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Displaying items by tag: Erne Head of the River

Waterways Ireland advises masters and owners of vessels on the Erne System in Northern Ireland that the Erne Eights Head of the River rowing race will take place this Saturday 2 March.

The event will start upstream of the Killyhevlin Hotel and will race through to Enniskillen Royal Boat Club.

Rowing boats and craft will be on the water from 9am to 5pm. There will be around 80 rowing crews participating in the event. The downstream sections of the Round ‘O’ jetty will be closed for the duration.

Masters of vessels should adhere to all instructions given by race marshals on the day and keep the race course clear, especially during racing.

Masters of vessels are also asked to keep wash to minimum when passing rowing crews and race marshals, the cross-border body for Ireland’s inland waterways says.

Published in Inland Waterways

Waterways Ireland advises masters and owners of vessels on the Erne System that the Erne Head of the River rowing race will take place this Saturday 4 March.

The event will start upstream of the Killyhevlin Hotel and will race through to Enniskillen Royal Boat Club.

Rowing boats and craft will be on the water from 9am to 4pm. There will be around 100 rowing crews participating in two events: the Women’s Eight at 11am and the Men’s Eight at 1.30pm.

Masters of vessels should adhere to all instructions given by race marshals on the day and keep the race course clear, especially during racing.

Masters of vessels are also asked to keep wash to minimum when passing rowing crews and race marshals, the cross-border body for Ireland’s inland waterways says.

Published in Rowing

#Rowing: The Cork Head of the River will be held this Sunday, March 3rd. The organisers decided to postpone the event by one day because of the adverse weather forecast for Saturday. The 4km event from Horgan’s Quay to Blackrock Castle will hold to the times set for Saturday.

 The indications are that the Erne Head in Enniskillen will go ahead on Saturday.

Published in Rowing

The Erne Head of the River will welcome an exceptionally large entry of 91 boats and  well over 600 rowers to Enniskillen on Saturday, March 4th. The race - the 60th -  will be visible from the start point four miles downstream of Enniskillen Royal Grammar School (ERGS) Boat Club with the best views from the Killyhevlin Hotel, riverside in Cornagrade and the finish line at Portora boathouse itself.

 Beginning at 1.15pm, each craft will start at a 30 second interval on a race to the finish line at Portora boathouse. Men, women's and junior teams of all ages and abilities will set off in turn in a race against the clock. The 90 boats will stream over the finish line from 1.45pm; for some, setting new records and for others getting to the finish line, the main achievement.

 Twenty eight clubs are represented at the event from all over Ireland,  including a new club based on the Erne. The Portora Boat Club has been created by old Portorans and parents of rowers from ERGS and other Fermanagh schools continuing the traditions of the old Portora Boat Club. It will challenge at the Head of the River for the first time in the men’s masters.

 The event is an opportunity for clubs to gauge their progress during winter training against that of the competition. The number of entries is up 30 on last year reflecting a significant increase in rowing numbers in Northern Ireland and across Ireland.

Published in Rowing

#Rowing: Muckross Rowing Club has chosen to reschedule its head of the river for March 5th. The original date was December 5th, but there was a poor weather forecast and the head had to be cancelled. The March 5th date will be shared with the Erne Head of the River in Enniskillen.  

Published in Rowing

Dublin Bay Sailing Club Turkey Shoot Winter Series

Dublin Bay Sailing Club's Turkey Shoot Series reached its 20th year in 2020.

The popular yacht series racing provides winter-racing for all the sailing clubs on the southside of Dublin Bay in the run-up to Christmas.

It regularly attracts a fleet of up to 70 boats of different shapes and sizes from all four yachts clubs at Dun Laoghaire: The National Yacht Club, The Royal St. George Yacht Club, The Royal Irish Yacht Club and the Dun Laoghaire Motor Yacht Club as well as other clubs such as Sailing in Dublin. Typically the event is hosted by each club in rotation.

The series has a short, sharp format for racing that starts at approximately 10 am and concludes around noon. The event was the brainchild of former DBSC Commodore Fintan Cairns to give the club year-round racing on the Bay thanks to the arrival of the marina at Dun Laoghaire in 2001. Cairns, an IRC racer himself, continues to run the series each winter.

Typically, racing features separate starts for different cruiser-racers but in fact, any type of boat is allowed to participate, even those yachts that do not normally race are encouraged to do so.

Turkey Shoot results are calculated under a modified ECHO handicap system and there can be a fun aspect to some of the scoring in keeping with the Christmas spirit of the occasion.

As a result, the Turkey Shoot often receives entries from boats as large as Beneteau 50 footers and one designs as small as 20-foot flying Fifteens, all competing over the same course.

It also has legendary weekly prizegivings in the host waterfront yacht clubs immediately after racing. There are fun prizes and overall prizes based on series results.

Regular updates and DBSC Turkey Shoot Results are published on Afloat each week as the series progresses.

FAQs

Cruisers, cruising boats, one-designs and boats that do not normally race are very welcome. Boats range in size from ocean-going cruisers at 60 and 60 feet right down to small one-design keelboats such as 20-foot Flying Fifteens. A listing of boats for different starts is announced on Channel 74 before racing each week.

Each winter from the first Sunday in November until the last week before Christmas.

Usually no more than two hours. The racecourse time limit is 12.30 hours.

Between six and eight with one or two discards applied.

Racing is organised by Dublin Bay Sailing Club and the Series is rotated across different waterfront yacht clubs for the popular after race party and prizegiving. The waterfront clubs are National Yacht Club (NYC), Royal Irish Yacht Club (RIYC), Royal St George Yacht Club (RSGYC) and Dun Laoghaire Motor Yacht Club (DMYC).

© Afloat 2020