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#ROWING: A composite men’s senior eight of Shandon Rowing Club and Presentation Brothers College, Cork were the fastest crew at the Cork Head of the River today. They outpaced two other senior eights: a Shandon/Cahir composite and Cork Boat Club. The UCC intermediate eight were the second fastest overall, clocking 12 minutes 36.6 seconds - just under seven seconds off the winning time. John Keohane of Lee Valley was the fastest single sculler on the day, and Amy Bulman recorded the fastest time for a woman. 

Cork Head of the River (Selected Results)

Men

Head One:

Eight – Senior: 1 Shandon/Presentation 12 minutes 29.7 seconds, 2 Cork BC 12:44.8, 3 Shandon/Cahir 13:29.7. Intermediate: UCC 12:36.6. Junior 18: Cork 12:55.7.

Head Two:

Sculling, Single – Senior: Lee Valley (J Keohane) 15:10.7. Inter: Lee (D O’Sullivan) 15:44.7. Jun 18: 1 Fermoy (G Morrison) 15:53.8, 2 Athlunkard (E Gallagher) 16:09, 3 Lee (H Deasy) 16:09.5. Jun 16: Lee (L Guerin) 16:35.3.

Head Three:

Four – Senior: UCC 13:58.8. Inter, coxed: Cork 14:19.4. Jun 18, coxed: Muckross 17:21.9. Jun 16, coxed: Fermoy 16.44.2.

Head Four:

Sculling, Quadruple – Inter: Shandon 14:08.7. Club Two, coxed: Clonmel 15:46.5. Jun 18: Cork 14:16. Jun 16, coxed: Cork 14:47.5.

Head Five:

Pair – Jun 18A: Cork 16:36.0.

Head Six:

Sculling, Double – Inter: Presentation, Cork 15:41.6. Club Two: Shandon 16:52.7. Novice: St Brendan’s 19:15.3. Jun 18A: Shandon 15:41.4. Jun 16: Lee 16:43.0.

Rolling Head

Eight – Intermediate: Muckross 14:22.3. Masters: Fermoy 14:16.6.

Pair – Jun 18A: Pres, Cork 17:39.9.

Sculling, Quadruple – Inter: UCC 15:59.5. Club Two, coxed: Fermoy 18:27.8. Novice, coxed: St Brendan’s 16:19.0. Jun 18A: Pres, Cork 14:32.0. Jun 16, coxed: Pres, Cork 14:36.2. Masters: Shandon 15:31.3.

Double – Jun 18: Presentation, Cork 16:05.4. Jun 16: Skibbereen 16:21.6.

Single – Senior: Clonmel (A Chadfield) 16:57.2. Jun 18: Skibbereen (K Mannix) 17:18.5. Jun 16: Skibbereen (D O’Sullivan) 18:47.5. Masters: Cahir (D Heffernan) 16:49.3.

Women

Head One:

Eight – Intermediate: UCC 15:24.3.

Sculling, Quadruple – Club Two, coxed: Lee 15:08.5. Novice, coxed: Fermoy 16:55.6. Junior 16, coxed: Cork 15:34.9.

Head Two:

Pair – Senior: Cork 16:38.2. Junior 18A: Lee 16:54.8.

Head Three:

Sculling, Double – Senior: UCC 15:45.0. Jun 18A: Cork 16:45.6. Jun 16: Lee 16:33.0.

Head Five:

Sculling, Single – Senior: 1 UCC (A Bulman) 17:57.3, 2 Cork (M O’Neill) 18:10.8. Inter: UCC 19:11.1. Novice: Lee 21:03.1. Junior 18A: Muckross 19.04.0. Jun 16: Lee Valley 19:17.8.

Rolling Head

Eight – Jun 16: Shandon 16:29.9.

Four – Masters, coxed: Clonmel 18:59.4.

Pair – Senior: UCC 17:33.3.

Sculling, Quadruple – Club Two, coxed: Fermoy 18:27.8. Jun 16, coxed: Shandon 15:57.8.

Double – Jun 18A: Clonmel 17:57.4. Jun 16: Fermoy 17:27.1.

Single – Senior: Fermoy (S Bouanane) 17:36.4. Inter: Fermoy (S Bouanane) 19:25.9. Jun 18A: Fermoy (S Cotter) 18:40.5. Jun 16: Shandon (C Minehane) 17:51.5.

Published in Rowing

#ROWING: Ireland’s Monika Dukarska and Eimear Moran had to settle for missing out on a semi-final place at the World Cup Regatta in Aiguebelette in France. The Ireland double scull was in with a chance of taking the top-three place they needed until the final third of the race. John Keohane was off the pace in his repechage of the men’s single scull.The Corkman finished fourth when a top-two place would have taken him through to the A/B semi-finals.

World Cup Regatta, Aiguebelette, France, Day One (Selected Results, Irish interest)

Men

Single Sculls – Heat One (Time Trial; First Directly to A/B Semi-Finals; rest to Repechage); 1 Cuba (A Fournier Rodriguez) 6:48.06; 2 Canada 6:55.45, 3 Finland 6:59.39, 4 United States 7:06.59, 5 Ireland (J Keohane) 7:12.69, 6 Hungary 7:17.37. Repechage One (Two to A/B Semi-Finals): 4 Keohane 7:39.38.

Lightweight Single Sculls – Heats (Time Trials; First Two Directly Through to A/B Semi-Finals; rest to Repechage) – Heat One: 1 China (Tiexin Wang) 7:02.36, 2 France (D Piqueras) 7:07.64; 5 Ireland Two (M O’Donovan) 7:20.78

Heat Three: 1 Ireland One (P O’Donovan) 7:11.34, 2 Britain (Z Lee-Green) 7:15.60.

Repechage One (First Two to A/B Semis; 3-5 to C Final): 4 Ireland Two (O’Donovan) 7:37.56.

Women

Pair – Heat Two (Time Trial; First Three to A/B Semi-Finals; rest to Repechage): 1 Canada (N Mastracci, S Grainger) 7:13.29, 2 United States Two (G Luczak, C Lind) 7:13.87, 3 Ireland (L Kennedy, L Dilleen) 7:18.15; 4 Germany Two 7:32.77, 5 China Two 7:37.06.

Double Sculls – Heat Three (Time Trial; First Three Directly to A/B Semi-Finals; rest to Repechage): 1 Belarus (E Karsten, Y Bichyk) 6:51.94, 2 Britain (F Houghton, V Thornley) 6:54.71, 3 China (Yuwei Wang, Weiwei Zhu) 6:57.09; 4 France 7:07.40, 5 Ireland (M Dukarska, E Moran) 7:12.42. Repechage (Three to A/B Semi-Final): 5 Dukarska, Moran 7:40.13.

Lightweight Double Sculls – Heat Two (Time Trial; First Two Directly to A/B Semi-Finals; rest to Repechage): 1 Britain One (I Walsh, K Copeland) 7:02.44, 2 United States (D Karz, M Sechser) 7:07.21; 3 Ireland (C Lambe, D Walsh) 5:21.89, 4 Mexico Two 7:20.55, 5 Belarus 7:20.95. Repechage (First Two to A/B Semi-Finals; 3-5 to C Final): 1 Brazil (B Cardoso, F Beltrame) 7:24.44, 2 Ireland (Lambe, Walsh) 7:25.65; 3 Poland 7:27.13, 4 Belarus 7:33.59, 5 Czech Republic 7:37.94, 6 Mexico One 7:46.68.

Single Sculls – Heat Three (Time Trial; First Two directly to A/B Semi-Finals; rest to Repechage): 1 China (Jingli Duan) 7:30.54, 2 Ireland (S Puspure) 7:34.63; 3 Switzerland 7:35.99, 4 France 7:37.79, 5 Zimbabwe 7:41.57, 6 Croatia 7:42.46.

Pararowing – Arms and Shoulders Men’s Single Sculls – Heat Two (First to A Final; rest to Repechage): 5 Ireland (T Kelly) 5:48.38. Repechage Two (First two to A Final): 4 Kelly 6:06.18.

Published in Rowing

#ROWING: Sanita Puspure marched into the A/B Semi-Finals at the World Cup Rowing regatta at Aiguebelette in France today. First or second in her heat, which was run as a time trial, was enough to secure qualification for the Ireland sculler. She matched the pace of Duan Jingli of China for much of the 2,000 metres, but at the end the Chinese won, with Puspure taking a clear second.

Mirka Knapkova of the Czech Republic and Emma Twigg of New Zealand won the other heats – with Twigg the fastest winner by over four seconds.

There was only ever going to be one man to win John Keohane’s heat of the men’s single scull: Angel Fournier Rodriguez of Cuba dominated the time trial and took the only direct qualification place. Keohane finished fifth of the six starters.

The Ireland women’s double of Monika Dukarska and Claire Lambe finished fifth of five in their heat.

World Cup Regatta, Aiguebelette, France, Day One (Selected Results, Irish interest)

Men

Single Sculls – Heat One (Time Trial; First Directly to A/B Semi-Finals; rest to Repechage); 1 Cuba (A Fournier Rodriguez) 6:48.06; 2 Canada 6:55.45, 3 Finland 6:59.39, 4 United States 7:06.59, 5 Ireland (J Keohane) 7:12.69, 6 Hungary 7:17.37.

Lightweight Single Sculls – Heats (Time Trials; First Two Directly Through to A/B Semi-Finals; rest to Repechage) – Heat One: 1 China (Tiexin Wang) 7:02.36, 2 France (D Piqueras) 7:07.64; 5 Ireland Two (M O’Donovan) 7:20.78

Heat Three: 1 Ireland One (P O’Donovan) 7:11.34, 2 Britain (Z Lee-Green) 7:15.60.

Women

Pair – Heat Two (Time Trial; First Three to A/B Semi-Finals; rest to Repechage): 1 Canada (N Mastracci, S Grainger) 7:13.29, 2 United States Two (G Luczak, C Lind) 7:13.87, 3 Ireland (L Kennedy, L Dilleen) 7:18.15; 4 Germany Two 7:32.77, 5 China Two 7:37.06.

Double Sculls – Heat Three (Time Trial; First Three Directly to A/B Semi-Finals; rest to Repechage): 1 Belarus (E Karsten, Y Bichyk) 6:51.94, 2 Britain (F Houghton, V Thornley) 6:54.71, 3 China (Yuwei Wang, Weiwei Zhu) 6:57.09; 4 France 7:07.40, 5 Ireland (M Dukarska, E Moran) 7:12.42.

Lightweight Double Sculls – Heat Two (Time Trial; First Two Directly to A/B Semi-Finals; rest to Repechage): 1 Britain One (I Walsh, K Copeland) 7:02.44, 2 United States (D Karz, M Sechser) 7:07.21; 3 Ireland (C Lambe, D Walsh) 5:21.89, 4 Mexico Two 7:20.55, 5 Belarus 7:20.95.

Single Sculls – Heat Three (Time Trial; First Two directly to A/B Semi-Finals; rest to Repechage): 1 China (Jingli Duan) 7:30.54, 2 Ireland (S Puspure) 7:34.63; 3 Switzerland 7:35.99, 4 France 7:37.79, 5 Zimbabwe 7:41.57, 6 Croatia 7:42.46.

Pararowing – Arms and Shoulders Men’s Single Sculls – Heat Two (First to A Final; rest to Repechage): 5 Ireland (T Kelly)

Published in Rowing

#ROWING: John Keohane won the men’s senior single sculls at Metropolitan Regatta on Dorney Lake on Saturday. The Lee Valley man was among a number of Irish winners on the day: Carlow and NUIG won the Intermediate One fours and coxed fours respectively and UCD’s women eight won their intermediate one final. The Gráinne Mhaol/NUIG crew were second in the senior eight.

Metropolitan Regatta, Dorney Lake (Irish interest, selected results)

Saturday

Men

Eight – Senior: 2 Gráinne Mhaol/NUIG.

Four – Intermediate One: 1 Carlow. Four Coxed – Intermediate One: 1 NUIG

Pair – Intermediate One: 3 Presentation Brothers, Cork.

Sculling, Quadruple – Intermediate One: 2 UCC. Junior: 3 Cork BC

Single – Senior: 1 Lee Valley (J Keohane) Intermediate One: 3 Carlow (Aaron Bolger)

Women

Eights – Intermediate One: 1 UCD; 3 Trinity (three-boat final) Fours, coxed – Intermediate One: 1 UCD 7:19.2. Intermediate Two: 2 Commercial.

Pair – Senior: 2 Cork BC

Sculling, Quadruple – Intermediate One: 3 UCC.

Published in Rowing

#ROWING: The repechage route did not prove a fruitful one for Ireland crews at the European Junior Rowing Championships in Hazewinkel in Belgium. The men’s double of Conor Carmody and David O’Malley were competitve until halfway, but they needed to finish in the top two and missed out by finishing fourth. They will go on to a C/D semi-final tomorrow. The men’s pair of David and Brian Keohane and single sculler Erin Barry both finished fifth. They go directly to their C Finals.

European Junior Rowing Championships, Hazewinkel, Belgium (Irish interest):

Men

Pair – Heat Two (First Two Directly to A/B Semi-Finals: 5 Ireland (D Keohane, B Keohane) 7:30.39. Repechage: 5 Ireland 7:34.21

Double Sculls – Heat Three (First directly to A/B semi-finals): 4 Ireland (C Carmody, D O’Malley) 6:56.91. Repechage: 4 Ireland.

Women

Double Sculls – Heat One (First Two Directly to A/B Semi-Finals): 2 Ireland (J English, E Lambe) 7:54.10.

Single Sculls – Heat Three (First Two directly to A/B Semi-finals): 5 Ireland (E Barry) 8:38.33. Repechage: 5 Barry 9:05.20.

Published in Rowing

#ROWING: A team of seven athletes have been selected to represent Ireland at the European Junior Rowing Championships in Hazelwinkel, Belgium on May 24th and 25th. This is the first time Rowing Ireland has sent a team to compete at this event.

 The team is:

Junior Women’s Single Scull: Erin Barry, Bann RC.

Junior Women’s Double Scull: Eimear Lambe, Commercial RC and Jasmine English, Belfast BC

Junior Men’s Double Scull: David O’Malley, St Michaels RC and Conor Carmody, Shannon RC

Junior Men’s Pair: David Keohane and Brian Keohane, Presentation College RC

All seven athletes represented Ireland in 2013. Erin Barry, Jasmine English, David O’Malley and Conor Carmody competed at the Junior World Rowing Championships, while Eimear Lambe, David Keohane and Brian Keohane were chosen for the Coupe de la Jeunesse, a European tournament. This year’s World Junior Rowing Championships and Coupe de la Jeunesse both take place in August.

Published in Rowing

#IrishRowingChampionships: Claire Lambe and John Keohane won the men’s and women’s senior single sculls titles at the Irish Rowing Championships at Farran Woods in Cork today. Both had hard battles before crossing the line as winners.

Lambe had a disappointing start and saw Sinéad Jennings take and hold the lead until halfway. Lambe came back and led by 1500 metres, but Jennings mounted challenge after challenge.

Keohane took the lead early on but had to battle to retain it. Eimantas Grigalius, a World Junior Champion in 2003, drove hard a the Corkman through the closing 500 metres, but Keohane, rating below his opponent, retained his lead – and the title he won last year.

There was great excitement in the closing stages of the men’s novice coxed four. UCD’s lead was eaten away and then completely lost to Queen’s University, who won by .92 of a second. UCD also lost out in the women’s intermediate coxed four to a strong St Michael’s crew of Hannah McCarthy, Emily Tormey, Kate O’Brien, Hanah O’Sullivan and cox Conor McGowan.

The men’s intermediate pair and the women’s junior pair and men’s junior double sculls were convincingly won by UCC, Portora and Shandon respectively.

Irish Rowing Championships, National Rowing Centre, Farran Woods, Cork – Day Three (Selected Results, Finals)

Men

Four – Novice, coxed: 1 Queen’s 7:49.87, 2 UCD 7:50.79, 3 UCC 7:55.25.

Pair – Intermediate: 1 UCC 8:13.04, 2 Portora 8:36.82, 3 Bann 8:42.84.

Sculling, Double – Junior: 1 Shandon (J Casey, A Harrington) 7:55.13, 2 Skibbereen 8:13.06, 3 Lee 8:19.07.

Single – Senior: 1 Lee Valley (J Keohane) 8:00.96, 2 Three Castles (E Grigalius) 8:03.83, 3 Portadown (S McKeown) 8:21.55.

Women

Four, Intermediate, coxed: 1 St Michael’s 8:10.43, 2 UCD C 8:18.36, 3 UCD A 8:28.10.

Pair – Junior: 1 Portora (D Maguire, P Mulligan) 9:04.90, 2 Muckross 9:16.42, 3 Shannon 9:19.32.

Sculling, Single – Senior: 1 UCD (C Lambe) 9:09.20, 2 St Michael’s (S Jennings) 9:10.31, 3 Three Castles (H Walshe) 9:28.57.

Published in Rowing

# ROWING: Ireland had a good start at the European Rowing Championships in Seville today. Claire Lambe nailed the second place she needed to qualify directly for the A Final of the lightweight single sculls and Sanita Puspure qualified for her semi-final of the single sculls by taking the third of three qualification places.

Ireland’s two other crews face into repechages later today. Niall Kenny and Justin Ryan took third in a heat of the lightweight double sculls won by Italy, who took the one semi-final place on offer, repelling a challenge by Austria. Ireland won a mini-battle with Bulgaria for third.

John Keohane finished fifth in his heat of the single sculls. Germany’s Marcel Hacker had his expected win, with Mindaugas Griskonis of Lithuania taking the second qualification place. Keohane, who is new to this level, held off Russian Denis Kleshnev, who finished sixth.

European Rowing Championships, Seville – Day One (Irish interest)

Men

Lightweight Double Sculls – Heat Four (One Directly to A/B Semi-Finals; rest to Repechages): 1 Italy (A Micheletti, P Ruta) 6:39.92; 2 Austria 6:44.49, 3 Ireland (N Kenny, J Ryan) 6:47.43, 4 Bulgaria 6:48.89, 5 Czech Republic 6:51.76.

Single Sculls – Heat One (First Two Directly to A/B Semi-Finals; rest to Repechages): 1 Germany (M Hacker) 7:03.91, 2 Lithuania (M Griskonis) 7:08.15; 3 Italy 7:19.44, 4 Greece 7:22.19, 5 Ireland (J Keohane) 7:25.67, 6 Russia 7:27.89.

Women

Single Sculls – Heat One (First Three to A/B Semi-Finals; rest to Repechage): 1 Ukraine (N Dovgodko) 8:04.02, 2 Norway (T Gjoertz) 8:04.65, 3 Ireland (S Puspure) 8:09.24; 4 Bulgaria 8:18.54, 5 Armenia 9:41.08.

Lightweight Single Sculls – Heat One (First Two Directly to A/B Semi-Finals; rest to Repechage): 1 Austria (M Tauper-Traer) 7:25.35, 2 Ireland (C Lambe) 7:58.09; 3 Czech Republic 8:06.09, 4 France 8:09.57, 6 Cyprus 8:10.61.

 

Published in Rowing

# ROWING: John Keohane was the fastest man at the Ireland Trials at National Rowing Centre in Cork today. However, the Lee Valley heavyweight was just nine hundredths of a second ahead of lightweight sculler Paul O’Donovan in the Time Trial. The 19-year-old from Skibbereen was assessed to have a percentage of world’s best time in his grade of 94.8 per cent – albeit with a strong tail wind. The conditions were forecast to deteriorate as the day went on and on-the-water work was done early in the morning.

Time Trial (Selected Results)

Men - Senior/Under-23/Lightweight single sculls and pairs (1900 metres; ranked on per centage of projected world best time for each class). Selected Results.

1 P O’Donovan (lightweight) 6 mins 40.85 (94.8 per cent), 2 G O’Donovan (lwt) 6:50.10 (92.7), 3 J Keohane (heavyweight) 6:40.76 (92.4), S O’Driscoll (lwt) 6:52.87 (92.0), 5 F McQuillan-Tolan/S O’Connor (heavyweight pair) 6:25.33 (91.2), 6 D Neale (hwt) 6:46.49 (91.1), 7 L Prendergast (lwt) 7:04.10 (89.6), 8 J Mitchell/M Wray (hwt pair) 6:35.16 (89.0), 9 A Burns (lwt) 7:07.79 (88.8), 10 A Boreham (hwt) 7:04.84 (87.2).

 

Published in Rowing

#ROWING: John Keohane was the fastest men’s single sculler and Marie O’Neill the fastest woman at the big Skibbereen Head of the River at the National Rowing Centre in Cork on Saturday. Skibbereen’s men’s quadruple scull were the fastest crew of the day, with a winning time of 10 minutes 30 seconds for the 3,800 metres.

Skibbereen Head of the River, National Rowing Centre, Farran Wood, Cork, Saturday (Selected Results)

Head One

Women, Eight – Junior 16: Shannon 13:27.

Quadruple Scull – Senior: Skibbereen 11:36. Intermediate: University of Limerick 13:43. Novice, coxed: Cork 13:30. Junior 18A: Skibbereen 12:01, 2 Shandon 12:12, 3 Castleconnell 12:22.

Head Two

Men

Single Sculls: 1 Lee Valley (J Keohane) 12:01, 2 University of Limerick (Penny) 12:03, 3 Cork IT (O’Donovan) 12:19. Intermediate: 1 Skibbereen (Burns) 12:33, 2 UCC (McGuckin) 12:42, 3 Skibbereen (Leonard) 12:44. Novice: 1 Lee (Keogh) 12:45, 2 Clonmel (Murphy) 13:06, 3 UCC (Stanton) 13:34. Junior 18A: 1 Lee (Mitchell) 12:25, 2 Skibbereen (Ryan) 12:26, 3 Presentation (Keohane) 12:34. H

Head Three

Women, Pair – Senior: Cork 14:23.

Single Scull – Senior: 1 Cork (O’Neill) 13:12, 2 Skibbereen (Walsh) 13:13, 3 Skibbereen (Fitzgerald) 13:44. Intermediate: 1 Lee Valley (K Corcoran-O’Hare) 13:45, 2 Cork (Judge) 14:25, 3 Fermoy (Dowling) 14:35. Novice: 1 University of Limerick (Griffin) 15:13, 2 Lee (McGrath) 15:19, 3 University of Limerick (Mooney) 15:39. Junior 18A: 1 Skibbereen (Walsh) 13:46, 2 Fermoy (Shinnick) 13:47, 3 Cork (Hamel) 14:23. Junior 16: Cork (Beechinor) 14:37.

Head Four

Men, Four, coxed – Junior 18A: Presentation 12:08.

Double Sculls – Senior: 1 Lee Valley 11:18 and Skibbereen/Cork IT 11:18. Intermediate: Skibbereen 11:30. Novice Lee 12:06. Junior 18A: 1 Skibbereen 11:13, 2 Lee 11:16, 3 Shandon 11:30. Junior 16: Skibbereen 11:44.

Head Five

Women, Four – Senior: Cork 11:49. Intermediate, coxed: Shandon 13:06. Novice, coxed: 13:42.

Double Scull – Senior: 1 Skibbereen B 12:35, 2 Skibbereen A 12:36. Intermediate: Killorglin 13:10. Junior 18A: 1 Fermoy 12:40, 2 Graiguenamanagh 13:40, 3 Cork 14:01. Junior 16: Muckross 13:16.

Head Six

Men, Eight – Intermediate: University of Limerick 10:52. Junior 18A: Presentation 10:42. Junior 16: Presentation 11:54.

Quadruple Sculls – Senior: Skibbereen 10:30. Intermediate One: University of Limerick 11:32. Junior 18A: 1 Skibbereen 10:29, 2 Lee 10:34, 3 Shandon 10:49. Junior 16, coxed: Clonmel 11:13.

Rolling Head (Two Kilometres)

Quadruple Sculls - Junior 15, coxed: Killorglin 7:45.

Published in Rowing
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Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta

From the Baily lighthouse to Dalkey island, the bay accommodates six separate courses for 21 different classes racing every two years for the Dun Laoghaire Regatta.

In assembling its record-breaking armada, Volvo Dun Laoghaire regatta (VDLR) became, at its second staging, not only the country's biggest sailing event, with 3,500 sailors competing, but also one of Ireland's largest participant sporting events.

One of the reasons for this, ironically, is that competitors across Europe have become jaded by well-worn venue claims attempting to replicate Cowes and Cork Week.'Never mind the quality, feel the width' has been a criticism of modern-day regattas where organisers mistakenly focus on being the biggest to be the best. Dun Laoghaire, with its local fleet of 300 boats, never set out to be the biggest. Its priority focussed instead on quality racing even after it got off to a spectacularly wrong start when the event was becalmed for four days at its first attempt.

The idea to rekindle a combined Dublin bay event resurfaced after an absence of almost 40 years, mostly because of the persistence of a passionate race officer Brian Craig who believed that Dun Laoghaire could become the Cowes of the Irish Sea if the town and the local clubs worked together. Although fickle winds conspired against him in 2005, the support of all four Dun Laoghaire waterfront yacht clubs since then (made up of Dun Laoghaire Motor YC, National YC, Royal Irish YC and Royal St GYC), in association with the two racing clubs of Dublin Bay SC and Royal Alfred YC, gave him the momentum to carry on.

There is no doubt that sailors have also responded with their support from all four coasts. Running for four days, the regatta is (after the large mini-marathons) the single most significant participant sports event in the country, requiring the services of 280 volunteers on and off the water, as well as top international race officers and an international jury, to resolve racing disputes representing five countries. A flotilla of 25 boats regularly races from the Royal Dee near Liverpool to Dublin for the Lyver Trophy to coincide with the event. The race also doubles as a RORC qualifying race for the Fastnet.

Sailors from the Ribble, Mersey, the Menai Straits, Anglesey, Cardigan Bay and the Isle of Man have to travel three times the distance to the Solent as they do to Dublin Bay. This, claims Craig, is one of the major selling points of the Irish event and explains the range of entries from marinas as far away as Yorkshire's Whitby YC and the Isle of Wight.

No other regatta in the Irish Sea area can claim to have such a reach. Dublin Bay Weeks such as this petered out in the 1960s, and it has taken almost four decades for the waterfront clubs to come together to produce a spectacle on and off the water to rival Cowes."The fact that we are getting such numbers means it is inevitable that it is compared with Cowes," said Craig. However, there the comparison ends."We're doing our own thing here. Dun Laoghaire is unique, and we are making an extraordinary effort to welcome visitors from abroad," he added. The busiest shipping lane in the country – across the bay to Dublin port – closes temporarily to facilitate the regatta and the placing of six separate courses each day.

A fleet total of this size represents something of an unknown quantity on the bay as it is more than double the size of any other regatta ever held there.

Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta FAQs

Dun Laoghaire Regatta is Ireland's biggest sailing event. It is held every second Summer at Dun Laoghaire Harbour on Dublin Bay.

Dun Laoghaire Regatta is held every two years, typically in the first weekend of July.

As its name suggests, the event is based at Dun Laoghaire Harbour. Racing is held on Dublin Bay over as many as six different courses with a coastal route that extends out into the Irish Sea. Ashore, the festivities are held across the town but mostly in the four organising yacht clubs.

Dun Laoghaire Regatta is the largest sailing regatta in Ireland and on the Irish Sea and the second largest in the British Isles. It has a fleet of 500 competing boats and up to 3,000 sailors. Scotland's biggest regatta on the Clyde is less than half the size of the Dun Laoghaire event. After the Dublin city marathon, the regatta is one of the most significant single participant sporting events in the country in terms of Irish sporting events.

The modern Dublin Bay Regatta began in 2005, but it owes its roots to earlier combined Dublin Bay Regattas of the 1960s.

Up to 500 boats regularly compete.

Up to 70 different yacht clubs are represented.

The Channel Islands, Isle of Man, England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, Ireland countrywide, and Dublin clubs.

Nearly half the sailors, over 1,000, travel to participate from outside of Dun Laoghaire and from overseas to race and socialise in Dun Laoghaire.

21 different classes are competing at Dun Laoghaire Regatta. As well as four IRC Divisions from 50-footers down to 20-foot day boats and White Sails, there are also extensive one-design keelboat and dinghy fleets to include all the fleets that regularly race on the Bay such as Beneteau 31.7s, Ruffian 23s, Sigma 33s as well as Flying Fifteens, Laser SB20s plus some visiting fleets such as the RS Elites from Belfast Lough to name by one.

 

Some sailing household names are regular competitors at the biennial Dun Laoghaire event including Dun Laoghaire Olympic silver medalist, Annalise Murphy. International sailing stars are competing too such as Mike McIntyre, a British Olympic Gold medalist and a raft of World and European class champions.

There are different entry fees for different size boats. A 40-foot yacht will pay up to €550, but a 14-foot dinghy such as Laser will pay €95. Full entry fee details are contained in the Regatta Notice of Race document.

Spectators can see the boats racing on six courses from any vantage point on the southern shore of Dublin Bay. As well as from the Harbour walls itself, it is also possible to see the boats from Sandycove, Dalkey and Killiney, especially when the boats compete over inshore coastal courses or have in-harbour finishes.

Very favourably. It is often compared to Cowes, Britain's biggest regatta on the Isle of Wight that has 1,000 entries. However, sailors based in the north of England have to travel three times the distance to get to Cowes as they do to Dun Laoghaire.

Dun Laoghaire Regatta is unique because of its compact site offering four different yacht clubs within the harbour and the race tracks' proximity, just a five-minute sail from shore. International sailors also speak of its international travel connections and being so close to Dublin city. The regatta also prides itself on balancing excellent competition with good fun ashore.

The Organising Authority (OA) of Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta is Dublin Bay Regattas Ltd, a not-for-profit company, beneficially owned by Dun Laoghaire Motor Yacht Club (DMYC), National Yacht Club (NYC), Royal Irish Yacht Club (RIYC) and Royal St George Yacht Club (RSGYC).

The Irish Marine Federation launched a case study on the 2009 Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta's socio-economic significance. Over four days, the study (carried out by Irish Sea Marine Leisure Knowledge Network) found the event was worth nearly €3million to the local economy over the four days of the event. Typically the Royal Marine Hotel and Haddington Hotel and other local providers are fully booked for the event.

©Afloat 2020