Minister for Transport, Tourism & Sport Leo Varadkar has announced that the British water polo team will travel to Ireland to train for the London Olympics in the run-up to the National Aquatic Centre in Blanchardstown.

Minister Varadkar said today (Thursday) that he is delighted to make this announcement, which highlights the importance of the National Aquatic Centre as a key sporting facility.

Minister Varadkar said: 'The British team was so impressed by the National Aquatic Centre when they came here in March, they have decided to come back to Ireland to train for the London Olympics'.

"The fact that the British water polo team has chosen Ireland, and the National Sports Campus in Blanchardstown in particular, for its pre-Olympic training demonstrates what a magnificent world class facility we have at the National Aquatic Centre."

The British water polo team will use the NAC for a two-week training session in July 2012, immediately before the London Olympics. The development is a direct result of the international matches held at the NAC earlier this year, between the British and Hungarian water-polo men's senior squads.

The news was also welcomed by Minister of State for Tourism & Sport Michael Ring, who chairs the Inter-Agency Committee in the Department of Transport, Tourism & Sport which is promoting Irish involvement in the London Olympics.

Minister Ring said: 'I'm delighted that the Committee's hard work is once again bearing fruit. We have already secured the US Olympic synchronized swimming squad and the British paralympic swimming squad, which will both be using the NAC as a training base for the Olympics'.

"The Inter-Agency Committee will work right up to the Olympics. As well as seeking to attract national teams to train in Ireland, we are staging Irish cultural events in London, and promoting Ireland as a destination for Londoners hoping to escape the Olympics."

Predictably Olympic campaigners were to the fore at the 2011 Irish Laser National Championships yesterday but host club Lough Derg Yacht Club in Dromineer, Co. Tipperary are celebrating the first time in thirty years that a Laser sailor has won a National Championship division at their home club.

Belfast Olympic campaigner James Espey came top of the combined 151 boat fleet but yesterday the local cheers were for Derg sailor, Eoin Keller won the Irish Laser Radial National Championships.

Eoin Keller with his parents Josephine and Pat, and LDYC Commodore Lucy Sanders. Photo: Geraldine Wisdom

Lough Derg Yacht Club hosted the Irish Laser National Championship from 25 to 28 August. A total of 151 sailors participated in the event. Sailors travelled from all over Ireland and the UK to race in the event. The Laser class has three rig categories according to the sail size: the 4.7 Lasers (48 boats), the Laser Radials (71 boats) and the Standard or full rigs (32 boats).

Hosting a National event for such a large fleet requires considerable organisation, both on and off the water. LDYC Sailing Secretary, Michael McCarney, said that the "seventy plus volunteers, helping out at the event, ensured four great days of racing". He said that the "wildly varying weather conditions provided quite a challenge for sailors and race management". He added that "events such as this help to promote tourism and the local economy of this scenic area".

Laser Racing starts on Lough Derg

The Principal Race Officer for the event was John Lefroy. He conducted the races from his boat the 'Phoenix', and managed to get ten races in very changeable weather conditions. Liam Moloney and his team managed the finishing line on his yacht, 'Synergy'. John Lefroy said that he was "very impressed with the mark laying and rescue", and added that "the sailors were well tired at the end of the four days as I set demanding courses. Competitors at this level want to be stretched at these events". Jack Bayly and Teresa Hassey collated and posted the race results promptly every day.

Club Manager Claire Toohey coordinated Safety and Rescue for the Championship. This is a vital task, and Claire's organisational skills were very much in evidence. Claire commented that her brief was made easier by "top notch, well-trained local rescue crew, who did a superb job in quite testing conditions".

Summing up at the prize-giving, LDYC Commodore Lucy Sanders said, "I was impressed by the number of members who gave of their time to help out, particularly the younger members, who are the future of this Club". She went on to praise the work of the shore crew, including P. Keller and his helpers who efficiently managed the launch and recovery of boats, and Anne Atkinson and her team, who ensured the visitors were looked after with the hospitality for which the Club is well known.

RESULTS Irish Laser National Championship 2011

Laser 4.7

1st Seafra Guilfoyle - Royal Cork Yacht Club
2nd Cian Byrne - Royal Cork Yacht Club
3rd Eoin Curran – East Down Yacht

Laser Radial

1st Eoin Keller – Lough Derg Yacht Club

2nd Robbie Gilmore – Strangford Lough Yacht Club
3rd Finn Lynch – National Yacht Club

Standard Laser Sailors

1st James Espey – Royal Ulster Yacht Club

2nd Ryan Seaton – Carrickfergus Sailing Club
3rd Matthew O'Dowd – Royal St. George Yacht Club

A former Olympian's 'mid-life crisis' and a love of  traditional boat building has led to a unique partnership in Roscommon where the art of clinker boat construction is being kept alive. 85–year–old boat builder Jimmy Furey, the doyene of the Shannon One Design class, took on 1988 Seoul dinghy sailor Cathy MacAleavey as his 'apprentice' last winter. The story of the 16-foot wooden dinghy they built has been recounted on RTE Television this week. Click here for the Nationwide programme by Niall Martin.

The Irish Sailing Association (ISA) has hit back at last week's Newstalk radio interview where questions over the state funding of Irish Olympic Sailing was raised.

In the interview with a number of Olympic hopefuls, including Dun Laoghaire sailor Annalise Murphy, presenter Ivan Yates asked if the tax payer was 'getting value for money' by supporting minority sports such as sailing.

More strident than other sports, Olymic sailing manager James O'Callaghan  has said sailing is determined to stand on the podium in the 2012 Olympics.  The Association is targetting three boats for the Olympic regatta at Weymouth next July.

In a lengthy written response sent to the station the sailing body has said it was wrong for the interviewer to ' target the hardworking athletes' and concludes that  'it was a shame Yates decided to take the negative line with these young people".

The Newstalk questions come as Sports Council funding is expected to be cut and at an important stage in the planning for the London 2012 regatta but it also comes at a time when questions are being asked internationally about the future of sailing at the Olympics. 

"If banks and commercial institutions had applied the same kind of rigorous criteria the athletes have to achieve before even seeing one red cent, it is likely that we would have a much stronger nation", the ISA statement says.

Irish sailors received €186,000 in state funding in 2010 through the Irish Sports Council's high performance programme. This season – the best for many years – Ireland has scored some top Olympic class results, an indication, say the ISA, that the hard work is paying off.

In the course of the interview 21-year old Murphy told Yates she will need to supplement her state grant of €40,000 grant with donations and support from her family.

In further probing about how campaigns are funded Yates maintained that a minorty sport such as Olympic sailing would only be 'a footnote on the Nine O'Clock news' during next year's Olympics and questioned the merit of funding the sport through the public purse.

It's not the first time the radio station has raised the issue of the relevance of sailing. On May 23rd on the station's morning talk show the presenter asked  Olympic Council (OCI) of Ireland Chief Pat Hickey, “Does anyone care, does it matter if Ireland wins a sailing medal in the Olympics … it’s a minority sport....?"

The ISA response to the latest interview (published on its Olympic facebook page) is in full below:

"It is rare that we respond to public comment but the tone of Ivan Yates interview yesterday on Newstalk with Annalise and a number of other athletes needs a response. Here is what we emailed Newstalk:

Thanks to George for bringing in a bit of balance to the completely lopsided interview that Ivan Yates conducted yesterday morning. (George Hook took Ivan to task later the same day on his show The Right Hook)

To target the hardworking athletes for wasting taxpayers money was completely unfair and was just trying to appeal to the high level of frustration out there with the state the country is in at the moment. While this frustration is justified to make the athletes the target is not.

They are not the ones wasting tax payers money. In the overall scheme of things the funding the sports council gets each year from government is a drop in the ocean (approx. 50-60million) in terms of the overall budget spend and it is still one of the smallest developed country allocations to sport.

If banks and commercial institutions had applied the same kind of rigorous criteria the athletes have to achieve before even seeing one red cent, it is likely that we would have a much stronger nation. Every sport has to apply annually for the Irish Sports Council funding and the application is assessed on objective criteria primarily based around performance targets. If you hit targets you get support, simple as that.

No Olympic athlete I know is "making" money they are just about getting enough in to cover their costs of campaigning. The athletes all approach their sport in a wholly professional manner most are doing it full-time but every piece of grant aid or support they receive goes into their campaign, they are not building up property portfolios or taking out mortgages.

What they are doing is representing Ireland on the international stage and the athletes success reflects well on the nation. Ireland competing on the international stage also strengthens our case for hosting international events which not only showcase Ireland as a destination but also generates significant income for the local economy. The Volvo Ocean race brought in €55m in economic benefit to the West of Ireland when Galway hosted one of the stopovers.

If we all subscribed to Ivan's narrow view of the world we would all end up being couch potatoes watching sport on TV taking place in foreign countries and costing the tax payer a hell of a lot more money trying to solve the problems a sedentary lifestyle would bring to bear on the health system.

It is a shame Yates decided to take the negative line with these young people who inspire 100's of kids within their own sports and potentially will have an even wider impact if successful at the Olympic games. We should be cheering on these athletes and getting behind them not trying to pull the rug from underneath them while attempting to make amends for the errors of others" - Friday, 19 August 2011.

More related Olympic sailing articles:

Olympic Sailing - Are Two Medals a Realistic Expectation?

 

For all the fine performances this year from Ireland's Olympic squad a place on the start line of next year's Olympic regatta is contingent on a result at the next ISAF World championships in 100 days time. It's a do or die event for Annalise Murphy, Peter O'Leary and David Burrows and the rest of the crews who have already shown their Olympic worth at ISAF events this summer but Perth is where 80% of nation places will be dished out.

UK Photographer Ingrid Abery has loaded some excellent breezy weather shots from Weymouth Regatta of Star pairing O'Leary and Burrows onto the Afloat Gallery here.

Perth 2011, the organising committee for the 2011 ISAF Sailing World Championships, will tomorrow (Tuesday 23 August) celebrate a significant milestone with just 100 days to go until the biggest international sailing event of the year.

The World Championships will take place from 3-18 December, with 1200 athletes from 80 nations competing for 10 World Titles in the fresh breezes off Fremantle in Western Australia. The World Championships are also the key qualifier for the sailing competition at the London 2012 Olympic Games, with 75 per cent of places in London being decided in Perth in December.

Perth 2011 Chairman Ian Campbell said that a significant buzz is starting to build around the World Championships.

"Perth and Fremantle provide some of the best conditions for sailing in the world," Campbell said.

"Combine these naturally favourable conditions for the sport with the hospitality and warmth of Fremantle and Western Australia and the Perth 2011 ISAF Sailing World Championships are poised to be memorable.

"The Worlds Festival programme is shaping up very nicely and North Street Productions are committed to ensuring that there is something for everyone attending the World Championships away from the water as well as on it.

"Perth is set for "grandstand sailing" as the Medal Races for each class will be sailed just metres from the shore on Centre Course, allowing spectators to witness the excitement of the World Championships first hand.

"There's a great team working very hard at Perth 2011 to ensure that when the world turns to Perth in December, we'll be ready to provide a wonderful platform for the best young sailors on the planet to realise their World Championships and Olympic Games dreams," Campbell said.

Running parallel to the sailing competition will be the Worlds Festival, a 16 day cultural programme that will include more than 200 free events. The Worlds Festival will be centred on, but not limited to, the Worlds Village on Esplanade Park in Fremantle, with venues around Perth's port city hosting theatre, art exhibitions and music performances through the 16 days of the Worlds Festival.

Ireland will have two entries in a fleet of 30 plus boats for the Star European Championships at the Royal St. George Yacht Club in Dun Laoghaire in two weeks time.

Olympic trial winners Royal Cork's Peter O'Leary crewed by Malahide's David Burrows, who finished fourth at the Pre-Olympic regatta in Weymouth a week ago, lead a home challenge in a fleet that contains the current Olympic champion, four past world champions and seven continental class champions.

British Olympic Gold Medallists Percy and Simpson are coming to Dublin Bay next month. Photo: Delta Lloyd Regatta /Sander van der Borch

Beijing Gold Medalists, Britain's Ian Percy and Andrew Simpson, are confirmed for the presitgious Olympic class event that starts at the Royal St. George YC on September 2nd.

Ireland's other entry is Olympic triallists Max Treacy and Anthony Shanks from the host club.

The entries for the 2011 Star European Championships are:

Skipper	Country	Sailing Number
Chatagny	CH	SUI 8075
Niklaus Michel	CH	SUI 7829
Alexander Schlonski	DE	GER 8426
Maxwell Treacy	IE	IRL 8381
Mateusz Kusznierewicz	PL	POL 8417
DENIS KHASHINA	UA	UKR 8205
Andrew Campbell	US	8423
Ante Razmilovic	UK	8191
Johannes Polgar	Germany	8414
Arthur Anosov	UKR	8240
Andrey Berezhnoy	Russia	8359
Barbara Beigel Vosbury		7986
Fernando Echavarri	Spain	8209
Flemming Soerensen	Danish	8225
George Szabo	US	8434
Guillaume Florent	France	8270
Lev Shnyr	Russia	8047
MARIN LOVROVIC	Croatia	8339
Pavlo Bondar	UKR	8119
Tom Londrigan, Jr.	US	8170
Vasyl Gureyev	UKR	8247
Xavier ROHART	France	8237
Mate Arapov	7287	Croatia
Richard Clarke	8361	Canada
Stuart Hebb	8427	Canada
Tom Lofstedt	8351	Sweden
Diego Negri	8266	Italy
Peter O'Leary	8418	Ireland
Tibor Tenke	8386	Hungary

Margins tightened for Ireland's top performers right at the end of the Weymouth test event and despite holding second overall in the Laser Radial and Star fleets for much of the event Team Ireland walked way from Dorset without any medals this evening but plenty of confidence that when the Olympic regatta itself takes place next year Irish crews are true contenders.

Finishing fourth and sixth in two classes are creditable performances that offer plenty to build on in the final push for London 2012.

Commenting after the regatta Team manager James O'Callaghan said:

"It's hard not to be disappointed when you slip out of the medals on the last day. Peter and David dropped to 4th after an early start meant they had to go back. However, to dwell too long on it would overshadow what was a great performance all week. The Star team are on track for next year and can be confident looking ahead."

Second overall gonig into the medal race Peter O'Leary and David Burrows in the Star fleet had a chasing pack on their heels, giving them all to play for in the medal race this afternoon.

Robert Scheidt and Bruno Prada (BRA) wrapped up the Star gold medal ahead of the medal race. The Brazilians went into the final race with an unassailable 24 point lead. However the competition for the silver and bronze medal in the build up to the Medal Race was significantly closer with just two points separating  O'Leary and Burrows (IRL), Mateusz Kusznierewicz and Dominick Zycki (POL) and Iain Percy and Andrew Simpson (GBR).

A race win in the Medal Race handed silver to Percy and Simpson with the Polish team finishing in bronze medal position after they came seventh but ahead of the Irish pair who came down in tenth to finish fourth overall.

Percy and Simpson had a poor start to the regatta going 7-13 on the opening day before snapping their mast in Race 4 meaning they were unable to finish the race. But the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games Star gold medallists clawed their way back to take the silver medal but they were 20 points behind the prolific Brazilians.

Annalise (SEE VED BELOW) finished her medal race in 10th and dropped back to sixtth overall. The gold medal in the Laser Radial was decided before the Medal Race after Marit Bouwmeester (NED) blew the rest of the fleet away to finish 32 points ahead of Evi Van Acker (BEL) before the Medal Race. Evi Van Acker (BEL) took the silver medal and Paige Railey (USA) finished in the final podium position.

After 13 fleet races sailed Ireland's Matt McGovern and Ryan Seaton sit 14th from 24 at the at the Weymouth and Portland International Regatta, the Olympic Test Event today. Here's a video interview of the Ballyholme duo after another windy race in Dorset.

 

 

After two more windy races at the Weymouth and Portland International Regatta, the Olympic Test Event, Ireland's Annalise Murphy is up to fourtth overall on 79 points after the series of 10 fleet races were completed yesterday but significantly the gap to third (58 points) for Friday's medal race has widened.

There was big breeze on all courses yesterday to the extent that the Stars were immediately returned to harbour. Ireland's Peter O'Leary and David Burrows stay second and the aim is for races 7 and 8 to be sailed this morning.

The 49ers only got two races and most struggled to finish the second yesterday. Matt McGovern and Ryan Seaton were lying in fourth place at one point but a massive squall got the better of them.

Marit Bouwmeester (NED) has sealed the gold medal in the Laser Radial with the Medal Race still to go.

The Dutch sailor has dominated the Laser Radial fleet almost from the outset with a tremendous display and she heads into the Medal Race with an unassailable 32 point lead.

On her day Bouwmeester said, "I am very happy that I could finish everything today. It was really windy and quite shifty today but it's always pretty tricky so I was happy with a four and two."

After her superb performance in Weymouth Bouwmeester is eyeing up Perth 2011 ISAF Sailing World Championship Laser Radial glory, "Hopefully at the Perth 2011 ISAF Worlds I can get a world title behind me. Everything went well this week but Perth is a different venue and I am definitely going to train hard to do my best there."

Paige Railey (USA) was the standout sailor of the day as the American recorded two stylish race wins in winds of 20-25 knots on the Weymouth Bay West course. Railey trailed Charlotte Dobson (GBR) round mark one and two in Race 9 but she powered ahead and won convincingly by 56 seconds. Her victory was not as emphatic in Race 10 but she held the lead from the start to finish 28 seconds ahead of Bouwmeester.

Railey is now hot on the heels of Evi Van Acker after the Belgian went 8-6 on the fifth day of Laser Radial sailing. Van Acker has 49 points and Railey is on 58 points ahead of the double points Medal Race on Friday.

Just two points separate Andrew Murdoch (NZL), Tom Slingsby (AUS) and Rutger van Schaardenburg (NED) with only the Medal Race to go in the Laser.

Murdoch had a three point lead overnight but Slingsby brought the deficit down to one after a bullet in Race 9 and an eighth in Race 10. Murdoch went 9-2 and van Schaardenburg, who did trail Murdoch by eight points, has brought the difference down to just two points after a fourth in Race 9 and a bullet in Race 10.

A fantastic Medal Race is on the cards and if tactics come into play Great Britain's Paul Goodison (GBR) is still in with a shout as he sits in fourth on 56 points, just eight points behind Murdoch.

Ben Ainslie (GBR) extended his lead in the Finn after he recorded his third race win after eight races. Ainslie won Race 7 by a comfortable 51 second margin over Ivan Kljakovic Gaspic (CRO). The Finns raced on the Nothe course in Race 7 and Ainslie rounded three of four marks in first place. At the first mark he was 15 seconds behind Pieter Jan Postma (NED) but the Brit rounded the next mark seven seconds ahead of the trailing fleet and gradually extended his lead to take the bullet. Ainslie finished second in Race 8 and with 15 points he has a seven point lead over Pieter Jan Postma (NED) who won Race 8.

Ai Kondo and Wakako Tabata (JPN) reduced the gap on Hannah Mills and Saskia Clark (GBR) to just one point ahead of the Medal Race. Mills and Clark have led the Women's 470 fleet from the start, but the Japanese sailors have slowly chipped away at their lead. With the Medal Race taking place on Friday at the Nothe the Brits are on 37 points and the Japanese girls are on 38 points. Lisa Westerhof and Lobke Berkhout (NED) are in third on 47 bullets after their bullet in Race 10. The days other race win went to Jo Aleh and Olivia Powrie (NZL) who are down in seventh place on 69 points.

Pierre Leboucher and Vincent Garos (FRA) take a 17 point into the Men's 470 Medal Race after they recorded their eighth top five finish from ten Men's 470 races. The French duo have epitomised consistency in Weymouth and a strong performance in the Medal Race will hand them the gold medal. Mathew Belcher and Malcolm Page won Race 9 but did not finish Race 10 and are second on 49 points. Israel's Gideon Kliger and Eran Sela have moved up to third place overall after their 3-2 today to move onto 58 points.

Only two races were possible in the 49er and Nathan Outteridge and Iain Jensen (AUS) have moved back into pole position on 29 points after winning Race 10. Iker Martinez and Xabier Hernandez (ESP) are second on 32 points and Race 9 winners Emmanuel Dyen and Stephane Christidis (FRA) are seventh. The 49ers will continue this morning with Races 12, 13 and 14.

With strong winds and gusts of up to 30 knots reported on the Portland Harbour course the Stars were cancelled but Robert Scheidt and Bruno Prada (BRA) lead after six races. The Stars will resume sailing today with Races 7 and 8.

The Women's Match Racing 5-8 place sail-off was scheduled today on the Portland Harbour course but racing was cancelled meaning Olivia Price (AUS) finishes in fifth followed by Mandy Mulder (NED), Lucy Macgregor (GBR) and Anna Kjellberg (SWE).

This morning also sees the Women's Match Racing Final and the Men's and Women's RS:X Medal Races. The Finns will also continue with racing scheduled to start at 12:00 local time.

 

 

Three time Olympic champion Ben Ainslie insists he is slowly building up a picture of what London 2012 will be like after another dominating day at the Weymouth and Portland International Regatta writes Ben Baker in Weymouth.

The 34-year-old has been in top form on England's south coast during the London 2012 test event, and showed no signs of slowing down on Wednesday with finishes of first and second.

 

This means he is sitting pretty at the top of the Finn class, seven points clear of nearest challenger Pieter Jan Postma from Holland, with just two more races to go before Saturday's medal race.

But Ainslie is adamant it is just as important that he gets a feel for the London 2012 venue ahead of what he hopes is a fourth visit to the top step of the Olympic podium.

"Wednesday was another good day, another windy day with tough with strong winds so very tough physically but the results were great," he said.
"It was very challenging as well because we raved the first race on one course and then switched to another for the second and the results were very pleasing on both which was great.

"We sailed on two courses which we haven't sailed on this season and I can there is a lot to take away for London 2012.

"We have another two fleet races and then medal race after that and I am still feeling good and confident of finishing on a high.

"I am happy in terms of my performances, I had one sticky day but managed to come back and have sailed really well since but I need to make sure I have a good end to the regatta to finish the job off."

Investment specialist Skandia is the principal sponsor of the British sailing team. For more information go to www.skandiateamgbr.com