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Displaying items by tag: Irish Offshore Championships

#Rowing: Myross won the men’s quadruple, while Sionna Healy of Arklow took the women’s single on the second day of the Irish Offshore Rowing Championships in Kerry. It was a good event overall for Arklow. They won the men’s and women's doubles on Saturday, while on Sunday – which featured races deferred because of disruptive winds – they won the mixed doubles, through Alan Goodison and Andrea Kinsella.  

Irish Offshore Championships, Kerry

Saturday

Men

Double: Arklow (J Whooley, A Goodison) 20.17.

Single: Loughros Point, Donegal (P Boomer).

Women

Quadruple: Killorglin (E O’Donovan, A Tyther, K Boyle, R O’Donoghue; D Leahy) 22:48.

Double: Arklow (R Ireson, MA Kent).

Sunday

Men

Quadruple: Myross (V Browne, K McCarthy, J Lupton, A O’Sullivan; C Deasy) 17:12.

Women

Single: Arklow (S Healy) 24:32.

Mixed

Double: Arklow (A Goodison, A Kinsella) 18:53.

Published in Rowing

#Rowing: Patrick Boomer won the single sculls at the Irish Offshore Championships at O’Carroll’s Cove near Caherdaniel in Kerry. Boomer represented Loughros Point in Donegal and hopes to go on to row for them at the World Coastal Rowing Championships in Canada in October.

 John Whooley of Skibbereen won a title – for Arklow. The Corkman teamed up with Alan Goodison to take the men’s double.

 Kerry club Killorglin won the women’s quadruple and Arklow the women’s double.

 The final of the men’s quadruple, the women’s single and the mixed double will take place on Sunday as the wind made conditions unsuitable on Saturday.

Irish Offshore Championships, Kerry

Men

Double: Arklow (J Whooley, A Goodison) 20.17.

Single: Loughros Point, Donegal (P Boomer).

Women

Quadruple: Killorglin (E O’Donovan, A Tyther, K Boyle, R O’Donoghue; D Leahy) 22:48.

Double: Arklow (R Ireson, MA Kent).

Published in Coastal Rowing

#Rowing: Portmagee Rowing club will host the Irish Offshore Rowing Championships on Saturday, September 8th. The event will be run by Rowing Ireland and the venue is O’Carroll’s Cove beach bar near Caherdaniel in County Kerry. This will be the first time this event will be held in Kerry.

 More than 80 crews, made up of 220-plus oarsmen and women will compete for national titles. The event is the Fisa ranking event for the World Coastal Rowing Championships 2018 which will be held in Canada in October.

 Kerry rowers have a good record in Coastal/Offshore Rowing. Ireland international Monika Dukarska, from the Killorglin Rowing Club, is a double world champion in the women’s single. Johnny Casey, whose grandfather was one of the legendary Caseys of Sneem, was the Irish men’s single champion last year.

  This year’s course for the Offshore Championships is the same stretch of water that the Caseys, the "toughest family on earth", would have trained and raced on in the Seine boat during their heyday in the 1920s and 1930s. Johnny also teamed up with his brother James and uncle and father, Steve and Patrick, to win the All Ireland senior men’s four 20 years ago.

  This year, the Courtmacsherry men’s quad crew who have defeated all comers over the last few years, put their title on the line. Waiting to take them on are the might of Muckross. Paul Griffin, an Ireland Olympian in Athens in 2004, when his Ireland lightweight four reached the A Final, and Beijing in 2008, is set to be in their ranks.

Published in Coastal Rowing

National Watersports Campus, Dun Laoghaire

Dun Laoghaire Harbour Stakeholders combined forces in 2019 to promote a project to improve the Harbour’s infrastructure resulting in improved access, job creation and greater tourism potential. 

A grant application to government made by Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council (DLRCoCo) assisted by stakeholders was successful with the announcement of a €400k feasibility study grant from the Large Scale Sport Infrastructure Fund (LSSIF) in January 2020.

It meant plans for the €8m National Watersports Campus at Dun Laoghaire Harbour got the green light from Government and came a step closer to reality.

The project recognises deficits in the current set up in the harbour, proposing the construction of an all-tide publicly-accessible slipway (none currently in the Greater Dublin Area) as well as a marine services facility, providing a much-needed home for the supporting industry. 

The campus also seeks to provide a marketing framework to make boating more accessible to the general public.

The benefits of such an increase might be obvious for the Dun Laoghaire waterfront but there are other spin-offs for the harbour town in the creation of the sort of jobs that cannot be shipped abroad.

Centre for Community Watersports activity and public slipway

  • High-Performance coaching centre
  • Flexible Event Space for hosting national and international events
  • Multipurpose Building
  • Campus Marketing and Promotional Centre
  • Accommodation for Irish Sailing and Irish Underwater Council
  • Shared NGB Facility
  • Education Centre for schools, community groups and clubs
  • Proposed site – Carlisle Pier

Watersports Campus FAQs

Similar to the National Sports Campus in Abbotstown, the watersports campus will provide quality, public, recreational and high-performance facilities for the many watersports participants. The Campus will considerably enhance the services currently provided by more than 30 clubs and activity centres to over 50,000 annual users of the harbour.

The passing of control of the harbour to DLRCC, the public appetite for a community benefitting project and the capital funding for sports infrastructure in the Project 2040 National Plan have aligned to create an opportunity to deliver this proposal.

Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council (DLRCC) and the Irish Sailing Association (Irish Sailing) are the project leads, endorsed by the National Governing Bodies of other Irish watersports and clubs and activity providers.

The National Sports Policy, published in 2018, established the Large Scale Sport Infrastructure Fund (LSSIF) to provide Exchequer support for sports facility projects. In some cases, these may be projects where the primary objective will be to increase active participation in sport. In other cases, these may be venues where the focus is more related to high-performance sport.

Government has allocated at least €100m over the term to 2027 to successful applicant projects.

The Watersports Campus was one of seven successful applicants for Stream 1 funding allowing planning to commence on the project design and feasibility. €442,000 has been granted in this phase.

NThe project will provide for a municipally-owned public access facility to include a small craft slipway that is accessible at all stages of the tide (currently none in public ownership in the greater Dublin area), storage and lock-up resources, watersports event management space, a high-performance centre and NGB accommodation.

The project aims to enhance the profile of Dun Laoghaire as a major international venue for maritime events, shows and conferences. Establish Dun Laoghaire as the 'go-to place' for anything marine – generating revenues Create employment in the county - attract businesses, visitors and events. Grow the market for watersports Promote the services of activity providers to the public. Complement the plan to develop Dun Laoghaire as a 'destination.'

As of January 1 2021, The Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport has approved the applicant project and DLRCC are expected to appoint a team to further advance the project.

©Afloat 2020