Displaying items by tag: Star Europeans

12th May 2019

Maurice ‘Prof’ O’Connell Joins Media Team At Star Europeans & Sailors League In Garda

Prof and his Star partner Ben Cooke leading the first race at the 2007 Bacardi Cup in Miami

Maurice ‘Prof’ O’Connell joins the media team for next week’s Star Europeans and Star Sailors League on Lake Garda.

The professional sailor and coach, and one-design expert with North Sails Ireland, will be providing the in-studio commentary and analysis with Digby Fox for live action on StarSailors.com along with Shirley Robertson who will be out on the water.

Prof is no stranger to broadcast sailing coverage, having been in the RTÉ studios for the last three Olympic Games — and he’s certainly no stranger to the Star class, with his final race at the Star Worlds in Miami only 11 years ago.

This year Ireland’s focus will be on the O’Leary brothers Peter and Robert, set to compete against a who’s-who of the racing world from this Wednesday 15 May.

Published in Star

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14th June 2010

Star Europeans Draw to a Close

The 132-boat Star Europeans finished their six-race series in Viareggio, Italy, with the Germain pairing of Johannes Polgar and Markus Koy taking the win with a consistent showing.

The Irish boats finished just outside the top 30, with Max Treacy and Anthony Shanks emerging ahead of their London 2012 rivals by just nine points, finishing in 31st place overall. Peter O'Leary and David Burrows ended the regatta in 33rd place, after counting an 88th and 35th in their last two races.

The official website (for what it's worth - and that's not a lot) is HERE.

Published in Olympics 2012

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Star Europeans

11th June 2010

O'Leary/Burrows Keep it Consistent at Star Europeans

The O'Leary/Burrows pairing posted a respectable 12th yesterday in the 132-boat Star Europeans in Italy, keeping them close to the top. Discards come into play after today's race, and on current points, the Treacy/Shanks team have a 20-point deficit to make up, despite standing to discard a 95th. They lie in 37th at present.

At the top, the German team of Polgar Johannes and Koy Markus, who have led from race one, had their first slip, posting a 21st, which allowed the second-placed team steal a march on the leaders and come within one point.

The relatively worthless Star Europeans website is HERE.

Published in Olympics 2012

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9th June 2010

Treacy & Shanks Close the Gap at Star Europeans

With a fourth place in today's race, Max Treacy and Anthony Shanks are perfectly placed to take advantage of the discard when it comes into place and move up the leaderboard.

The Irish crews lie in 28th and 44th overall after three races, with the O'Leary/Burrows pairing ahead. If you take away the worst score from both teams as things stand, they are on equal points, with 52 points net, meaning that they are, in effect, even stevens.

After some initial inconsistency, the top ten is full of familiary names, with Torben Grael, George Szabo, Mateusz Kusznierewicz, Mark Mendelblatt and Xavier Rohart all within striking distance of the top, and more world champions within the top 20.

Results to date are HERE.

Published in Olympics 2012

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3rd June 2010

Irish Star Crews Arrive in Italy

Ireland's two Star crews line up against each other next week for the first time in what will be their final configurations. Both crews take part in the Star Europeans in Villareggio, with a record entry of 149 boats, all sailing the one start line and the one course.

Max Treacy and Anthony Shanks will take to the water against Peter O'Leary and former Olympian David Burrows, who pair up for the first time in competition.

Registration and practice takes place over the weekend, with racing starting on Monday.

News, when it emerges, will feature on the OFFICIAL WEBSITE.

Published in Olympics 2012

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The Half Ton Class was created by the Offshore Racing Council for boats within the racing band not exceeding 22'-0". The ORC decided that the rule should "....permit the development of seaworthy offshore racing yachts...The Council will endeavour to protect the majority of the existing IOR fleet from rapid obsolescence caused by ....developments which produce increased performance without corresponding changes in ratings..."

When first introduced the IOR rule was perfectly adequate for rating boats in existence at that time. However yacht designers naturally examined the rule to seize upon any advantage they could find, the most noticeable of which has been a reduction in displacement and a return to fractional rigs.

After 1993, when the IOR Mk.III rule reached it termination due to lack of people building new boats, the rule was replaced by the CHS (Channel) Handicap system which in turn developed into the IRC system now used.

The IRC handicap system operates by a secret formula which tries to develop boats which are 'Cruising type' of relatively heavy boats with good internal accommodation. It tends to penalise boats with excessive stability or excessive sail area.

Competitions

The most significant events for the Half Ton Class has been the annual Half Ton Cup which was sailed under the IOR rules until 1993. More recently this has been replaced with the Half Ton Classics Cup. The venue of the event moved from continent to continent with over-representation on French or British ports. In later years the event is held biennially. Initially, it was proposed to hold events in Ireland, Britain and France by rotation. However, it was the Belgians who took the ball and ran with it. The Class is now managed from Belgium.