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Displaying items by tag: Henley

#Rowing: Commercial gave a good account of themselves but were beaten by half a length in the semi-final of the Thames Cup at Henley Royal Regatta.

 Thames are the defending champions and masters of this event, and they controlled this race. They took a lead which never stretched beyond a length. However, they anticipated the Commercial attacks and countered them. Coming up to the line, the Dublin club closed right up – but Thames held firm to win.

Henley Royal Regatta, Day Four (Selected Results; Irish interest)

Thames (Men’s Eight, Club): Thames bt Commercial ½ l

Silver Goblets (Men’s Pairs, Open): A Diaz and A Haack bt M O’Donovan and S O’Driscoll (Skibbereen) 2¾ l

Visitors (Men’s Four, Club and University): Cambridge University and Leander Club bt UCD 1¾ l

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#Rowing: UCD made a good start in the semi-finals of the Visitors’ four at Henley Royal Regatta, but could not match the power of their opponents and made their exit. The crew listed as Cambridge University and Leander Club are, most likely, on their way to the World Under-23 Championships representing Britain. UCD stayed in touch with them until Fawley, about half way, but then saw them pull away. The verdict was one and three-quarter lengths.   

Henley Royal Regatta, Day Four (Selected Results; Irish interest)

Silver Goblets (Men’s Pairs, Open): A Diaz and A Haack bt M O’Donovan and S O’Driscoll (Skibbereen) 2¾ l

Visitors (Men’s Four, Club and University): Cambridge University and Leander Club bt UCD 1¾ l

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#Rowing: Paul O’Donovan and Gary O’Donovan won their first race at Henley Royal Regatta with plenty to spare. The Skibbereen double scull sprinted away from Leander’s Stephen Cox and Tiernan Oliver at the start and left them well behind for the rest of the contest. The winning marging was a quarter length shy of five lengths.

Henley Royal Regatta, Day Three (Irish interest; selected results)

Thames Cup (Eights, club): Montclair Mounties, United States bt Cork Boat Club ¾l .

Prince Albert (Fours, coxed; Student): Columbia University, US bt NUIG 1¾ l.

Double Sculls (Open): G O’Donovan, P O’Donovan bt S Cox, T Oliver  4¾ l.

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#Rowing: Trinty lost out to Syracuse University and Neptune to Gloucester at Henley Royal Regatta today. Both victors were seeded crews; they were much heavier than their rivals from Ireland.

 For the Temple Cup, Trinity lost William Doyle to a back injury after the first race and flew in Sean Canning, who replaced him. They came up against one of the top-ranked American crews in orange-clad Syracuse, who justified favouritism with a pillar-to-post win.

 In the Fawley for junior quadruples, Neptune never gave up, but they, too, were fighting a losing battle from early on. They made Gloucester work – but the English crew were stronger.

Henley Royal Regatta, Day Two (Selected Results; Irish interest)

Thames Cup (Eights, Club): Cork Boat Club bt London RC ‘A’ 1 ¾ l.

Temple Cup (Eights, College): Syracuse University (US) bt Trinity 2½l; Yale University (3 D Lynch) bt Bath University 2¾ l.

Fawley (Quadruple, Junior): Gloucester RC ‘A’ bt Neptune 1 1/3 l.  

Double Sculls (Open): S Cox, T Oliver bt JJP Keech and JA Dunley 1 ¼ l.

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#Rowing: NUIG had an exciting win over ASR Nereus of the Netherlands in the Prince Albert Cup for student coxed fours at Henley Royal Regatta. The early stages were tight, but the Dutch took the lead and held it down most of the course. Coming into the enclosures NUIG exerted fierce pressure – and it worked. They drew level and won by a canvas.

 Trinity beat the University of London B by one and three-quarter lengths in the first round of the Temple Cup at Henley Royal Regatta. The Dublin University crew started well and fashioned a strong lead which their opponents could not whittle away.

Henley Royal Regatta, Day One (Selected Results; Irish interest)

Thames Cup (Eights, Club): Cork Boat Club bt Potomac, United States ¾ l, 6 min 35 sec.

Temple Cup (Eights, College): Trinity bt University of London B 1¾l, 6:40.

Prince Albert (Fours, coxed; Student): NUIG bt ASR Nereus, The Netherlands canvas, 7:13

Fawley (Quadruple, Junior): Neptune bt Tideway Scullers’ School ‘C’ 2/3l, 7:04.

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#Rowing: Here is the Trinity eight which won the Ladies Plate at Henley Royal Regatta in 1977 ‘rowing over’ 40 years later. The current captain of Dublin University Boat Club, Cian Flynn, coxed the crew on Saturday as a stand-in for Jarlath Magee, who could not travel.

 Though it was a joyous commemoration, the boat was named ‘Robin Tamplin’ to honour the senior coach, who sadly died earlier this year.

 There was a dinner for the crew and their families afterwards and the story telling and singing went on late into the night.

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#Rowing: Commercial made their exit from Henley this morning in a tightly fought quarter-final of the Wyfold Cup for club fours. The Dublin crew took a lead early over Thames and retained it to beyond halfway. The English crew pushed past them and led, but were warned by the umpire and had to adjust their steering. Commercial came back and looked like they might have done enough. It was not to be. Thames were given the decision by one foot.   

Henley Royal Regatta, Day Three (Irish interest)

Wyfold Cup (Club Fours): Thames bt Commercial by 1 foot; 6 min 48 sec.   

 

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#Rowing: Clonmel were beaten in a phenomenally close race at Henley Royal Regatta today. In the second round of the Fawley Cup, Tideway Scullers’ took the lead early and had a length over the the four young men in the Clonmel junior quadruple. But Clonmel clawed their way back. The crews seemed to be on level terms as they came to the line, but Tideway Scullers’ got the verdict by four feet.   

Henley Royal Regatta, Day Two (Irish interest)

Diamond Sculls (Open Single Sculls): J Stimpson bt N Kenny 3¼ l.    

Temple Cup (College Eights): University of California, Berkeley bt Trinity 2½ l.

Wyfold (Club Fours): Commercial bt Curlew by 4¼ l .

Fawley (Under-18 Quadruple Sculls): Tideway Scullers’ School beat Clonmel by 4 ft.

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#Rowing: The University of California, Berkeley, beat Trinity in the second round of the Temple Cup for college eights at Henley Royal Regatta today. The American crew won easily in the first round and were hot favourites to win this race. They franked their form and beat the Dublin university unit with ease. The verdict was two and half lengths.

Henley Royal Regatta, Day Two (Irish interest)

Diamond Sculls (Open Single Sculls): J Stimpson bt N Kenny 3¼ l.    

Temple Cup (College Eights): University of California, Berkeley bt Trinity 2½ l.

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#Rowing: Commercial had an easy win in the first round of the Wyfold Cup for club fours at Henley Royal Regatta today. Their opponents, Molesey B, made a mess of the start, veering across towards the Dublin crew and being warned. Commercial’s experienced crew of Mike Corcoran, Fionnán Groome, Colm Dowling and Shane Mac Eoin dealt with it all calmly. They moved into the lead and won, easing up, by one and a half lengths.

 They are set to take on Curlew on Thursday.   

Henley Royal Regatta, Day One (Irish interest)

Temple (College Eights): Trinity bt Pembroke College, Oxford by 2/3 l; 6 mins 29 sec.

Wyfold (Club Fours): Commercial bt Molesey B by 1½ l; 7:16.

Prince Albert (College Coxed Fours): Deerfield Academy (United States) bt Trinity by 5ft; 6:59.

Fawley (Under-18 Boys’ Quadruples): Clonmel bt Malvern Preparatory School B, United States by 2½ l; 6:55.

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Sharks in Irish waters

Irish waters are home to 71 species of shark, skates and rays, 58 of which have been studied in detail and listed on the Ireland Red List of Cartilaginous fish. Irish sharks range from small Sleeper sharks, Dogfish and Catsharks, to larger species like Frilled, Mackerel and Cow sharks, all the way to the second largest shark in the world, the Basking shark. 

Irish waters provide a refuge for an array of shark species. Tralee Bay, Co. Kerry provides a habitat for several rare and endangered sharks and their relatives, including the migratory tope shark, angel shark and undulate ray. This area is also the last European refuge for the extremely rare white skate. Through a European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF) project, Marine Institute scientists have been working with fishermen to assess the distribution, diversity, and monthly relative abundance of skates and rays in Tralee, Brandon and Dingle Bays.

“These areas off the southwest coast of Ireland are important internationally as they hold some of the last remaining refuges for angel shark and white skate,” said Dr Maurice Clarke of the Marine Institute. “This EMFF project has provided data confirming the critically endangered status of some species and provides up-to-date information for the development of fishery measures to eliminate by-catch.” 

Irish waters are also home to the Black Mouthed Catshark, Galeus melastomus, one of Ireland’s smallest shark species which can be found in the deep sea along the continental shelf. In 2018, Irish scientists discovered a very rare shark-nursery 200 nautical miles off the west coast by the Marine Institute’s ROV Holland 1 on a shelf sloping to 750 metres deep. 

There are two ways that sharks are born, either as live young or from egg casings. In the ‘case’ of Black Mouthed Catsharks, the nursery discovered in 2018, was notable by the abundance of egg casings or ‘mermaid’s purses’. Many sharks, rays and skate lay eggs, the cases of which often wash ashore. If you find an egg casing along the seashore, take a photo for Purse Search Ireland, a citizen science project focusing on monitoring the shark, ray and skate species around Ireland.

Another species also found by Irish scientists using the ROV Holland 1 in 2018 was a very rare type of dogfish, the Sail Fin Rough Shark, Oxynotus paradoxus. These sharks are named after their long fins which resemble the trailing sails of a boat, and live in the deep sea in waters up to 750m deep. Like all sharks, skates and rays, they have no bones. Their skeleton is composed of cartilage, much like what our noses and ears are made from! This material is much more flexible and lighter than bone which is perfect for these animals living without the weight of gravity.

Throughout history sharks have been portrayed as the monsters of the sea, a concept that science is continuously debunking. Basking sharks were named in 1765 as Cetorhinus maximus, roughly translated to the ‘big-nosed sea monster’. Basking sharks are filter feeders, often swimming with their mouths agape, they filter plankton from the water.

They are very slow moving and like to bask in the sun in shallow water and are often seen in Irish waters around Spring and early Summer. To help understand the migration of these animals to be better able to understand and conserve these species, the Irish Basking Shark Group have tagged and mapped their travels.

Remarkably, many sharks like the Angel Shark, Squatina squatina have the ability to sense electricity. They do this via small pores in their skin called the ‘Ampullae of Lorenzini’ which are able to detect the tiny electrical impulses of a fish breathing, moving or even its heartbeat from distances of over a kilometre! Angel sharks, often referred to as Monkfish have a distinctively angelic shape, with flattened, large fins appearing like the wings of an angel. They live on the seafloor in the coastal waters of Ireland and much like a cat are nocturnal, primarily active at night.

The intricate complexity of shark adaptations is particularly noticeable in the texture of their skin. Composed of miniscule, perfectly shaped overlapping scales, the skin of shark provides them with protection. Often shark scales have been compared to teeth due to their hard enamel structure. They are strong, but also due to their intricate shape, these scales reduce drag and allow water to glide past them so that the shark can swim more effortlessly and silently. This natural flawless design has been used as inspiration for new neoprene fabric designs to help swimmers glide through the water. Although all sharks have this feature, the Leafscale Gulper Shark, Centrophorus squamosus, found in Ireland are specifically named due to the ornate leaf-shape of their scales.