UCD had a terrific win in the semi-final of the Prince Albert for college coxed fours at Henley Royal Regatta. This was a race all down the long course, with the Irish establishing a slight lead early on and holding on to it despite repeated pushes by Harvard. UCD won by two-thirds of a length.

Henley Royal Regatta, Day Four (Irish interest):

 Prince Albert (Fours, coxed; Student): UCD bt Harvard University 2/3 l, 7:09

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The evening events brought no joy for Irish-based crews at Henley Royal Regatta. Carlow gave as good as they got for much of the way in their clash with West End in the Thames Cup for club eights, but the  New Zealand crew saw off a push at around half way and powered on to a convicing win. In two of the final races of the day, Muckross suffered steering problems at the start and lost to London Rowing Club’s A crew in the Wyfold for club fours, and Cork could not match The Tideway Scullers’ School in the Britannia for club coxed fours.

Henley Royal Regatta, Day Three (Irish interest)

Princess Grace Cup (Women’s Quadruple Scull; Open): Gloucester RC and Leander bt Belfast RC and Carrick-on-Shannon RC 2¼ l, 7:36

Ladies’ Plate (Eights; intermediate): Harvard University bt NUIG 2½ l, 6:28; Oxford Brookes University/Oxford University bt Molesey BC 1¾ l, 6:40

Thames Cup (Eights; club): 1829 Boat Club bt Galway RC 3 ¼ l, 6:48; West End Rowing Club, New Zealand bt Carlow RC 3¾  l, 6:46

Wyfold Cup (Fours; club): Star Club bt Commercial 2l, 7:14; London RC A bt Muckross 2¼ l, 7:06

Britannia Cup (Fours, coxed; club): Tideway Scullers’ School bt Cork BC 1 ¾ l, 7:23

Temple Cup (Eights; student): Amsterdamsche Studenten Roeivereeniging Nereus, Netherlands bt Queen’s B 2½ l, 6:42; Queen’s A bt Brock University, Canada ¾ l, 6:29

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Queen’s A caught and beat Brock University of Canada in the quarter-final of the Temple Cup for student eights. The Belfast crew were behind at the Barrier and Fawley but moved coming up to the one-mile mark and won by three-quarters of a length in six minutes 29 seconds.

NUIG had no answer to the power of Harvard in the Ladies’ Plate for intermediate eights, with the American crew clocking 6:28 and winning by two and a half lengths. In the Princess Grace, an open event for women’s quadruple sculls, the Belfast-City of Derry-Carrick-on-Shannon crew came up against the British national quad and were never in contention.

Henley Royal Regatta, Day Three (Irish interest)

Princess Grace Cup (Women’s Quadruple Scull, Open): Gloucester RC and Leander bt Belfast RC and Carrick-on-Shannon RC 2¼ l, 7:36

Ladies’ Plate (Eights, intermediate): Harvard University bt NUIG 2½ l, 6:28

Thames Cup (Eights, club): 1829 Boat Club bt Galway RC 3 ¼ l, 6:48

Wyfold Cup (Fours, club): Star Club bt Commercial 2l, 7:14

Temple Cup (Eights, student): Amsterdamsche Studenten Roeivereeniging Nereus, Netherlands bt Queen’s B 2½ l, 6:42; Queen’s A bt Brock University, Canada  ¾ l, 6:29

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The first three Irish crews in action at Henley this morning all fell to the superior fire power of seeded crews. The old boys' club of Oxford and Cambridge, 1829 Boat Club, beat Galway Rowing Club in the Thames Cup for club eights; Queen's B could not deal with the slicker ASR Nereus in the Temple Cup for student eights; Star Club beat Commercial after a fine battle in the Wyfold Cup for club fours.

Henley Royal Regatta, Day Three (Irish interest)

Thames Cup (Eights, club): 1829 Boat Club bt Galway RC 3 ¼ l, 6:48

Wyfold Cup (Fours, club): Star Club bt Commercial 2l, 7:14

Temple Cup (Eights, student): Amsterdamsche Studenten Roeivereeniging Nereus, Netherlands bt Queen’s B 2½ l, 6:42

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An Argentinian composite crew which had terrible steering problems early on passed and beat the Galway Rowing Club/Muckross crew in the first round of the Visitors' Cup at Henley Royal Regatta. The crew from Club San Fernando and Club de Regatas la Plata trailed at the Barrier, but stuck to their task and beat the Irish by two lengths.

 Carlow got the Irish back on track with a good one-length win over Star Club in the Thames Cup. Lightweight oarsman Peter Chambers mixed it with a man four stone heavier in the Diamond Sculls and lost by only a length and a half in the Diamond Sculls to British heavyweight oarsman Brendan Crean. 

 The day ended superbly for UCD, who were led by Goldie in the Prince Albert for student coxed fours but went on to win by three-quarters of a length. 

Henley Royal Regatta (Irish Interest)

Diamond Sculls (Single Scull, Open): B Crean (Agecroft RC) bt P Chambers (Oxford Brookes University) 1 ½ l, 8:37

Visitors’ Cup (Fours; Intermediate): Club San Fernando and Club de Regatas la Plata, Argentina bt Galway RC and Muckross 2l, 7:36

Thames Cup (Eights, club): Carlow bt Star Club 1l, 7:15

Prince Albert (Fours, coxed; Student): UCD bt Goldie BC ¾ l, 7:19

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Queen's A and B crews qualified for the quarter-finals of the Temple Cup for student eights at Henley Royal Regatta, topping off a list of five out of six wins for Irish crews before lunch on the second day of the event. The Queen's A crew were never seriously troubled by University of London, while the B crew did well to beat Nottingham, who had seen off a seeded crew, Newcastle University, in the first round.

 Two Irish crews justified their seeding in the Wyfold Cup for club fours. Commercial beat Vesta, and Muckross overcame Molesey, who mounted a strong challenge. Molesey inflicted the one early defeat on the Irish, when their heavier crew took advantage of the headwind to beat St Michael's in the Thames Cup for club eights. Galway did better in this event, beating Thames Tradesmen. 

Henley Royal Regatta, Day Two (Irish interest)

Thames Cup (Eights, club): Galway RC bt Thames Tradesmen RC 3½ l, 7:11; Molesey BC A bt St Michael’s 2¼ l, 7:03

 Wyfold (Four, club): Commercial bt Vesta RC 1l, 7:33; Muckross RC bt Molesey BC ¾ l, 7:35

 Temple (Eights, Student): Queen’s University A bt University of London A 2 ¼ l, 7:04; Queen’s University B bt Nottingham University 3¼ l, 7:05

The Umpires launch. Photo: oepkes.com

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Irish crews were involved in six races this morning at Henley Royal Regatta and won all six. Both Queen's A and B crews had convincing victories in the Temple Cup for student eights, while Carlow and Galway won their heats of the Thames Cup for club eights by three lengths and one and three-quarter lengths respectively. UCD took on and beat Oxford Brookes B in the Prince Albert for student coxed fours and Cork were also convincing winners against Grosvenor in the Britannia for coxed club fours.

In one of the last races before lunch, Muckross, who were seeded in the Wyfold, beat Putney Town by a big margin.

The pattern continued in the afternoon, with St Michael's and Commercial commanding winners in the Thames Cup and Wyfold Cup. Galway Rowing Club fought hard in the final Irish race of the day in the Wyfold Cup, but fell to Nottingham and Union.

Henley Royal Regatta, Day One (Irish interest)

Thames Cup (Eights, club): Galway RC bt Maidstone Invicta RC 1¾ l, 6 min 46 secs; Carlow RC bt Vesta RC 3l, 7:07;

St Michael’s bt Combined Services RC easily, 7:12

 Britannia (Fours, coxed; club): Cork BC bt Grosvenor RC 2½ l, 7:33

 Wyfold Cup (Fours; club): Muckross RC bt Putney Town RC 4½ l, 7:30; Commercial bt Quintin BC 2l, 7:33; Nottingham and Union BC bt Galway RC 1 ¾ l, 7:19

 Temple Cup (Eights; student): Queen’s University, Belfast A bt University of Bristol 4¾ l, 6:38; Queen’s University B bt University of Cape Town 3l, 6:45

 Prince Albert (Fours, coxed; student): University College, Dublin bt Oxford Brookes University B 2¾ l, 7:20

The Henley enclosure. Photo: oepkes.com

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Bann won the shoot-out among the top junior 18 eights at Athlone Regatta. The Derry club finished ahead St Joseph's of Galway, Portora and Presentation in the final race of the day. Neptune intermediates, who raced alongside the junior crews, also had to give way to Bann, finishing half a length down. Commercial's women senior eight were the best of the day, but had only half a length to spare over Portora, with a composite crew a close-up third. 

 Athlone Regatta, Coosan Point

Men, Eight – Novice: 1 UCD A, 2 UCD B, 3 Trinity. Junior 18/Intermediate: 1 Bann junior 18, 2 Neptune intermediate, 3 St Joseph’s junior, 4 Portora junior, 5 Presentation junior; ½ l, 1l, 2ft, 2l. Junior 16: 1 St Joseph’s, 2 Methodist College, Belfast. Masters: 1 Commercial, 2 City of Derry.

Four, coxed – Intermediate: 1 Neptune, 2 Clonmel. Novice: 1 Shannon, 2 Fossa, 3 Trinity. Junior: 1 Bann, 2 Portora.

Pair – Senior: 1 Cappoquin, 2 Neptune, 3l. Intermediate: 1 Cappoquin, 2 Clonmel. Junior 18: 1 Lee, 2 Neptune.

Sculling, Quadruple – Novice: 1 Carrick-on-Shannon, 2 Offaly. Junior 16: 1 Commercial, 2 Lee.

Double – Intermediate: 1 Castleconnell, 2 Lee. Junior 18: 1 Neptune, 2 Offaly. Junior 16: 1 Lee, 2 Neptune.

Single – Senior: 1 Neptune (King), 2 Garda (Duane), 1 ft. Intermediate: 1 Neptune (Bailey), 2 Clonmel (Pidgeon). Novice 1 Offaly (O’Connor), 2 Neptune (Janssens). Junior 18: 1 Athlone (Egan), 2 Cork (O’Brien) 2 ft. Junior 16: 1 Lee (Synott), 2 Lee (Collins).

Women

Eight – Senior: 1 Commercial, 2 Portora, 3 Commercial, Cork, Killorglin, Portora (composite); ½ l, ¼ l. Novice: 1 UCD, 2 Trinity, 3 Neptune. Junior 18: 1 Portora, 2 St Michael’s.

Four – Senior: 1 Commercial, 2 Cork. Novice, coxed: 1 Trinity, 2 UCD. Junior 18: 1 Commercial, 2 Cork.

Sculling

Quadruple – Novice, coxed: 1 Neptune, 2 Clonmel. Junior 18: 1 Bann, 2 Neptune.  Junior 16: 1 Bann, 2 Carlow.

Double – Intermediate: 1 Killorglin, 2 City of Derry. Junior 18: 1 Bann, 2 Waterford.

Single – Senior: 1 Killorglin (M Dukarska), 2 Cork (M O’Neill). Novice: 1 Shandon (Corcoran-O’Hare), Bantry (Piggott). Junior 18: 1 Waterford (McGrath), 2 Bann (Shirlow). Junior 16: 1 Killorglin (Crowley), 2 Lee (Hamill).

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An Irish women's quadruple scull has made it through the qualifiers for Henley Royal Regatta. Rachel Beringer, Amy Duncan, Laura D’Urso and Dympna Kelly will compete in the Princess Grace Challenge Cup at the regatta proper. Imperial College London and Sport Imperial Boat Club were the only other  qualifier in this event. 

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Skibbereen Rowing Club have maintained their dominance at the top of the Rowing Ireland Grand League following the Metro regatta, the fourth in the six series league. They have now increased their lead over nearest rivals, Dublin club, Neptune by 128 points.

The leading clubs after the fourth regatta are: Skibbereen 573, Neptune 445, St. Michael’s 373, Commercial 358, UCD 262

Skibbereen’s lead is now significant and it will be difficult for Neptune to topple them at this stage.  However St..Michael’s, Commercial and UCD will still be fighting it out for the coveted third spot.

St Michaels, Limerick lead the men's senior category on 195 points, with Neptune overtaking Commercial on 142 and UCD remaining in third on 121 points.  UCD maintain their lead 141 points in the women’s senior category despite their absence at Metro with Dublin University overtaking NUIG for a second placing with the Galway club third on 101.75 points.

Skibbereen RC remain top of the junior men category on 216 with Neptune overtaking St. Joseph’s, Galway (The Bish)  in second on 120 with Lee Rowing Club in third on 101.

Skibbereen and St. Michael’s topping the junior women on 125 and 80 points respectively.

The Grand League takes a break now until August to make way for the Irish Rowing Championships which take place on Saturday 16^th July.  The league will resume with the Limerick and Monkstown regattas in August.

For full tables go to results at http://iaru.ie/main.php

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