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Displaying items by tag: August

#Rowing: The Afloat Rowers of the Month for August are Margaret Cremen and Aoife Casey. The Ireland double finished seventh at the World Rowing Junior Championships. The Lee/Skibbereen duo reached the semi-finals in Trakai, Lithuania, but while they could not make the top six they were impressive winners of the B Final, where France tested them. Amongst the countries which did not reach the last 12 were Australia, New Zealand, the United States and China. Twenty-eight countries competed in this discipline.  

 Cremen and Casey had taken a silver medal at the European Junior Championships in Germany in May. It was another highlight of an exceptional season. Ireland underage crews have been part of the general rise: so far they have taken two medals at the World Under-23 Championships and five at the Coupe de la Jeunesse, a European junior tournament.

Rower of the Month awards: The judging panel is made up of Liam Gorman, rowing correspondent of The Irish Times, and David O'Brien, editor of Afloat magazine. Monthly awards for achievements during the year will appear on afloat.ie. Keep a monthly eye on progress and watch our 2017 champions list grow.

Published in Rower of Month

#Rowers of the Month: The Afloat Rowers of the Month for August are the Ireland junior quadruple scull which won two gold medals at the Coupe de la Jeunesse in Szeged in Hungary. In early September, the senior team would make their mark at the World Championships, but in August it was the juniors which came away with a five-medal haul. The junior women’s double of Aoife Casey and Emily Hegarty took silver on Saturday and Sunday and single sculler Dervla Forde took bronze on the Sunday. But the most successful crew was the junior men’s quadruple of  Colm Hennessy, Eoghan Whittle, Patrick Munnelly and Andrew Goff. They had also taken gold at the 2014 Coupe.

 Rower of the Month awards: The judging panel is made up of Liam Gorman, rowing correspondent of The Irish Times and David O'Brien, Editor of Afloat magazine. Monthly awards for achievements during the year will appear on afloat.ie and the overall national award will be presented to the person or crew who, in the judges' opinion, achieved the most notable results in, or made the most significant contribution to rowing during 2015. Keep a monthly eye on progress and watch our 2015 champions list grow.

Published in Rowing

#ROWING: The Afloat Rowers of the Month for August are Leonora Kennedy and Monika Dukarska. The Enniskillen woman, who had rowed and won medals with Britain, and her Killorglin teammate only began to work together earlier this summer, yet they formed a women’s double which finished a creditable 10th at the World Rowing Championships in Chungju in Korea. As preparations for the new season begin, this crew gives hope that Ireland rowing may begin to gather momentum again on the world stage.

Rower of the Month awards: The judging panel is made up of Liam Gorman, rowing correspondent of The Irish Times and David O'Brien, Editor of Afloat magazine. Monthly awards for achievements during the year will appear on afloat.ie and the overall national award will be presented to the person or crew who, in the judges' opinion, achieved the most notable results in, or made the most significant contribution to rowing during 2013. Keep a monthly eye on progress and watch our 2013 champions list grow.

Published in Rowing
Dun Laoghaire will play host to two new and exciting events this coming August.
The first annual Dublin Bay Taste & Music Fest takes place at the Peoples' Park from 26-28 August.
Pitched as a 'back to basics' celebration of Ireland's culinary heritage, the weekend will feature a 'boulevard' of chefs doing live demonstrations using the finest of local ingredients - as well as guest chefs from San Francisco providing the best of US west coast cooking.
Earlier in the month, on 1 August the inaugural DLR Bay 10k road race kicks off near Dun Laoghaire DART station.
The runners will follow a route that takes in Seapoint, Monkstown, Sallynogging, Glenageary, Sandcove and Glasthule.
For more details visit www.dlrbay10k.ie.

Dun Laoghaire will play host to two new and exciting events this coming August.

The first annual Dublin Bay Taste & Music Fest takes place at the Peoples' Park from 26-28 August.

Pitched as a 'back to basics' celebration of Ireland's culinary heritage, the weekend will feature a 'boulevard' of chefs doing live demonstrations using the finest of local ingredients - as well as guest chefs from San Francisco providing the best of US west coast cooking.

Earlier in the month, on 1 August the inaugural DLR Bay 10k road race kicks off near Dun Laoghaire DART station.

The runners will follow a route that takes in Seapoint, Monkstown, Sallynoggin, Glenageary, Sandycove and Glasthule.

For more details visit www.dlrbay10k.ie.

Published in Dublin Bay

Ireland & La Solitaire du Figaro

The Solitaire du Figaro, was originally called the course de l’Aurore until 1980, was created in 1970 by Jean-Louis Guillemard and Jean-Michel Barrault.

Half a decade later, the race has created some of France's top offshore sailors, and it celebrated its 50th anniversary with a new boat equipped with foils and almost 50 skippers Including novices, aficionados and six former winners.

The solo multi-stage offshore sailing race is one of the most cherished races in French sailing and one that has had Irish interest stretching back over 20 years due to the number of Irish stopovers, usually the only foreign leg of the French race.

What Irish ports have hosted The Solitaire du Figaro?

The race has previously called to Ireland to the following ports; Dingle, Kinsale, Crosshaven, Howth and Dun Laoghaire.

What Irish sailors have raced The Solitaire du Figaro?

So far there have been seven Irish skippers to participate in La Solitaire du Figaro. 

In 1997, County Kerry's Damian Foxall first tackled the Figaro from Ireland. His win in the Rookie division in DHL gave him the budget to compete again the following year with Barlo Plastics where he won the final leg of the race from Gijon to Concarneau. That same year a second Irish sailor Marcus Hutchinson sailing Bergamotte completed the course in 26th place and third Rookie.

In 2000, Hutchinson of Howth Yacht Club completed the course again with IMPACT, again finishing in the twenties.

In 2006, Paul O’Riain became the third Irish skipper to complete the course.

In 2013, Royal Cork's David Kenefick raised the bar by becoming a top rookie sailor in the race. 

In 2018, for the first time, Ireland had two Irish boats in the offshore race thanks to Tom Dolan and Joan Mulloy who joined the rookie ranks and kept the Irish tricolour flying high in France. Mulloy became the first Irish female to take on the race.

Tom Dolan in Smurfit Kappa competed for his third year in 2020 after a 25th place finish in 2019. Dolan sailed a remarkably consistent series in 2020 and took fifth overall, the best finish by a non-French skipper since 1997 when Switzerland’s Dominique Wavre finished runner up. Dolan wins the VIVI Trophy.

Dolan finished 10th on the first stage, 11th on the second and seventh into Saint Nazaire at the end of the third stage. Stage four was abandoned due to lack of wind. 

Also in 2020, Dun Laoghaire’s Kenneth Rumball became the eleventh Irish sailor to sail the Figaro.

At A Glance – Figaro Race

  • It starts in June or July from a French port.
  • The race is split into four stages varying from year to year, from the length of the French coast and making up a total of around 1,500 to 2,000 nautical miles (1,700 to 2,300 mi; 2,800 to 3,700 km) on average.
  • Over the years the race has lasted between 10 and 13 days at sea.
  • The competitor is alone in the boat, participation is mixed.
  • Since 1990, all boats are of one design.

2023 La Solitaire du Figaro Course

Stage #1 Caen – Kinsale : 610 nautical miles
Departure August 27 (expected arrival August 30)

Stage #2 Kinsale – Baie de Morlaix : 630 nautical miles
Departure September 3 (expected arrival September 6)

Stage #3 Baie de Morlaix – Piriac-sur-Mer : 620 nautical miles
Departure September 10 (expected arrival September 13)

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