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Displaying items by tag: Lagan Scullers Head of the River

#Rowing: Philip Doyle of Queen’s University won the battle of the senior single scullers at the Lagan Scullers’ Head of the River in Belfast. He had just over 17 seconds to spare over Portadown’s Sam McKeown. The fastest crew on the day was the Queen’s University senior men’s quadruple. The event was run in strong winds, but coming from the east, they did not prove to be seriously disruptive. The organisers were pleased that the Ireland under-23 women's group took part and that some junior scullers could compete, as their trials had been cancelled.

Lagan Scullers’ Head of the River, Belfast, Saturday (Selected Results):

Race One

Overall: 1 Queen’s Univ (P Doyle, senior single sculls) 11 minutes 56.2 seconds. 2 Portadown (S McKeown, senior single) 12:13.3, 3 Queen’s (T Oliver, senior single) 12:15.9.

Men – Sculling, Quadruple – Jun 15, coxed: Portora 12:40.5

Double – Jun 16: Portora 13:04. Masters: City of Derry 13:29.8. 

Single – Senior: Queen’s (Doyle) 11:56.2. Jun 18A: Methody (C Macrae) 12:47.2

Women – Sculling – Quadruple – Masters: Lagan Scullers/Belfast BC 15:01.8. 

Double – Jun 18A: Bann 12:55.8.

Single – Intermediate: Belfast BC (O Blundell) 14:09.3. Club Two:  Queen’s (R Brown) 15:01.1. Jun 16: Belfast RC (A Hall) 16:05.8.

Race Two

Overall: 1  Queen’s men’s senior quadruple (Roy) 10:43.6, 2 RBAI men’s sen quad 11:14.1, 3 Queen’s men’s sen quad (Evans) 11:31.0.

Men – Sculling, Quadruple – Senior: Queen’s (Roy) 10.43.6. Jun 16, coxed: Methody 11:56.5.

Double – Jun 18A: Bann 11:51.

Single – Intermediate: Portora (C Laughlin) 12:33.7. Club Two: Belfast RC (T McCaughtry) 12:51.4. Novice: RBAI (T Lyons) 14:57.3. Jun 15: Portora (O Donaghy) 13:59.4.

Women – Quadruple – Jun 16, coxed: Portora 13:44.4. Jun 15, coxed: Bann 14:10.8.

Double – Seniors: Fermoy/Belfast BC 12:53.7.

Single – Jun 18A: Bann (H Scott) 13:45.2. Masters: Belfast BC (U Purdy) 15:15.6.

Race Three

Overall: 1 Methody junior 18A quadruple 10:43.1, 2 Queen’s senior double 10:57.4, 3 Belfast BC, Portadown 11:18.4.

Men, Quadruple – Jun 18A: Methody 10:43.1. Jun 18B, coxed: Methody 12:18.5. 

Double – Senior: Queen’s 10:57.4.

Single – Jun 16: Portora (N Timoney) 13:40.1. Masters: Portora (D Murphy) 13:40.8. 

Women, Quadruple – Jun 18A: Methody 12:48.6

Double – Jun 16: Bann 14:50.9.

Mixed Quad – Portadown 13:40.2.

Published in Rowing

The Irish Cruiser Racing Association (ICRA) Information

The creation of the Irish Cruiser Racing Association (ICRA) began in a very low key way in the autumn of 2002 with an exploratory meeting between Denis Kiely, Jim Donegan and Fintan Cairns in the Granville Hotel in Waterford, and the first conference was held in February 2003 in Kilkenny.

While numbers of cruiser-racers were large, their specific locations were widespread, but there was simply no denying the numerical strength and majority power of the Cork-Dublin axis. To get what was then a very novel concept up and running, this strength of numbers had to be acknowledged, and the first National Championship in 2003 reflected this, as it was staged in Howth.

ICRA was run by a dedicated group of volunteers each of whom brought their special talents to the organisation. Jim Donegan, the elder statesman, was so much more interested in the wellbeing of the new organisation than in personal advancement that he insisted on Fintan Cairns being the first Commodore, while the distinguished Cork sailor was more than content to be Vice Commodore.

ICRA National Championships

Initially, the highlight of the ICRA season was the National Championship, which is essentially self-limiting, as it is restricted to boats which have or would be eligible for an IRC Rating. Boats not actually rated but eligible were catered for by ICRA’s ace number-cruncher Denis Kiely, who took Ireland’s long-established native rating system ECHO to new heights, thereby providing for extra entries which brought fleet numbers at most annual national championships to comfortably above the hundred mark, particularly at the height of the boom years. 

ICRA Boat of the Year (Winners 2004-2019)