It's not clear to me that he was referring to a Galway Hooker. I think a
"hooker" in British usage might be any funky, traditional craft or modest,
handy boat. If anyone across the pond can enlighten us on this point, I
would appreciated it.

I'm a great admirer of the Galway Hooker type though. Developments of
these craft by the Boston Irish fisherman were renowned for their
seaworthiness and influenced the thinking of a naval architect named Collins
who worked to develop a safer type of fishing schooner due to excessive loss
of life in the industry. The hull characteristics we now associate with New
England fishing schooners thus trace their lineage back to these boats.
These developments in turn influenced smaller craft such as the Friendship
Sloop. There may be no traditional type that has had as much influence on
American vessels.

If it was a Galway Hooker that Burrows saw, there are few tradittional boats
better suited to taking your family across the Irish Sea on a night like
that.

I believe that the racing boats of the time were just as seaworthy as
traditinonal craft and perhaps more so. Many did quite well in the storm
and some arrived surprised that there had been any casualties. Generally,
the higher the speed they maintained, the less trouble they had. This takes
a lot out of the crew so the seaworthiness of the racing type in heavy
weather may depend on a large crew that can rotate helmsmen often enough to
keep them fresh.

--
Roger Long