Displaying items by tag: Robbie Gilmore

7th April 2013

Gilmore Ousts Lynch for Laser Radial Title on Derg

#youthsailing – Robbie Gilmore showed the depth of his talent to win Gold at the Laser Radial Youth National Championships on Lough Derg this afternoon. It was one of five Irish youth sailing titles decided at the inland venue.

Gilmore from Strangford Lough reigned supreme in Tipperary throughout the four day, 11 race regatta to beat last year's champion Finn Lynch in the 44 boat fleet.

Leading from start to finish the Ulster man deservedly won the single-handed title even though with two races to sail today and only five points separating Gilmore and ISAF silver medallist Finn Lynch nerves were running high.

The fleet launched for the 11am start and immediately the two sailors entered in to a duel.

It was overall bronze medallist Fionn Lyden who won the first race but Gilmore came in second followed by Lynch in third which only served to widen the points buffer between them. 12 months of preparation and all that stood in Gilmore's way was one final race. If he could remain close to Lynch on the water he'd win but he did better than that. Robbie Gilmore took the gold medal with style winning the 11th and final race, giving him his fourth bullet of the regatta and a seven point overall lead on Finn Lynch.

And it was another Northern Irish sailor, Sarah Eames from Ballyholme, who took home the gold in the girl's category.

The 420 double-handed class had proved to be highly competitive over the course of the championship. Four teams, two from Dublin and two from Cork, were clear leaders from the outset but which pair would take the overall title was unclear. 11 intense races and plenty of drama only added to the suspense. But ultimately a fourth and a first in today's races secured the win for Robert Dickson and Sean Waddilove from Howth. The pair finished 12 points clear of Peter McCann and Arran Walsh and 13 points ahead of bronze medallists Adam Hyland and Bill Staunton from Dun Laoghaire. First in the girl's category were Cork duo Cliodhna Ni Shuilleabhain and Jill McGinley.

Nicole Hemeryck cemented her success in the Topper class today during two final races. The Dun Laoghaire sailor continued on her streak of posting only top results and never slipping from pole position on the leader board. After eight races, Hemeryck was crowned overall champion with a grand total of 10 points. Both silver and bronze were won by male competitors from Northern Ireland; Liam Glynn with 22 points and Tom Purdon with 28 points.

In the Laser 4.7 class Conor O'Beirne easily maintained his lead by winning both scheduled races. He secured gold with a healthy 12 point lead on Ciaran Finnegan from Waterford. Cliodhna O'Regan began the regatta with a win but couldn't quite manage to repeat the feat. Although she did position herself consistently near the top of the fleet and with a total of 32 points she takes overall bronze and also gold in the girl's category.

There was a dramatic turn of events within the Optimist Championship fleet on their third and final day of racing. Corkonian Emily Whitaker, who had been in first place for the duration, had a tenth in the penultimate race and did not complete her final race. This meant she lost her lead and took home bronze. The overall winner was Tom Higgins from Dublin while Sarah Fogarty, also from Dublin, finished second overall and won gold in the girl's category.

Published in Youth Sailing

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Irish One-Two In Men's Laser Radial At Lake Garda

#Laser - Fionn Lyden and Robbie Gilmore made it a strong one-two finish for Ireland in the men's Laser Radial at the Europa Cup Italy regatta on Lake Garda at the weekend.

September's sailor of the month Lyden is certainly starting the year in impressive style following his runaway victory at the Junior All-Ireland Nationals in his home port of Schull - though Gilmore of Strangford Lough was hot on his heels.

Meanwhile, fourth-placed finisher Finn Lynch of the National Yacht Club - who took the title in 2011 - was just pipped to third position by Poland's Marcin Rudawski.

Further down the field were Royal Cork Yacht Club's Seafra Guilfoyle (8th) and Cian Byrne (18th), and Kinsale Yacht Club's Darragh O'Sullivan (15th) and Ross O'Sullivan (58th).

Elsewhere in the standings at the EurILCA regatta, Howth Yacht Club's Aoife Hopkins finished an impressive sixth in the Laser 4.7 for the women's best result of the four days of sailing at Malcesine.

Hopkins' achievement came with strong showings by Kinsale's Cliodhna O'Regan (14th in the 4.7) and Conor O'Beirne of the Royal St George YC (19th in the men's 4.7).

Also placing in the women's 4.7 were Baltimore's Florence Lyden (33rd) and Royal Cork's Eva Donworth (52nd).

The women's Laser Radial saw placings by Kinsale's Sorcha Ni Shuilleabhain (48th), Ausling Keller of Lough Derg YC (59th) and Chloe Eggers of the Royal St George (85th).

In the men's 4.7, Conor O'Farrell of Carlingford Lough placed 49th while Jack Higgins of the Royal St George was 107th.

In the Standard class, Colin Leonard of Ballyholme Yacht Club finished 37th while Alan Ruigrok of Rush Sailing Club was 48th.

And completing the Irish results in the men's Laser Radial were the Royal Cork's Patrick Crosbie (61st), Dermot Lyden (100th) and Mark Bolger (109th); Kinsale's Dara O'Shea (62nd) and Andrew Levie (126th); Tralee Bay's Tadhg O Loingsigh (75th); Dougie Power of Waterford Harbour Sailing Club (98th); and the Royal St George's Nathaniel Gillet (136th) and Conor Foley (155th).

The complete rankings from the Europa Cup Italy regatta are available HERE.

Published in Laser

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Dun Laoghaire Hosts Lose Out as Five National Youth Titles Awarded

Royal Cork Yacht Club sailors have lifted two national titles at the 2011 Mitsubishi National Youth Sailing Championships this afternoon in a series cut short today by gale force winds on Dublin Bay. SCROLL DOWN FOR THIS AFTERNOON'S PRIZEGIVING PHOTOS.

Local knowledge offered no advantage as Dun Laoghaire co-hosts the Royal St. George YC, the National Yacht Club and the Royal Irish YC won none of the five national titles inspite of strong turnouts fielded by each of the waterfront clubs.

With winds gusting up to 25-30 knots and easterly winds causing a big swell, sailing for the final day of the ISA Mitsubishi National Championships was cancelled leaving the 300 sailors ashore. However all classes had completed sufficient races to complete the series.

The event was an important test event for Dun Laoghaire organisers of the Youth Worlds which will be held in the same venue from 12 -21 July 2012.

In a show of strength from the regions the three other titles went to other east coast clubs at Howth, Ballyholme and Courtown.

Immediately after the prizegiving, (photos below) Olympic Team Manager James O'Callaghan named the Irish team for the 2011 ISAF Youth World Championships in Croatia in July based on the weekend results. Listen to the podcast with the team manager, talking about the stand out performances of the weekend, the current strength of youth sailing in Ireland and the prospect of a top finish in Croatia.

Royal Cork YC achieved two national titles with Laser 4.7 event favourite Seafra Guilfoyle winning the title having previously dominated the Optimist fleet in previous years.

Brother and sister team Patrick & Chloe Crosbie also from Royal Cork won the 420 National title and Patrick was awarded the Training Grant for the most promising sailor at the event.

This event was the national trials for the Optimist class which was won by Tralee Bay sailor Sophie Browne who will travel to New Zealand in December to compete in the Optimist World Championships.

Irish optimist sailors are performing well internationally at the moment finishing fourth and fifth at the Braassemermeer Easter regatta. Other events during 2011 where there will be Irish representation include the European Championships in Portugal and the National Championships in Germany and the UK.

Top three results below. Click the links for full results class by class.

Laser Radial - full results here
National Champion: Philip Doran (Courtown Sailing Club)
2nd Robbie Gilmore (Strangford Lough YC)
3rd Eoin Keller (Lough Derg YC)
1st Girl Sophie Murphy Quoile Yacht Club

Laser 4.7 - full results here
National Champion: Seafra Guilfoyle (Royal Cork YC)
2nd Darragh O'Sullivan (Kinsale YC)
3rd Finn Lynch (NYC/Blessington SC)
1st Girl: Sian Kneafsey (National YC)

420 - full results here
National Champions: Patrick Crosbie & Chloe Crosbie (Royal Cork YC)
2nd Aodh Kennedy & Daniel Browne (Kinsale YC & Tralee Bay SC)
3rd Emma Geary & Niamh Connolly (Royal Cork YC & Baltimore SC)

Feva - full results here

National Champions: D Johnston & L Flynn Byrne (Howth YC)

2nd C Totterdell & S Craig (National YC/Royal St. George YC)

3rd C Mollard & J Harris (Howth YC)

Topper - full results here
National Champion: T Brow (Ballyholme YC)
2nd Laura Gilmore (Strangford Lough YC)
3rd Andrew Penney (East Antrim BC)

Optimist (Championship fleet)
1st Ben Walsh (Skerries SC)
2nd Ross Quirke (National YC)
3rd Colin O'Sullivan (Malahide YC)

Optimist National Trials
Sophie Browne (Tralee Bay SC) won the trials and took the option of travelling to New Zealand in December 2011 to represent Ireland at the Optimist World Championships.

The following sailors were selected by the trial process to represent Ireland at the European Championship which will be held in Portugal in July 2011: Sean Donnelly, HYC, Peter McCann RCYC, Harry Whitaker RCYC, Eoin Lyden RCYC, Jil McGinley RCYC Cliodhna Ni Shuilleabhain KYC and Megan Parker SSC

The team selected to travel to the German National Championships include Robert Dickson HYC , Daire Cournane KYC, Sean Waddilove Skerries SC, Richard Hogan HYC, Adam Hyland RSGYC, Ronan Cournane KYC, Sean Gambier Ross KYC and Fergus Flood HYC, Aoife Hopkins and Alacoque Daly Tralee Bay SC.

In addition 10 sailors were chosen for the Irish under 12 squad who will compete in the Optimist UK National Championships.

All our youth sailing news aggregated here

Prizegiving photos by Gareth Craig below. For daily on the water action: Day one photos here. Day two photos here. Day three photos here.

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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