#ISA NEWS - The Irish Sailing Association's Olympic Department is inviting tenders for photographic services and social media content for the Irish sailing team at the Sail for Gold Regatta in Weymouth from 4-9 June.

The tender requires attendance at Sail for Gold from Wednesday 6 to Saturday 9 June inclusive.

The photography portion involves daily coverage of Irish sailors racing with a target of 6-10 images per sailor (schedule to be agreed with support team dependant on campaign performance and availability of media boats), plus headshots of the squad and support teams in team clothing, and group shots with and without support teams.

Social media content will involve daily pre-race audio and video with the performance director; daily audio/video with sailors from the media zone; and a micro documentary (3 minutes max) on pieces of interest from an Irish perspective.

Applications for this tender should be emailed to [email protected] by the closing date tomorrow, Friday 13 April 2012. A decision will be made before 20 April to allow time for accreditation and registration for media boats.

Full details on requirements and details of rights and pricing are available on the ISA website HERE.

#TITANIC - The Irish Times has highlighted "one of the less well-known tales of the disaster" of the Titanic, regarding two tennis champions who went on to enter that sport's hall of fame.

The story of Richard Williams and Lark Behr was told at an exhibition of sporting memorabilia in Yorkshire last month by collector Robert Fuller.

Williams, who was 21 at the time, was headed to the US Championships when the Titanic went down. He was among those rescued by the Carpathia after hours in frozen water, and fought with that ship's doctor who wanted to amputate his legs.

His persistence paid off, as just months later he was in the quarter finals of the US Open, a context he would win in 1914 and 1916, not to mention the Wimbledon doubles title in 1920 and Olympic gold in the mixed doubles in 1924.

Behr - who reportedly proposed to his fiancée on a lifeboat - also had a glittering career after the tragedy, reaching the doubles final at Wimbledon and number three in the US rankings.

Meanwhile, BBC News has posted an infographic that follows in detail the critical moments leading up to and after the Titanic struck the iceberg that sealed its doom at 11.40pm on Sunday 14 April 1912.

#OLYMPIC SAILING – After an action packed final day of racing at the Trofeo S.A.R. Princess Sofia MAPFRE, the third of seven ISAF Sailing World Cup Regattas, the overall Standings have been shuffled around with new leaders taking control. Regrettably none of five Irish boats competing made it into Saturday's medal races. Scroll down for Action Photos from Rick Tomlinson below.

The first gold of the day in Palma, Mallorca, Spain was decided in the 49er fleet. It went to Jonas Warrer and Soren Hansen (DEN), and following their seventh place at US SAILING's Rolex Miami OCR they have climbed up to top spot in the ISAF Sailing World Cup 49er Standings.

The Danish 49er team is packed full of talented skiff sailors with Allan Norregaard and Peter Lang tied on 33 points with their team mates in the Standings. The Danes are using the World Cup circuit to see who will head to London 2012, Warrer said, "This win is very important for us and we couldn't have done better and we are happy about that. The other Danes did quite well as well so it is very close. We are one point ahead with Hyeres the final qualification regatta."

Lauri Lehtinen and Kalle Bask (FIN) finished 12th in Palma which takes them up to third in the Standings.

Ai Kondo and Wakako Tabata (JPN) missed out on Women's 470 gold by one point as Giulia Conti and Giovanna Micol (ITA) won the Medal Race to leapfrog them. But the Japanese pair top the Women's 470 Standings after they finished second at Sail Melbourne.

Since their first regatta together at Sail Melbourne, Beijing 2008 Women's 470 gold medallist Elise Rechichi and Sydney 2000 gold medallist Belinda Stowell (AUS) have excelled and moved forward at a rate of knots. The pair are one point off Kondo and Tabata in the Standings. Kathrin Kadelbach and Friederike Belcher (GER), who won bronze in Palma, sit in third place.

Mathew Belcher and Malcolm Page (AUS) continue their excellent form in the Men's 470 following an 18 point win over Gideon Kliger and Eran Sela (ISR) in Palma. The pair claimed gold at US SAILING's Rolex Miami OCR after their gold medal performance at the 2011 ISAF Worlds and silver at Sail Melbourne.

The Australians top the World Cup Standings on 40 points, whilst Stuart McNay and Graham Biehl (USA), who finished out of the points in Palma, remain in second on 37 points. Silver medallists in Palma, Kliger and Sela sit third in the Standings tied on 32 points with Lucas Calabrese and Juan de la Fuente (ARG).

Robert Scheidt and Bruno Prada (BRA) are the ones to beat in the Star class following their second consecutive Star gold on the ISAF Sailing World Cup circuit. The Brazilians blew the competition away in Miami and despite not having it all their way in Palma, they showed why they are the World #1 duo and the favourites for Olympic gold this summer.

They lead the Standings on 40 points followed by Xavier Rohart and Pierre Alexis-Ponsot (FRA) on 37 points and Fredrik Loof and Max Salminen (SWE) on 32 points.

Alicia Cebrian (ESP) moves into the Laser Radial Standings for the first time following her gold medal performance in Palma. But with the discard coming into play Lijia Xu (CHN) remains on top of the Standings with 40 points. Marit Bouwmeester (NED), who finished third in Palma, and Evi Van Acker (BEL) who took silver, both trail the Chinese Olympic bronze medallist by three points.

Ben Ainslie (GBR) took the Finn honours with a day to spare in Palma, but climbing to the top of the Finn Standings is Zach Railey (USA). The American added second place in Palma to his regatta victory at US SAILING's Rolex Miami OCR, and with 39 points he is seven clear of Jonas Hoegh-Christensen (DEN) in second and 14 clear of compatriot Caleb Paine (USA). Meanwhile Ainslie, who was sailing at his first 2011-2012 World Cup regatta in Palma, is sixth.

Olivia Price (AUS) has moved to the top of the Women's Match Racing Standings after another consistent performance. The young Australian defeated Tamara Echegoyen (ESP) in the Petit Final in Palma and tops the Standings with 37 points.

2011 ISAF Rolex World Sailor of the Year, Anna Tunnicliffe (USA), proved her worth in the final against Claire Leroy (FRA) with a 3-1 victory. She moves into second place in the Standings and US SAILING's Rolex Miami OCR victor Lucy Macgregor (GBR) is third.

And in the Laser, Paul Goodison (GBR) leads the Standings on 39 points after his second place in Palma.  With two bronze medals to his name Tom Burton (AUS) holds second place on 36 points and Nick Thompson (GBR) is third on 33 points.

Next up for the sailors is the Semaine Olympique Francaise, in Hyéres, France from 21-27 April. With a healthy entry list it will make for another exciting World Cup Regatta as teams prepare for the London 2012 Olympic Sailing Competition.

Northern Ireland Olympic sailors made the best of the light conditions after a light air opening to yesterday's Trofeo Princesa Sofa MAPFRE on the Bay of Palma, Mallorca.

James Espey who seeks a final shot at Olympic qualification next month in the single handed Laser is in the top ten after mastering the tricky conditions and lies one place ahead of class world champion Tom Slingsby. Espey of Royal North scored a fourth and sixth to be four places ahead of the Australian champion and only three points off the overall lead.

Espey missed out on qualification last December after a penalty at the world championships in Perth. His next qualification chance is next month at the German based World championships.

The light conditions in the first race provided good opportunities for class outsiders to take a good start in the event. Andrew Lewis from Trinidad and Tobago won the first race. David Alfonso from Puerto Rico placed second and Dennis van den Berg (AHO) 3rd, in their respective groups. At the end of the day, consistent results placed Jonasz Stelmaszyk (POL) in top place followed by British Nick Thompson and Paul Goodison (GBR).

The Laser scoresheet this morning showing James Espey in sixth place in a fleet of 138 boats

London qualified 49er pairing Ryan Seaton and Matt McGovern brought home another good opening result. The Belfast lough dinghy pairing scored a 10th and 7th to rank 15th out of 76 competitors and keep Irish hopes alive of another top finish in the 49er class.

They scored a 'personal best' performance and eighth overall in the world championships in December and since then have been traveling the world in intensive training for the London Games now only 100 days away.

Two Danish teams are leading the 49ers, with Peter Kruger Andersen and Nicola Thorsell one point ahead of team mates Jonas Warrer and Soren Hansen. They both won the last race in their group.

Dun Laoghaire medal prospect Annalise Murphy scored a 33 and 18 to lie in 49th place out of 89 starters in the Laser Radial fleet, after a day when many of the top sailors were also relegated. The 22-year old is ranked fourth in the world and will be hoping to boost results in the rest of the regatta this week.

Krystal Weir (AUS) is leading after winning the first race and placing 4th in the second. Results for the top 5 are tight. The Australian is only a point ahead of Alicia Cebrian (ESP), best Spanish sailor on the water today. Third place goes to Cecilia Sarol from Argentina on equal points with Finnish Tuula Tenkanen.

Two other Irish boats are still seeking the Olympic standard but yesterday's fickle sailing conditions brought little in the way of progress to Weymouth.

Gerbil Owens and Scott Flannigan scored a 39 and 24 to be 65th out of 92 in the mens 470, a class in which Owens has represented Ireland at two Olympics. The Dun Laoghaire and Howth campaign's last chance for selection is at the 470 World Championships next month.

Ross Hamilton in the single handed Finn scored 48 and 44 to be 49th from 57.

Although Peter O'Leary and David Burrows (who were second at last month's Bacardi Cup) are missing from the red hot Olympic Star keelboat line up that includes both the Olympic and world champion, there is an Irish presence in Palma in the form of Anthony Shanks who is crewing for John Gimson, the tuning partner of GBR's Olympic gold Medallists Ian Percy and Andrew Simpson. Shanks and Gimson lie 19th out of 27.

#CANOEING - Irish canoe slalom paddler Matthew Sykes has secured a place on the Olympic torch relay this summer.

“I am only one of only 8,000 people selected to carry the London 2012 Olympic torch relay," the Northern Irishman told IrishCanoeSlalom.com. "It was a lovely surprise to find out that I was going to carry the Olympic torch.

"To be the first deaf person in Northern Ireland to be chosen is a real privilege and I think it will be a great experience.

"I think it will be a great day when the torch comes to this country and I am sure everyone will be down there to watch so it will be a good experience.”

Sykes will carry torch in Dundonald on 3 June. More details will be available soon on Sykes' website at www.matthewsykes.co.uk/news

As previously reported on Afloat.ie, the Olympic torch relay begins in Plymouth on 19 May and finishes at the Olympic Stadium on 27 July, and includes a visit to Dublin on Wednesday 6 June.

#DEVELOPMENT - Representatives from the International Sailing Federation's member nations throughout the world will meet at Howth Yacht Club from 17-18 March for the inaugural ISAF Development Symposium.

The aim of the two-day conference is to develop the criteria and future strategy for sail training and development within the governing body of world sailing, based on three core requirements:

• Fulfilling requirement set out in the ISAF Constitution to develop the sport and increase participation;
• Providing a structure for the sport to grow to meet expectations of the International Olympic Committee; and
• Supporting member nations in growing the sport in their own countries.

"Training is the key that will unlock and secure the future for our sport," said the ISAF in its development statement at the federation's annual conference last year.

Dublin was chosen as the host location for this first symposium as it will be hosting the ISAF Youth Worlds in July, just before the 2012 Olympic Games in London.

The international delegates, chaired by event organiser and ISAF training and development manager Dan Jaspers, will be supported by a group of ISAF representatives such as vice president Nazli Imre, development and youth committee chairman Olivier Bovyn, ISAF-nominated experts and the World Youth Sailing Trust coach, as well as invited specialist technical advisors.

More information about the ISAF Development Symposium is available HERE.

#KAYAKING - The Galway Advertiser reports that the Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology (GMIT) at Castlebar will host the Irish Kayaking Intervarsities this weekend from today 17 February.

Eighteen colleges will compete in events on the Clydagh river and Lough Lannagh in divisions from whitewater and freestyle to canoe polo and long distance.

“The Kayaking Intervarsities will be a good way to highlight this adventure sports hub and the excellent town centre watersports amenity of Lough Lannagh," said Stephen Hannon of GMIT.

“For spectators the location is very convenient," he added. "People will have an opportunity to see a sport that is sometimes under the radar but at which Ireland has been represented in every Olympics since Munich in 1972.”

The Galway Advertiser has more on the story HERE.

#OLYMPICS - Yesterday Ireland's Olympic hopefuls celebrated recognition of their success in the 2012 round of funding.

But cuts to the budget of the Irish Sports Council (ISC) have prompted a "major" review of high performance programmes from 2013 onwards, the Irish Independent reports.

Finbarr Kirwan, director of high performance at the ISC, said: "Changes are coming, things are tight and we will have to make strategic cuts in the next two years."

The result could be fewer grant awards of lesser value for athletes, as Olympic qualification standards are set to get tougher from here on out.

The two tiers below 'podium class' - in which individuals receive awards of €20,000 and €12,000 respectively - are expected to be hardest hit in the review.

As previously reported on Afloat.ie, canoeing's Eoin Rheinisch, swimmer Grainne Murphy and sailors Annalise Murphy, Peter O'Leary and David Burrows each received the top level of funding of €40,000 each, which is on a par with last year's support.

The Irish Independent has more on the story HERE.

#OLYMPIC – Two out of three of Ireland's Olympic sailing teams cashed in on their performances at yesterday's pre-Olympic spend by the Irish Sports Council. Sailing picked up €120k to assist in preparations  for Weymouth this July.

Both Annalise Murphy in the Laser Radial and Peter O'Leary and David Burrows in the Star took €40k each under their Sports Council titles as 'podium athletes'.

The sailors were among 22 to receive the top award including canoeist Eoin Rheinish and swimmer Grainne Murphy.

Annalise Murphy - a personal best at the ISAF worlds has given her 'podium athlete' status and a €40k grant

This total funding package of investment is on a par with 2011which had a final year total of €10.3 million. It means €40 million will be invested by the Council over the four year cycle of 2009 to 2012. In the three years of this cycle to date 102 medals have been won at international championship level in supported programmes. This compares with 70 medals won in the four year cycle to 2008 on the basis of an investment of €40.5 million. In 2011 it was significant that 58 of the 59 medals won were by Irish athletes based at home in domestic programmes.

Mr. Michael Ring TD, Minister for Tourism & Sport made the announcement in Dublin today (February 14); "2012 is a critically important year for Irish sport and it is vital that financial support is made available to athletes to ensure the best possible preparation for London 2012. Everyone knows that we are going through some difficult economic times but I was determined to ensure our top athletes were protected in the run up to the most important event of their sporting careers. The level of success of Irish sports people has been incredible over the past few years and it is a source of pride that the Irish public has been supporting them all the way".

The Chairman of the Irish Sports Council Mr Kieran Mulvey commented; "I made a commitment in December 2010 that there would be no reduction in high performance funding up to the London 2012 Olympic & Paralympic Games. That promise has been honoured and the Council is providing a very significant investment package for our top athletes. It has been a remarkably successful few years for Irish sport and there is a real return on taxpayers' investment by our elite sportspeople. We wish them the very best for the exciting year ahead".

In 2012 €6.68 million will be invested in Performance Plans; the equivalent figure in 2011 was €6.86 million. The Institute of Sport will be providing significant support services to all of the sports from its base at the National Sports Campus at Abbotstown.
The package includes funding of €440,000 for the Olympic Council of Ireland in 2012. The OCI is responsible for managing the Irish team at the London 2012 Camps. The funding this year will support the provision of pre-London camps, based at St. Mary's in Twickenham, and other sports services and administration costs.

It brings to more than €1.5 million the total amount of support provided to the OCI in the 4-year London cycle. There is an operational agreement in place between the Irish Sports Council and the OCI which has ensured cooperation between the agencies in the build up to the Games. Of particular note is the London Technical Group which coordinates all athlete service support leading into and at the Games. All relevant agencies, North and South, are represented on that Group.

John Treacy, Chief Executive of the Irish Sports Council, speaking at the event, said "2010 and 2011 have been very successful years for Irish sport. We hope 2012 will be as successful. However we know how difficult it is to win any medal at an Olympic or Paralympic Games and a repeat of the success of Beijing would be a reasonable target."

High performance sport is planned and implemented on an all island basis. Sport NI and SINI (Sports Institute Northern Ireland) are fully part of the planning and operational elements of the system. Sport NI is a funding partner and provides resources in addition to those announced today.

The International Carding Scheme will support athletes, teams and junior & developmental squads in 23 sports. This year it includes 118 senior level athletes including 27 at "podium" level and 19 at "world class". The Performance Directors, who are the key individuals within the system, ensure that the Carding Scheme and Performance Plans are complementary and that elite athletes are supported in the financial and non-financial aspects of their programmes.

In March the details will be announced of the Council's support for key high performance events to be hosted in Ireland in 2012 such as the FIH Men's Olympic Qualifier, the ISAF World Youths and the Men's European Golf Championships.

"Podium" Athletes 2012
    •    Olive Loughnane Athletics Ireland
    •    Derval O'Rourke Athletics Ireland
    •    Robert Heffernan Athletics Ireland
    •    David Gillick Athletics Ireland
    •    Catherine Walsh Cycling Ireland
    •    Mark Rohan Cycling Ireland
    •    Colin Lynch Cycling Ireland
    •    Daniel Martin Cycling Ireland
    •    Joe Ward Irish Amateur Boxing Association
    •    Darren O'Neill Irish Amateur Boxing Association
    •    Ray Moylette Irish Amateur Boxing Association
    •    Katie Taylor Irish Amateur Boxing Association
    •    Paddy Barnes Irish Amateur Boxing Association
    •    John Joe Nevin Irish Amateur Boxing Association
    •    John Joe Joyce Irish Amateur Boxing Association
    •    Eric Donovan Irish Amateur Boxing Association
    •    Kenneth Egan Irish Amateur Boxing Association
    •    Tyrone McCullagh Irish Amateur Boxing Association
    •    Eoin Rheinisch Irish Canoe Union
    •    Derek Burnett Irish Clay Pigeon Shooting Association
    •    Peter O'Leary Irish Sailing Association
    •    David Burrows Irish Sailing Association
    •    Annalise Murphy Irish Sailing Association
    •    Catherine O'Neill Paralympic Athletics Ireland
    •    Michael McKillop Paralympic Athletics Ireland
    •    Jason Smyth Paralympic Athletics Ireland
    •    Grainne Murphy Swim Ireland

#OLYMPIC – Both of Ireland's Olympic sailing contenders are ranked fifth in the latest official world rankings released this evening by International Sailing Federation (ISAF).

Dun Laoghaire's Annalise Murphy is on equal points with world Laser Radial champion Marit Bouwmeester in fourth but the overall rankings leader is Chnia's Lijia Xu.

Mens keelboat pairing Peter O'Leary and David Burrows are also fifth in the Star rankings that is topped by world champions Robert Sheidt and Bruno Prada of Brazil. The ranking result follows a fifth achieved at the Miami Olympic Classes Regatta.

Ireland's 49er pair Ryan Seaton and Matthew McGovern who also qualified for the London Olympics in December last year are now ranked eighth in the world standings.

The 2011-2012 ISAF Sailing World Cup standings are starting to take shape after Sail Melbourne and last week's US SAILING's Rolex Miami OCR, the opening two regattas in the seven series World Cup. Annalise finished ninth overall in Miami.

China's Lijia Xu has had the perfect start to her World Cup campaign winning Laser Radial gold at Sail Melbourne and the Rolex Miami OCR. With back to back victories she comfortably leads the Standings and is six points ahead of Alison Young (GBR) who has finished fourth at both World Cup regattas.

Laser Radial silver medallist at Sail Melbourne, Tuula Tenkanen (FIN) has fallen one place following her 13th place in Miami. 2010-2011 Sailing World Cup Laser Radial Champion Marit Bouwmeester (NED) is fourth, trailing Xu by 15 points.

Canada's Lee Parkhill leads the Laser Standings on 25 points and is closely followed by Charlie Buckingham (USA) who is second on 24 points. The Canadian's fifth in Melbourne and 12th in Miami is enough for him to hold an advantage over Buckingham, who came 11th in Melbourne and seventh in Miami, ahead of the third regatta in Palma, Spain.

Beijing 2008 gold medallist, Paul Goodison (GBR) and Laser World Champion, Tom Slingsby (AUS) have a regatta win each and are in third and fourth.

Mathew Belcher and Malcolm Page (AUS) and Stu McNay and Graham Biehl (USA) are locking horns in the Men's 470 with just two points splitting the pair after Miami. The World #1 Australians hold top spot after they won silver in Melbourne and gold in Miami. Belcher and Page have been dominant in the Men's 470 over the last year after World Cup glory and World Championship honours. But McNay and Biehl are pushing them hard early on in the World Cup having won Melbourne gold and finishing fourth in Miami to trail the Australians by a narrow margin.

Americans Amanda Clark and Sarah Lihan lead the Women's 470 on 34 points with Germany's Kathrin Kadelbach and Friedrike Belcher second on 29 points and Rolex Miami OCR winners, Lisa Westerhof and Lobke Berkhout (NED), in third on 20 points.

Sebastian Wang-Hansen (NOR) has had a steady start to the World Cup with a fourth and a third place to his name. The Norwegian leads the Standings on 35 points, seven ahead of Bob Willis (USA) who has been unable to match Wang-Hansen's consistency. Nick Dempsey (GBR) comfortably won gold in Miami after winning 10 of 11 races, he is third on 20 points.

In the Women's RS:X, Demita Vega (MEX) and Jessica Crisp (AUS) are tied on 20 points with one regatta win each to their name and America's Farrah Hall is tied on 19 points with Bryony Shaw (GBR).

Nico Delle-Karth and Nikolaus Resch (AUT) and Nathan Outteridge and Iain Jensen (AUS) top the Standings on 20 points. The Austrians claimed the Miami honours with the Australians taking Sail Melbourne gold before their World Championship win at Perth

Rob Coutts (NZL) leads the Finn class on 22 points but Zach Railey (USA) and Olexsiy Borysov (UKR) are just two points behind him in second and third.

There was no Star and Women's Match Racing competition at Sail Melbourne so sailors got their campaign underway at the Rolex Miami OCR. It was business as usual for Robert Scheidt and Bruno Prada (BRA) who took the Star gold to lead the Standings. And in the Women's Match Racing Lucy Macgregor (GBR) overcame Olivia Price (AUS) in the final in Miami to take an early lead after one regatta.

In the Paralympic Classes, Dan Fitzgibbon and Liesl Tesch (AUS) are tied on 39 points with Alexandra Rickham and Niki Birrell (GBR) in the SKUD. Matthew Bugg (AUS) leads the 2.4mR on 31 points and Udo Hessels, Marcel Van de Veen and Mischa Rossen top the Sonar Standings on 20 points.

The third ISAF Sailing World Cup Regatta, Trofeo S.A.R. Princess Sofia MAPFRE, in Palma, Spain, takes place from 31 March to 7 April.