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#Rowing: NUIG won a two-boat battle with Commercial in the men’s senior eights final at the inaugural Lough Rynn Regatta in Leitrim today. The young crew had just under two lengths to spare. Daire Lynch of Clonmel and Ronan Byrne of Shandon won the men’s senior double – a notable victory for this junior crew as they set out to prove their capacity to the Ireland selectors. Portora had an excellent day, with their club one eight being the best women’s crew. The regatta was a success and was run in spectacular conditions, with bright sunshine and calm water.

Lough Rynn Regatta, Saturday – Selected Results

 Men

Eight - Senior: NUIG A. Intermediate: Portora. Jun 18A: Portora. Jun 16: Portora. Jun 15: St Joseph’s. Masters: Commercial/Sligo/Tribesmen. Mixed Invitational: Portora A.

Four – Senior: NUIG A. Jun 18A, coxed: Pres, Cork A. Jun 16, coxed: Portora. Invitational: Galway D204.

Pair – Senior: Commercial A. Inter: Portora. Jun 18A: Clonmel.

Sculling, Quadruple – Club One, coxed: Neptune. Nov: Neptune B. Jun 18A: Three Castles. Jun 16: Commercial. Jun 15: St Joseph’s.

Double – Senior: Clonmel/Shandon (D Lynch, R Byrne). Club One: Sligo. Jun 18A: Commercial. Jun 16: Col Iognaid.

Single – Senior: Garda (D Kelly). Inter: Athlone (P Munnelly). Masters: Commercial (D Crowley). Jun 18A: Commercial (Beggan). Jun 16: Col Iognaid (M Ryder).

Women

Eight – Club One: Portora. Jun 18A: Portora. Jun 16: Col Iognaid.

Four – Inter, coxed: Portora. Club One, coxed: Commercial B. Jun 18A: Galway RC.  

Pair – Sen: Bann. Inter: Bann.

Sculling, Quadruple – Club One: Commercial. Nov: Neptune A. Jun 18A: Bann. Jun 16, coxed: Galway RC. Jun 15, coxed: Commercial A.

Double – Club One: Univ of Limerick A. Jun 18A: Bann. Jun 15: Commercial A.

Single – Sen: Three Castles (B Quinn). Inter: Garda (B Larsen). Jun 18A: Neptune (C Feerick). Jun 16: Col Iognaid (C Nic Dhonncha).  

Published in Rowing
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#Rowing: Shandon impressed in the second set of finals at the Skibbereen Regatta at the National Rowing Centre. Their senior composite quadruple, with Athlone’s Patrick Munnelly, won the Division One A Final, holding off a Shandon junior quad. Lee won the women’s Division One quad. NUIG were well on top in the men’s coxed four, but the women’s race was a battle to the line, with Commercial just holding off UCD.   

Skibbereen Regatta, National Rowing Centre, Cork, Saturday (selected results)

 Men

Eight – Division Two – A Final: 1 Trinity A (novice) 6:18.4; 2 UCC (club two) 6:22.0; 4 Cork (jun 18B) 6:30.7. B Final: Shandon (jun 16) 6:33.9.

Four – Division One (coxed) – A Final: 1 NUIG (sen) 6:52.4, 2 Queen’s (club one) 6:56.1, 3 Trinity (club one) 6:56.9; 5 St Joseph’s A (jun 18A) 7:02.2. B Final: 1 UCC (inter) 6:58.4.

 Pair – Division One – A Final: 1 Trinity (sen) 6:56.8, 2 Commercial A (sen) 7:00.0, 3 Commercial C (sen) 7:01.2; 5 UCC (inter) 7:11.3. B Final: 1 Trinity A (sen) 7:12.4; 4 Queen’s (club one) 7:27.1.

Sculling,

Quadruple – Division One – A Final: 1 Shandon/Athlone (sen)

6:15.0, 2 Shandon (jun 18A) 6:16.1, 3 Commercial (jun 18A) 6:22.7. B Final: 1 Skibbereen (inter) 6:39.5; 2 Queen’s (club one) 6:46.1.

 Double – Div Two – A Final: 1 Carlow (jun 18B) 7:04.6; 2 Skibbereen (club two) 7:11.9. B Final: 2 Waterford (jun 16) 7:26.1.

 Single – Div One – A Final: 1 Queen’s (P Doyle, sen) 7:18.2, 2 Clonmel (D Lynch; jun 18A) 7:18.5, 3 Queen’s (C Beck; lwt) 7:24.3; 4 Skibbereen (F McCarthy; inter) 7:26.4. B Final: 1 Garda (D Kelly; sen) 7:32.8; 5 UCC (D Synott; club one) 7:46.2. C Final: Portadown (S McKeown; sen) 7:25.0

 Women

Eight – Div Two – A Final: 1 UCD (club two) 7:02.8; 3 Shandon (jun 18B); 5 Col Iognaid (jun 16). B Final: 4 Trinity A (nov) 7:44.2. Four – Division One (coxed) – A Final: Commercial (inter) 7:36.9, 2 UCD (sen) 7:37.5, 3 St Michael’s (inter) 7:46.8; 4 Queen’s (club one) 7:55.8. B Final: 1 NUIG (club one) 7:44.3.

Pair – Div One – A Final: 1 Cork (jun 18A) 7:55.47, 2 UCC (inter) 8:08.1, 3 Queen’s (inter) 8:14.8; 4 Trinity (club one) 8:21.6.

Sculling,

Quadruple – Division One – A Final: 1 Lee (jun 18A) 7:20.4, 2 Skibbereen (jun 18A) 7:25.1, 3 Fermoy (club one) 7:27.3; 4 UCC (inter) 7:30.2, 5 Belfast BC, Queen’s, Fermoy (sen) 7:30.9. B Final: Commercial (jun 18A) 7:47.6. Div Two – A Final: 1 Cork A (jun 18B) 7:46.4; 2 Workman’s (jun 16) 7:49.0; 6 St Michael’s (club two) 8:15.6. C Final: 5 Univ of Limerick (nov) 8:56.2.

Double – Div Two – A Final: 1 Carlow (club two) 8:02.4; 2 Carlow (jun 18B) 8:08.6; 3 Workman’s (jun 16) 8:11.0.

 Single – Div One – A Final: 1 Killorglin (M Dukarska; sen) 7:55.4, 2 Skibbereen (D Walsh; sen) 7:58.9, 3 Skibbereen (S Dolan; sen) 8:05.8; 4 Skibbereen (E Hegarty; jun 18A) 8:12.6, 5 UCD (A Crowley; inter) 8:20.4. B Final: 1 Skibbereen (O Hayes; lightweight) 8:27.7; 4 Belfast BC (O Blundell; club one) 8:32.8. C Final: 1 Garda (B Larsen; inter) 8:36.81. 

Published in Rowing

Over 140 secondary school students and 18 volunteers from Galway City attended the first Connacht #Blitzit2016 Challenge which took place at NUI Galway. The challenge, a curriculum within the Get Going, Get Rowing programme, saw students competing in a series of physical challenges, culminating in an indoor rowing challenge covering a total of 90,000m to symbolise the distance from Galway to Rio. 

The Get Going, Get Rowing programme in Connacht gives secondary school pupils the opportunity to actively engage with a new sport on NUI Galway’s campus or within the students’ own schools. The programme is run by Rowing Ireland who received funding from The Irish Sports Council (ISC) Women in Sport initiative in 2014. In November 2014, Rowing Ireland joined forces with NUI Galway to to jointly fund the Get Going, Get Rowing programme in Connacht.

Mike Heskin, recently appointed Director of Sport and Physical Activity at NUI Galway, said: “NUI Galway, as one of the major rowing universities in Ireland, is delighted to be involved with Rowing Ireland in this very exciting project. As 2016 will be a very exciting year for rowing, with Ireland being represented by two crews in Rio, I hope events such as this will inspire those taking part to have aspirations to be the best they can be and possibly compete in an Olympic Games in the future. ”

The NUI Galway Schools’ Challenge commenced with a flurry of activity where groups of 25 students in five separate groups rotated from one activity to the next at high speed. They finished the challenge by completing 40 minutes of racing on indoor rowing machines. This was then followed by a series of talks on nutrition, mindful movements and the positive effects of physical activity on academic results. 

The Get Going, Get Rowing programme also offers schools a training course, TrY rowing, to Transition Year students and provides coaching sessions in these schools upon completion of the course. To date, over 50 TrY students have become coaches and the programme provided indoor rowing machines (ergometers) to schools who have completed the TrY rowing and who have fully engaged with the programme.

Published in Rowing

# Sam McKeown of Portadown set a time of six minutes 4.7 seconds, the fastest at the Ulster Indoor Championships at Queen’s University, and a personal best for the under-23 competitor. In Limerick, Richard O’Hagan won the open and 500 metres categories at the Irish Provinces Indoor Championships, with times of 6:09.4 and 1:19.6. NUIG had a good day, and Liam Keane (also under-23) was the fastest lightweight.

 Junior 18 competitor Ronan Byrne of Shandon set a new record for the 2,000 metres of 6:16.9, while fellow junior Eoghan Walls-Tuite set an excellent time of one minute 22.3 seconds for 500 metres.

 Monika Dukarska of Killorglin was the fastest woman, and Siobhán McCrohan the fastest lightweight woman.

Irish Provinces Indoor Rowing Championships, University of Limerick (Selected Results; 2000 metres unless stated)

Men

Open – 1 R O’Hagan 6:09.4, 2 F Crowley 6:24.9, 3 A Prendergast 6:25.5. 30-39: G Conway 6:19.7. Open 500: R O’Hagan 1:19.6.

Under-23: A Kinneen 6:20.2. Junior 18: R Byrne 6:16.9, 500: E Walls-Tuite 1:22.3.

Jun 16: J Keating 6:33.8, 500: J McCarthy 1:29.8.

Jun 15 (1,000): R MacCurtain 3:23.6.

Freshers (1,000); G Barlow 3:05.2.

40-49: N Carey 6:24.3, 500: Carey 1:23.9. 50-59: O Short 6:46.9, 500: Short 1:29.4. 60-69: P Victory 6:57.6, 500 (60+): P Victory 1:32.6.

Lightweight – Open: D O’Connor 6:33.5, 500: L Keane 1:28.9.

Lightweight Under-23: L Keane 6:25.0, 500: Keane 1:28.9. Lightweight 40-49: J Doyle 6:29.1.  

Women

Open – 1 M Dukarska 7:02.7, 2 A O’Sullivan 7:19.0, 3 M Piggott 7:34.7. 500: M Dukarska 1:33.6.

Under-23: S Bounane 7:18.7. Junior 18: M Cremin 7:23.3.

500: M Cremin 1:38.8.

 Jun 16: A O’Farrell 7:32.7, 500: L Turner 1:44.1.

Jun 15: (1,000): A Doyle 3:50.6, 500: J Crowley 1:41.1

Freshers (1,000): B Chase 3:43.2.

30-39: S Kennelly 7:24.9. 40-49: P O’Brien 7:51.8, 500: R Ware 1:43.3. 50-59: M Lawlor 8:11.2, 500: Lawlor 1:55.9.

Lightweight – Open: S McCrohan 7:14.7, 500: K Wilkie 1:44.4.

Lightweight Under-23: E McGiff 7:49.2. 

Lightweight 30-39:  C Conway 7:48.3.

LTA – S McLoughlin 3:51.1, 500: McLoughlin 1:51.0.

Ulster Indoor Rowing Championships, Queen’s University, Saturday (Selected Results, 2,000 metres unless stated). Includes BUCS: British University Championships.

Men

Open: S McKeown 6:04.7, 2 M Christie 6:25.9. BUCS Open: 1 T Oliver 6:10.6, 2 P Doyle 6:26.9, 3 R Urquart 6:34.7. BUCS Lightweight: C Beck 6:31.2.

Under-23 Lightweight: A Laivinas 6:50.3.

Under-18: D Mitchell 6:26.0. Under-16: A Christie 6:39.3. Under-15: A Graham (1,000m) 3:32.7.

BUCS Beginners (1,000): J Lobinger 3:11.4.  

Women

Open: R Maguire 7:15.4. BUCS Open: Maguire 7:15.4. BUCS Open Lightweight: R Brown 7:46.7.

Under-23: K Shirlow 7:28.3.

Under-18: F Chestnutt 7:31.0.

Under-16: L McIntyre 7:46.2. Under-15 (1,000m): A Hall 3:54.6. 30+ (1,000m): L Kerr 3:20.9.

BUCS Beginners (1,000m): A Druijff 3:45.8.  

Published in Rowing

#Rowing: Justin Ryan and Siobhan McCrohan took the lightweight single sculls titles at the Irish Rowing Championships today. The Skibbereen man and Tribesmen woman were commanding winners. McCrohan had already won the senior singles title, while Ryan was taking his second consecutive lightweight title at the National Rowing Centre. Last year he represented UCC.

Two crews won by taking early command of their races. Colm Hennessy and Ronan Byrne in the Shandon junior double and the Commercial intermediate pair of Colm Dowling and Neil Gahan gauged the tailwind well and used it to back up their good starts.

NUIG also won the women’s intermediate coxed four well, and Bann’s Hannah Scott and Katie Shirlow, added the junior pair to their junior fours crown.

Queen’s took the club coxed four, having already won the club eight. They held off UCD’s challenge in the closing stages.

Irish Rowing Championships, National Rowing Centre, Cork, Day Three (Selected results)

Men

Four – Club, coxed: 1 Queen’s 6:28.23, 2 UCD A 6:30.77, 3 NUIG A 6:36.48.

Pair – Intermediate: 1 Commercial A 6:47.94, 2 Skibbereen 6:55.20, 3 Portora 7:00.19.

Sculling, Double – Junior: 1 Shandon 6:40.27, 2 Castleconnell A 6:50.48, 3 Cork BC B 6:55.56.

Lightweight Single: 1 Skibbereen (J Ryan) 7:09.17, 2 Skibbereen (McCarthy) 7:12.63, 3 St Michael’s (D O’Connor) 7:15.40.

Women

Four – Intermediate, coxed: 1 NUIG 7:09.66, 2 Commercial 7:18.28, 3 Shannon 7:23.16.

Pair – Junior: 1 Bann 7:42.60, 2 Portora 7:47.30, 3 Lee 7:51.35.

Sculling, Single – Lightweight: 1 Tribesmen (S McCrohan) 7:46.48, 2 Commercial (Sarah Dolan) 7:50.22, 3 Skibbereen (O Hayes) 8:00.39.

Published in Rowing

#Rowing: UCC’s Andy Harrington and David O’Leary won the men’s senior pairs title at the Irish Rowing Championships this morning. The young crew flew away from their opponents in the third quarter and won well from NUIG.

Trinity had a fine win in the men’s intermediate eights, finishing well under pressure from UCD, while Portora’s win in the men’s junior coxed four was even closer. They were caught by St Joseph’s of Galway coming up to the line, but pushed again and won – by .16 of a second.

The women’s races were won by clearer margins. Dervla Forde took the junior single sculls, Skibbereen’s Orla Hayes and Aoife Casey the intermediate double and Commercial the novice eights, all in impressive fashion.

Cathal Merz also led down the course to win the men’s club single sculls.

Irish Rowing Championships, National Rowing Centre, Cork (Day Two, Selected Results)

Men

Eight – Intermediate: 1 Trinity 5:46.51, 2 UCD A 5:49.27, 3 Queen’s 6:08.61.

Four – Junior, coxed: 1 Portora 6:36.84, 2 St Joseph’s 6:37.0, 3 Athlunkard 6:45.18.

Pair – Senior: 1 UCC 7:03.18, 2 NUIG 7:10.16, 3 Carlow 7:12.51.

Sculling, Single – Club: 1 Shandon (C Merz) 7:42.94, 2 Clonmel (D Lynch) 7:44.96, 3 Lee (D Larkin) 7:45.94.

Women

Eight – Novice: 1 Commercial 6:59.55, 2 Queen’s 7:13.67, 3 Trinity 7:13.67.

Sculling, Double – Intermediate: 1 Skibbereen 7:36.62, 2 St Michael’s 7:45.87, 3 Belfast BC 7:48.80.

Single – Junior: 1 Cork (D Forde) 8:07.98, 2 Skibbereen (E Hegarty) 8:18.01, 3 Offaly (A Mooney) 8:21.91.

Published in Rowing

#Rowing: NUIG/Grainne Mhaol won the men’s senior four on the first day of the Irish Rowing Championships today. Alan Martin’s crew overtook long-time leaders Commercial and beat them by over two seconds at the National Rowing Centre. It was Martin’s 10th senior fours crown and his 21st championship.

John Keohane roared with relief after taking his fourth consecutive senior single sculls championship. He was tested coming up to the finish by Erik Rowan, but had built up a big lead and was able to win by over a second. Old Collegians won the men’s senior double by a big margin.

The women’s senior four went to Trinity and the senior pair to UCC. The men’s junior eight saw Portora tested by St Joseph’s of Galway, but the Enniskillen club prevailed. Patrick Munnelly of Athlone won the junior single.

Bann’s crew of Rebecca Meenagh, Erin Barry, Hannah Scott and Katie Shirlow won the women’s junior four by .36 of a second from fast-finishing Skibbereen.

Irish Rowing Championships, National Rowing Centre, Cork (Selected Results)

Men

Eight – Club: 1 Queen’s 6:03.62, 2 Cork BC 6:03.93, 3 UCD 6:08.53. Junior: 1 Portora 6:00.69, 2 St Joseph’s 6:03.82, 3 Bann 6:13.00.

Four – Senior: 1 NUIG/Grainne Mhaol 6:11.63, 2 Commercial 6:13.97, 3 UCC 6:21.35. Inter, coxed: 1 NUIG 6:41.64, 2 St Michael’s 6:44.03, 3 UCD 6:49.83.

Sculling, Quadruple – Novice, coxed: Commercial 7:38.90.

Double – Senior: 1 Old Collegians 6:59.99, 2 Garda 7:12.07, 3 St Michael’s 7:48.13.

Single – Senior: 1 Lee Valley (J Keohane) 7:15.02, 2 Skibbereen (E Rowan) 7:16.08, 3 Skibbereen (J Ryan) 7:18.78. Junior: 1 Athone (P Munnelly) 7:32.18, 2 Shandon (R Byrne) 7:34.19, 3 Bann (D Mitchell) 7:36.09.

Women

Eight – Intermediate: 1 UCD 6:40.99, 2 NUIG 6:55.31, 3 Garda 7:00.87.

Four – Senior: 1 Trinity 7:13.81, 2 UCC/Cork BC 7:17.54, 3 Skibbereen 7:45.50. Club, coxed: 1 NUIG 7:27.35, 2 Cork BC 7:37.45, 3 Queen’s A 7:43.13. Junior: 1 Bann 7:05.57, 2 Skibbereen 7:05.93, 3 St Michael’s 6:21.65.

Pair – Senior: 1 UCC 7:37.44, 2 Trinity 7:48.40, 3 Shannon A 7:52.21. Inter: 1 Shannon 8:00.04, 2 Cork BC 8:10.49, 3 UCC 8:12.14.

Sculling, Quadruple – Novice, coxed: 1 Fermoy 7:48.72, 2 NUIG 8:05.59, 3 Castleconnell 8:14.48.

Double – Junior: 1 Skibbereen 7:37.95, 2 Bann 7:44.66, 3 Lee A 7:51.45.

Published in Rowing

#ROWING: The Afloat Rowers of the Month for June are Trinity’s men’s senior eight. The Dublin University Boat Club crew had a convincing win in the Division One final at Cork Regatta, outpacing UCD and NUIG/Gráinne Mhaol. They crew took the Leander trophy, one of the most impressive prizes on offer in Irish sport. Well done to: Gearóid Mahon, Ian Hurley, John Magan, Michael Corcoran, Patrick Moreau, Mark Kelly, Liam Hawkes, David Butler and cox Cian Flynn.

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: Trinity won the men’s eights impressively at the Cork Regatta at the National Rowing Centre today. The college crew took an early lead and extended it to a length at 500 metres. The chasing UCD and NUIG/Grainne Mhaol crews looked never likely to catch Trinity from that point on. The winning margin was over five seconds, with UCD taking second. NUIG’s intermediate crew won the women’s eights by an even bigger margin of over seven seconds from Skibbereen’s junior 18A eight.

Cork Regatta, National Rowing Centre (Selected Results)

Sunday

Men

Eight – Div One – A Final: 1 Trinity (senior) 5:40.667, 2 UCD (intermediate) 5:45.957, 3 NUIG/Grainne Mhaol 5:46.533; 4 Queen’s (Club One) 5:54.94; 5 St Joseph’s (jun 18A) 6:02.257. B Final: UCD (Club One) 6:01.593. C Final: Trinity (Club One) 6:28.997.

Four – Div One – A Final: 1 NUIG/Grainne Mhaol (sen) 6:07.807, 2 UCC A 6:10.83, 3 Carlow (sen) 6:15.543. Four, coxed – Div Two – A Final: Skibbereen (Club Two) 6:43.837. B Final: Trinity (Club Two) 7:04.517; 3 Col Iognaid (jun 16) 7:06.357.

Sculling

Quadruple – Div Two – A Final: Cork (jun 16) 6:45.45; 6 Lee (Club Two) 7:03.56. B Final: Workmans (jun 16) 6:59.8; 4 Workman’s (jun 18B) 7:06.817. C Final: Carlow (jun 16) 7:05.697.

Double – Div One – A Final: 1 Old Collegians (D Neale, S Jacob; sen) 6:29.50, 2 Portadown/Skibbereen (sen) 6:34.43, 3 Shandon (jun 18A) 6:44.873. B Final: Waterford (inter) 6:46.473. C Final: Lee (inter) 6:48.227; 4 Methody (Club One) 7:10.627.

Single – Div Two – A Final: Belfast BC (A Murray; jun 18B) 7:35.483, 2 Cappoquin (Aherne; club two) 7:5.052; 4 Lee (Jackson, jun 16) 7:49.427. B Final: Clonmel (Dundon; jun 16) 7:49.347. C Final: St Michael’s (O’Byrne; jun 16) 7:48.40.

Women

Eight – Div One – A Final: 1 NUIG (inter) 6:43.177, 2 Skibbereen (jun 18A) 6:50.87, Commercial (inter) 6:57.593. Four – Div One – A Final: 1 Skibbereen (jun 18A) 7:08.330, 2 Shannon (sen) 7:12.137, 3 Skibbereen (sen) 7:27.62. Div Two, coxed – A Final: Queen’s A (Club Two) 7:27.26; 6 St Michael’s (jun 16) 8:32.17.

Sculling

Double – Div One – A Final: 1 Skibbereen (A Casey, E Hegarty; jun 18A) 7:28.957, 2 Lee (jun 18A) 7:33.43, 3 St Michael’s (inter) 7:43.430. B Final: Belfast BC A (inter) 7:39.570.

Single – Div Two – A Final: Lee (Cremin; Club Two) 8:16.437; Workman’s (Burns; jun 16) 8:32.55; 6 Shandon (jun 18B) 8:59.37. B Final: Cork (jun 16) 8:52.337. C Final: Lee Valley (jun 16) 8:56.26.

Published in Rowing

#ROWING: UCC gave them a good race, but NUIG/Grainne Mhaol moved away in the closing stages to prove themselves the top men’s four at Cork Regatta. The experience of Sean Jacob and Dave Neale also told in the men’s double scull, with the Ireland under-23 double of Sam McKeown and Andrew Griffin had to give way to the Old Collegians men. The women’s four and double went to young Skibbereen crews: Aoife Casey and Emily Hegarty, who are both 16, were part of the winning four and then switched into the double and won again.

Cork Regatta, National Rowing Centre (Selected Results)

Sunday

Men

Four – Div One – A Final: 1 NUIG/Grainne Mhaol (sen) 6:07.807, 2 UCC A 6:10.83, 3 Carlow (sen) 6:15.543. Four, coxed – Div Two – A Final: Skibbereen (Club Two) 6:43.837. B Final: Trinity (Club Two) 7:04.517; 3 Col Iognaid (jun 16) 7:06.357.

Sculling

Double – Div One – A Final: 1 Old Collegians (D Neale, S Jacob; sen) 6:29.50, 2 Portadown/Skibbereen (sen) 6:34.43, 3 Shandon (jun 18A) 6:44.873. B Final: Waterford (inter) 6:46.473. C Final: Lee (inter) 6:48.227; 4 Methody (Club One) 7:10.627.

Single – Div Two – A Final: Belfast BC (A Murray; jun 18B) 7:35.483, 2 Cappoquin (Aherne; club two) 7:5.052; 4 Lee (Jackson, jun 16) 7:49.427. B Final: Clonmel (Dundon; jun 16) 7:49.347. C Final: St Michael’s (O’Byrne; jun 16) 7:48.40.

Women

Four – Div One – A Final: 1 Skibbereen (jun 18A) 7:08.330, 2 Shannon (sen) 7:12.137, 3 Skibbereen (sen) 7:27.62.

Sculling

Double – Div One – A Final: 1 Skibbereen (A Casey, E Hegarty; jun 18A) 7:28.957, 2 Lee (jun 18A) 7:33.43, 3 St Michael’s (inter) 7:43.430. B Final: Belfast BC A (inter) 7:39.570.

Published in Rowing
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About The Middle Sea Race

The Rolex Middle Sea Race is a highly rated offshore classic, often mentioned in the same breath as the Rolex Fastnet, The Rolex Sydney–Hobart and Newport-Bermuda as a 'must do' race. The Royal Malta Yacht Club and the Royal Ocean Racing Club co-founded the race in 1968 and 2007 was the 28th Edition. Save for a break between 1984 and 1995 the event has been run annually attracting 25–30 yachts. In recent years, the number of entries has rissen sharply to 68 boats thanks to a new Organising Committee who managed to bring Rolex on board as title sponsor for the Middle Sea Race.

The race is a true challenge to skippers and crews who have to be at their very best to cope with the often changeable and demanding conditions. Equally, the race is blessed with unsurpassed scenery with its course, taking competitors close to a number of islands, which form marks of the course. Ted Turner described the MSR as "the most beautiful race course in the world".

Apart from Turner, famous competitors have included Eric Tabarly, Cino Ricci, Herbert von Karajan, Jim Dolan, Sir Chay Blyth and Sir Francis Chichester (fresh from his round the world adventure). High profile boats from the world's top designers take part, most in pursuit of line honours and the record – competing yachts include the extreme Open 60s, Riviera di Rimini and Shining; the maxis, Mistress Quickly, Zephyrus IV and Sagamore; and the pocket rockets such as the 41-foot J-125 Strait Dealer and the DK46, Fidessa Fastwave.

In 2006, Mike Sanderson and Seb Josse on board ABN Amro, winner of the Volvo Ocean Race, the super Maxis; Alfa Romeo and Maximus and the 2006 Rolex Middle Sea Race overall winner, Hasso Platner on board his MaxZ86, Morning Glory.

George David on board Rambler (ex-Alfa Romeo) managed a new course record in 2007 and in 2008, Thierry Bouchard on Spirit of Ad Hoc won the Rolex Middle Sea Race on board a Beneteau 40.7

The largest number of entries was 78 established in 2008.

Middle Sea Race History

IN THE BEGINNING

The Middle Sea Race was conceived as the result of sporting rivalry between great friends, Paul and John Ripard and an Englishman residing in Malta called Jimmy White, all members of the Royal Malta Yacht Club. In the early fifties, it was mainly British servicemen stationed in Malta who competitively raced. Even the boats had a military connection, since they were old German training boats captured by the British during the war. At the time, the RMYC only had a few Maltese members, amongst who were Paul and John Ripard.

So it was in the early sixties that Paul and Jimmy, together with a mutual friend, Alan Green (later to become the Race Director of the Royal Ocean Racing Club), set out to map a course designed to offer an exciting race in different conditions to those prevailing in Maltese coastal waters. They also decided the course would be slightly longer than the RORC's longest race, the Fastnet. The resulting course is the same as used today.

Ted Turner, CEO of Turner Communications (CNN) has written that the Middle Sea Race "must be the most beautiful race course in the world. What other event has an active volcano as a mark of the course?"

In all of its editions since it was first run in 1968 – won by Paul Ripard's brother John, the Rolex Middle Sea Race has attracted many prestigious names in yachting. Some of these have gone on to greater things in life and have actually left their imprint on the world at large. Amongst these one finds the late Raul Gardini who won line honours in 1979 on Rumegal, and who spearheaded the 1992 Italian Challenge for the America's Cup with Moro di Venezia.

Another former line honours winner (1971) who has passed away since was Frenchman Eric Tabarly winner of round the world and transatlantic races on Penduik. Before his death, he was in Malta again for the novel Around Europe Open UAP Race involving monohulls, catamarans and trimarans. The guest list for the Middle Sea Race has included VIP's of the likes of Sir Francis Chichester, who in 1966 was the first man to sail around the world single-handedly, making only one stop.

The list of top yachting names includes many Italians. It is, after all a premier race around their largest island. These include Navy Admiral Tino Straulino, Olympic gold medallist in the star class and Cino Ricci, well known yachting TV commentator. And it is also an Italian who in 1999 finally beat the course record set by Mistress Quickly in 1978. Top racing skipper Andrea Scarabelli beat it so resoundingly, he knocked off over six hours from the time that had stood unbeaten for 20 years.

World famous round the world race winners with a Middle Sea Race connection include yachting journalist Sir Robin Knox-Johnston and Les Williams, both from the UK.

The Maxi Class has long had a long and loving relationship with the Middle Sea Race. Right from the early days personalities such as Germany's Herbert Von Karajan, famous orchestra conductor and artistic director of the Berliner Philarmoniker, competing with his maxi Helisara IV. Later came Marvin Greene Jr, CEO of Reeves Communications Corporation and owner of the well known Nirvana (line honours in 1982) and Jim Dolan, CEO of Cablevision, whose Sagamore was back in 1999 to try and emulate the line honours she won in 1997.

THE COURSE RECORD

The course record was held by the San Francisco based, Robert McNeil on board his Maxi Turbo Sled Zephyrus IV when in 2000, he smashed the Course record which now stands at 64 hrs 49 mins 57 secs. Zephyrus IV is a Rechiel-Pugh design. In recent years, various maxis such as Alfa Romeo, Nokia, Maximus and Morning Glory have all tried to break this course record, but the wind Gods have never played along. Even the VOR winner, ABN AMro tried, but all failed in 2006.

However, George David came along on board Rambler in 2007 and demolished the course record established by Zephyrus IV in 2000. This now stands at 1 day, 23 hours, 55 minutes and 3 seconds.

At A Glance - Middle Sea Race 2024

First held: 1968

Organising Authority: Royal Malta Yacht Club

Start

The 45th Rolex Middle Sea Race will start on Saturday, 19 October 2024.

Grand Harbour, Valletta: seven separate starts, at 10-minute intervals, from 11:00 CEST Saturday, 21 October 2024

Start Line: between the Saluting Battery, Upper Barrakka Gardens (Valletta) and Fort St Angelo (Birgu)

Various vantage points all around the Grand Harbour, high up on the bastions or at water level. Harbour access for spectator boats is restricted during the period of the start.

Course

Set in the heart of the Mediterranean and is considered one of the most beautiful in the world. It starts and finishes in Malta, passes two active volcanoes and takes in the deep azure waters surrounding Sicily, and the Aeolian and Egadi Islands, as well as lonelier outposts of Pantelleria and Lampedusa, both closer to the African continent than Europe.

Length: 606 nautical miles (1,122km)

Outright Race Record: 33h 29m 28s, Argo, United States, Jason Carroll

Monohull Race Record: 40h 17m 50s, Comanche, Cayman Is, Mitch Booth

Main Trophies

Rolex Middle Sea Race Trophy – overall race winner under IRC Time Correction

Boccale de Mediterraneo – winner of ORC category

RLR Trophy – winner of monohull line honours

Captain Morgan Trophy – winner of multihull division on corrected time (MOCRA)

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