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Displaying items by tag: Sydney International

#Rowing: Mark O’Donovan and Shane O’Driscoll finished just 15 hundredths of a second off a medal placing in the men’s four at the Sydney International Rowing Regatta. The Skibbereen men teamed up with Australian internationals Ben Coombs and Tim Masters to form the crew which just missed out in the five-boat race.

Patrick Boomer, who represented Ireland at the World Championships in 2017, was part of the winning crew.

Sydney International Rowing Regatta, Day Five (Friday; Irish interest)

Men

Open Four – Final: 1 Melbourne Univ/Mercantile-NTC (P Boomer, S Keenan, J Dunkley-Smith, J Booth) 6:04.8; 4 Skibbereen-NTC (T Masters, B Coombs, M O’Donovan, S O’Driscoll) 6:12.78

Open Double Sculls – A Final: 1 Adelaide/Sydney (A Hill, D Watts) 6:26.08, 2 UTS/Sydney 6:28.34, 3 Sydney University-NTC 6:30.45; 5 Skibbereen (G O’Donovan, P O’Donovan) 6:33.28.

Published in Rowing

#Rowing: Paul O’Donovan has qualified for the A Final of the men’s Open single sculls at the Sydney International Rowing Regatta in Australia. The Skibbereen man finished second in his semi-final. The Skibbereen pair of Mark O’Donovan and Shane O’Driscoll are set for a B Final in the Open category as they missed out on qualifying through their repechage.

Published in Rowing

#Rowing: Australian rowing has given a warm welcome to the Irish quartet of Paul O’Donovan and Gary O’Donovan and Shane O’Driscoll and Mark O’Donovan. Rowing Australia says the Irish, who returned from the 2017 World Championships with two gold medals, are “headlining the international line-up” at the Sydney International Regatta next week. The four have been enjoying the sights and climbs of Sydney.

Published in Rowing

The Dragon was designed by Johan Anker in 1929 as an entry for a competition run by the Royal Yacht Club of Gothenburg, to find a small keel-boat that could be used for simple weekend cruising among the islands and fjords of the Scandinavian seaboard. The original design had two berths and was ideally suited for cruising in his home waters of Norway. The boat quickly attracted owners and within ten years it had spread all over Europe.

The Dragon's long keel and elegant metre-boat lines remain unchanged, but today Dragons are constructed using the latest technology to make the boat durable and easy to maintain. GRP is the most popular material, but both new and old wooden boats regularly win major competitions while looking as beautiful as any craft afloat. Exotic materials are banned throughout the boat, and strict rules are applied to all areas of construction to avoid sacrificing value for a fractional increase in speed.

The key to the Dragon's enduring appeal lies in the careful development of its rig. Its well-balanced sail plan makes boat handling easy for lightweights, while a controlled process of development has produced one of the most flexible and controllable rigs of any racing boat.