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Displaying items by tag: European Championships

#Rowing: Sanita Puspure took a bronze medal at the European Rowing Championships in Brandenburg in Germany, giving Ireland a second podium finish on a day in which the men’s lightweight double had taken gold. In awful conditions, Magdalena Lobnig of Austria took control of the race and won by almost 17 seconds from Elza Gulbe of Latvia, who took over second from Puspure when she missed a stroke at about 1600 metres. Puspure held off double Olympic champion Ekaterina Karsten, who was fourth. 

European Rowing Championships, Brandenburg, Germany – Day Three (Irish interest; selected results):

Men

Lightweight Four – A Final: 2 Britain (4 P Chambers).

Lightweight Double Sculls – A Final: 1 Ireland (G O’Donovan, P O’Donovan) 6:57.76, 2 Germany 6:59.54, 3 Norway 7:00.52.  

Lightweight Pair – A Final: 1 Britain (S Scrimgeour, J Cassells) 7:00.38, 2 Denmark 7:03.94, 3 Spain 7:05.32; 4 Ireland (M O’Donovan, S O’Driscoll)  7:09.67

Women

Quadruple Sculls – A Final: 5 Britain (3 H Nixon).

Lightweight Double Sculls – B Final (Places 7 to 12): 1 Sweden 7:27.70, 2 Britain 7:27.99, 3 Ireland (C Lambe, S Jennings) 7:30.28.

Single Sculls – A Final: 1 Austria (M Lobnig) 7:22.32, 2 Latvia (E Gulbe) 7:39.10, 3 Ireland (S Puspure) 9:44.77.

Lightweight Single Sculls – A Final: 1 Germany (A Noske) 8:26.75, 2 Denmark 8:32.54, 3 Netherlands 8:37.05; 4 Ireland (D Walsh) 8:42.93.

 

Published in Rowing

# Rowing: Paul O’Donovan and Gary O’Donovan took gold for Ireland at the European Rowing Championships in Brandenburg in Germany this morning. They executed the perfect plan in the final of the lightweight double sculls. Norway were the favourites, and led into the final quarter, but they could not deal with the tremendous finish of the O’Donovans. Germany came through to take silver, with Norway third.

European Rowing Championships, Brandenburg, Germany – Day Three (Irish interest; selected results):

Men

Lightweight Double Sculls – A Final 1 Ireland (G O’Donovan, P O’Donovan) 6:57.76, 2 Germany 6:59.54, 3 Norway 7:00.52.  

Lightweight Pair – A Final: 1 Britain (S Scrimgeour, J Cassells) 7:00.38, 2 Denmark 7:03.94, 3 Spain 7:05.32; 4 Ireland (M O’Donovan, S O’Driscoll)  7:09.67

Women

Lightweight Double Sculls – B Final (Places 7 to 12): 1 Sweden 7:27.70, 2 Britain 7:27.99, 3 Ireland (C Lambe, S Jennings) 7:30.28.

Lightweight Single Sculls – A Final: 1 Germany (A Noske) 8:26.75, 2 Denmark 8:32.54, 3 Netherlands 8:37.05; 4 Ireland (D Walsh) 8:42.93.

Published in Rowing

#Rowing: Ireland had two fourth-place finishes in their first two A Finals of the European Rowing Championships in Brandenburg in Germany. The lightweight men’s pair of Mark O’Donovan and Shane O’Driscoll finished impressively to push Germany into fifth. Britain’s Sam Scrimgeour and Joel Cassells won, with Denmark second and Spain third. Lightweight single sculler Denise Walsh also had a good final quarter. Her race was dominated by Anja Noske of Germany, with Denmark and the Netherlands taking silver and bronze.  Sinéad Jennings and Claire Lambe finished third in the B Final of the women’s lightweight double sculls, ninth overall. Sweden beat Britain into second, with Ireland over two seconds further back.

European Rowing Championships, Brandenburg, Germany – Day Three (Irish interest; selected results):

Men

Lightweight Pair – A Final: 1 Britain (S Scrimgeour, J Cassells) 7:00.38, 2 Denmark 7:03.94, 3 Spain 7:05.32; 4 Ireland (M O’Donovan, S O’Driscoll)  7:09.67

Women

Lightweight Double Sculls – B Final (Places 7 to 12): 1 Sweden 7:27.70, 2 Britain 7:27.99, 3 Ireland (C Lambe, S Jennings) 7:30.28.

Lightweight Single Sculls – A Final: 1 Germany (A Noske) 8:26.75, 2 Denmark 8:32.54, 3 Netherlands 8:37.05; 4 Ireland (D Walsh) 8:42.93.

 

Published in Rowing

#Rowing: Single sculler Sanita Puspure and the men’s lightweight double scull won their semi-finals to bring Ireland’s A Final tally to four at the European Rowing Championships in Brandenburg in Germany. The Ireland women’s lightweight double had to settle for a B Final place.

 Paul O’Donovan and Gary O’Donovan produced an excellent finishing sprint to win their semi-final. Germany had led them down the course but the Cork brothers outpaced them in the dash to the line.  

 Puspure won a really good race, Nataliya Dovgodko of the Ukraine and and Lina Saltyte of Lithuania looked impressive in the first half in the tough, cross-headwind conditions, with Puspure also in the top three. Mirka Knapkova moved from fourth in the final seven hundred metres to dispute the lead, but Puspure finished strongly and kept her in second. Saltyte took third.  

 Sinéad Jennings and Claire Lambe finished fifth in their semi-final. Poland were impressive winners, with Denmark holding second for much of the race and Ireland disputing third with Romania. Britain pushed into the top four in the second half, but could not secure a top-three place. Romania pushed into second, ahead of Denmark. Britain finished fourth, one place ahead of Jennings and Lambe.

European Championships, Brandenburg, Germany – Day Two (Selected results, Irish interest)

Men

Lightweight Pair – Repechage (First Four to A Final; rest to B Final): 1 Denmark 7:26.63, 2 Ireland (M O’Donovan, S O’Driscoll) 7:27.99, 3 Germany 7:29.0, 4 Portugal 7:29.70.

Lightweight Double Sculls – Semi-Final One (First Three to A Final; rest to B Final): 1 Ireland (G O’Donovan, P O’Donovan) 7:00.52, 2 Germany 7:00.7, 3 Poland 7:08.37.

Women

Lightweight Double Sculls – Semi-Final Two (First Three to A Final; rest to B Final): 1 Poland 7:57.60, 2 Romania 8:01.47, 3 Denmark 8:03.45; 5 Ireland (C Lambe, S Jennings) 8:12.30

Single Sculls – Semi-Final One (First Three to A Final; rest to B Final): 1 Ireland (S Puspure) 8:44.67, 2 Czech Republic (M Knapkova) 8:45.61, 3 Lithuania (L Saltyte) 8:47.70.

Lightweight Single Sculls – Repechage (First Two to A Final; rest to B Final): 1 Ireland (D Walsh)  8:39.41, 2 Britain (I Walsh) 8:41.08.

Published in Rowing

#Rowing: Mark O’Donovan and Shane O’Driscoll gave Ireland their second A Final place at the European Rowing Championships in Brandenburg in Germany with a second-place finish in this morning’s repechage. The Ireland lightweight pair rowed a brave race. Four boats qualified from six, but it was a battle all the way down the course.  O’Donovan and O’Driscoll had a good start and led all the way until the final quarter, where Denmark passed them. The margins were tight for qualification: Poland found themselves edged out by six hundredths of a second by fast-finishing Portugal.

 Denise Walsh had earlier qualifed for the A Final of the lightweight single sculls.

European Championships, Brandenburg, Germany – Day Two (Selected results, Irish interest)

Men

Lightweight Pair – Repechage (First Four to A Final; rest to B Final): 1 Denmark 7:26.63, 2 Ireland (M O’Donovan, S O’Driscoll) 7:27.99, 3 Germany 7:29.0, 4 Portugal 7:29.70.

Women

Lightweight Single Sculls – Repechage (First Two to A Final; rest to B Final): 1 Ireland (D Walsh)  8:39.41, 2 Britain (I Walsh) 8:41.08.

 

Published in Rowing

#Rowing: Ireland has its first finalist of the European Rowing Championships. Denise Walsh pulled off a surprise win in her lightweight single sculls repechage from lane one. The Skibbereen woman started well and led to half way, but by then Imogen Walsh, the defending champion from Britain, had moved up right beside her. The Briton then took over the lead and both moved clear of the field. Denise Walsh to resumed her place in the lead before the finish line. Both Walshs qualified for Sunday’s final.

European Championships, Brandenburg, Germany – Day Two (Selected results, Irish interest)

Women

Lightweight Single Sculls – Repechage (First Two to A Final; rest to B Final): 1 Ireland (D Walsh)  8:39.41, 2 Britain (I Walsh) 8:41.08.

Published in Rowing

#Rowing: Gary and Paul O’Donovan won their heat of the lightweight double sculls at the European Championships in Brandenburg in Germany. The Czech Republic showed well early on, but by halfway the brothers from Skibbereen had a small lead, which they extended from there on. As the Czechs faded, Belgium strengthened, and they took second. Switzerland edged out the Czechs for the third direct qualification place.

 Sinéad Jennings and Claire Lambe took second in their heat of the lightweight double to qualify for the semi-finals. With Ukraine stuck in  fourth place, the Netherlands, Ireland and Germany were set for the semi-final places, but fought it out before finishing in that order.  

 Denise Walsh finished fifth in her heat of the lightweight single sculls and must compete in a repechage. In the men’s lightweight pair, the world champions, Sam Scrimgeour and Joel Cassells of Britain, won their heat and took the A Final place. The Ireland crew of Mark O’Donovan and Shane O’Driscoll held second right down the course and sprinted to the line to hold off a challenge by Poland.  

European Championships, Brandenburg, Germany – Day One (Selected results, Irish interest)

Men

Lightweight Pair – Heat One (Winner to A Final; rest to repechage): 1 Britain (S Scrimgeour, J Cassells) 6:59.29; 2 Ireland (M O’Donovan, S O’Driscoll) 7:06.20.

Lightweight Double Sculls – Heat Two (First three to A/B Semi-Finals; rest to repechage): 1 Ireland (G O’Donovan, P O’Donovan) 6:46.75, 2 Belgium 6:49.46, 3 Switzerland 6:51.12.

Women

Quadruple Sculls – Heat One (Winner to A Final; rest to repechage): 3 Britain (3: H Nixon) 6:48.20.

Single Sculls – Heat One (First three to A/B Semi-Finals; rest to repechage): 1 Ireland (S Puspure) 8:09.55, 2 Latvia (E Gulbe) 8:13.73, 3 Britain (M Hodgkins-Byrne) 8:16.21.

Lightweight Double Sculls – Heat Three (First three to A/B Semi-Finals; rest to repechage): 1 Netherlands 7:29.38, 2 Ireland (C Lambe, S Jennings) 7:34.04, 3 Germany 7:38.89.

Lightweight Single Sculls – Heat One (First Two to A Final; rest to repechage): 1 Denmark 8:23.99, 2 Poland 8:25.82: 5 Ireland (D Walsh) 8:35.99.  

Published in Rowing

#Rowing: Sanita Puspure won her heat of the single sculls at the European Rowing Championships in Brandenburg, Germany, this morning. The Ireland competitor disputed the lead with Mathilde Hodgkins-Byrne of Britain in the early stages of the race, but took over on her own by half way and beat second-placed Elza Gulbe of Latvia by over four seconds. Gulbe and Hodgkins-Byrne also qualified directly for the semi-finals. Mirka Knapkova and Ekaterina Karsten were the top two in the second heat and Magdalena Lobnig won the third.

European Championships, Brandenburg, Germany – Day One (Selected results, Irish interest)

Women

Single Sculls – Heat One (First three to A/B Semi-Finals; rest to repechage): 1 Ireland (S Puspure) 8:09.55, 2 Latvia (E Gulbe) 8:13.73, 3 Britain (M Hodgkins-Byrne) 8:16.21.

Published in Rowing

With big winds up to 20–knots and large waves Annalise Murphy from the National Yacht Club was very much at home and off to a flying start at the in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria  at the European Laser Senior Championship 2016 yesterday where she is ranked seventh after the first day's racing. 14 out of the World's top 20 female Laser Radial sailors are competing. The Irish sailing star recently offered a prediction that she is one of eight girls who can medal in Rio in August. Results for all three divisions are downloadable below.

11 male and female Laser sailors from around the Irish coast are competing in the important regatta. In the women's division Annalise is well ahead of Irish rivals so far. Aoife Hopkins from Howth Yacht Club is 57th, Nicole Hemeryck from the National Yacht Club is 61st and Aisling Keller 68th in a fleet of 88.

The Laser Radial female competition is very tight, the two leaders in their own groups are tied, as well as the girls in third position (with a 2nd and two 4ths), Finish Tuula Tenkanen and Chinese Xu Lijia -Gold medalist in London 2012. The female leader board is headed by Dutch girl Marit Bouwmeester and Swedish Josefin Olsson, both with three wins in their resepctive groups.

With winds gusting to over 30 knots, the fleet was kept ashore for the opening day, but racing has got underway yesterday.

267 sailors from 47 countries participate in this Championship, organised by the Real Club Nautico de Gran Canaria, the European Laser Association (Eurilca) and the Real Federacion Española de Vela (RFEV).

Although sailors with Rio Sailing Olympic ambitions are competing in Gran Canaria Ireland is also represented in the mens radial where Ewan McMahon from Howth Yacht Club posted fifth yesterday. Conor O'Beirne from the Royal St. George YC is eighth and former Topper World Champion Liam Glynn from Ballyholme Yacht Club is 19th.

Nick Thompson leads the Laser Standard class in the European Senior Championship. Three wins in the first three races gives the current World Champion the leading position in a demanding day. Finn Lynch of the National Yacht Club in 54th leads Fionn Lyden of Baltimore Sailing Club in 73rd. Ballyholme's James Espey (leader of the Irish Olympic trial) is 77th and Darragh O’ Sullivan from Kinsale Yacht Club is 100th. Seafra Guilfolye of Royal Cork is listed as entered by not competing.

Published in Olympic

#ROWING: The Afloat Rowers of the Month for May are Paul and Gary O’Donovan. The brothers from Skibbereen formed the Ireland lightweight double which finished fifth at the European Rowing Championships in Poznan in Poland. They produced a very good performance in their semi-final to take third and so qualify for the A Final. In that race, they won a battle for fifth with Turkey. The winning crew, France, produced a European best time. The lightweight double is an extremely competitive event, but the new Ireland crew has hit the ground running.

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 and the overall national award will be presented to the person or crew who, in the judges' opinion, achieved the most notable results in, or made the most significant contribution to rowing during 2015. Keep a monthly eye on progress and watch our 2015 champions list grow.

Published in Rowing
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Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta

From the Baily lighthouse to Dalkey island, the bay accommodates six separate courses for 21 different classes racing every two years for the Dun Laoghaire Regatta.

In assembling its record-breaking armada, Volvo Dun Laoghaire regatta (VDLR) became, at its second staging, not only the country's biggest sailing event, with 3,500 sailors competing, but also one of Ireland's largest participant sporting events.

One of the reasons for this, ironically, is that competitors across Europe have become jaded by well-worn venue claims attempting to replicate Cowes and Cork Week.'Never mind the quality, feel the width' has been a criticism of modern-day regattas where organisers mistakenly focus on being the biggest to be the best. Dun Laoghaire, with its local fleet of 300 boats, never set out to be the biggest. Its priority focussed instead on quality racing even after it got off to a spectacularly wrong start when the event was becalmed for four days at its first attempt.

The idea to rekindle a combined Dublin bay event resurfaced after an absence of almost 40 years, mostly because of the persistence of a passionate race officer Brian Craig who believed that Dun Laoghaire could become the Cowes of the Irish Sea if the town and the local clubs worked together. Although fickle winds conspired against him in 2005, the support of all four Dun Laoghaire waterfront yacht clubs since then (made up of Dun Laoghaire Motor YC, National YC, Royal Irish YC and Royal St GYC), in association with the two racing clubs of Dublin Bay SC and Royal Alfred YC, gave him the momentum to carry on.

There is no doubt that sailors have also responded with their support from all four coasts. Running for four days, the regatta is (after the large mini-marathons) the single most significant participant sports event in the country, requiring the services of 280 volunteers on and off the water, as well as top international race officers and an international jury, to resolve racing disputes representing five countries. A flotilla of 25 boats regularly races from the Royal Dee near Liverpool to Dublin for the Lyver Trophy to coincide with the event. The race also doubles as a RORC qualifying race for the Fastnet.

Sailors from the Ribble, Mersey, the Menai Straits, Anglesey, Cardigan Bay and the Isle of Man have to travel three times the distance to the Solent as they do to Dublin Bay. This, claims Craig, is one of the major selling points of the Irish event and explains the range of entries from marinas as far away as Yorkshire's Whitby YC and the Isle of Wight.

No other regatta in the Irish Sea area can claim to have such a reach. Dublin Bay Weeks such as this petered out in the 1960s, and it has taken almost four decades for the waterfront clubs to come together to produce a spectacle on and off the water to rival Cowes."The fact that we are getting such numbers means it is inevitable that it is compared with Cowes," said Craig. However, there the comparison ends."We're doing our own thing here. Dun Laoghaire is unique, and we are making an extraordinary effort to welcome visitors from abroad," he added. The busiest shipping lane in the country – across the bay to Dublin port – closes temporarily to facilitate the regatta and the placing of six separate courses each day.

A fleet total of this size represents something of an unknown quantity on the bay as it is more than double the size of any other regatta ever held there.

Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta FAQs

Dun Laoghaire Regatta is Ireland's biggest sailing event. It is held every second Summer at Dun Laoghaire Harbour on Dublin Bay.

Dun Laoghaire Regatta is held every two years, typically in the first weekend of July.

As its name suggests, the event is based at Dun Laoghaire Harbour. Racing is held on Dublin Bay over as many as six different courses with a coastal route that extends out into the Irish Sea. Ashore, the festivities are held across the town but mostly in the four organising yacht clubs.

Dun Laoghaire Regatta is the largest sailing regatta in Ireland and on the Irish Sea and the second largest in the British Isles. It has a fleet of 500 competing boats and up to 3,000 sailors. Scotland's biggest regatta on the Clyde is less than half the size of the Dun Laoghaire event. After the Dublin city marathon, the regatta is one of the most significant single participant sporting events in the country in terms of Irish sporting events.

The modern Dublin Bay Regatta began in 2005, but it owes its roots to earlier combined Dublin Bay Regattas of the 1960s.

Up to 500 boats regularly compete.

Up to 70 different yacht clubs are represented.

The Channel Islands, Isle of Man, England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, Ireland countrywide, and Dublin clubs.

Nearly half the sailors, over 1,000, travel to participate from outside of Dun Laoghaire and from overseas to race and socialise in Dun Laoghaire.

21 different classes are competing at Dun Laoghaire Regatta. As well as four IRC Divisions from 50-footers down to 20-foot day boats and White Sails, there are also extensive one-design keelboat and dinghy fleets to include all the fleets that regularly race on the Bay such as Beneteau 31.7s, Ruffian 23s, Sigma 33s as well as Flying Fifteens, Laser SB20s plus some visiting fleets such as the RS Elites from Belfast Lough to name by one.

 

Some sailing household names are regular competitors at the biennial Dun Laoghaire event including Dun Laoghaire Olympic silver medalist, Annalise Murphy. International sailing stars are competing too such as Mike McIntyre, a British Olympic Gold medalist and a raft of World and European class champions.

There are different entry fees for different size boats. A 40-foot yacht will pay up to €550, but a 14-foot dinghy such as Laser will pay €95. Full entry fee details are contained in the Regatta Notice of Race document.

Spectators can see the boats racing on six courses from any vantage point on the southern shore of Dublin Bay. As well as from the Harbour walls itself, it is also possible to see the boats from Sandycove, Dalkey and Killiney, especially when the boats compete over inshore coastal courses or have in-harbour finishes.

Very favourably. It is often compared to Cowes, Britain's biggest regatta on the Isle of Wight that has 1,000 entries. However, sailors based in the north of England have to travel three times the distance to get to Cowes as they do to Dun Laoghaire.

Dun Laoghaire Regatta is unique because of its compact site offering four different yacht clubs within the harbour and the race tracks' proximity, just a five-minute sail from shore. International sailors also speak of its international travel connections and being so close to Dublin city. The regatta also prides itself on balancing excellent competition with good fun ashore.

The Organising Authority (OA) of Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta is Dublin Bay Regattas Ltd, a not-for-profit company, beneficially owned by Dun Laoghaire Motor Yacht Club (DMYC), National Yacht Club (NYC), Royal Irish Yacht Club (RIYC) and Royal St George Yacht Club (RSGYC).

The Irish Marine Federation launched a case study on the 2009 Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta's socio-economic significance. Over four days, the study (carried out by Irish Sea Marine Leisure Knowledge Network) found the event was worth nearly €3million to the local economy over the four days of the event. Typically the Royal Marine Hotel and Haddington Hotel and other local providers are fully booked for the event.

©Afloat 2020