One of the Galway stopover's masterminds, John Killeen is originally from Athlone. After a childhood spent on rowing boats on the Shannon, it was only natural that John would continue to stay near the water, and when he moved to Dublin for college in UCD he began to sail.

Having studied civil engineering in UCD, John completed a Masters in UCG (as it then was) and lived in Dublin, the UK and Roscommon before returning to Galway in the mid-1970s.

It was at that point that his love of sailing really flourished. He joined Galway Bay Sailing Club, sailing in the Round Ireland Race, and competing in different Irish races as well as competitions in Scotland, Cowes in the South of England, the Mediterranean and the coast of Brittany. In fact, when I meet him he has just returned from an inter-firms sailing event in Brittany.

"When I came to Galway, I put a lot more time into boats because I was too old to play rugby," he says. "Although boats were very expensive when I came here first, there was VAT of 37.5 per cent on them as a luxury item. I got my first boat in 1975, and I did a lot of racing with the sailing club. I won most of the trophies at least once, I won WIORA twice when it was in Galway.

"I loved the racing on the bay, it's a fabulous natural amphitheatre, and it's very little used. When you're out there will be very few people out on the bay."

He built a boat, 'Mweeloon', in Oranmore, with his friend, Anthony Divinney, in 1980. A cruising boat, 'Mweeloon', travelled 80,000 miles, as far afield as Norway, Morocoo, Tunisia, Italy, Denmark, Holland, and the UK.

John's love of sailing is built on one thing; the challenge. "It's the challenge of sailing – every time you go to sea there is a different challenge. It's the people you meet, they're very natural and they're aware of what the sea can do and how challenging it is. You can't take the sea for granted.

As CEO of Cold Chon, John has learned to deal with the sea the way he deals in business – by being prepared. "You learn through experience to deal with the sea and its many different facets. Like in life and in business, you try and plan as best you can to avoid the hazards."

John is the company's third CEO, and exporting to 56 different countries as well as working throughout the Connacht region, he's a busy man. However, he always finds time "for pleasure," and recently, his love of sailing has taken a new turn, with the advent of the Galway Volvo Ocean Race bid.