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Displaying items by tag: SemiFinals

#Canoeing: Ireland paddler Noel Hendrick qualified for the semi-finals at the European Under-23 Championships today. The K1 competitor went straight through from the first run, taking 13th with a round with no touches at Liptovsky Mikulas in Slovakia. Eoin Teague fell just outside qualification in the same event in the second run.

 Thirty of the 61 paddlers made it through to the semis. Hendrick will go off in the final 15 in the semi.

 

Published in Canoeing

#Rowing: Mark O’Donovan and Shane O’Driscoll produced a remarkable final 500 metres to move from fourth to second in their repechage and qualify for the A/B semi-finals of the men’s pair at the European Rowing Championships in Strathclyde in Scotland.

 Three crews qualified from this race, and the Skibbereen men were a  second off Austria as the crews entered the final quarter. Serbia and Ukraine held the top two spots. But then O’Driscoll and O’Donovan wound up to stroke rates high in the 40s and swept past Austria and the Ukraine.

European Rowing Championships, Strathclyde, Scotland (Day One, Irish interest)

Men

Pair – Heat Three (First Two to A/B Semi-Finals, rest to Repechage): 1 Belarus 6:37.38, 2 Britain 6:37.76; 4 Ireland (M O’Donovan, S O’Driscoll) 6:48.94. Repechage One (First Three to A/B Semi-Finals; rest to C Final): 1 Serbia 6:33.77, 2 Ireland 6:35.74, 3 Ukraine 6:36.11.

Lightweight Double Sculls – Heat Three (First Two to A/B Semi-Finals; rest to Repechage): 1 Ireland (G O’Donovan, P O’Donovan) 6:27.99, 2 France 6:29.83.

Women

Lightweight Double Sculls – Heat One (Winner to A Final; rest to Repechage): 1 Poland 7:08.54; 4 Ireland (A Casey, D Walsh) 7:22.02.

Published in Rowing

#Rowing: Ireland’s under-23 lightweight quadruple joined the under-23 lightweight pair at the A Final stage of the Under-23 World Championships in Rotterdam. The crew of Fintan McCarthy, Shane O’Connell, Stephen O’Connor and stroke Colm Hennessy finished second to Britain in a fine semi-final. Ireland and Sweden held the qualifying places behind Britain for a good part of the course, but New Zealand mounted an attack in the final third. Ireland upped their rate and held out for second, with Sweden also moving into the A Final.  

 The under-23 heavyweight quadruple finished fifth in their semi-final. The race was won by Australia, with New Zealand and Britain booking their A Final places by taking second and third. Ireland fought with Ukraine to avoid last and held out at the end to win this battle.

World Rowing Championships, Rotterdam (Irish interest; selected results)

Men

Under-23 Lightweight Pair - Semi-Finals (First Three to A Final; rest to B Final) - Semi-Final One: 1 Greece 6:39.18, 2 Switzerland 6:40.01, 3 China 6:44.52. Semi-Final Two: 1 Ireland (S Mulvaney, D O’Malley) 6:46.20, 2 Turkey 6:49.11, 3 United States 6:50.75.

Under-23 Quadruple - Semi-Finals (First Three to A Final; rest to B Final) - Semi-Final One: 1 Poland 5:51.05, 2 Italy 5:52.38, 3 Germany 5:52.53. Semi-Final Two: 1 Australia 5:54.34, 2 New Zealand 5:56.53, 3  Britain 5:56.93; 5 Ireland (D Buckley, J Casey, P Boomer, S McKeown) 6:12.94.

Under-23 Lightweight Quadruple - Semi-Finals (First Three to A Final; rest to B Final) - Semi-Final One: 1 Italy 6:07.44, 2 Canada 6:09.42, 3 Germany 6:10.05. Semi-Final Two: 1 Britain 6:06.01, 2 Ireland (F McCarthy, S O'Connell, S O'Connor, C Hennessy) 6:07.18, 3 Sweden 6:07.28.

Published in Rowing

#Canoeing: Liam Jegou qualified for the semi-final of the canoe slalom World Championships in Lee Valley, England today. The France-based teenager produced an impressive, penalty-free, second run in the C1 to place ninth, with 10 places available. In his first run, he incurred penalties on gates eight and 11 and had four seconds in penalties, but would have fallen outside qualification in any case. Jake Cochrane placed 68th and 64th in his two runs.

Canoe Slalom World Championships, Lee Valley, London, Day Two (Irish interest)

Men

C1 – First Run (top 20 to semi-finals): 37 L Jegou 95.98 seconds (incl 4 sec pen); J Cochrane 161.15 (incl 54 sec pen). Second Run (10 qualify): 9 Jegou 90.83; 64 Cochrane 108.38 (incl 8 sec pen).

Women

C1 – First Run (top 15 to semi-finals) 32 C O’Ferrall 191.62; Second Run: O’Ferrall 132.14 (incl 4 sec pen)

Published in Canoeing

#ROWING: Ireland’s men’s four reached tomorrow’s semi-finals of the World Under-23 Rowing Championships by finishing third in their repechage today. Belarus and Serbia finished first and second, with Ireland showing their determination to stay in the Championships by taking the final qualification spot.  Russia, who are a bigger crew than the Irish, lost out by finishing fourth.

World Under-23 Rowing Championships, Varese, Italy, Day Two (Irish interest; selected results)

Men,

Four – Repechage (First Three to A/B Semi-Finals): 1 Belarus 6:18.7, 2 Serbia 6:24.33, 3 Ireland (R Bennett, K Neville, F McQuillan-Tolan, R O’Callaghan) 6:28.54, 4 Russia 6:31.41.

Lightweight Double Sculls – Heat Three (First Two Directly to A/B Semi-Finals; Rest to Repechage): 1 France (P Houin, D Debourdeau) 6:34.72, 2 Italy (F Gherzi, N Forcellini) 6:37.86;

3 Ireland (S O’Driscoll, G O’Donovan) 6:38.34, 4 Serbia 6:54.08, 5 Poland 7:04.23,

Women,

Lightweight Single Sculls – Heat Three (First Two Directly to A/B Semi-Finals; Rest to Repechage): 1 Cyprus 8:04.62, 2 France 8:06.67; 3 Britain 8:13.89, 4 Ireland (D Walsh) 8:22.48, 5 Russia 8:26.00.

Published in Rowing
Ireland’s double scull of Lisa Dilleen and Sanita Puspure seized the day yesterday. They took second in their repechage at the World Rowing Championships at Bled in Slovenia and thus grabbed a place in the A/B semi-finals. This means they are still in contention for a top eight place at the Championships, which would qualify the boat for next year’s Olympic Games.

The repechage was won by Sarah Trowbridge and Kathleen Bertko of the United States, and Ireland battled with Switzerland before taking control of the second qualification place. But Denmark pushed Dilleen and Puspure hard over the last three hundred metres, only to find the Ireland athletes refusing to yield.

World Rowing Championships, Bled, Slovenia – Day Three (Irish interest)

Women

Double Scull – Repechage One (First Two to A/B Semi-Finals; rest to C/D Semi-Finals): 1 United States (S Trowbridge, K Bertko) 6:58.68, 2 Ireland (L Dilleen, S Puspure) 7:01.04; 3 Denmark 7:01.86, 4 Switzerland 7:07.41, 5 Greece 7:12.66, 6 Lithuania 7:16.31.

Lightweight Single Scull – Repechage Two (First Two to A/B Semi-Finals; rest to C/D Semi-Finals): 1 Hungary (Z Hajdu) 7:59.26, 2 Algeria (A Rouba) 8:02.40; 3 Ireland (S Dolan) 8:06.35, 4 Thailand 8:08.52, 5 Portugal 8:10.73, 6 El Salvador 8:17.08.

Published in Rowing

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