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Displaying items by tag: Gannon Cup

#Rowing: UCD won the Gannon Cup for senior men and Trinity the Corcoran Cup for senior women at the Colours Races in Dublin today.

Trinity lead early in the Gannon, but once the crews came through Grattan Bridge, UCD pushed into the lead. The lead stood at one length through the next four bridges, but Trinity whittled it to two-thirds from there, making for a good finish. UCD held on to win.

Trinity were outstanding winners of the Corcoran Cup. They carved out a big lead early on and went on to win easily.

UCD’s novice women also built on a good start to win the Sally Moorhead trophy, while Trinity won the men’s novice race and took the Dan Quinn Shield.

Colours Races 2019, Dublin

Gannon Cup (Senior Men): UCD (Rob Brown, Jack Stacey, Andrew Goff, Shane O’Connell, Thomas Earley, Andrew Kelly, Cameron Murphy, David O’Malley; cox: Orlagh Reid) bt Trinity 2/3 l

Corcoran Cup (Senior Women): Trinity (Anna Mangan, Ellen Clohessy, Ruthie McHugh, Jane Hogg, Aoife Corcoran, Erika Deasy, Miriam Kelly, Aoife McGranaghan; cox: Clare White) bt UCD easily

Dan Quinn Shield (Novice Men): Trinity bt UCD 3l

Sally Moorhead Trophy (Novice Women): UCD bt Trinity 3l.

Published in Rowing

#Rowing; Trinity won the Gannon Cup with a fine performance today. The Colours races were run on a reverse of the Trinity Regatta course above the weir for safety reasons. There was a strong east wind and a powerful flow.

 UCD took a one-length lead in the Gannon Cup at the first bend, but Trinity came back to lead and held on. Trinity’s senior women won the Corcoran Cup with a commading performance.

 The novice women’s title (the Sally Moorhead Trophy) was won easily by UCD. The closest race of the day was the novice men’s race, which was a thrilling contest. Trinity led past the boat clubs, but UCD overtook them and led by a length. Trinity came back to retake the lead … only for UCD to overhaul them right at the finish line.   

Colours Races 2018, Islandbridge (raced above the weir because of bad weather)

Senior Men (Gannon Cup): Trinity (B Cronin, D Butler, W Doyle, G Moore, A Liadov, D Pierse, T Hughes, M Quigley; cox: R Hamilton) bt UCD, ¾ l.

Novice Men (Dan Quinn Shield): UCD bt Trinity 2ft.

Senior Women (Corcoran Cup): Trinity  (D Maguire, S Kelly, A Byrne, J Hogg, A Corcoran, C Dempsey, L McHugh, S Higgins; cox: M Jungmann) bt UCD easily.

Novice Women (Sally Moorhead Cup): UCD bt Trinity easily

Published in Rowing

#Rowing: UCD won both coin tosses and will row from the North Station in all four Colours races on the Liffey on March 18th. Pat Kenny performed the coin toss at Trinity College, assisted by the four captains: Emma Thornton (UCD Ladies Boat Club); Laura Walsh (Dublin University Boat Club), Shane Mulvaney (UCD Boat Club) and Conor Ryan (Dublin University Boat Club).

 The toss was set for early in the week but was delayed until Thursday.

 The schedule set for Sunday, March 18th, is:

 10:30 Sally Moorhead Trophy (novice women)

 11:00 Dan Quinn Shield (novice men)

 11:30 Corcoran Cup (senior women)

 12:00 Gannon Cup (senior men)

Published in Rowing

#Rowing: UCD came out on top in the Gannon Cup for senior men and the Corcoran Cup for senior women on the Liffey today – but in very different races.

 Trinity led for most of the Corcoran Cup race, holding off strong  UCD pushes. It looked set up for an excellent finish – but then Trinity’s rudder fell off. They had terrible steering difficulties, and UCD powered through to win well.

 UCD’s senior men were in command from early on. They made light of their weight disadvantage into the strong, gusting, wind to build a good lead, despite rowing on the South Station, which is less favoured in the early stages.

 Trinity won the novice men’s race and UCD the novice women’s.

Colours Races 2017
Men, Senior (Gannon Cup):
 
UCD (S Bolger, S O’Connell, T Doherty, M Murphy, S Mulvaney, A Griffin, E Gleeson, D O’Malley; cox: O Reid) bt Trinity 3l.
 
Novice (Dan Quinn Shield): Trinity bt UCD 2l
 
Women, Senior (Corcoran Cup)
 
UCD (S Matthews, V Connolly, R Ryan, G Youl, D Callanan, J Coleman, R Gilligan, E Lambe; cox: S Ní Fhinn) bt Trinity easily.
Novice (Sally Moorhead Trophy); UCD bt Trinity easily.

 

 

 

 

Published in Rowing

#Rowing: Trinity won the toss for both the Corcoran Cup women’s race and Gannon Cup men’s contest at the Colours Races this weekend on the Liffey. Trinity opted to take the North Station in both cases. The toss was performed by Josh Van Der Flier, the international rugby player.  The races are set for Saturday, March 18th, on the Liffey from O’Connell Bridge to St James’s Gate.

Novice women (Sally Moorhead Trophy) 1.30pm
Novice men (Dan Quinn Shield) - 2pm
Senior women (Corcoran Cup) - 2.30pm
Senior men (Gannon Cup) - 3pm

UCD Senior Women's Crew:
Cox - Síne Ní Fhinn
Stroke Eimear Lambe
7 Ruth Gilligan
6 Jane Coleman
5 Daisy Callanan
4 Gersende Youl
3 Rachel Ryan
2 Vanessa Connolly
Bow Sarah Matthews

UCD Senior Men's Crew:
Cox - Orlagh Reid
8 David O'Malley
7 Eoin Gleeson
6 Andrew Griffin
5 Shane Mulvaney
4 Max Murphy
3 Tiarnan Doherty
2 Shane O'Connell
1 Sam Bolger

DULBC
Sally Moorhead (novices)
1.      Bow: Kathryn Yeow
2.      Ellen Murphy
3.      Molly Brennan
4.      Pheobe Warren
5.      Aideen Fay
6.      Gabrielle Giuscitte
7.      Anna Mangan
Stroke: Jane Hogg
 
Corcoran Cup (seniors)
1.      Bow: Susie O‘Neill
2.      Nora Fisher
3.      Gemma Foley
4.      Aoife Corcoran
5.      Caoimhe Dempsey
6.      Hannah McCarthy
7.      Sarah Higgins
8.      Laura Walsh
 
DUBC
Gannon Cup (Senior)
Cox Conor Keogh
Stroke Mark Quigley
7 Adam Browne
6 Patrick Moreau
5 Liam Hawkes
4 Matthew Mitchell
3 Josh Norton
2 Andrej Liadov
Bow William Doyle
 
Dan Quinn (Novice/Junior)
Cox Hannah Colgan
Stroke Ross Layden
7 Andrew Burgess
6 Paul Peters
5 Constantine Knauer
4 Brian Egan
3 John Taaffe
2 Gavin Moore
Bow Paulus Heemskerk

Published in Rowing

#Rowing: UCD carried off the Gannon and Corcoran Cups for senior men and women in the Colours races on the Liffey today. In both races, strong starts in the difficult conditions were the key. In the Corcoran Cup, the bigger and more powerful UCD women’s crew had one quarter length by the Ha’penny Bridge, and coming through Capel Street Bridge they extended it to over a length. They went on to win comfortably. The UCD men’s crew also got off the start much more smoothly than Trinity. Trinity mounted a number of attacks down the course, but UCD held them off and won by over a length.

 The novice men’s race for the Dan Quinn Shield provided Trinity with a chance to impress, with the crew in white taking command early and having the race won by the Four Courts. The novice women’s race was similarly one-sided, with UCD having only to paddle home after Trinity’s stroke woman caught a crab after only a few seconds of the race.

Colours Races 2016, O’Connell Bridge to St James’s Gate, Saturday:

 Men – Senior (Gannon Cup): UCD (E Gleeson, D Somers, T Hughes, A Griffin, E O’Connor, M Murphy, S Mulvaney, D O’Malley; cox: O Reid) bt Trinity 1 1/3 l . Novice (Dan Quinn Shield): Trinity bt UCD, easily.

 Women – Senior (Corcoran Cup): UCD (D Callanan, J Coleman, A O’Riordan, E Lambe, O Finnegan, R Gilligan, S Bennett, K O’Connor; cox: J Gilligan) bt Trinity a distance. Novice (Sally Moorhead Trophy): UCD bt Trinity easily.

 

Published in Rowing

#ROWING: Trinity won all four Colours races on the Liffey today. In the Gannon Cup for senior men, the men in black and white hoops took a small early advantage, stretched it to three-quarters of a length by Capel Street Bridge and won by one-and-a-half lengths. The two novice races were surprisingly one-sided for the Dublin University crews. The best race of the day was the women’s senior contest, for the Corcoran Cup. UCD took an early advantage and led for most of the race. But Trinity were impressively controlled in their rowing and took the lead through the last two bridges. They stretched their advantage to half a length at the finish.

Colours Races 2015, Liffey, Dublin, Saturday, March 14th.

Senior Men (Gannon Cup): Trinity (A Browne, W Doyle, J Magan, M Corcoran, P Moreau, M Kelly, L Hawkes, D Butler; cox: C Flynn) bt UCD 1½ l

Novice (Dan Quinn Shield): Trinity bt UCD, easily

Senior Women (Corcoran Cup): Trinity (G Crowe, H O’Neill, H McCarthy, S Healy, S O’Brien, A Leahy, L McHugh, R Morris; cox: N Williams) bt UCD ½ l

Novice (Sally Moorhead trophy): Trinity bt UCD easily

Published in Rowing

#ROWING: UCD won the Gannon Cup for senior men after a terrific struggle, while Trinity senior women took the Corcoran Cup in facile fashion at the Colours Rowing Races on the Liffey today.

Trinity’s crew led the Gannon Cup race from just after the start, but could not gain a clearwater lead. UCD’s pushes were relentless, and though they were still behind coming through the final bridge, Watling Street, they then powered through and had command of the race when Trinity’s number four man and captain, Luke Acheson, collapsed. The race was not rowed out. It took a long time – too long - to get Acheson into an ambulance, as he had to be brought up the river all the way to City Quay before being lifted up the steps. He was being treated in St James’s Hospital this afternoon.

Trinity’s Corcoran Cup crew demonstrated that size is not everything in rowing. They were outsiders, but simply rowed better than UCD. They eked out an early lead and built it steadily into an unassailable margin by the end.

UCD’s annexation of the Sally Moorhead Trophy for novice women was also one-sided, but Trinity took the novice men’s title after UCD suffered a boat-stopping crab right in front of the Four Courts. UCD came back to lead briefly, but Trinity took control again before the finish.

Colours Rowing Races, O’Connell Bridge to St James’s Gate

Men – Senior (Gannon Cup): UCD (M Bailey, W Yeomans, C O’Riada, B Crosse, D O’Neill, A Griffin, P Moore, N Kenny (stroke); cox: L Mulvihill) bt Trinity not rowed out. Novice (Dan Quinn Shield): Trinity bt UCD 1 ½ l.

Women – Senior (Corcoran Cup): Trinity (G Crowe, H O’Neill, H McCarthy, R Deasy, S O’Brien, A Leahy, S Cass, R Morris (stroke); cox: N Williams) bt UCD easily.

Novice (Sally Moorhead Trophy): UCD bt Trinity easily.

Published in Rowing

The Gannon Cup Committee have announced the arrangements for the 2014 Dublin University Boat Races between Trinity College Dublin and University College Dublin. The Colours rowing races will this year take place on Sunday,  March 16th, in association with the official St Patrick’s Festival. The races  will be contested on  the River Liffey from O’Connell Bridge to St James’ Gate Brewery. The senior men's race (The Gannon Cup) is set for 11 o'clock and  the senior women's race (Corcoran Cup) 10.30. The programme will commence at 9:30am with the novice women racing for the Sally Moorhead Trophy, followed by the novice men’s race for the Dan Quinn Shield at 10am.
A winter of extreme weather conditions has led to the cancellation of the majority of Rowing Ireland events, making it hard to predict the outcome of what promises to be a very exciting series of races.
 For Susannah Cass, who will row in the seven seat of Trinity's Corcoran Cup crew, this is just the first test in a summer of rowing adventures. Susannah will be racing across the Irish Sea in the Celtic Challenge race in May, before competing in the world’s first Pacific Ocean rowing race – a 2,400 mile challenge from California to Hawaii. Meanwhile, in the UCD crew, the Gilligan sisters will be hoping to keep the Corcoran Cup in the family, as Aoife enlists her sister Ruth’s help in defending the title.
 The senior men's race will have its 66th staging on Sunday. The Gannon Cup was founded in 1947 in memory of former UCD captain Ciarán Gannon, who lost his life serving in the Royal Army Medical Corps in Burma in 1944. There were no races in 1957 and 1958. UCD have dominated the event in recent years and will be hoping to make this their 7th consecutive win with the help of a strong crew of promising young athletes including World Under-23 silver medallist Niall Kenny. Trinity hope the return of coach Nick Dunlop, whose record includes a number of convincing Gannon Cup wins, turns the UCD tide.
Trinity won the coin toss hosted at Leinster House by Taoiseach Enda Kenny. They chose to race on the north station in both the men’s and women’s races.
The university boat races are an annual event on the River Liffey echoing the world famous Oxford/Cambridge University Boat Race in London. In 1980 Trinity were presented with the Corcoran Cup as winners of the inaugural women’s boat race; however, UCD responded strongly to this initial defeat and currently lead the series by 21 wins to Trinity’s 13. Races for novice men and women were introduced in 2004 and 2005 respectively.

Spectator buses will follow the races and depart from the O’Connell Bridge.
Program of events:
9:30am The Moorhead Trophy – Novice Women (holder Trinity)
10:00am The Dan Quinn Perpetual Shield – Novice Men (holder UCD)
10:30am The Corcoran Cup – Senior Women (holder UCD)
11:00am The Gannon Cup – Senior Men (holder UCD)

Published in Rowing

# ROWING: UCD produced an exact repeat of last year in the Colours Races on the Liffey today by winning the senior men’s and women’s events and also taking the novice men’s race. Trinity again won the women’s novice eights race with a dominant performance.

The senior men’s race was won in the first 20 metres: UCD’s big crew gained a crucial advantage and exploited it so competently that they had the race in the bag by the Four Courts. The win gave Dave Neale a record sixth Gannon Cup crown.

The UCD senior women also started well and established a good lead, but Trinity nipped away at them down the course and lost by only a half length.

The men’s novice eight race ended before the line, as Trinity crashed into the wall after Watling Street Bridge due to a snapped steering line. UCD had taken the furthest south arch in Winetavern Street bridge, prompting a Trinity objection, but the race umpire said that he had told the crew to avoid the marked centre lane due to a possible hindrance there.

Colours Races 2013

Men – Eight, Senior (Gannon Cup): UCD (L McCarthy, M Bailey, P Moore, A Sheehan, D Neale, J Nihotte, G Duane, P Grogan; cox: K Joyce) bt Trinity 4l

Eight, Novice (Dan Quinn Shield): UCD bt Trinity not rowed out

Women – Eight, Senior (Corcoran Cup) UCD (A O’Riordan, K Joy, O Finnegan, S Bennett, C Ni Reachtagain, G Collins, A Gilligan, B Lait; cox C McGowan) bt Trinity ½ l

Eight, Novice (Sally Moorhead Trophy): Trinity bt UCD easily.

Published in Rowing

Irish Olympic Sailing Team

Ireland has a proud representation in sailing at the Olympics dating back to 1948. Today there is a modern governing structure surrounding the selection of sailors the Olympic Regatta

Irish Olympic Sailing FAQs

Ireland’s representation in sailing at the Olympics dates back to 1948, when a team consisting of Jimmy Mooney (Firefly), Alf Delany and Hugh Allen (Swallow) competed in that year’s Summer Games in London (sailing off Torquay). Except for the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City, Ireland has sent at least one sailor to every Summer Games since then.

  • 1948 – London (Torquay) — Firefly: Jimmy Mooney; Swallow: Alf Delany, Hugh Allen
  • 1952 – Helsinki — Finn: Alf Delany * 1956 – Melbourne — Finn: J Somers Payne
  • 1960 – Rome — Flying Dutchman: Johnny Hooper, Peter Gray; Dragon: Jimmy Mooney, David Ryder, Robin Benson; Finn: J Somers Payne
  • 1964 – Tokyo — Dragon: Eddie Kelliher, Harry Maguire, Rob Dalton; Finn: Johnny Hooper 
  • 1972 – Munich (Kiel) — Tempest: David Wilkins, Sean Whitaker; Dragon: Robin Hennessy, Harry Byrne, Owen Delany; Finn: Kevin McLaverty; Flying Dutchman: Harold Cudmore, Richard O’Shea
  • 1976 – Montreal (Kingston) — 470: Robert Dix, Peter Dix; Flying Dutchman: Barry O’Neill, Jamie Wilkinson; Tempest: David Wilkins, Derek Jago
  • 1980 – Moscow (Tallinn) — Flying Dutchman: David Wilkins, Jamie Wilkinson (Silver medalists) * 1984 – Los Angeles — Finn: Bill O’Hara
  • 1988 – Seoul (Pusan) — Finn: Bill O’Hara; Flying Dutchman: David Wilkins, Peter Kennedy; 470 (Women): Cathy MacAleavy, Aisling Byrne
  • 1992 – Barcelona — Europe: Denise Lyttle; Flying Dutchman: David Wilkins, Peter Kennedy; Star: Mark Mansfield, Tom McWilliam
  • 1996 – Atlanta (Savannah) — Laser: Mark Lyttle; Europe: Aisling Bowman (Byrne); Finn: John Driscoll; Star: Mark Mansfield, David Burrows; 470 (Women): Denise Lyttle, Louise Cole; Soling: Marshall King, Dan O’Grady, Garrett Connolly
  • 2000 – Sydney — Europe: Maria Coleman; Finn: David Burrows; Star: Mark Mansfield, David O'Brien
  • 2004 – Athens — Europe: Maria Coleman; Finn: David Burrows; Star: Mark Mansfield, Killian Collins; 49er: Tom Fitzpatrick, Fraser Brown; 470: Gerald Owens, Ross Killian; Laser: Rory Fitzpatrick
  • 2008 – Beijing (Qingdao) — Star: Peter O’Leary, Stephen Milne; Finn: Tim Goodbody; Laser Radial: Ciara Peelo; 470: Gerald Owens, Phil Lawton
  • 2012 – London (Weymouth) — Star: Peter O’Leary, David Burrows; 49er: Ryan Seaton, Matt McGovern; Laser Radial: Annalise Murphy; Laser: James Espey; 470: Gerald Owens, Scott Flanigan
  • 2016 – Rio — Laser Radial (Women): Annalise Murphy (Silver medalist); 49er: Ryan Seaton, Matt McGovern; 49erFX: Andrea Brewster, Saskia Tidey; Laser: Finn Lynch; Paralympic Sonar: John Twomey, Ian Costello & Austin O’Carroll

Ireland has won two Olympics medals in sailing events, both silver: David Wilkins, Jamie Wilkinson in the Flying Dutchman at Moscow 1980, and Annalise Murphy in the Laser Radial at Rio 2016.

The current team, as of December 2020, consists of Laser sailors Finn Lynch, Liam Glynn and Ewan McMahon, 49er pairs Ryan Seaton and Seafra Guilfoyle, and Sean Waddilove and Robert Dickson, as well as Laser Radial sailors Annalise Murphy and Aoife Hopkins.

Irish Sailing is the National Governing Body for sailing in Ireland.

Irish Sailing’s Performance division is responsible for selecting and nurturing Olympic contenders as part of its Performance Pathway.

The Performance Pathway is Irish Sailing’s Olympic talent pipeline. The Performance Pathway counts over 70 sailors from 11 years up in its programme.The Performance Pathway is made up of Junior, Youth, Academy, Development and Olympic squads. It provides young, talented and ambitious Irish sailors with opportunities to move up through the ranks from an early age. With up to 100 young athletes training with the Irish Sailing Performance Pathway, every aspect of their performance is planned and closely monitored while strong relationships are simultaneously built with the sailors and their families

Rory Fitzpatrick is the head coach of Irish Sailing Performance. He is a graduate of University College Dublin and was an Athens 2004 Olympian in the Laser class.

The Performance Director of Irish Sailing is James O’Callaghan. Since 2006 James has been responsible for the development and delivery of athlete-focused, coach-led, performance-measured programmes across the Irish Sailing Performance Pathway. A Business & Economics graduate of Trinity College Dublin, he is a Level 3 Qualified Coach and Level 2 Coach Tutor. He has coached at five Olympic Games and numerous European and World Championship events across multiple Olympic classes. He is also a member of the Irish Sailing Foundation board.

Annalise Murphy is by far and away the biggest Irish sailing star. Her fourth in London 2012 when she came so agonisingly close to a bronze medal followed by her superb silver medal performance four years later at Rio won the hearts of Ireland. Murphy is aiming to go one better in Tokyo 2021. 

Under head coach Rory Fitzpatrick, the coaching staff consists of Laser Radial Academy coach Sean Evans, Olympic Laser coach Vasilij Zbogar and 49er team coach Matt McGovern.

The Irish Government provides funding to Irish Sailing. These funds are exclusively for the benefit of the Performance Pathway. However, this falls short of the amount required to fund the Performance Pathway in order to allow Ireland compete at the highest level. As a result the Performance Pathway programme currently receives around €850,000 per annum from Sport Ireland and €150,000 from sponsorship. A further €2 million per annum is needed to have a major impact at the highest level. The Irish Sailing Foundation was established to bridge the financial gap through securing philanthropic donations, corporate giving and sponsorship.

The vision of the Irish Sailing Foundation is to generate the required financial resources for Ireland to scale-up and execute its world-class sailing programme. Irish Sailing works tirelessly to promote sailing in Ireland and abroad and has been successful in securing funding of 1 million euro from Sport Ireland. However, to compete on a par with other nations, a further €2 million is required annually to realise the ambitions of our talented sailors. For this reason, the Irish Sailing Foundation was formed to seek philanthropic donations. Led by a Board of Directors and Head of Development Kathryn Grace, the foundation lads a campaign to bridge the financial gap to provide the Performance Pathway with the funds necessary to increase coaching hours, upgrade equipment and provide world class sport science support to a greater number of high-potential Irish sailors.

The Senior and Academy teams of the Performance Pathway are supported with the provision of a coach, vehicle, coach boat and boats. Even with this level of subsidy there is still a large financial burden on individual families due to travel costs, entry fees and accommodation. There are often compromises made on the amount of days a coach can be hired for and on many occasions it is necessary to opt out of major competitions outside Europe due to cost. Money raised by the Irish Sailing Foundation will go towards increased quality coaching time, world-class equipment, and subsiding entry fees and travel-related costs. It also goes towards broadening the base of talented sailors that can consider campaigning by removing financial hurdles, and the Performance HQ in Dublin to increase efficiency and reduce logistical issues.

The ethos of the Performance Pathway is progression. At each stage international performance benchmarks are utilised to ensure the sailors are meeting expectations set. The size of a sailor will generally dictate which boat they sail. The classes selected on the pathway have been identified as the best feeder classes for progression. Currently the Irish Sailing Performance Pathway consists of the following groups: * Pathway (U15) Optimist and Topper * Youth Academy (U19) Laser 4.7, Laser Radial and 420 * Development Academy (U23) Laser, Laser Radial, 49er, 49erFX * Team IRL (direct-funded athletes) Laser, Laser Radial, 49er, 49erFX

The Irish Sailing performance director produces a detailed annual budget for the programme which is presented to Sport Ireland, Irish Sailing and the Foundation for detailed discussion and analysis of the programme, where each item of expenditure is reviewed and approved. Each year, the performance director drafts a Performance Plan and Budget designed to meet the objectives of Irish Performance Sailing based on an annual review of the Pathway Programmes from Junior to Olympic level. The plan is then presented to the Olympic Steering Group (OSG) where it is independently assessed and the budget is agreed. The OSG closely monitors the delivery of the plan ensuring it meets the agreed strategy, is within budget and in line with operational plans. The performance director communicates on an ongoing basis with the OSG throughout the year, reporting formally on a quarterly basis.

Due to the specialised nature of Performance Sport, Irish Sailing established an expert sub-committee which is referred to as the Olympic Steering Group (OSG). The OSG is chaired by Patrick Coveney and its objective is centred around winning Olympic medals so it oversees the delivery of the Irish Sailing’s Performance plan.

At Junior level (U15) sailors learn not only to be a sailor but also an athlete. They develop the discipline required to keep a training log while undertaking fitness programmes, attending coaching sessions and travelling to competitions. During the winter Regional Squads take place and then in spring the National Squads are selected for Summer Competitions. As sailors move into Youth level (U19) there is an exhaustive selection matrix used when considering a sailor for entry into the Performance Academy. Completion of club training programmes, attendance at the performance seminars, physical suitability and also progress at Junior and Youth competitions are assessed and reviewed. Once invited in to the Performance Academy, sailors are given a six-month trial before a final decision is made on their selection. Sailors in the Academy are very closely monitored and engage in a very well planned out sailing, training and competition programme. There are also defined international benchmarks which these sailors are required to meet by a certain age. Biannual reviews are conducted transparently with the sailors so they know exactly where they are performing well and they are made aware of where they may need to improve before the next review.

©Afloat 2020

Irish Sailing Performance Head Quarters

Irish Sailing's base for the exclusive use of its own teams are located on the grounds of the Commissioners of Irish Lights in Dun Laoghaire Harbour.

The Irish Sailing Performance HQ houses the senior Irish sailing teams such as Olympic Silver Medalist Annalise Murphy

The HQ plans were announced in May 2018 and opened in March 2019.

The HQ comprises a number of three converted shipping containers and a floating slipway and pontoon

The HQ aim is to improve both training and educational opportunities for them, thereby creating systematic medal potential.

The Performance HQ is entirely mobile and has space for briefings and athlete education, a gym, gear storage and a boat maintenance area.

The athlete briefing room can then be shipped directly to international competitions such as the Olympics Regatta and provide a base for athletes overseas.