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Displaying items by tag: Maurogiovanni

#Rowing: David McGowan from Australia will be the new Ireland heavyweight coach. As an athlete he competed in the Australia four which finished fourth in the Olympic Games in Athens in 2004. As a coach he had a successful run in the Netherlands. He coached the lightweight eight to gold at the World Championships in 2007, then took the men’s heavyweight eight through the Olympic Qualifiers in 2008 and they went on to the Beijing Olympic Games. He coached with Nereus, the famed student club from Amsterdam and in Sweden. Most recently, he was appointed head coach at Swan River Rowing Club in Perth in Australia.  

 He will take up his post next month and will be expected to create a pathway for Irish rowers from junior and  university levels on to the Ireland high performance system.

 In a statement from Rowing Ireland, McGowan said: “I feel privileged to have been offered this opportunity in such an exciting time for Irish rowing. I look forward to both working with Rowing Ireland and rowing in Ireland and I am excited to be joining the team shortly.”

 Rowing Ireland chief executive, Hamish Adams, added: “We are delighted to have secured the services of an experienced international coach like David and I believe he will deliver real value to our heavyweight programme across the island of Ireland. Development of the heavyweight category offers a great opportunity to us as a rowing nation and we feel it is important to engage with all our stakeholders to deliver on our potential in this area.”

Published in Rowing

#Rowing: The new High Performance Director for Irish rowing will be Antonio Maurogiovanni. The Italian will take up the role in August.

Maurogiovanni rowed for Italy at the 1988 Seoul and 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games in the four and eight respectively.

As a coach he was involved in seven Olympic Games with several nations including Italy, the Netherlands, and Australia. He moves on from his role with Rowing Australia as Head Coach with the Western Australian team after 15 years. He said he was excited to take up the new challenge.

He said rowing has been his passion and made up much of his life. “It has taken me from Italy to Australia to the Netherlands and back to Australia and now to Ireland. I look forward to applying the experience and knowledge I have acquired over the years and using it to the best of my ability to bring success in Ireland.”

Hamish Adams, the chief executive of Rowing Ireland, said: “We have been through an extremely robust and intensive recruitment process to source the best possible candidate for this demanding role. As a professional coach with a background in sport science and vast Olympic experience Antonio is an exceptional candidate and we are delighted to welcome him to our team.

“I wish to thank Neville Maxwell, Chair of our High Performance Committee, Paul McDermott, Sport Ireland High Performance Director and Gianni Postiglione, World Rowing (FISA) coaching representative for their personal contributions to this recruitment process."

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