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#Rowing: Ireland had two boats which finished just outside the medal placings on the final day of the Coupe de la Jeunesse in Corgeno, Italy, today. The junior women’s and junior men’s quadruples both finished fourth. The women's crew of Sadhbh Scully, Aoife Lynch, Anna Tyther and Lucy McCoy were 1.34 behind the Czech Republic in a race won by Italy, with Spain second. As they had been on the Saturday, the men’s quadruple of Rory O’Neill, Thomas Kelly, Fionn O’Reilly and Andrew Sheehan were again held out of the final medal position by Britain.   

Coupe de la Jeunesse, Corgeno, Italy, Day Two, Sunday (Irish interest)

Men

Junior Quadruple – A Final: 4 Ireland 6:17.33

Women

Junior Four – B Final: 1 Ireland 7:24.53

Junior Pair – B Final: 1 Ireland 8:05.15

Junior Quadruple – A Final: 4 Ireland 7:01.60

Junior Double – B Final: 6 Ireland 7:55.41.  

 

Published in Rowing

#Rowing: The Ireland junior men’s quadruple finished just outside the medals at the Coupe de la Jeunesse in Corgeno, Italy, today. The crew of Rory O’Neill, Thomas Kelly, Fionn O’Reilly and Andrew Sheehan were just .87 off a medal. Italy won from Spain, with Britain just ahead of Ireland in bronze medal spot.

 Ireland had two other A Finalists: the junior double of Chris Kirwan and Holly Davis finished fifth. The new unit had finished a good second in their heat, and were in the leading three in their race until the final quarter. The junior women’s pair of Claragh O’Sullivan and Jane Duggan also took fifth.

 The junior women’s quad and four took second in their B Finals.

 Sunday gives all the crews another chance to compete in heats and finals.

Coupe de la Jeunesse, Corgeno, Italy (Irish interest)

Men

Junior Quadruple – A Final: 4 Ireland 6:21.12.

Women

Junior Four – B Final: 2 Ireland 7:39.41.

Junior Pair – A Final: 5 Ireland 8:26.52.

Junior Quadruple – B Final: 2 Ireland 7:23.26.

Junior Double – A Final: 5 Ireland 8:09.44

Published in Rowing

#Rowing: Ireland’s junior women’s eight finished seventh in the first race of the Coupe de la Jeunesse in Corgeno, Italy. The race was won by Spain, with the Netherlands second and Britain third. Eight crews competed.

 The Coupe has two full days of action on Saturday and Sunday.  

 

Published in Rowing

#Rowing: Ireland took a silver medal at the World Rowing Under-23 Championships today through the women’s four of Claire Feerick, Eimear Lambe, Tara Hanlon and Emily Hegarty, who swapped into the stroke seat for Lambe.

 Britain and Ireland swept into the lead early and were clear of the rest in the final quarter. Britain found just enough to beat Ireland by 1.46 seconds.

World Rowing Under-23 Championships, Sarasota Bradenton, Florida (Irish interest)

Women

Four – A Final: 1 Britain 6:34.22, 2 Ireland (C Feerick, E Lambe, T Hanlon, E Hegarty) 6:35.68, 3 United States 6:39.89.

Published in Rowing

#Rowing: The Ireland lightweight men’s quadruple of Eoin Gaffney, Hugh Sutton, Ryan Ballantine and Miles Taylor took a bronze medal today at the World Under-23 Championships in Sarasota Bradenton in Florida.

 Italy made a tremendous start. They pushed clear of the other five crews and led all the way to the finish line. France and Ireland slugged it out behind them, with the French closing on Italy coming to the line. Ireland also finished fast, but while they overlapped France they could not catch them.

World Rowing Under-23 Championships, Sarasota Bradenton, Florida (Irish interest)

Men

Four, coxed – B Final (places 7 and 8): 1 Ireland (B O’Rourke, R Corrigan, D Lynch, J Quinlan; cox: E Finnegan) 6:18.43, 2 Germany 6:22.17.

Lightweight Quadruple Sculls – A Final: 1 Italy 5:59.12, 2 France 6:00.20, 3 Ireland (E Gaffney, H Sutton, R Ballantine, M Taylor) 6:01.98.

Published in Rowing

#Rowing: The Ireland men’s coxed four won their B Final and finished seventh overall at the World Under-23 Championships in Sarasota Bradenton in Florida today.

 Germany were the sole other contenders in this race. Ireland’s Brion O’Rourke, Ross Corrigan, Daire Lynch, James Quinlan and cox Eoin Finnegan got ahead of them early and did not yield.

 They extended their advantage to just over a length and held it to the finish line.  

World Rowing Under-23 Championships, Sarasota Bradenton, Florida (Irish interest)

Men

Four, coxed – B Final (places 7 and 8): 1 Ireland (B O’Rourke, R Corrigan, D Lynch, J Quinlan; cox: E Finnegan) 6:18.43, 2 Germany 6:22.17.

Published in Rowing

#Rowing: The Ireland junior men’s eight topped off a series of four Ireland wins – all at junior level – at the Home International Regatta in Strathclyde Park in Scotland. They beat Scotland by just over two seconds, while England came in one second further back.   

 Thomas Hume and Sam Reidy, both from Coláiste Íognáid, were winning their second gold. They had been the best junior men’s pair – coming home more than 20 seconds faster than Scotland, who were second.

 Holly Davis (14) also had a big win on her debut at international level. The Lee Valley girl had almost 12 seconds to spare over second-placed Ellie Cushen of England in the junior women’s single sculls race.

 The junior men’s quadruple also pushed England into second in their race – but by a finer margin. The crew of Dara Kelly (Lee), Tiarnan McKnight (Three Castles) and Colum Brennan and Ronán Brennan  of Neptune won by 1.21 seconds from England.  

Home International Regatta – Strathclyde Park, Scotland: Final Standings:

Men – Senior: 1 Scotland 33 pts; 3 Ireland 22. Jun: 1 Scotland 21; 3  Ireland 19.

Women – Sen: 1 Scotland 33; 4 Ireland 13. Jun: 1 England 26; 2= Ireland, Scotland 17.

Published in Rowing

#Rowing: The lightweight double of Aoife Casey and Cliodhna Nolan became the third Ireland boat to qualify for an A Final at the World Under-23 Championships today.

 They won their repechage. Two boats would go to the A Final, and Ireland took over the lead after 1,000 metres and refused to yield despite strong charges by Britain and the Netherlands. The Dutch landed the valuable second spot.

World Rowing Under-23 Championships (Irish interest)

Women

 Lightweight Double Sculls – Repechage (First Two to A Final; rest to B Final): 1 Ireland (A Casey, C Nolan) 6:54.54, 2 Netherlands 6:54.76; 3 Britain (1 F Chestnutt) 6:55.86.

Published in Rowing

#Rowing: The Ireland women’s four qualified for the A Final at the World Rowing Under-23 Championships in Florida. The crew of Claire Feerick, Emily Hegarty, Tara Hanlon and Eimear Lambe won their repechage – by far the fastest of two – by leading all down the course.  

 The lightweight men’s quadruple also won their preliminary race for lanes. They were ahead through all the four quadrants of the race and won by a length from France.

 The men’s coxed four finished fifth in their repechage. They lost out on the fourth and final qualifying place in the A Final by .49 of a second. Britain and New Zealand passed early leaders South Africa to take first and second, with the South Africans taking third.

 Aoife Casey and Cliodhna Nolan had finished fourth in their heat of the lightweight double sculls.

World Rowing Under-23 Championships, Sarasota Bradenton, United States (Irish interest)

Men

Four, coxed – Repechage (First Four to A Final; rest to B Final): 1 Britain 6:12.79, 2 New Zealand 6:13.53, 3 South Africa 6:14.32, 4 United States 6:15.07; 5 Ireland (B O’Rourke, R Corrigan, D Lynch, J Quinlan; cox: E Finnegan) 6:15.56.

Lightweight Quadruple – Preliminary Race: 1 Ireland (E Gaffney, H Sutton, R Ballantine, M Taylor) 6:02.20

Women

Four – Repechage (First Two to A Final; rest to B Final): 1 Ireland (C Feerick, E Hegarty, T Hanlon, E Lambe) 6:37.88, 2 China 6:41.23.

Lightweight Double Sculls – Heat One (First two to A Final; rest to Repechage) 1 Switzerland 6:59.78, 2 Germany 7:02.65; 4 Ireland (A Casey, C Nolan) 7:07.28, 5 Britain (1 F Chestnutt) 7:13.48.

Published in Rowing

#Rowing: Ireland took third place in a fast heat of the women’s four at the World Rowing Under-23 Championships in Sarasota-Bradenton in Florida.

 The winner alone went directly through to the A Final. The United States claimed this spot, with Britain and Ireland closing fast coming to the line. This was much the faster of the two heats.

 The Ireland crew of Claire Feerick, Emily Hegarty, Tara Hanlon and Eimear Lambe would hope to qualify through their repechage on Thursday.

 

World Rowing Under-23 Championships, Sarasota-Bradenton, United States (Irish interest)

Men

Four, coxed – Heat Two (Winner to A Final; rest to Repechages): 1 Australia 6:11.99; 4 Ireland (B O’Rourke, R Corrigan, D Lynch, J Quinlan; cox: E Finnegan) 6:18.79.

Women

Four – Heat One (Winner to A Final; rest to Repechages): 1 United States 6:32.15; 2 Britain 6:32.96, 3 Ireland (C Feerick, E Hegarty, T Hanlon, E Lambe) 6:33.10.

Published in Rowing
Page 5 of 76

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