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Displaying items by tag: Coleraine GS

#Rowing: Bann won the women's junior 18 eights with some style at Athlone Regatta today. In a battle of Northern Ireland clubs, the women in red and white were two lengths ahead of Enniskillen, with Coleraine GS third.

The women's junior 18 fours came late in the day and was a terrific battle. Commercial produced a cracking finish to win by a length from Enniskillen, with Bann third.

Coleraine's Molly Curry was a convincing winner of the women's junior 18 single, while Brian Colsh of Sligo was the men's junior sculling winner.

Galway's St Joseph's won the men's junior 18 eight, while Bann's good day included a win in the men's junior 18 four.

Published in Rowing

#Rowing: Enniskillen’s Sam Balcombe and Peter Murphy took a fine third place in the men’s Championship Pair at the National Schools Regatta at Dorney Lake today.

 On Saturday, Enniskillen had won gold in the Junior 16 Girls coxed four by a big margin.

 Ryan Spelman of St Michael’s took his place in the A Final of the Championship Single Sculls, and finished well to challenge the leaders. He took fifth.

 Coleraine Grammar School also took fifth in the final of the Junior 16 Girls Double.

Published in Rowing

#Rowing: The Afloat Rower of the Month for February is Molly Curry. In a set of weeks in which action on the water was severely limited because of windy weather, the Ireland trials at the National Rowing Centre were welcome – and of high quality. World Rowing Champions Paul O’Donovan and Sanita Puspure won in fine style, while the standard of junior rowing was notable. Curry, from Coleraine Grammar School, showed good form. She was the top woman junior in the time trial and went on to compete in the same 2,000 metre race as Puspure.

Rower of the Month awards: The judging panel is made up of Liam Gorman, rowing correspondent of The Irish Times and David O'Brien, Editor of Afloat magazine. Monthly awards for achievements during the year will appear on afloat.ie. Keep a monthly eye on progress and watch our 2019 champions list grow.

Published in Rower of Month

#Rowing: Paul O’Donovan and Gary O’Donovan produced the best performance of the first Saturday session of the Ireland trials. The lightweight double beat their Skibbereen under-23 rivals Jake and Fintan McCarthy by 8.4 seconds and a heavyweight double of Ronan Byrne (UCC) and Philip Doyle (Queen’s) by 3.9 seconds.

The heavyweight pair of Shane O’Driscoll and Mark O’Donovan also put their challengers firmly behind them. They raced at a high rate in the good conditions and beat Patrick Boomer and Andy Harrington by 6.6 seconds.

Three senior women’s crews performed well. Single sculler Sanita Puspure and the heavyweight and lightweight doubles of Monika Dukarska and Aileen Crowley and Denise Walsh and Margaret Cremen all looked on form as the selectors decide on which crews to send to the World Cup Regatta in Belgrade.

In the junior trials, Annie O’Donoghue and Ciara Moynihan of Workmen’s won a fine doubles race. Aoibhinn Keating of Skibbereen and Ciara Browne of Workmen’s were their closest rivals, but Mollie Curry of Coleraine GS and Eimear Crowley of Kenmare contended at the finish and were just 1.4 seconds off the winners.

Published in Rowing

#Rowing: Portadown Regatta enjoyed almost perfect conditions today. A packed programme was run in bright, warm sunshine and on flat water. RBAI beat the host club in one of the top events of the day, the men’s junior 18 eights final, reversing the decision of last year.

Shauna Murtagh of Carrick-on-Shannon beat Kate Crawford of Portadown in the women’s junior 18 single sculls – a first win in a regatta for the 16-year-old daughter of Ireland great Frances Cryan.

The men’s junior 18 single was won by Hugh Moore of Coleraine Grammar School.

Published in Rowing

The Sydney Hobart Yacht Race

The Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race is an annual offshore yacht racing event with an increasingly international exposure attracting super maxi yachts and entries from around tne world. It is hosted by the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia, starting in Sydney, New South Wales on Boxing Day and finishing in Hobart, Tasmania. The race distance is approximately 630 nautical miles (1,170 km).

The 2022 Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race starts in Sydney Harbour at 1pm (AEDT) on Monday 26 December.

This is the 77th edition of the Rolex Sydney Hobart. The inaugural race was conducted in 1945 and has run every year since, apart from 2020, which was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

88 boats started the 2021 Rolex Sydney Hobart, with 50 finishing.

The Sydney Hobart Yacht Race - FAQs

The number of Sydney Hobart Yacht Races held by the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia since 1945 is 75

6,257 completed the Sydney Hobart Yacht race, 1036 retired or were disqualified)

About 60,061 sailors have competed in the Sydney Hobart Race between 1945 and 2019

Largest fleets: 371 starters in the 50th race in 1994 (309 finished); 154 starters in 1987 (146 finished); 179 starters in 1985 (145 finished); 151 starters in 1984 (46 finished); 173 started in 1983 (128 finished); 159 started in 1981 (143 finished); 147 started in 1979 (142 finished); 157 started in 2019 (154 finished)

116 in 2004 (59 finished); 117 in 2014 (103 finished); 157 in 2019 (154 finished)

Nine starters in the inaugural Sydney Hobart Yacht Race in 1945

In 2015 and 2017 there were 27, including the 12 Clipper yachts (11 in 2017). In the record entry of 371 yachts in the 50th in 1994, there were 24 internationals

Rani, Captain John Illingworth RN (UK). Design: Barber 35’ cutter. Line and handicap winner

157 starters, 154 finishers (3 retirements)

IRC Overall: Ichi Ban, a TP52 owned by Matt Allen, NSW. Last year’s line honours winner: Comanche, Verdier Yacht Design and VPLP (FRA) owned by Jim Cooney and Samantha Grant, in 1 day 18 hours, 30 minutes, 24 seconds. Just 1hour 58min 32secs separated the five super maxis at the finish 

1 day 9 hours 15 minutes and 24 seconds, set in 2017 by LDV Comanche after Wild Oats XI was penalised one hour in port/starboard incident for a finish time of 1d 9h 48m 50s

The oldest ever sailor was Syd Fischer (88 years, 2015).

As a baby, Raud O'Brien did his first of some six Sydney Hobarts on his parent's Wraith of Odin (sic). As a veteran at three, Raud broke his arm when he fell off the companionway steps whilst feeding biscuits to the crew on watch Sophie Tasker sailed the 1978 race as a four-year-old on her father’s yacht Siska, which was not an official starter due to not meeting requirements of the CYCA. Sophie raced to Hobart in 1979, 1982 and 1983.

Quite a number of teenage boys and girls have sailed with their fathers and mothers, including Tasmanian Ken Gourlay’s 14-year-old son who sailed on Kismet in 1957. A 12-year-old boy, Travis Foley, sailed in the fatal 1998 race aboard Aspect Computing, which won PHS overall.

In 1978, the Brooker family sailed aboard their yacht Touchwood – parents Doug and Val and their children, Peter (13), Jacqueline (10), Kathryne (8) and Donald (6). Since 1999, the CYCA has set an age limit of 18 for competitors

Jane (‘Jenny’) Tate, from Hobart, sailed with her husband Horrie aboard Active in the 1946 Race, as did Dagmar O’Brien with her husband, Dr Brian (‘Mick’) O’Brien aboard Connella. Unfortunately, Connella was forced to retire in Bass Strait, but Active made it to the finish. The Jane Tate Memorial Trophy is presented each year to the first female skipper to finish the race

In 2019, Bill Barry-Cotter brought Katwinchar, built in 1904, back to the start line. She had competed with a previous owner in 1951. It is believed she is the oldest yacht to compete. According to CYCA life member and historian Alan Campbell, more than 31 yachts built before 1938 have competed in the race, including line honours winners Morna/Kurrewa IV (the same boat, renamed) and Astor, which were built in the 1920s.

Bruce Farr/Farr Yacht Design (NZL/USA) – can claim 20 overall wins from 1976 (with Piccolo) up to and including 2015 (with Balance)

Screw Loose (1979) – LOA 9.2m (30ft); Zeus II (1981) LOA 9.2m

TKlinger, NSW (1978) – LOA 8.23m (27ft)

Wild Oats XI (2012) – LOA 30.48m (100ft). Wild Oats XI had previously held the record in 2005 when she was 30m (98ft)

©Afloat 2020