurance in Ireland before moving to Prague and founding the Czech & Slovak Credit Bureaus and a mortgage business called SIMPLY. Prior to de-regulation in the Czech telecoms market he founded Globix Telecom with an investment of $150,000 and sold it 4 years later at a value of $35m.

With Kilcullen Kapital Partners (an affiliate of Kilcullen Kapital Invest Limited), he has led major brownfield investments in manufacturing. Included in this is the acquisition of ZPA and its transformation into a Smart Metering manufacturing business. He was also a founding partner in Enercap, a renewable energy fund which has successfully raised and invested €100m in renewable energy projects in Central and Eastern Europe. Through Kilcullen Kapital Partners Mr. O’Coineen also oversaw the purchase, restructure and sale of the Prague Stock Exchange building together with several syndicatedAtlantic-Yough-Trust2 property investments in excess of $50m.

In addition to success in management, finance and leadership, Mr. O’Coineen believes strongly in ‘putting something back in’ and in particular has contributed significant time and personal resource into youth development and community. This includes being a founding chairman of the Volvo Ocean Race project in Galway, on a voluntary basis, which generated over €100m direct benefit to the local economy. He is also founding President of the Atlantic Youth Trust which plans to introduce over 1,000 young people annually to ocean adventure, challenge and personal development. He is also a founder and President of the Irish Pubs Global Federation which has in excess of 7,000 members worldwide. Mr. O’Coineen is a published author with five books to date, including Journey To The Edge.