Displaying items by tag: Head of the Charles

20th October 2019

Shandon Man Dorney Third at Head of the Charles in Boston

#Rowing: Jack Dorney (18) finished third in the Head of the Charles Regatta in Boston today. The Shandon man, defending his title in the men’s youth singles, was beaten by the winner, Nicholas Aronow, and second-placed Isaiah Harrison.

In the men’s senior master eights (average age 50 plus), an Irish Masters Boat Club crew made up of rowers from around Ireland took fourth. Ex Nemo won, while the second-placed Upper Yarra crew featured former Australian greats Duncan Free and James Tomkins as the stern pair.

Published in Rowing

Tagged under

23rd October 2017

Paul O'Donovan in Great Eight of World Scullers

The men's Great Eight at the Head of the Charles Regatta in Boston.

#Rowing: Paul O’Donovan, the lightweight single sculls world champion, ended his season on a high as he rowed in the Great8 of top scullers which took second at the Head of the Charles River in Boston. The University of California won in a record time. O’Donovan was the bowman and is seen in this picture on the left. The crew finished second, inside the old record.

Sanita Puspure was a key part of the women’s Great8 which won, and set a new record. Course specialist Genevra Stone stroked the crew having subbed into the boat for Magdalena Lobnig, who was ill.

Published in Rowing

Tagged under

22nd October 2017

Puspure's Eight Wins, Paul O'Donovan's Second at Head of the Charles

#Rowing: The Great8 crew including Sanita Puspure won their Women’s Championship Eights at the Head of the Charles Regatta in Boston today. Paul O’Donovan was in the men’s Great8 which finished second.

A composite crew from Ireland featuring Mark O’Donovan and Shane O’Driscoll took seventh place in the Directors’ Challenge Men’s Quads. Final time was decided depending on the age of the crew, and with an average age of 38, the Irish composite was younger than all the crews ahead of it in the final rankings.

Head of the Charles Regatta, Boston, (Unofficial; Irish interest)

Sunday

Men

Championship Eights: 1 California 13:27.469, 2 Wairau (Great8) 13:30.153.

Directors’ Challenge Quads (adjusted times): 7 Shandon, Skibbereen, Tralee Composite (M O’Donovan, S O’Driscoll, G Quin, J Morris) 15:43.424.

Women

Championship Eight: 1 Sudbury (Great8) 14:48.423.

Published in Rowing

Tagged under

21st October 2017

Gary and Paul O'Donovan Second at Head of the Charles

#Rowing: Paul O’Donovan and Gary O’Donovan took second in the Championship Doubles at the Head of the Charles Regatta in Boston. The Skibbereen men pushed hard to close the gap on the first crew off, Penn Athletic Club, but the Americans won, by a very small margin.

Shannon won the Masters (40+) eights. The crew is a set of rowers who compete for the Limerick club to commemorate adventurer Eddie Crean, who died in a cycling accident in 2014.

Sanita Puspure and Magdalena Lobnig were to go off first in the women’s Championship Doubles, but they scratched. Puspure partnered Carling Zeeman in the double which finished fourth.

There was big news in the men's lightweight double: Jeremie Azou of France has announced his retirement. Azou partnered Pierre Houin to take gold in the Olympic Games - ahead of Gary and Paul O'Donovan.

Head of the Charles Regatta, Boston, Saturday (Unofficial; Irish interest)

Men

Masters Eights (40+): 1 Shannon 15:01

Championships Doubles: 1 Penn AC (J Keen, A Frid) 16 min 35.304, 2 Skibbereen (G O’Donovan, P O’Donovan) 16:35.428; 7 Skibbereen (M O’Donovan, S O’Driscoll) 17:15.333.

Published in Rowing

Tagged under

25th October 2016

More Rowing Glory for O'Donovan Brothers

Paul O'Donovan, John Collins, Jonathan Walton and Gary O'Donovan at the medal presentation in Boston.

#Rowing: Paul and Gary O’Donovan have another set of medals to add to their 2016 collection. Sculling with John Collins and Jonny Walton of Leander (the British Olympic double) they had the fastest raw time in the Directors’ Challenge Men’s Quads at the Head of the Charles Regatta in Boston. While the result was given as a win for “Fruit Loops”, a Masters crew which was given a handicap, the Irish/British crew were presented with the medals.

In 2016 Gary and Paul won gold at the European Championships, silver at the World Cup Regatta in Italy, silver at the Olympic Games, and took winners’ medals at the Irish Open as a double. Paul also won gold at the World Championships as a lightweight single sculler and won the Irish Open single sculls.

Published in Rowing

Tagged under

23rd October 2016

Puspure and Friends Best at Boston Rowing Regatta

#Rowing: Sanita Puspure was part of the top women’s crew at the Head of the Charles Regatta in Boston. The Old Collegians rower took the honours in the Women’s Championship Eights, with a crew of the top scullers in the world, stroked by American Genevra Stone.

Paul and Gary O’Donovan finished second in their final race, the Directors’ Challenge Men’s Quads. The Skibbereen men teamed up with John Collins and Jonathan Walton of Leander to form a crew which they called Crossing the Pond.

Head of the Charles River, Boston (Irish interest; selected results)

Saturday

Men

Championship Doubles: 8 P O’Donovan, G O’Donovan 17 min 39.742 seconds.

Women

Championships Doubles: 1 K Brennan, E Twigg 18:08.7, 2 M Lobnig, S Puspure 18:20.219.

Sunday (Provisional)

Men

Directors’ Challenge Quads: 2 Crossing the Pond (G O’Donovan, J Walton, J Collins, G O’Donovan) 16:30.304.

Women

Championship Eights: 1 Cambridge (S Puspure, M Knapkova, M Lobnig, J Gmelin, C Zeeman, E Twigg, K Brennan, G Stone; cox: E Driscoll) 16:30.368.

Published in Rowing

Tagged under

23rd October 2016

Puspure Excels at Head of the Charles Rowing Regatta

#Rowing: Ireland’s Sanita Puspure had an impressive result at the Head of the Charles Regatta in Boston. The Old Collegians rower teamed up with Magdalena Lobnig of Austria to finish second in the Women’s Championship Doubles behind Kim Brennan, the world and Olympic single sculls champion, and Emma Twigg.

Paul and Gary O’Donovan finished eighth in the Men’s Championship Double.

Head of the Charles River, Boston (Irish interest; selected results)

Men

Championship Doubles: 8 P O’Donovan, G O’Donovan 17 min 39.742 seconds.

Women

Championships Doubles: 1 K Brennan, E Twigg 18:08.7, 2 M Lobnig, S Puspure 18:20.219.

Published in Rowing

Tagged under

3rd October 2016

O'Donovans to Compete in United States

#Rowing: Ireland’s silver medallists from Rio 2016, Paul and Gary O’Donovan, will compete at the Head of the Charles Regatta in Boston on October 22^nd and 23rd. The brothers will compete in the Championship Doubles on the Saturday and may also team up to form a quadruple on the Sunday.

Ireland Olympian Sanita Puspure will team up with Magdalena Lobnig of Austria in the women’s Championship Double, and both will be part of a Great Eight on the Sunday.

Published in Rowing

Tagged under

29th October 2014

Boston Glory Lands Puspure Afloat Rower of the Month Award

#ROWING: Sanita Puspure is the Afloat Rower of the Month for October. The Old Collegians sculler lifted Irish rowing to a new level when she was invited to be part of the ‘Great Eight’ at the Head of the Charles River in Boston. The crew, made up of some of the top women’s scullers in the world, went on to win the Championship Eight by a margin of almost 20 seconds from the US Rowing crew. Puspure then ended the month by winning the Ireland trial for single scullers, overcoming a tremendous challenge from Lisa Dilleen.

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 2014. Keep a monthly eye on progress and watch our 2014 champions list grow.

Published in Rowing

Tagged under

21st October 2013

Sheehan Strokes Notre Dame to Sixth Place in Head of Charles Rowing

#RowingHOCR: Notre Dame, with Ailish Sheehan of St Michael’s stroking, finished sixth in the women’s Championship Eights at the Head of the Charles in Boston on Sunday. In a race which featured some of the best women rowers in the world, Sheehan's crew finished more than 20 seconds faster than the Notre Dame crew finished last year and were in the small group which finished in under 17 minutes.

Head of the Charles, Boston, Sunday (Irish Interest, Selected Result)

Women’s Championship Eights: 1 Cambridge 15:59.54, 2 US Rowing 16:00.75; 6 Notre Dame 16:58.59; 18 Princeton 17:39.17.

Published in Rowing

Tagged under

Start
Prev
1
2
Next
End

Page 1 of 2

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

What is Dun Laoghaire Regatta?

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

When is Dun Laoghaire Regatta?

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

Where is Dun Laoghaire Regatta held?

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.

How big is Dun Laoghaire Regatta?

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.

How old is Dun Laoghaire Regatta?

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

How many boats compete at Dun Laoghaire Regatta?

Up to 500 boats regularly compete.

How many yacht clubs are represented at Dun Laoghaire Regatta?

Up to 70 different yacht clubs are represented.

Where do the yachts come from to compete at Dun Laoghaire Regatta?

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

How many boats are visiting boats at Dun Laoghaire Regatta?

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.

What type of yachts race in Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta?

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.

What famous sailors race in Dun Laoghaire Regatta?

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.

How much does it cost to enter Dun Laoghaire Regatta?

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.

Where can spectators view Dun Laoghaire Regatta?

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.

How does Dun Laoghaire regatta compare to international regattas?

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.

Why is Dun Laoghaire Regatta so unique?

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.

Who organises Dun Laoghaire Regatta?

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).

What does Dun Laoghaire Regatta contribute to the local economy?

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.