#Rowing: The St Michael’s Head of the River, scheduled for Saturday, March 16^th, has been cancelled. The weather forecast for Limerick changed, and the organisers felt they could not be certain of running a safe event. Monday was considered for a rescheduled event, but some clubs could not change their plans.   

#Rowing: The big numbers – up 100 on last year – and good weather made for a successful Skibbereen Head of the River at the Marina. Cork Boat Club’s intermediate eight set a fast time of nine minutes 19 seconds for the course. UCC also had a good day, with Ronan Byrne the fastest time in a senior single. Skibbereen and Shandon also had a set of good wins.

Skibbereen Head of the River (Selected Results; winners)

Head One:

Men

Sculling,

Single – Senior: UCC (R Byrne) 11 min 24 sec. Inter: UCC (D Larkin) 11:50. Club: UCC (H Sutton) 11:58. Jun 18A: Shandon (E Gaffney) 11:49. Jun 16: Shandon (D Cosgrave) 12:02. Masters: Cork (B Crean) 12:45.

Women

Pair – Sen: UCC/Skibbereen 11:49. Jun 18A: Shandon 13:33.

Head Two

Men

Four – Sen: Shandon 10.15. Sen, coxed: Skibbereen 10:46. Club One, coxed: Cork 11:10. Jun 18, coxed: Shandon 10:56. Jun 16, coxed: Shandon 11:35. Masters, coxed: Muckross B 11:14.

Women

Eight – Club One: UCC 11:07

Sculling, Double – Sen: Skibbereen 12:08. Inter: Cork A 12:21. Jun 18A: Workman’s 12:10. Jun 16: Lee 12:27.

Head Three

Men

Sculling, Quad – Sen: UCC 9:54. Inter: St Michael’s 10:29. Jun 18A: Shandon 9:58. Jun 16, coxed: Skibbereen 11:20.

Women

Sculling

Single – Inter: Skibbereen (E Hegarty) 12:46. Club One: Workman’s (S Burns) 13:09. Jun 18: Workman’s (C Browne) 12:52. Jun 16: Muckross (N Coffey) 14:23.  

Head Four

Men,

Eight – Sen: UCC 9:34. Inter: Cork 9:19. Club One: Cork 10:00. Jun 18: Cork 11:00.

Sculling, Double – Club One: Shandon A 11:16. Jun 18A: Lee 10:55. Jun 16: Shandon 10:24.

Women

Four – Sen: Skibbereen 11:43. Inter: Shandon 11:55.

Head Five

Men

Pair – Sen: Skibbereen 11:06. Inter: Shandon B 11:00. Jun 18A: Shandon 11:03.

Women

Sculling, Quadruple – Club One, coxed: Workman’s 11:08. Jun 18A: Lee 10:57.  

Rolling Head

Men

Sculling,

 Single – Sen: Skibbereen (A Burns) 11:30

Inter: Skibbereen (K Mannix) 11:27.

Jun 18A: Killorglin (J McCarthy) 11:35.

Women

Four – Sen: Skibbereen 11:42

Pair – Sen: UCC/Skibbereen 11:37.

#Rowing: The Eights Head of the River in London, which was set to take place tomorrow (Saturday) has been cancelled. In the a statement, the organisers said: “The Committee have been monitoring the weather forecast over the last few days and due to the strength and direction of the wind and in light of the difficulties encountered at yesterday’s Schools Head, we have reluctantly taken the decision to cancel this year’s race on the safety grounds.

 “We recognise and understand the disappointment that this will cause for all competitors and others due to be involved in the race, however safety simply must come first.”

 Ireland would have been strongly represented at the event, with Commercial, UCD, Trinity and Neptune all entered. A big number of rowers were already in London or travelling when the announcement was made.

#Rowing: The junior trials, set for Saturday at Lough Rynn and the National Rowing Centre, have been called off. The wind would have made Lough Rynn unsuitable, and it was not thought fair to have a trial at just one of the two venues. There was also the consideration that many rowers have not had sufficient time on the water because of flooding. The testing process will continue at the Ireland trial on March 19^th and 20^th at the NRC.  

 The St Michael’s Head of the River, scheduled for February 20^th, has been rescheduled for March 12^th.

#Rowing: The organisers of the Neptune Head of the River this Saturday, December 30^th, have decided to go ahead with the event. The weather forecast is for winds of 12 to 20 kilometres per hour at Blessington, which would leave the course rowable. The course has to be laid, and there is a chance that the event could yet be cancelled, but only if the weather forecast changes significantly. 

#Rowing: Muckross Rowing Club has chosen to reschedule its head of the river for March 5^th. The original date was December 5^th, but there was a poor weather forecast and the head had to be cancelled. The March 5^th date will be shared with the Erne Head of the River in Enniskillen.  

#Rowing: The Muckross Head of the River, fixed for the National Rowing Centre in Cork on Saturday, has been cancelled. The organisers say the bad weather forecast, including high winds, would have presented an unacceptable safety risk. The Head of the Shannon, also set for Saturday, has already been cancelled.   

#Rowing: Queen’s Univerity’s senior men’s eight, competing in the first of two races, were far and away the fastest crew at the Bann head of the river at Coleraine on Saturday. The host club’s own junior coxed four was the fastest in the second head, with single sculler Sam McKeown recording the second-best time. The strong winds of recent days held off for the two races.

Bann Head of the River, Coleraine, Saturday (adjusted times)

Race One: 1 Queen’s University men’s senior eights 13 mins 39 secs, 2 Belfast BC masters eight 16:06, 3 Belfast RC masters eight 16:15, 4 Bann masters eight 16:35, 5 RBAI junior 18 quad 16:38, 6 Portadown senior double 16:50.

Race Two: Bann junior 18 coxed four 15:25, 2 Portadown senior single (S McKeown) 17:29, Bann inter single (Mitchell) 17:35, 4 Queen’s A women’s inter four 17:49, 5 Queen’s B women’s inter four 17:58, 6 Lady Elizabeth masters single (Smyth) 18:06.

#Rowing: The fastest crew at the Castleconnell head of the river on Saturday was the composite men’s senior eight of the host club and the University of Limerick, who set a time of 10 minutes and 25 seconds. The fastest women’s crew, Castleconnell’s intermediate eight, came home 18^th overall in a big field.

Castleconnell Head of the River, Saturday (Selected Results):

Overall: 1 Castleconnell/Univ of Limerick men’s senior eight 10:25, 2 Castleconnell men’s jun 18A quadruple 10:48, 3 Muckross men’s masters eight 11:03, 4 St Michael’s men’s senior four 11:04, 5 St Michael’s men’s masters eight 11:04, 6 Castleconnell/Killorglin men’s senior double sculls 11:08; 18 Castleconnell women’s inter eight 11:47.

Men

Eight – Intermediate: Shannon 12:04. Masters: Muckross A 11:03.

Four – Inter, coxed: Shannon A 11:25. Jun 18A, coxed: Waterford 11:52.

Pair – Senior: St Michael’s B 11:53. Jun 18A: Col Iognaid 12:55.

Sculling, Quadruple – Jun 18A: Castleconnell 10:48. Jun 16, coxed: Col Iognaid 11:37.

 Double – Senior: Castleconnell, Killorglin 11:08. Inter: Castleconnell B 11:10. Junn 18A: Castleconnell A 11:33. Jun 16: St Michael’s 12:14.

Single – Senior: 1 D O’Connor 11:55. Inter: A Mozdzer 12:46. Novice: D O’Hare 13:25. Under-23: D Lynch 12:39. Jun 18A: A O’Connor 12:22. Jun 16: M Dundon 13:00. Masters: S McDonnell 13:22.

Women

Eight – Inter: Castleconnell 11:47. Novice: Univ of Limerick A 14:38.

Four – Senior: UCD 12:07.

Pair – Jun 18A: Col Iognaid B 14:32.

Sculling

Quadruple – Novice, coxed: St Brendan’s A 13:30. Jun 16, coxed: Col Iognaid 13:04. 

Double – Inter: Castleconnell 13:54. Jun 18A: St Michael’s 13:10. Jun 16: Col Iognaid 14:38. 

Single – Inter: R Kilkenny 14:16. Masters: N McCarthy 15:58. Novice: S Slattery 14:43. Jun 18A: G O’Brien 14:31. Jun 16: C O’Brien 14:18.

#Rowing: Shandon had an excellent day at the Skibbereen Head of the River at the new venue of the Marina in Cork on Saturday. Their men’s senior eight were the fastest winning crew. Competing in the fourth fixed head, they clocked 10 minutes and 50 seconds. UCC’s senior eight were six seconds further back. 

The fastest women’s single sculler was the outstanding junior, Emily Hegarty of the host club.

Skibbereen Head of the River, Saturday, The Marina, Cork (Selected Results, Fixed Head):

Men – Eight, Senior: Shandon 10 mins 50 secs. Inter: UCC 11:04. Masters: Muckross 11:52. Jun 18A: Cork 11:11. Jun 16: Shandon 11:44.

Four – Four: 11:04. Inter: UCC 11:15. Inter (coxed): Cork 11:29. Jun 18, coxed: St Brendan’s 12:36. Jun 16, coxed: Pres, Cork 12:44.

Pair – Jun 18A: Pres, Cork 13:31.

Sculling, Quadruple: Skibbereen 11:03. Jun 18A: Lee 11:27. Jun 16, coxed: Cork 11:47.

Double – Sen: Skibbereen A 12:17. Inter: Skibbereen 13:11.  Jun 18A: Lee 12:31.

Single –Sen: E Rowan 12:21. Inter: F McCarthy 12:19. Club One: D Larkin 12:41. Jun 18A: K Mannix 13:01. Jun 16: B O’Flynn 12:57. Masters: H Mertz 13:08.

Women

Eight, Inter: UCC 12.17. Jun 18A: Shandon 12:38. Jun 16: Shandon 13:48.

Four – Sen: Skibbereen 13:34. Inter: UCC 13:26. Jun 18A: Skibbereen 13:35.

Pair – Inter: UCC 13:46.

Sculling, Quad – Inter: UCC 12:56. Jun 18A: Skibbereen 13:14. Jun 16, coxed: Workman’s 13:44.

Double – Inter: 13:39. Nov: St Brendan’s A 15:26. Jun 16: Lee 13:18.

Single – Sen: O Hayes 13:46. Inter: E McCarthy 14:24. Club: M Cremen 14:09. Jun 18A: E Hegarty 13:44. Jun 16: C Synott 14:22.