Menu

Ireland's sailing, boating & maritime magazine

Displaying items by tag: Racice

#Rowing: Ireland’s junior men’s quadruple took fourth in their heat and the junior women’s double fifth at the World Junior Championships at Racice in the Czech Republic.

 Two boats qualified for the semi-finals from the heats of the quadruple, and Switzerland, New Zealand and Italy vied for these places in the second half of the race, with Italy missing out. Ireland were next in line.

 Greece were convincing winners of their heat of the women’s double, grabbing hold of the one semi-final place on offer. Ciara Moynihan and Ciara Browne held fifth through the race.

 Earlier, the Ireland junior men’s coxed four qualified from their heat. The junior women’s pair took fourth and face into a repechage.

 The schedule was brought forward and races run at five-minute intervals because of the forecast of very high temperatures in the middle of the day.  

World Junior Championships, Racice, Czech Republic (Irish interest)

Men

Four, coxed – Heat One (First Three to A/B Semi-Finals; rest to Repechage): 2 Ireland (C Mulready, J O’Donovan, F Driscoll, E Gaffney; cox: E Finnegan) 6:39.91.

Quadruple – Heat One (First Two to A/B Semi-Finals; rest to Repechage): 3 Ireland (L Hayes Nally, A Byrne, J Dorney, J Keating) 6:13.31.

Women

Pair – Heat Three (First Three to A/B Semi-Finals; rest to Repechage): 4 Ireland (G McGirr, E O’Reilly) 7:54.87

Double – Heat Two (First to A/B Semi-Final; rest to Repechage): 5 Ireland (C Moynihan, C Browne) 7:47.20.

Published in Rowing

#Rowing: Ireland had a good start to their campaign in the World Junior Championships. The Ireland coxed four of Conor Mulready, James O’Donovan, Fintan O’Driscoll, Eoin Gaffney and cox Eoin Finnegan took a good second place in their heat, comfortably qualifying for their semi-finals as the second of three qualifiers. Canada won and Russia came through in third.  

 In the women’s junior pair, Gill McGirr and Eliza O’Reilly took fourth in their heat and will face into a repechage. The United States won – by an extraordinary margin – from Canada, while Britain came through in their own battle for third with Ireland.

World Junior Championships, Racice, Czech Republic (Irish interest)

Men

Four, coxed – Heat One (First Three to A/B Semi-Finals; rest to Repechage): 2 Ireland (C Mulready, J O’Donovan, F Driscoll, E Gaffney; cox: E Finnegan) 6:39.91.

Women

Pair – Heat Three (First Three to A/B Semi-Finals; rest to Repechage): 4 Ireland (G McGirr, E O’Reilly) 7:54.87

Published in Rowing

#Canoeing: Ireland’s Jenny Egan finished 10th in the women’s K1 5,000 metres at the canoe sprint World Championships in Racice in the Czech Republic today. In a dramatic race, Dora Bodonyi of Hungary came out with the gold medal after a long battle with Tabea Medert of Germany, who took silver. Lani Belcher of Britain gritted it out as she found her way through the field and won bronze – near the end she clashed with Iuliana Salakhova of Russia, leaving the Russian in the water and out of the race.

 Egan’s chances suffered in rough-and-tumble early stages. She fought hard through the race but could not catch up with the leading group.  

Canoe Sprint World Championships, Racice, Czech Republic (Irish interest)

Women

K1 5000 Final: 1 Hungary 23 min 17.862 sec, 2 Germany 23:19.214, 3 Britain 23:28.236; 10 Ireland (J Egan) 24:34.562.

Published in Canoeing

#Canoeing: Patrick O’Leary finished ninth in the A Final of the KL3 200 metres at the Paracanoe World Championships in Racice in the Czech Republic. The race was won by Serhii Yemelianov of the Ukraine.

 Jenny Egan finished eighth in her semi-final of the K1 200 at the Canoe Sprint World Championships, also at Racice. She missed out on an A or B Final place. Egan is set to compete in the K1 5,000 metres on Sunday.

Published in Canoeing

#Canoeing: Jenny Egan has qualified for the semi-finals of the K1 200 metres at the Canoe Sprint World Championships. The Irish paddler finished seventh in her heat this morning in Racice in the Czech Republic, taking a place as one of the fastest losers. Her semi-final is secheduled for 2.44 Irish time on Saturday.

 Ireland’s Patrick O’Leary will compete in the A Final of the KL3 200, part of the Paracanoe World Championships, also in Racice. O’Leary finished third in his semi-final. His final is scheduled for 1.30 Irish time on Saturday.  

Published in Canoeing

#Rowing: Mark O’Donovan and Shane O’Driscoll took advantage of the good conditions on the beautiful course to win their exhibition race in the men’s lightweight pair at the European Rowing Championships in Racice. The race counts in the allocation of lanes in the final, and Britain, represented by Joel Cassells and Sam Scrimgeour, and Ireland shot it out the last time this happened, at the World Cup in Belgrade. However, this time Ireland were in command from halfway, tested only by Italy, who finished second.

European Championships, Racice, Czech Republic, Day One (Selected Results; Irish interest)

Men

Lightweight Pair – Exhibition (Race for Lanes): 1 Ireland (M O’Donovan, S O’Driscoll) 6:57.77, 2 Italy 6:59.82, 3 Russia 7:01.75, 4 Britain (J Cassells, S Scrimgeour) 7:03.39.

Lightweight Double Sculls – Heats (Winner to A/B Semi-Finals; rest to Repechages) – Heat One: 1 France (P Houin, J Azou) 6:26.97. Heat Two: Germany (L Schaefer, J Osborne) 6:37.53.

Heat Three: 1 Poland 6:25.93, 2 Ireland (G O’Donovan, P O’Donovan) 6:32.15, 3 Russia 6:36.38, 4 Switzerland 6:40.60, 5 Austria. Heat Four: 1 Italy 6:30.77.

Women

Lightweight Single Sculls – Heat One (First Three to Semi-Finals; rest to Repechage): 1 Ireland (D Walsh) 7:44.85, 2 Denmark (A Runge Holmegaard) 7:49.49, 3 Poland (J Dorociak) 7:49.90; 4 Czech Republic 8:05.07, 5 Portugal 8:08.19. Heat Two: 1 Switzerland 7:42.510. Heat Three: 1 Sweden 7:39.52.

Published in Rowing

#Rowing: Denise Walsh put in an impressive performance to win her heat of the lightweight single sculls at the European Rowing Championships in Racice in the Czech Republic. The bright sunshine had abated, but the Skibbereen woman took full advantage of the duller, tailwind conditions. She took a strong lead in the second half and was never truly tested from there. The small Ireland crowd cheered her over the line.

denise walsh winningDenise Walsh crosses the line first in Racice this morning

European Championships, Racice, Czech Republic, Day One (Selected Results; Irish interest)

Women

Lightweight Single Sculls – Heat One (First Three to Semi-Finals; rest to Repechage): 1 Ireland (D Walsh) 7:44.85, 2 Denmark 7:49.49, 3 Poland 7:49.90; 4 Czech Republic 8:05.07, 5 Portugal 8:08.19.

 

Published in Rowing

#ROWING: Ireland will send two crews to the European Junior Championships, the men’s quadruple and double sculls. The quad of Colm Hennessey, Eoghan Whittle, Patrick Munnelly and Andrew Goff won gold at last year’s Coupe de la Jeunesse, a European junior tournament, and will again represent Ireland in the Coupe this season. The double of Shane O’Connell and Ronan Byrne did well in recent testing. The European Junior Championships will be held at Racice in the Czech Republic on May 23rd and 24th.

Published in Rowing

#CANOEING: Jenny Egan brought Ireland a first senior medal at the European Canoe Sprint Championships when she took bronze in the Women’s K1 5,000 metres in Racice in the Czech Republic today. Egan, from the Salmon Leap club in Leixlip, was part of a successful breakaway at 1,000 metres with Maryna Litvinchuk of Belarus, who took gold, and Irene Burgo of Italy, the silver medallist. Less than two-thirds of a second divided the three.

Ireland paracanoeist Patrick O’Leary finished fourth in his KL3 200 metre final. Robert Oliver of Britain took gold. O’Leary was just a third off a second of taking bronze.

European Canoe Sprint Championships, Racice, Czech Republic (Selected Results; Irish interest)

Saturday

Men

K2 200 – Heat Three (First Three to A Final; 4-7 to B Final; rest out): 1 Serbia 31.676; 8 P Egan, S Dobrovolskis 34.808.

C1 200 - Heat Three (Winner to Final; second to seventh to semi-final): 1 Portugal (H Silva) 39.236; 7 A Jezierski 43.220. Semi-Final: Jezierski did not start.

K1 200 – Heat Two: 6 T Brennan 37.596. Semi-Final (First Three to A Final, 4-7 to B Final): 1 Latvia (A Rumjancevs) 36.072; 7 T Brennan 37.852

Paracanoe KL3 – A Final: 1 Britain (R Oliver) 40.88; 4 P O’Leary 42.536.

Women

K1 200 – Heat Three (Winner to Final; second to seventh to semi-final): 1 Serbia (N Moldovan) 40.236; 7 J Egan 43.384. Semi-Final (First Three to A Final, 4-7 to B Final): 1 Russia (N Podolskaya) 42.196; 7 Egan 45.344.

Sunday

Men

K1 200 – B Final: 5 T Brennan (14th overall)

K1 5,000 – A Final: 18 P Egan 22:58.09.

Women

K1 5,000 – A Final: 1 Belarus (M Litvinchuk) 22 mins 19.25 seconds, 2 Italy (I Burgo) 22:19.68, 3 Ireland (J Egan) 22 mins 19.9 seconds.

K1 500 – B Final 6 J Egan 2:00.376. (15th overall)

K1 200 – B Final: 7 J Egan 44.896 (16th overall)

Published in Canoeing

#CANOEING: Andrzej Jezierski and Jenny Egan both finished seventh in 200m heats and must get through semi-finals if they are to reach the final at the European Canoe Sprint Championships in Racice in the Czech Republic. Both Jezierski and Egan must finish in the top three in the afternoon semi-final to make the A Final. Places four to seven would qualify them for the B Finals.

European Canoe Sprint Championships, Racice, Czech Republic (Selected Results; Irish interest)

Men

C1 200 - Heat Three (Winner to Final; second to seventh to semi-final): 1 Portugal (H Silva) 39.236; 7 A Jezierski 43.220

Women

K1 200 – Heat Three (Winner to Final; second to seventh to semi-final): 1 Serbia (N Moldovan) 40.236; 7 J Egan 43.384.

Published in Canoeing
Page 1 of 2

Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta

From the Baily lighthouse to Dalkey island, the bay accommodates six separate courses for 21 different classes racing every two years for the Dun Laoghaire Regatta.

In assembling its record-breaking armada, Volvo Dun Laoghaire regatta (VDLR) became, at its second staging, not only the country's biggest sailing event, with 3,500 sailors competing, but also one of Ireland's largest participant sporting events.

One of the reasons for this, ironically, is that competitors across Europe have become jaded by well-worn venue claims attempting to replicate Cowes and Cork Week.'Never mind the quality, feel the width' has been a criticism of modern-day regattas where organisers mistakenly focus on being the biggest to be the best. Dun Laoghaire, with its local fleet of 300 boats, never set out to be the biggest. Its priority focussed instead on quality racing even after it got off to a spectacularly wrong start when the event was becalmed for four days at its first attempt.

The idea to rekindle a combined Dublin bay event resurfaced after an absence of almost 40 years, mostly because of the persistence of a passionate race officer Brian Craig who believed that Dun Laoghaire could become the Cowes of the Irish Sea if the town and the local clubs worked together. Although fickle winds conspired against him in 2005, the support of all four Dun Laoghaire waterfront yacht clubs since then (made up of Dun Laoghaire Motor YC, National YC, Royal Irish YC and Royal St GYC), in association with the two racing clubs of Dublin Bay SC and Royal Alfred YC, gave him the momentum to carry on.

There is no doubt that sailors have also responded with their support from all four coasts. Running for four days, the regatta is (after the large mini-marathons) the single most significant participant sports event in the country, requiring the services of 280 volunteers on and off the water, as well as top international race officers and an international jury, to resolve racing disputes representing five countries. A flotilla of 25 boats regularly races from the Royal Dee near Liverpool to Dublin for the Lyver Trophy to coincide with the event. The race also doubles as a RORC qualifying race for the Fastnet.

Sailors from the Ribble, Mersey, the Menai Straits, Anglesey, Cardigan Bay and the Isle of Man have to travel three times the distance to the Solent as they do to Dublin Bay. This, claims Craig, is one of the major selling points of the Irish event and explains the range of entries from marinas as far away as Yorkshire's Whitby YC and the Isle of Wight.

No other regatta in the Irish Sea area can claim to have such a reach. Dublin Bay Weeks such as this petered out in the 1960s, and it has taken almost four decades for the waterfront clubs to come together to produce a spectacle on and off the water to rival Cowes."The fact that we are getting such numbers means it is inevitable that it is compared with Cowes," said Craig. However, there the comparison ends."We're doing our own thing here. Dun Laoghaire is unique, and we are making an extraordinary effort to welcome visitors from abroad," he added. The busiest shipping lane in the country – across the bay to Dublin port – closes temporarily to facilitate the regatta and the placing of six separate courses each day.

A fleet total of this size represents something of an unknown quantity on the bay as it is more than double the size of any other regatta ever held there.

Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta FAQs

Dun Laoghaire Regatta is Ireland's biggest sailing event. It is held every second Summer at Dun Laoghaire Harbour on Dublin Bay.

Dun Laoghaire Regatta is held every two years, typically in the first weekend of July.

As its name suggests, the event is based at Dun Laoghaire Harbour. Racing is held on Dublin Bay over as many as six different courses with a coastal route that extends out into the Irish Sea. Ashore, the festivities are held across the town but mostly in the four organising yacht clubs.

Dun Laoghaire Regatta is the largest sailing regatta in Ireland and on the Irish Sea and the second largest in the British Isles. It has a fleet of 500 competing boats and up to 3,000 sailors. Scotland's biggest regatta on the Clyde is less than half the size of the Dun Laoghaire event. After the Dublin city marathon, the regatta is one of the most significant single participant sporting events in the country in terms of Irish sporting events.

The modern Dublin Bay Regatta began in 2005, but it owes its roots to earlier combined Dublin Bay Regattas of the 1960s.

Up to 500 boats regularly compete.

Up to 70 different yacht clubs are represented.

The Channel Islands, Isle of Man, England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, Ireland countrywide, and Dublin clubs.

Nearly half the sailors, over 1,000, travel to participate from outside of Dun Laoghaire and from overseas to race and socialise in Dun Laoghaire.

21 different classes are competing at Dun Laoghaire Regatta. As well as four IRC Divisions from 50-footers down to 20-foot day boats and White Sails, there are also extensive one-design keelboat and dinghy fleets to include all the fleets that regularly race on the Bay such as Beneteau 31.7s, Ruffian 23s, Sigma 33s as well as Flying Fifteens, Laser SB20s plus some visiting fleets such as the RS Elites from Belfast Lough to name by one.

 

Some sailing household names are regular competitors at the biennial Dun Laoghaire event including Dun Laoghaire Olympic silver medalist, Annalise Murphy. International sailing stars are competing too such as Mike McIntyre, a British Olympic Gold medalist and a raft of World and European class champions.

There are different entry fees for different size boats. A 40-foot yacht will pay up to €550, but a 14-foot dinghy such as Laser will pay €95. Full entry fee details are contained in the Regatta Notice of Race document.

Spectators can see the boats racing on six courses from any vantage point on the southern shore of Dublin Bay. As well as from the Harbour walls itself, it is also possible to see the boats from Sandycove, Dalkey and Killiney, especially when the boats compete over inshore coastal courses or have in-harbour finishes.

Very favourably. It is often compared to Cowes, Britain's biggest regatta on the Isle of Wight that has 1,000 entries. However, sailors based in the north of England have to travel three times the distance to get to Cowes as they do to Dun Laoghaire.

Dun Laoghaire Regatta is unique because of its compact site offering four different yacht clubs within the harbour and the race tracks' proximity, just a five-minute sail from shore. International sailors also speak of its international travel connections and being so close to Dublin city. The regatta also prides itself on balancing excellent competition with good fun ashore.

The Organising Authority (OA) of Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta is Dublin Bay Regattas Ltd, a not-for-profit company, beneficially owned by Dun Laoghaire Motor Yacht Club (DMYC), National Yacht Club (NYC), Royal Irish Yacht Club (RIYC) and Royal St George Yacht Club (RSGYC).

The Irish Marine Federation launched a case study on the 2009 Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta's socio-economic significance. Over four days, the study (carried out by Irish Sea Marine Leisure Knowledge Network) found the event was worth nearly €3million to the local economy over the four days of the event. Typically the Royal Marine Hotel and Haddington Hotel and other local providers are fully booked for the event.

©Afloat 2020