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Displaying items by tag: Frances Thornton Memorial Galway Bay Swim

The Frances Thornton Memorial Galway Bay Swim in aid of Cancer Care West returns to the waters of Galway Bay this July.

Now in its 14th year, the now sold-out event on Saturday 20 July will see close to 130 swimmers taking part this year in one of Ireland's biggest and longest one-day swims.

Starting from Aughinish in Co Clare and finishing at Blackrock diving tower in Salthill, where the recent swim ban has just been lifted, the swim is a distance of roughly 13 kilometres — if you swim in a straight line.

This year there will be 69 solo swimmers as well as 65 relay swimmers taking part in teams of two, three and four.

Since the swim began 14 years ago, 740 people have swam the bay and this year again it will be a mixture of swimmers who have completed the swim every year and complete novices.

Last year’s swim raised over €100,000 for Cancer Care West and it’s hoped to beat that target this year.

The monies raised will help fund the expansion of support services for cancer patients, including a counselling service for children and a dedicated gym rehabilitation space for cancer patients.

Safety is a priority for the swim, and each year the event reaches out to the maritime community in the west to support the swim through boat support.

Ciaran Oliver of Galway Bay Boat Tours and Oranmore Maree Coastal Rescue are helping out again this year.

Each swimmer needs a boat to follow and track their swim, so organisers are again this year asking any boat owner to get in contact with the hope they can volunteer their services on the day.

The most suitable boat is a 5m RIB with a 50HP engine or equivalent.

“Ideally we are looking for motor boats, pleasure crafts between five and seven metres, however we are urging people to get in touch and we can then pull together resources from what we have and ensure that this swim is again a safety success,” Ciaran Oliver said.

The Frances Thornton Memorial Galway Bay Swim will take place on Saturday 20 July. Spectators are invited to go down to Blackrock diving tower in Salthill to welcome the swimmers home from noon.

To volunteer or for more details visit the official website and Facebook page, or contact Dave O’Donnell on 087 908 8587.

Published in Sea Swim
The Irish Times reports that a Dubliner has become the first woman to swim across Galway Bay twice.
Sorcha Barry, who works as a physiotherapist, completed the gruelling 26km swim last weekend as part of the annual Frances Thornton Memorial Galway Bay Swim in aid of Cancer Care West.
Barry was joined in her effort by Kevin Thornton, son of the late Frances Thornton, with the duo completing the swim in 5 hours, 41 minutes.
The Dubliner is currently in training to cross the English Channel next month.
The Irish Times has more on the story HERE.

The Irish Times reports that a Dubliner has become the first woman to swim across Galway Bay twice.

Sorcha Barry, who works as a physiotherapist, completed the gruelling 26km swim last weekend as part of the annual Frances Thornton Memorial Galway Bay Swim in aid of Cancer Care West.

Barry was joined in her effort by Kevin Thornton, son of the late Frances Thornton, with the duo completing the swim in 5 hours, 41 minutes.

The Dubliner is currently in training to cross the English Channel next month.

The Irish Times has more on the story HERE.

Published in Galway Harbour
The Westmeath Independent reports that Athlone man Jim O'Connor is preparing to swim 13km across Galway Bay for charity.
Jim will join 25 other brave swimmers on Sunday 20 August in the Frances Thornton Memorial Galway Bay Swim in aid of Cancer Care West, which is now in its sixth year.
The swim route runs from Auginish in Clare to the Blackrock Diving Tower in Salthill - and Jim is already swimming up to 30km each week at his local pool to ready himself for the challenge.
He is also halfway towards his fundraising target of €1,000 - to which readers can contribute at MyCharity.ie.
The Westmeath Independent has more on the story HERE.

The Westmeath Independent reports that Athlone man Jim O'Connor is preparing to swim 13km across Galway Bay for charity.

Jim will join 25 other brave swimmers on Sunday 20 August in the Frances Thornton Memorial Galway Bay Swim in aid of Cancer Care West, which is now in its sixth year.

The swim route runs from Auginish in Clare to the Blackrock Diving Tower in Salthill - and Jim is already swimming up to 30km each week at his local pool to ready himself for the challenge.

He is also halfway towards his fundraising target of €1,000 - to which readers can contribute at MyCharity.ie.

The Westmeath Independent has more on the story HERE.

Published in Galway Harbour

The Sydney Hobart Yacht Race

The Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race is an annual offshore yacht racing event with an increasingly international exposure attracting super maxi yachts and entries from around tne world. It is hosted by the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia, starting in Sydney, New South Wales on Boxing Day and finishing in Hobart, Tasmania. The race distance is approximately 630 nautical miles (1,170 km).

The 2022 Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race starts in Sydney Harbour at 1pm (AEDT) on Monday 26 December.

This is the 77th edition of the Rolex Sydney Hobart. The inaugural race was conducted in 1945 and has run every year since, apart from 2020, which was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

88 boats started the 2021 Rolex Sydney Hobart, with 50 finishing.

The Sydney Hobart Yacht Race - FAQs

The number of Sydney Hobart Yacht Races held by the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia since 1945 is 75

6,257 completed the Sydney Hobart Yacht race, 1036 retired or were disqualified)

About 60,061 sailors have competed in the Sydney Hobart Race between 1945 and 2019

Largest fleets: 371 starters in the 50th race in 1994 (309 finished); 154 starters in 1987 (146 finished); 179 starters in 1985 (145 finished); 151 starters in 1984 (46 finished); 173 started in 1983 (128 finished); 159 started in 1981 (143 finished); 147 started in 1979 (142 finished); 157 started in 2019 (154 finished)

116 in 2004 (59 finished); 117 in 2014 (103 finished); 157 in 2019 (154 finished)

Nine starters in the inaugural Sydney Hobart Yacht Race in 1945

In 2015 and 2017 there were 27, including the 12 Clipper yachts (11 in 2017). In the record entry of 371 yachts in the 50th in 1994, there were 24 internationals

Rani, Captain John Illingworth RN (UK). Design: Barber 35’ cutter. Line and handicap winner

157 starters, 154 finishers (3 retirements)

IRC Overall: Ichi Ban, a TP52 owned by Matt Allen, NSW. Last year’s line honours winner: Comanche, Verdier Yacht Design and VPLP (FRA) owned by Jim Cooney and Samantha Grant, in 1 day 18 hours, 30 minutes, 24 seconds. Just 1hour 58min 32secs separated the five super maxis at the finish 

1 day 9 hours 15 minutes and 24 seconds, set in 2017 by LDV Comanche after Wild Oats XI was penalised one hour in port/starboard incident for a finish time of 1d 9h 48m 50s

The oldest ever sailor was Syd Fischer (88 years, 2015).

As a baby, Raud O'Brien did his first of some six Sydney Hobarts on his parent's Wraith of Odin (sic). As a veteran at three, Raud broke his arm when he fell off the companionway steps whilst feeding biscuits to the crew on watch Sophie Tasker sailed the 1978 race as a four-year-old on her father’s yacht Siska, which was not an official starter due to not meeting requirements of the CYCA. Sophie raced to Hobart in 1979, 1982 and 1983.

Quite a number of teenage boys and girls have sailed with their fathers and mothers, including Tasmanian Ken Gourlay’s 14-year-old son who sailed on Kismet in 1957. A 12-year-old boy, Travis Foley, sailed in the fatal 1998 race aboard Aspect Computing, which won PHS overall.

In 1978, the Brooker family sailed aboard their yacht Touchwood – parents Doug and Val and their children, Peter (13), Jacqueline (10), Kathryne (8) and Donald (6). Since 1999, the CYCA has set an age limit of 18 for competitors

Jane (‘Jenny’) Tate, from Hobart, sailed with her husband Horrie aboard Active in the 1946 Race, as did Dagmar O’Brien with her husband, Dr Brian (‘Mick’) O’Brien aboard Connella. Unfortunately, Connella was forced to retire in Bass Strait, but Active made it to the finish. The Jane Tate Memorial Trophy is presented each year to the first female skipper to finish the race

In 2019, Bill Barry-Cotter brought Katwinchar, built in 1904, back to the start line. She had competed with a previous owner in 1951. It is believed she is the oldest yacht to compete. According to CYCA life member and historian Alan Campbell, more than 31 yachts built before 1938 have competed in the race, including line honours winners Morna/Kurrewa IV (the same boat, renamed) and Astor, which were built in the 1920s.

Bruce Farr/Farr Yacht Design (NZL/USA) – can claim 20 overall wins from 1976 (with Piccolo) up to and including 2015 (with Balance)

Screw Loose (1979) – LOA 9.2m (30ft); Zeus II (1981) LOA 9.2m

TKlinger, NSW (1978) – LOA 8.23m (27ft)

Wild Oats XI (2012) – LOA 30.48m (100ft). Wild Oats XI had previously held the record in 2005 when she was 30m (98ft)

©Afloat 2020