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Displaying items by tag: St Michael's

#Rowing: Cork clubs had a set of good results in the first session of Sunday finals at the Irish Rowing Championships at the National Rowing Centre.

Cork Boat Club's junior women's pair started the ball rolling, while Skibbereen then took their second title of Championships as Aodhan Burns proved a strong winner of the lightweight single sculls.

Margaret Cremen of UCC had a huge win in the lightweight single sculls, and Lee added the junior men's double to the junior quadruple title they had won on Saturday.

The tighest finish came in the men's club coxed four. NUIG made a tremendous effort to catch St Michael's of Limerick but they fell short by just .329 of a second.

Commercial of Dublin and Fermanagh's Enniskillen Royal Boat Club are having a good reatta. Enniskillen won the men's intermediate pair, while Commercial won the womens intermediate coxed four.

Published in Rowing

#Rowing: St Michael’s of Limerick had an excellent day at the National Schools Regatta at Dorney Lake. Their Girls’ Championship Four took silver behind Henley, pushing the elite English crew right to the finish.

 Ryan Spelman of St Michael’s also featured in one of the prestigious finals – he took fifth in the A Final of the Championship Single.

 Earlier, Enniskillen’s Peter Murphy and Sam Balcombe took bronze in the Championship Pair and Enniskillen were just one place outside the medals in the Boys Championship Four.

 Coleraine Grammar School finished fifth in the Junior 16 Girls Double.

Published in Rowing
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#Rowing: Enniskillen’s Sam Balcombe and Peter Murphy took a fine third place in the men’s Championship Pair at the National Schools Regatta at Dorney Lake today.

 On Saturday, Enniskillen had won gold in the Junior 16 Girls coxed four by a big margin.

 Ryan Spelman of St Michael’s took his place in the A Final of the Championship Single Sculls, and finished well to challenge the leaders. He took fifth.

 Coleraine Grammar School also took fifth in the final of the Junior 16 Girls Double.

Published in Rowing

#Rowing: The St Michael’s Head of the River, scheduled for Saturday, March 16th, has been cancelled. The weather forecast for Limerick changed, and the organisers felt they could not be certain of running a safe event. Monday was considered for a rescheduled event, but some clubs could not change their plans.   

Published in Rowing

#Rowing: Rory O’Neill and James O’Donovan of Castleconnell shared top billing in the men’s junior 18 rankings after the concluding stage of the Dirty Dozen Challenge. Eabha Benson of St Michael’s won the women’s junior 18 series. There were four rounds, beginning in October (three kilometres) and running through November (5k) and December and January (6k).  

CategoryShellRower(-s)Bow #PlaceCourse time
W J161XC. Leahy112100:14:50
W J161XJ. O'Brien (CCBC)110200:14:51
W J161XR. Hickey (Shannon Rowing Club)114300:15:00
W J161XC. Kiely (Castleconnell)1094th00:15:02
W J161XG. Fitzgerald (CCBC)1135th00:15:29
W J161XC. Ni Dhonabhain (SRC)111DNF
W J181X�. Benson (SMRC)76100:28:45
W J181XN. Kiely (Castleconnell BC)74200:29:04
W J181XC. KIRWAN (SMRC)75300:29:58
W J181XS. Gilmore (CCBC)774th00:30:00
W J181XS. Fitzgerald (TRC)785th00:31:05
W J181XC. Storan (SMRC)826th00:31:42
W J181XC. Kelly (Castleconnell BC)797th00:33:37
W J181XA. King (SMRC)818th00:33:48
W J181XH. Bradshaw (CCBC)809th00:34:12
W J181XO. Murphy (St Michaels)8410th00:34:47
W J181X�. Phillips (SMRC)8311th00:37:41
W J181XL. O'Brien (Castleconnell Boat Club)73DNF
W OPEN1XE. Redlichova (SMRC)85DNF
W U211XC. O'Brien (Castleconnell boat club)86100:28:37
W U231XS. Murphy (SMRC)87100:32:03
W U23 Lt Wt1XN. Hartney (SMRC)88100:29:34
W J162-F. Gleeson (Shannon rowing club)
A. Curtin (shannon rowing club)116100:13:38
W J162-E. McMahon (CCBC)
T. Mulready (Ccbc)117200:14:04
W J162-C. Gleeson (Shannon rowing club)
A. Caffrey (Shannon)115DNF
W J182-S. Byrnes (CCBC)
N. Silke (Castleconnell boat club)92100:27:44
W J182-E. Mcinerney (Smrc)
E. Murphy (SMRC)89200:28:15
W J182-A. Mckeon (Smrc)
M. O'Byrne (SMRC)93300:29:10
W J182-N. Jones (SMRC)
K. McGann (SMRC)944th00:30:51
W J182-S. Broggy (Athlunkard Boat Club)
M. Malone (Athlunkard Boat Club)905th00:31:08
M J161XP. Mcinerney (Smrc)105100:13:11
M J161XD. Foley (SMRC)103200:13:12
M J161XG. O'Donoghue (Shannon Rowing Club)97300:13:21
M J161XJ. Cunningham (Castleconnell)964th00:13:41
M J161XT. Byrne995th00:13:44
M J161XI. Byrne Delimata (Castleconnell)986th00:13:49
M J161XD. De Brun (SMRC)1047th00:13:59
M J161XN. Larkin Damm (Tralee Rowing CLUB)1028th00:14:47
M J161XS. Cunningham (CCBC)100DNF
M J161XC. Oconnell (Waterville lake rowing cl...)101DNF
M J181XR. O'Neill (Castleconnell)59100:25:39
M J181XJ. O Donovan (CCBC)57100:25:39
M J181XM. English (St Michaels Rowing Club)58300:26:59
M J181XJ. Scanlon France (ABC)604th00:32:50
M J18 Lt Wt1XB. France (St. Michaels)61100:28:22
M J18 Lt Wt1XC. Bowen (Castleconnell boat club)62200:29:03
M Master B1XR. Egan (Ccbc)63100:27:01
M Master C1Xc. Byrne (CCBC)64100:28:32
M OPEN1XD. O'Connor (St. Michael's Rowing...)50100:24:45
M U211XR. Spelman (Smrc)51100:25:23
M U211XC. Mulready (Castleconnel)52200:26:53
M U211XJ. Desmond (Caslteconnell)53300:28:16
M U211XA. King (Athlunkard Boat Club)54DNF
M U231XA. Lennon (St Michaels Rowing Club)55DNF
M J152-R. Lyons (Castleconnell)
A. SWEENEY (Ccbc)106100:13:22
M J162-E. Gilmartin (CCBC)
J. McGrath (CCBC)107100:12:48
M J162-P. Mcinerney (Smrc)
D. Hartney (SMRC)108200:13:28
M J182-R. O Gorman (St.Michaels Rowing Club)
D. Hartney (SMRC)69100:25:36
M J18 Lt Wt2-S. Fitzgerald (CCBC)
C. Nolan (Castleconnell)70100:26:50
M J18 Lt Wt2-C. Foster (SMRC)
C. Kemp (SMRC)72200:27:46
M J18 Lt Wt2-A. McFerran (CCBC)
E. Healy (Castleconnell Boat Club)71300:28:09
M Master B2-P. Williams (CCBC)
E. Meskell (CCBC)65100:26:05
M Master C2-k. mc donald
M. O'Callaghan (Shannon rowing club)66DNF
M U212-J. O Brien (Castleconnel Boat Club)
C. Feely (Castleconnel rowing club)67DNF
M U232-T. McKeon (St. Michael's rowing...)
J. Cuddy (SMRC)68100:24:31
Published in Rowing

#Rowing: The Workmen’s junior women’s double took a silver at the National Schools’ Regatta at Dorney Lake in England today. In the Championship Doubles, Annie O’Donoghue and Ciara Browne finished one and a half lengths down on Latymer Upper School. Ciara Moynihan of Workmen’s finished seventh in the A Final of the Championship Singles, while Molly Curry of Coleraine Grammar School took control of the B Final and won.

 Enniskillen took silver in the Boys’ Non-Championship Eights, and their girls’ junior 16 coxed four matched them in their A Final. Ireland clubs placed second and third in the B Final of the Girls’ Championship/Non Championship Eights.

British National Schools’ Regatta, Dorney Lake (Selected Results; Irish interest)

 

Saturday

Boys

Championship/Non-Championship Eight – B Final: 3 Enniskillen RBC.

Girls

Championship/Non-Championship Eight – B Final: 2 Galway 7:35.72; 3 St Michael’s 7:45.46.

Junior 16 Four, coxed – A Final: 2 Enniskillen RBC 8:22.68.

Sculling, Double – Championship A Final: 2 Workmen’s (A O’Donoghue, C Browne) 8:06.37.

Single – Championship A Final: 7 Workmen’s (C Moynihan) 9:10.40. B Final: 1 Coleraine Grammar School (M Curry) 8:43.03.

Published in Rowing

#Rowing: Castleconnell Sprint Regatta had a huge entry and a good day for rowing. The host club, which had amassed a set of fine results at Ghent regatta, did so again at their home regatta. They won the junior 15 eights for boys and girls. St Michael’s won the girls’ junior 16 eight. Athlunkard won the final race of the day, beating St Michael’s in the final of the men’s club two coxed four.

Castleconnell Sprint Regatta, Saturday (Selected Results)

Men

Eight – Jun 15: Castleconnell. Masters: Castleconnell.

Four – Club Two, coxed: Athlunkard. Jun 16, coxed: Castleconnell.

Sculling, Quadruple – Club Two, coxed: St Michael’s. Jun 18B, coxed: Muckross.  

Double – Club Two: Workmen’s. Jun 18B: Workmen’s A.

Single – Club Two: Shandon (Diffley). Jun 18A: Castleconnell (D Martin).

Women

Eight – Masters: Univ of Limerick. Jun 16: St Michael’s. Jun 15: Castleconnell.

Four – Jun 18B, coxed: Shannon.

 Sculling, Quadruple – Jun 18B, coxed: CRCC. Jun 16, coxed: Workmans.

Double – Club Two: Waterford. Jun 18B: CRCC.

 Single – Club Two: Workmen’s (M Fleming). Novice: Cappoquin (B O’Rourke). Jun 18B: Muckross. Masters: Offaly (Nolan). 

Published in Rowing

#Rowing: The Tribesmen Head of the River, set for Lough Rynn on Saturday (February 10th) has had to be called off because of a forecast of rain and gale force gusts of wind. The organisers hope to hold a deferred event in March.

 The weather has caused a change in venue for another event. Flooding at O’Brien’s Bridge has forced the organisers of the St Michael’s Head of the River on February 24th to move it to the St Michael’s club on O’Callaghan’s Strand in Limerick.  

Published in Rowing

#Rowing: Neptune won the men’s junior 18 eight and Commercial were second at the Ghent International May Regatta in Belgium. Commercial’s Gillian Crowe and Hazel O’Neill won the women’s senior pair.

Commercial crews finished 1-2-3 of the eight crews which competed in the junior women’s pair.

Aaron Keogh of Three Castles won the junior 16 single sculls – first of 39 competitors and Jack Butler of Neptune was third of 28 in the junior 18 singles.

Cork took second in the women’s junior eight, while New Ross were third in the women’s junior quadruple.

Ghent International May Regatta, Belgium (Irish interest; selected results, finals)

Men

Eight: 1 Neptune 6:04.89, 2 Commercial 6:07.61.

Four, coxed – Jun 18: 1 Commercial 7:00.29 (two crews).

Pair – Sen: 2 Commercial (D Joyce, M Maher) 6:57.08. Under-23: 1 St Michael’s (T McKeon, D O’Byrne) 7:14.20, 3 St Michael’s (B McKeon, C Garvey) 7:15.78. Jun 18: 3 St Michael’s (T McKeon, D O’Byrne) 7:11.18.

Sculling

Quadruple – Jun 18: 2 Three Castles 6:21.19.

Double – Jun: 3 Three Castles (R Quinn, O Clune) 6:48.19.

Single: 3 S McKeown 7:25.96. Lightweight: 2 St Michael’s (D O’Connor) 7:21.71. Jun 18: 3 Neptune (J Butler) 7:42.19. Jun 16: 1 Three Castles (A Keogh) 7:38.98.

Women

Eight – Junior: 2 Cork 7:05.83, 3 Commercial 7:20.22.

Four – Jun: 2 Commercial 7:42.63.

Pair – Sen: 2 Commercial (G Crowe, H O’Neill) 7:50.48. Jun: 1 Commercial (A Keogh, S Maxwell) 8:14.43, 2 Commercial (G McNamara, K Dolan) 8:23.96, 3 Commercial (C Ryan, A O’Rourke) 8:39.88.

Sculling, Quadruple – Jun: 3 New Ross 7:22.57.

 

Published in Rowing

#Rowing: Irish clubs had some excellent placings on Saturday at the Ghent International May Regatta in Belgium. Commercial and Neptune finished first and second in the junior men’s eight and Commercial also finished second in the women’s junior eight and four, and second and third in the junior women’s pair. The Three Castles junior double of Rory Quinn and Oisin Clune took silver – second of 47 crews which competed. New Ross were the second-placed crew in the junior quadruple.

In the adult events, which generally had smaller entries, St Michael’s had wins through Declan O’Connor, Ben McKeon and Colm Garvey, while Skibbereen’s Orla Hayes won the lightweight women’s single. Sam McKeown of Queen’s University finished second to Dave Bell of Molesey in the senior single sculls.

Ghent International May Regatta, Belgium (Irish interest; selected results; Saturday)

Men

Eight – Junior: 1 Commercial 6:42.02, 2 Neptune 6:47.0.

Four – Junior: 2 Commercial 7:01.64. Four, coxed – Junior: 2 Neptune 7:13.78.

Pair – Senior: 1 Commercial (D Joyce, M Maher) 7:45.01 Under-23 (Two Crews): 1 St Michael’s (B McKeon, C Garvey) 8:22.06, 2 St Michael’s (T McKeon, D O’Byrne) 8:23.88. Lightweight Pair: 1 St Michael’s (B McKeon, C Garvey) 8:09.34. Junior: 2 St Michael’s (T McKeon, D O’Byrne) 7:36.89.

Quadruple – Junior: 2 Three Castles 6:48.14.

Double – Junior: 2 Three Castles (R Quinn, O Clune) 7:18.24.

Single – Senior: 2 Queen’s (S McKeown) 8:03.56. Lightweight: 1 St Michael’s (D O’Connor) 7:05.24. Under-23 Lightweight: 3 Queen’s (M Taylor) 8:13.94.

Women

Eight – Junior: 2 Commercial 7:52.67, 3 Cork BC 8:04.40.

Four – Junior: 2 Commercial 8:18.63, 3 New Ross 8:27.38.

Pair – Senior: 3 Commercial (H O’Neill, G Crowe) 9:06.60. Junior: 2 Commercial (A Keogh, S Maxwell) 8:57.17, 3 Commercial (G McNamara, K Dolan) 9:03.31.

Sculling – Quadruple – Junior: 2 New Ross 7:52.00.

Lightweight Single: 1 Skibbereen (O Hayes) 8:52.88.

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