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Rosslare Harbour RNLI launched last night to four young men attempting a record-breaking row off the UK coast after they requested assistance in worsening weather conditions. They were brought to safety by Rosslare Harbour RNLI in a call out that lasted over six hours as the all-weather lifeboat towed the 24-foot rowing boat out of the channel and back to the safety of Rosslare harbour.

The four young rowers have had to set aside their record attempt after setting off from Tower in London 10 days ago to row around the UK coast. After leaving London they came up through Bristol channel and out into the open sea. However the weather was worsening last night and they found themselves battling the elements 22 miles off the Irish coast. Conditions were fresh with a north north-westerly wind gusting 25 knots. It was then hey made the decision to contact the Coast Guard and request help.

Volunteer lifeboat crew at Rosslare Harbour RNLI received the call at 6.15pm and launched in minutes. When on scene an hour later they checked if the young men were okay before establishing a tow and bringing the craft back slowly so as not to part the tow to the safety of Rosslare Harbour. The tow took six hours. The four rowers are currently being looked after in Rosslare before they decide on their next move.

Commenting on the call out Rosslare RNLI Lifeboat Operations Manager David Maloney said: ‘This call out was a good example of people recognising the importance of calling for help early when they realise they may be getting into difficulty. The group were dealing with worsening weather conditions and a changing tide which was taking them further from where they needed to be, all while they were mid-channel on a record attempt.’

However they didn’t let this sway them and raised the alarm bringing help. They had the right safety equipment and made a call quickly. If they had waited until things got worse and help was not close enough, it could have ended very differently. I have no doubt they will achieve any records they set their mind to in future.’

Published in RNLI Lifeboats
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#ROWING: The Afloat Rowers of the Month for April are the Galway Rowing Club under-23 women’s eight which won the Division One title at the Queen’s University Regatta, the first eFlow Grand League Regatta of the season. All eight rowers are juniors, with only talented cox Aifric O’Regan falling outside this age group.

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 and the overall national award will be presented to the person or crew who, in the judges' opinion, achieved the most notable results in, or made the most significant contribution to rowing during 2013. Keep a monthly eye on progress and watch our 2013 champions list grow.

Published in Rower of Month

# ROWING: Sanita Puspure is the Afloat Rower of the Year for 2012. Puspure made the A Final as a single sculler at World Cup Regattas in Belgrade and Munich and did wonderfully well to qualify as the sole Ireland rowing representative at the Olympic Games. In the Olympic Qualification Regatta at Lucerne she claimed the fourth and final place, pushing Iva Obradovic of Serbia, one of the favourites, into fifth. The three women who finished ahead of Puspure cut a dash at London 2012: Denmark’s Fie Udby Erichsen took silver; Kim Crow of Australia took bronze (in addition to a silver in the double sculls); America’s Genevra Stone won the B Final. Puspure’s position was destined to be in the 11 to 13 ranking and she was unlucky first to suffer illness in the run up to the Games and then to be drawn in a difficult quarter-final which saw her lose out narrowly on a place in the A/B Semi-Finals, the top 12. She won the C Final convincingly to place 13th. After the race she spoke of looking forward to climbing the rankings in this discipline and of targeting Rio 2016. Her steeliness in key races and her very good form in the recent National Assessment suggests that the 30-year-old could be a rower to watch in this Olympiad.

Rower of the Year: The judging panel is made up of Liam Gorman, rowing correspondent of The Irish Times and David O'Brien, Editor of Afloat magazine.

Published in Rower of the Year

#ROWING – The crew of the Sara G, including Irishman Aodhan Kelly, have been picked up at sea after a capsize. The shore-based team said the six-man crew were safe and well on board the cargo ship Nord Taipei. The crew had been attempting to break the world record for rowing the Atlantic Ocean.

Published in Rowing

#ROWING – Holly Nixon is the Afloat Rower of the Year for 2011. The Enniskillen woman won the Afloat Rower of the Month award for August after making history by becoming the first Ireland rower to medal at the World Junior Championships. Nixon took silver in the single sculls behind Anne Beenken of Germany at Dorney Lake, the site of next year’s Olympic Games regatta. In June she had joined up with Sanita Puspure, Lisa Dilleen and Eimear Moran to win the elite quadruple sculls at Henley Women’s Regatta.

 holllynixon

Ireland's Holly Nixon  pictured after winning Silver in the Women's Single Sculls at the 2011 World Rowing Junior Championships at Dorney Lake in August. Photo: Scott Heavey/Getty Images

The Devenish College student and Portora rower is now concentrating on her A Levels, but her performances at the recent National Assessment and approaches from American universities with scholarship offers suggests that she has a bright future as a rower.

Rower of the Year: The judging panel is made up of Liam Gorman, rowing correspondent of The Irish Times, President of Rowing Ireland Anthony Dooley and David O'Brien, Editor of Afloat magazine. Monthly awards for achievements during the year appear on afloat.ie. Keep an eye for the Rower of the Month awards in 2012.

Published in Rower of the Year
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#ROWING – Irishmen have played a big part in the revival of Atlantic rowing in recent years, and Dubliner Aodhan Kelly will step up the mark in January. The 26-year-old is part of a six-man team which hopes to break the record for the fastest Atlantic row.

Kelly is now based in Reading, but he cut his rowing teeth with Neptune Rowing Club in Dublin, and won eight national rowing titles. He was also selected on Ireland teams.  Neptune are staging a race-night fundraiser for him in the club on November 12th.

http://atlantic2012.com/2011/11/01/race-night-fundraiser/

Published in Rowing

The Rowing Ireland/Portora composite which won the elite quadruple sculls at Henley Women’s Regatta are the Afloat Rowers of the Month for June. The crew of Eimear Moran, Lisa Dilleen, Holly Nixon and Sanita Puspure beat a British combination crew in the final by four lengths. Dilleen and Puspure had earlier won the elite double sculls.

Rower of the Month awards: The judging panel is made up of Liam Gorman, rowing correspondent of The Irish Times, President of Rowing Ireland Anthony Dooley and David O'Brien, Editor of Afloat magazine. Monthly awards for achievements during the year will appear on afloat.ie and the overall national award will be presented to the person or crew who, in the judges' opinion, achieved the most notable results in, or made the most significant contribution to rowing during 2011. Keep a monthly eye on progress and watch our 2011 champions list grow.

Published in Rowing
Over 1000 rowers to compete in Rowing Ireland's first National Head of the River race this weekend

Over one thousand rowers from clubs across the country, including crews from Northern Ireland, will gather at O'Brien's Bridge in Co. Clare for Rowing Ireland's first National Head of the River race of 2011 this weekend.

St Michael's Rowing Club, Limerick is hosting this weekend's competition, which is the first event of the 2011 rowing season, and is a national two blade event, that is, single sculls and coxless pairs.

The Head chairman Robert LeGear, said today, "We're delighted with the massive entry so early in the season. It's a sure sign of the interest and growth in club rowing.  All we need now is fair weather for the event."

He added, "One hundred and twenty two boats will compete in the morning's Men's pairs and Women's single sculls, which get underway at 11.00 am. In the afternoon, one hundred and sixty six boats will compete in the Men's singles and Women's pairs which start at 2.00 pm.

The O'Brien's Bridge course is a favorite with rowers because of the calm stretch of water it offers.  St Michaels have been running their own head of the river race here for over twenty eight years.

National Head of the River races are time trials with senior boats going off first and then working down through all the grades to under-fifteens. The race caters for men and women in singles and pairs at all levels, under 15, 16, 18, Novice, Intermediate and Senior.

Other boat categories will be on offer throughout the day in a rolling head time trial competition which gets underway at 9 am and runs until 4 pm.

The main National Head races take place at 11.00 am and 2 pm.

Click this link for Irish Rowing details

Click this link for the Latest Rowing News

Published in Rowing

It was a good year for Irish rowing: among the highlights were an Ireland eight taking bronze at the World University Championships; John Keohane winning the single sculls title at the World Coastal Rowing Championships; Siohan McCrohan and Claire Lambe reaching A Finals at World Cup and European Championship level. At home, NUIG won the senior eights title after another great battle with Queen's. Standing out above the rest, however, is the achievements of the four men who made up the Lightweight Quadruple Scull which took silver at the World Under-23 Championships. Niall Kenny, Michael Maher, Mark O'Donovan and Justin Ryan (pictured below) are the Afloat Rowers of the Year 2010.

rower23

Rower of the Year award: The judging panel is made up of Liam Gorman, rowing correspondent of The Irish Times, President of Rowing Ireland Anthony Dooley and David O'Brien, Editor of Afloat magazine. Monthly awards for achievements during the year have appeared on afloat.ie. The overall national award goes to the person or crew who, in the judges' opinion, achieved the most notable results in, or made the most significant contribution to rowing during 2010. Thanks for your interest!

Published in Rower of the Year

The first Irish man to row solo across the Atlantic Ocean has spoken of his fears that some one will be killed on the challenge which he says was "horrific". After spending 118 days at sea Limerick man Seán McGowan was honoured with a mayoral reception in his native city last night Kathryn Hayes has the full story on the Woodvale Ocean Rowing Race in the Irish Times. Click read more for the story link.

Sean McGowan reached land in Antigua May 1 to become the first Irish-based oarsman to row across an ocean. The 42-year-old from Shannon Rowing Club crossed the Atlantic in 118 days one hour and 14 minutes. He had rowed out of La Gomera in the Canary Islands on January 4th.

Solo rower warns against 'horrific' Atlantic challenge

Click this link for Irish Rowing details

Click this link for the Latest Rowing News

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.