Irish rowing got a real fillip today when lightweight single sculler Siobhan McCrohan won a bronze medal at the World Cup rowing regatta at Lucerne. In a race won by the outstanding Greek talent Alexandra Tsiavou, the 24-year-old Galway woman saw off challenges from Belgium’s Jo Hammond and Poland’s Weronika Deresz to take bronze. Switzerland’s Pamela Weisshaupt took the silver medal.

World Cup Regatta, Lucerne – Day Two (Irish interest)

Men

Lightweight Double Scull – D Final (places 19 to 24): 1 Hungary 6:36.15, 2 Ireland 6:43.77, 3 Sweden 6:44.75.

Women

Double Scull – Semi-Final (First Three to A Final; rest to B Final): 1 Australia 6:54.22, 2 Ukraine 6:56.73, 3 Poland 6:58.30; 4 Belarus 7:07.73, 5 Romania 7:09.95, 6 Ireland (L Dilleen, S Puspure) 7:15.75

Lightweight Double Scull – C Final (Places 13 to 18): 1 Austria 7:14.01; 5 Ireland (S Dolan, C Lambe) 7:19.47

Lightweight Single Scull – Semi-Final One (First Three to A Final; rest to B Final): 1 Switzerland (P Weisshaupt) 7:56.1, 2 Ireland (S McCrohan) 7:58.65, 3 Belgium (J Hammond) 8:03.22; 4 Japan 8:09.31, 5 Canada 8:09.80, 6 Hong Kong 8:14.50. A FINAL: 1 Greece (A Tsiavou) 7:47.78, 2 Switzerland (P Weisshaupt) 7:51.39, 3 Ireland (S McCrohan) 7:54.86; 4 Belgium (J Hammond) 7:55.17, 5 Poland (W Deresz) 7:59.80, 6 Netherlands (M-A Frenken) 8:02.57.

With a week to go to the biggest regatta of the season, organisers of Volvo Dun Laoghaire regatta are still accepting entries in all 25 classes. There is now a likely total VDLR fleet size of 400 boats. The biggest cruiser classes are IRC 2 and IRC 3 so it is a reasonable assumption that some of Dublin Bay Sailing Club's own top performers such as Ken Lawless's Supernova or past winner O'Driscoll's J24 Hard on Port may well emerge as Volvo trophy winners. All the latest on VDLR next week here!

Late entries are still being accepted for the Royal Alfred Yacht Club's Bloomsday Regatta on Saturday 18 June.

Racing for all cruiser and dinghy classes is set to begin at 1pm tomorrow in Dun Laoghaire. 

Today is the closing date for postal entries, but late entries will still be accepted (incurring an additional late fee of €10).

To enter online without delay visit the RAYC website at www.rayc.ie.

With nearly 400 yacht in 25 classes there is no doubt about the size of July's Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta. Here's the entry list class by class for Ireland's biggest regatta in 2011.

Competitors in this year's Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta are set to race for the ultimate bragging rights in a new bonus event.

The Royal Irish Yacht Club is proposing the one-day event on Sunday 31 July modelled on the ISA All Ireland Sailing Championship, where up to 16 teams will compete in a winner-takes-all contest with the prize of a significant voucher to go against their annual Dublin Bay Sailing Club subscription. 

The best helms from Cruisers 1, 2 and 3, White Sails, Sigmas, Dragons, 31.7s and SB3s will compete using the symmetrical kite J80s in a round-robin fleet racing format.

Each participating DBSC class will have one team, selected by being the highest ranked DBSC boat in the Dun Laoghaire Regatta. Each class can decide if the team is chosen on a  design, IRC or ECHO basis.

More details will be available in due course from the RIYC website.

Already 380 boats have signed up for the regatta which will be the biggest sailing event in Ireland in 2011. The competing sailors are drawn from Dublin Bay yacht clubs as well as from across Ireland with added participation from English, Welsh, Scottish, Isle of Man, French, Spanish, German and Danish yacht clubs.

For many of the boats in the cruising classes, Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta 2011 will be the culmination of hard training and participation first at the ICRA National Championships at Royal Cork Yacht Club in Crosshaven (17th – 19th June) and then the Sovereign's Cup at Kinsale (22nd – 25th June.) When the first starting guns are fired in Dun Laoghaire on the afternoon of Thursday 7th July, the fleet form should be clearer based on the results from the earlier regattas.

However star contenders that lined up for prizes at Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta 2009 are already in contention for prizes in 2011.

IRC Class Zero has attracted ten entries and will feature boats such as Aquelina, a J122 Arklow Sailing Club, Dopplebock, German-entry Dopplebock from Nordduscher Regatta Verein, a new J111 that is the latest 'WoW' from the Royal Irish Yacht Club in Dun Laoghaire and Cork's Jump Juice from the RCYC; all are expected to feature in the top results. Organisers are also expecting entries from Allan Hogg's, Argie Bargie from Royal Western Yacht Club, Kilrush, Co Clare and Vincent's Farrell's, Tsunami, from the National Yacht Club.

IRC Class 1 has already attracted 22 entries and will feature Afloat's Sailor of the Year 2010 Anthony O Leary with Antix Beag (RCYC), a modified 1720 which in the right conditions is unbeatable. Paul O'Higgins's Rockabill V (NYC/ RIYC) was IRC 1 champion at Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta 2009 is also a key contender. Organisers say Rockabill is an extremely well crewed boat and could be in contention for the overall event prize.

IRC Class 2 has already attracted 24 entries and the star contender is David Cullen's King One, a half tonner from Howth Yacht Club which although a classic boat is very well sailed. Red Rhum, Jonathan and Christopher Nicholson's Dehler DB1 from the Royal St George Yacht Club which won on ECHO at Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta 2009 is also in this class.

IRC Class 3 also has a strong entry with 33 entries so far and Flor O'Driscoll's Hard on Port (RStGYC) was the only boat in 2009 which achieved race wins across the regatta and is obviously the star contender in this class.

The non spinnaker classes (White Sail 1 and White Sail 2) which demonstrate the true spirit of sailing, have already attracted 25 entries, especially from visiting entries.

Philip Dillworth's Orna, a Grand Soleil 40 from the National Yacht Club which will sail in Non Spinnaker class 1 is a wonderfully consistent boat that wins everything. Other boats to watch out for in this class are Persistance from the RIYC which won on ECHO in White Sail 1 class at Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta 2009 and Katanca from RIYC and MacMagic from HYC who both achieved line honors two years ago.

So far 12 J109's are registered to race at Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta 2011 and John Hall's 'Something Else' from NYC is widely regarded as the boat to beat in that class. Other 'one design' classes will include the Beneteau 31.7s, the Sigma 33s, the Ruffian 23s and the Shipman 28s.

The dinghy classes will include Laser SB3s sportboats. Squibs, Mermaids, Dragons, Flying Fifteens, Fireballs and Lasers single-handed.

Ben Duncan and Brian Moran's SB3, Sharkbait from Howth YC is already sitting at top of its class. But another a key competitor in that class will be Annalise Murphy who is currently ranked 9th in the world by the ISAF (International Sailing Federation), is a 2012 Olympic sailing campaigner and has kindly taken on the role of 2011 Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta ambassador. Annalise will be sailing the SB3, Bluebird. In the Dragon class, a former Olympic boat, Martin Byrne is currently the national champion on Jaguar, so is the boat to beat in that class.

The classic boat classes will include Glens, Howth 17s, IDRA 14s, Water Wags, Wayfarers and Etchells and may be consolidated into a single race area, depending on the turn out. The UK and Irish national championships for the Wayfarer class will also take place during the event, with 40 to 50 boats expected in this fleet alone.

Organisers are also trying to build a relationship with the kite boarding class, which may become an ISAF Olympic class by 2016. The Regatta will have a prize for a kite boarding event in Sutton, and will have a kite boarding demonstration on one of the regatta days.

In addition to the overall winners and runners up, special trophies will be awarded for Best IRC, Best One Design/ Keelboat, Best Dinghy/ Small Keelboat, Best Visiting Boat and the Irish Open White Sail Champion.

Behind the scenes, there'll be more than 300 volunteers making sure that the event runs smoothly and organisers say they will process more than 6,000 sets of results (including handicap combinations) over the four days.

The regatta will take over the entire waterfront at Dún Laoghaire for the event, using the four yacht clubs and benefiting from Dublin Bay Sailing Club's expertise and equipment.

The shores of Lough Swilly in Co Donegal will come alive with sails at SeaFest 2011 from 1-3 July, celebrating the region's unique coastal environment.

The weekend begins on Friday 1 July with the launch of MalinWaters, a new cross-border marine tourism initiative for the zone between the north of Ireland and western Scotland.

It's followed on the Saturday with a parade of sails and action in the Saldanha Cup, a traditional cruiser-racer sailing regatta that commemorates the 200th anniversary of the sinking of the frigate HMS Saldanha, with a course that takes on the wreck site of the ship near Ballymastocker Strand.

Among the myriad family events taking place on shore, SeaFest will also feature an abundance of Donegal's local food culture, such as fresh seafood from local waters, plus lamb, beef and pork from the county's field, prepared by talented chefs from the region.

For more details visit seafestloughswilly.com.

Dublin's Lord Mayor Gerry Breen will assume the traditional title of Admiral of the Port of Dublin when he presides over the Parade of Sail on the Liffey later this month.

The parade on Sunday 29 May is a highlight of the annual Dublin Bay Old Gaffers Association rally, which this year is held in tandem with the Stella Maris Rowing Club regatta.

Rowing clubs along the east coast will be sending crews to Dublin to compete for the special Asgard Trophy, which is made of timber used in the conservation of the original Asgard in the National Museum.

The event - centred at the Poolbeg Yacht and Boat Club near Ringsend - is also expected to attract classic vessels from ports in Wales and Northern Ireland.

For more information contact the Dublin Bay Old Gaffers Association at www.dublinbayoldgaffersassociation.com or [email protected]

The Old Gaffers Association is a sailing organisation dedicated to preserving traditional sailing craft, usually former working boats, and mainly of wooden construction, promoting their distinctive gaff rig.

Deadlines for entry in to a number of this season's key sailing regattas are looming. Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta's significantly reduced early bird entry rate for the July 7th event will end on Monday and offshore racers intending to race in June 11th's 320-mile Dun Laoghaire to Dingle Race must enter by next Friday 20th. The ICRA Cruiser Championships in Crosshaven takes place from the 17th to 19th June, a fixture that suits those boats intending to compete in the Dingle race. Race details can be downloaded below.