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#Rowing: July 2017 was one of the most successful months for Irish rowing. There were multiple medals at international regattas: the World Cup in Lucerne, gold and bronze; the Under-23 World Championships, two bronze medals; Coupe de la Jeunesse, five gold medals; six wins at the Home International Regatta; a good showing by the Clonmel junior quadruple at Henley Royal Regatta.

 The Irish Rowing Championships regatta was the biggest ever. NUIG took nine titles. Enniskillen won the junior women’s and men’s eights (and fours) and the junior 16 women’s and men’s eights. Three Castles, with two wins, and UCC with a breakthrough win at novice level, had reasons to celebrate. Cork Boat Club and Bann could boast the champion junior single scullers as part of their three wins.

 Skibbereen’s top-rank rowers, usually ruled out by the international programme which sees them bring glory to their country, came to the show and helped the club to seven titles. Two Olympians, Sanita Puspure and Claire Lambe, took titles for Old Collegians and also helped UCD/Old Collegians to take the women’s senior eights crown. UCD had also won the women’s senior pair and the men’s intermediate eight.

 Year after year, the men’s senior eights final is the highlight of the Championships. This time out the Skibbereen eight could call on some of the best lightweight rowers in the world. The race was magnificient. In the closing stages, NUIG looked like they might revive the days of their domination; Skibbereen charged to the line. Commercial won. A crew of club rowers had put everything on the line and gained their reward.

 They are the Afloat Rowers of the Month.

Rower of the Month awards: The judging panel is made up of Liam Gorman, rowing correspondent of The Irish Times, and David O'Brien, editor of Afloat magazine. Monthly awards for achievements during the year will appear on afloat.ie. Keep a monthly eye on progress and watch our 2017 champions list grow.

Published in Rowing

#Rowing: The big crowds saw a close and exciting senior men’s eight final at the Irish Rowing Championships. Commercial carved out a small lead early on, and despite pressure from NUIG and Skibbereen, they held on to win.

In the women’s senior eights final, UCD/Old Collegians had to wait until the middle stages to take over in the lead, but once they did they built and built on it. They had over three seconds at the finish over Skibbereen/UCC.

winners of senior men’s eights (Commercial)Winners of senior men’s eights (Commercial)

UCD/Old CollegiansWinners of senior women’s eights (UCD/Old Collegians – Claire Lambe not included)

NUIG took their ninth title as they lifted the women’s club eight, while Enniskillen brought a very successful end to a good regatta for them by taking the men’s junior pair through Aaron Johnston and Nathan Timoney.

Three Castles also had a fruitful Championships and their junior quadruple won.

Lee and Clonmel won the women’s junior quad and the men’s intermediate double respectively and Bann’s Hannah Scott took the women’s intermediate single sculls title.

 

Irish Rowing Championships, National Rowing Centre, Day Three (Selected Results)

Men

Eight – Senior: 1 Commercial 5:46.04, 2 Skibbereen 5:47.95, 3 NUIG 5:48.39. Novice: Queen’s 6:21.56.

Four – Club, coxed: NUIG A 6:43.38.

Pair – Inter: NUIG 6:56.09. Junior: Enniskillen B 6:52.04.

Sculling, Quadruple – Junior: 1 Three Castles 6:21.53, 2 Shandon 6:22.75, 3 Clonmel 6:23.05.

Double – Inter: Clonmel 6:37.17. Junior: Three Castles A 6:50.22.

Single – Lightweight: Skibbereen (G O’Donovan) 7:22.32. Inter: Clonmel (D Lynch) 7:10.25.

Women

Eight – Senior: 1 UCD/Old Collegians 6:24.84, 2 Skibbereen/UCC 6:27.96, 3 NUIG/Cork 6:33.67. Club: NUIG 6:46.97.

Four – Inter, coxed: NUIG 7:23.65.

Pair – Senior: UCD (A Crowley, E Lambe) 7:37.41. Junior: Fermoy 7:53.37.

Sculling, Quadruple – Junior: Lee 6:54.96.

Single – Senior: Old Collegians (S Pupsure) 8:02.64. Lightweight: Skibbereen (D Walsh) 8:09.96. Inter: Bann (H Scott) 7:55.58. Club One: Carlow (C Nolan) 8:15.22.

Published in Rowing

#Rowing: Commercial made their exit from Henley this morning in a tightly fought quarter-final of the Wyfold Cup for club fours. The Dublin crew took a lead early over Thames and retained it to beyond halfway. The English crew pushed past them and led, but were warned by the umpire and had to adjust their steering. Commercial came back and looked like they might have done enough. It was not to be. Thames were given the decision by one foot.   

Henley Royal Regatta, Day Three (Irish interest)

Wyfold Cup (Club Fours): Thames bt Commercial by 1 foot; 6 min 48 sec.   

 

Published in Rowing
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#Rowing: Commercial won again at Henley Royal Regatta today. Their Wyfold club four beat Curlew with plenty to spare to progress to Friday’s competition. The London crew veered markedly towards Commercial at the start, and Commercial also crabbed to their right. Commercial then took control and were able to paddle home past the Enclosures and still win by four and a quarter lengths.  

Henley Royal Regatta, Day Two (Irish interest)

Diamond Sculls (Open Single Sculls): J Stimpson bt N Kenny 3¼ l.    

Temple Cup (College Eights): University of California, Berkeley bt Trinity 2½ l.

Wyfold (Club Fours): Commercial bt Curlew 4 ¼ l.

Published in Rowing

#Rowing: Commercial had an easy win in the first round of the Wyfold Cup for club fours at Henley Royal Regatta today. Their opponents, Molesey B, made a mess of the start, veering across towards the Dublin crew and being warned. Commercial’s experienced crew of Mike Corcoran, Fionnán Groome, Colm Dowling and Shane Mac Eoin dealt with it all calmly. They moved into the lead and won, easing up, by one and a half lengths.

 They are set to take on Curlew on Thursday.   

Henley Royal Regatta, Day One (Irish interest)

Temple (College Eights): Trinity bt Pembroke College, Oxford by 2/3 l; 6 mins 29 sec.

Wyfold (Club Fours): Commercial bt Molesey B by 1½ l; 7:16.

Prince Albert (College Coxed Fours): Deerfield Academy (United States) bt Trinity by 5ft; 6:59.

Fawley (Under-18 Boys’ Quadruples): Clonmel bt Malvern Preparatory School B, United States by 2½ l; 6:55.

Published in Rowing
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#Rowing: Commercial won the men’s senior eights at the Metropolitan Regatta at Blessington today. The champions of Ireland had eight seconds to spare over UCD’s senior eight. Killorglin’s Monika Dukarska, who will also compete at London Metropolitan Regatta, won the women’s single sculls with a big margin to spare.

 

Metropolitan Regatta, Blessington Lakes, Saturday

Men

Eight – Division One – A Final: 1 Commercial (sen) 5:44.371; 3 UCD (intermediate) 5:57.184; 5 Neptune (junior 18A) 6:12.357. Div Two – A Final: Neptune (club two) 5:32.007; 3 UCD (nov) 5:50.023; 5 Blackrock (jun 18B) 6:27.915. Masters – A Final: St Michael’s C.

Four – Div One – A Final: Commercial (sen) 5:28.2o7.

Four, coxed – Div One – A Final: UCD (sen) 5:52.904; 2 Commercial (inter) 6:00.904; 3 St Michael’s (club one) 6:04.576; 4 Methodist (jun 18A) 6:07.373. Div Two, coxed – A Final: Methodist (jun 18B) 7:02.318; 2 Univ of Limerick (club two) 7:14.084. Masters, coxed – A Final: Galway (d)

Pair – Div One – A Final: Castleconnell (sen) 7:01.158, 2 Three Castles (jun 18A) 7:02.83; 3 Portadown (Club One) 7:03.236. B Final: Offaly (inter) 7:19.0. Div Two: Commercial (sen) 6:15.667; 5 Neptune (inter) 6:34.371; 6 Clonmel (club one) 6:43.012.

Sculling, Quadruple – Div One – A Final: Three Castles (jun 18A) 6:32.051. Div Two, coxed: Castleconnell (jun 16) 7:00.976; 2 Carlow (jun 18B) 7:04.32; 3 Shandon (club two) 7:04.913. B Final: Neptune (nov) 7:58.889.

Double – Div Two – A Final: Three Castles (jun 16) 7:09.056; 2 Carlow (jun 18B) 7:18.963; 4 Shandon (club two) 7:37.214.

Single – Div One – A Final: Castleconnell (F Crowley; sen) 6:43.47; 2 Carlow (J Keating; jun 18A) 6:49.642; 3 Castleconnell (S Haugh; inter) 6:52.799. C Final: 6 Clonmel (O McGrath; club one) 7:11.017.

Div Two: Carlow (A O’Toole; Jun 18B) 6:52.709; 3 Cappoquin (S Landers; Club Two) 6:56.991; 4 Castleconnell (R O’Neill; jun 16) 7:04.710. Masters – A Final: Carlow (N O’Brien).

Women

Eight – Div One – A Final: Commercial (sen) 6:05.32; 2 Commercial (jun 18A) 6:28.524. Div Two – A Final: Shandon (club two) 7:33.916; 2 St Michael’s (jun 16) 7:41.478; 3 Neptune (nov) 7:52.245.

Four – A Final: 1 UCD B (sen) 7:33.677; 4 Commercial (jun 18A) 7:55.24. Div One, coxed: Shandon (Club One) 7:28.331; 3 Commercial (inter) 7:40.237. Div Two, coxed– A Final: UCD (Club Two) 7:07.281.

Pair – Div One – A Final: UCD A (sen) 8:26.503; 4 UCD (inter) 8:54.035; 5 Lee (jun 18A) 8:55.394. B Final: 2 Commercial (club one) 9:33.839.

Sculling, Quadruple – Div One: New Ross (jun 18A) 6:44.305. Div Two, coxed - A Final: Lee (club two) 6:56.124, 2 Castleconnell (jun 16) 6:59.39; 5 Commercial (nov) 7:27.266. B Final: 2 Graiguenamanagh (jun 18B) 7:34.306.

Double – Div One – A Final: Neptune (inter) 6:57.084, 2 Carlow (Club one) 6:58.85. Div Two – A Final: New Ross A (jun 18B) 7:10.012; 3 Garda (club two) 7:36.044; 4 Neptune (jun 16) 7:36.7.

Single – Div One – A Final: Killorglin (M Dukarska; sen) 8:52.378; 2 Carlow (A Byrne; inter) 9:37.974; 3 Carlow (C Nolan; jun 18A) 9:43.755.

Div Two – A Final: Neptune (E Power; club two) 9:48.198; 2 Castleconnell (L O’Brien; jun 16) 9:51.167.

– Masters – A Final: Graiguenamanagh (M Cummins).

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

#Rowing: The Afloat Rowers of the Month for April are the UCD men’s senior eight. The crew, stroked by David O’Malley, beat Commercial, the champions of Ireland, at Skibbereen Regatta. They went on to Trinity Regatta and beat the hosts with another fine performance.

The winning crew at Skibbereen Regatta was: Sam Bolger, Shane O’Connell, Tiarnan Doherty, Max Murphy, Shane Mulvaney, Andrew Griffin, Eoin Gleeson, David O’Malley, Orlagh Reid (cox). James O’Sullivan replaced Shane O’Connell in the crew for Trinity.

Rower of the Month awards: The judging panel is made up of Liam Gorman, rowing correspondent of The Irish Times, and David O'Brien, editor of Afloat magazine. Monthly awards for achievements during the year will appear on afloat.ie. Keep a monthly eye on progress and watch our 2017 champions list grow.

Published in Rowing

#Rowing: Commercial beat Trinity in the women’s senior eights at Trinity Regatta today. Commercial were the more powerful crew and once they took the lead the held it to win by three and a half lengths. UCD’s senior men’s pair came out on top, while Jack Butler of Neptune was the top junior single sculler.

Trinity Regatta, Islandbridge (Selected Results)

Men

Eight – Club: Trinity bt UCD did not finish. Inter: UCD bt Cork BC row over. Masters: Neptune bt Commercial ½ l.

Four – Club, coxed: Neptune bt UCD A disq. Masters, coxed: Neptune bt Graiguenamanagh easily. Junior, coxed: Commercial bt Neptune row over.

Pair – Senior: UCD bt KSRV Nord easily

Sculling,

Quadruple – Nov, coxed: Commercial bt Sligo easily. Jun 18B, coxed: Commercial bt Blackrock easily. Jun 16: Commercial bt Three Castles 2l.

Single – Inter: Sligo (Patterson) bt Commercial (Casey) easily. Jun 18: Neptune (J Butler) bt Commercial (K Brown) 4l.

Women

Eight – Senior: Commercial bt Trinity 3 ½ l Club, coxed: Commercial bt Trinity 2l. Nov: Trinity A bt KSRV Njord 2l. Jun 16: Graiguenamanagh bt Athlone easily.

Four – Inter, coxed: Trinity B bt Trinity A 1l. Junior, coxed:

Sculling – Double - Senior: Neptune bt KSRV Njord easily.

Single – Inter: Neptune (Feerick) bt Athlone (Curley) easily. Club: Neptune (A Clark) bt Garda (J Ryan) 3l. Jun 16: Neptune (Clarke) bt Neptune (Daymon) 2l.

Published in Rowing
Page 5 of 9

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