Displaying items by tag: Shauna Ward

20th September 2011

Irish Team Finalised for Eurosurf 2011

The final line-up has been confirmed for Ireland's team at the European Surfing Championships in Bundoran later this week.

http://afloat.ie/watersport/surfing/

Rossnowlagh's John Britton joins his cousin Easkey Britton in the strong squad aiming for Eurosurf gold.

The rest of the team includes two-time Irish national champ Shane Meehan; former Irish Open Champion Stephen Kilfeather; and multiple-time women's body board champion Ashleigh Smith.

Also in the squad are Cain Kilcullen from Enniscrone; open surfer Oliver O’Flaherty; 2008 WSCS Longboard Champion Stephen Kelleher; Irish Student Champion Ronan Oertzen; Bundoran's Shauna Ward; body boarder Darragh McCarter; and Irish team veterans John McCurry and Richie Fitzgerald.

The action kicks off in Bundoran on 23 September with the competition running till 2 October.

The final line-up has been confirmed for Ireland's team at the European Surfing Championships in Bundoran later this week.

Rossnowlagh's John Britton joins his cousin Easkey Britton in the strong squad aiming for Eurosurf gold.

The rest of the team includes two-time Irish national champ Shane Meehan; former Irish Open Champion Stephen Kilfeather; and multiple-time women's body board champion Ashleigh Smith.

The action kicks off in Bundoran on 23 September with the competition running till 2 October.

Published in Surfing

Donegal Represents on Irish Team for Eurosurf 2011

Donegal will be represented by five surfers on the Irish team selected for the Eurosurf European Surfing Championships in Bundoran later this year.

Donegal Daily reports that Bundoran residents Ronan Oertzen (20), Shauna Ward (24), Darragh McCarter (25) and Richie Fitzgerald (36) will join 25-year-old Easkey Britton from Rossnowlagh on the team, after qualifying in a series of selection events.

One position on the team remains to be filled, and will be decided in a 'surf-off' between Rossnowlagh's John Britton and Keith O'Brien from Tramore at the Sea Sessions festival in Bundoran from 24-26 June.

The Irish Surf team will be coachedby Pascal Devine and managed by Stevie Burns, who have 40 years of surfing experience between them.

Donegal Daily has more on the story HERE.

http://www.donegaldaily.com/2011/06/13/donegal-surfers-get-ready-to-take-on-europe/

Donegal will be represented by five surfers on the Irish team selected for the Eurosurf European Surfing Championships in Bundoran later this year.

The Irish Surf team will be coachedby Pascal Devine and managed by Stevie Burns, who have 40 years of surfing experience between them.

Donegal Daily has more on the story HERE.

Published in Surfing

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About Conor O'Brien, Irish Circumnavigator

In 1923-25, Conor O'Brien became the first amateur skipper to circle the world south of the Great Capes. O'Brien's boat Saoirse was reputedly the first small boat (42-foot, 13 metres long) to sail around the world since Joshua Slocum completed his voyage in the 'Spray' during 1895 to 1898. It is a journey that O' Brien documented in his book Across Three Oceans. O'Brien's voyage began and ended at the Port of Foynes, County Limerick, Ireland, where he lived.

Saoirse, under O'Brien's command and with three crew, was the first yacht to circumnavigate the world by way of the three great capes: Cape Horn, Cape of Good Hope and Cape Leeuwin; and was the first boat flying the Irish tri-colour to enter many of the world's ports and harbours. He ran down his easting in the Roaring Forties and Furious Fifties between the years 1923 to 1925.

Up until O'Brien's circumnavigation, this route was the preserve of square-rigged grain ships taking part in the grain race from Australia to England via Cape Horn (also known as the clipper route).

At a Glance - Conor O'Brien's Circumnavigation

In June 1923, Limerick man Conor O’Brien set off on his yacht, the Saoirse — named after the then newly created Irish Free State — on the two-year voyage from Dun Laoghaire Harbour that was to make him the first Irish amateur to sail around the world.

June 1923 - Saoirse’s arrival in Madeira after her maiden passage out from Dublin Bay

2nd December 1924 - Saoirse crossed the longitude of Cape Horn

June 20th 1925 - O’Brien’s return to Dun Laoghaire Harbour