#ROWING: Skibbereen Regatta, set for Sunday (May 3rd) at the National Rowing Centre, has been cancelled because of an adverse weather forecast – for a second time. The prediction of gusting winds from the south east was bad news for a regatta with a very big entry of small boats. The Grand League event had originally been fixed for April 11^th and 12^th but also fell victim to the forecast of bad weather. This leaves just two Grand League rounds on the calendar, Dublin Metropolitan and Cork Regatta.

#ROWING: Two schools from Enniskillen took some of the major honours on offer at the Irish Schools Regatta at O’Brien’s Bridge. Enniskillen Collegiate won the women’s under-23 eights, fours and pairs, and Portora Royal School won the under-23 eights and pairs. Presentation Brothers College, Cork, took the men’s coxed fours. Waterpark College’s Andrew Goff was the top single sculler, and Sarah Murphy of Gaelcholáiste Luimnigh the top women’s sculler.

Irish Schools Regatta 2015, O’Brien’s Bridge, Selected Results

Men

Eight – Under-23: 1 Portora, 2 St Joseph’s, 3 Presentation, Cork. Junior 16: 1 St Joseph’s, 2 Col Iognáid, 3 Presentation, Cork. Jun 15: 1 St Joseph’s, 2 Pres, Cork, 3 Portora.

Four – Under-23, coxed: 1 Pres, Cork, 2 St Joseph’s, 3 CBS, Cork. Jun 16: 1 Portora, 2 Col Iognáid, 3 St Joseph’s B. Junior 15, coxed: 1 St Joseph’s A, 2 Portora, 3 Presentation Cork.

Pair – Under-23: 1 Portora A, 2 St Joseph’s B, 3 Ardscoil A.

Sculling

Quadruple – Under-23: 1 Schull CS, 2 Methody, 3 CBC, Cork. Junior 16, coxed: 1 Ardscoil A, 2 Methody, 3 Killorglin. Jun 15, coxed: 1 CBC Cork A, 2 CAI, 3 Methody.

Double – Under-23: 1 Schull CS A, 2 Marist, 3 Summerhill. Junior 16: 1 Rochestown, 2 Methody, 3 Pres, Carlow. Jun 15: 1 St Mary’s, Carlow, 2 CBC, Cork, 3 Castleknock.

Single – Under-23 (Final One, Timed): 1 Waterpark (A Goff), 2 St Munchin’s (Carmody), 3 Rochestown (Larkin). (Final Two, Timed): Portora (Murray). Jun 16: 1 Castleknock (Meehan), 2 Rochestown (Larkin), 3 Ardscoil Dub (Lynch). Jun 15 – Final One: 1 St Mary’s, Carlow (J Keating), 2 Carrigaline CC (S O’Neill), 3 CBC (T Murphy). Final Two: Ardscoil (O’Byrne).

Women

Eight – Under-23: 1 Enniskillen, 2 Laurel Hill, 3 Mount Lourdes. Jun 16: 1 Col Iognáid, 2 Methody, 3 Laurel Hill. Jun 15: 1 Col Iognáid, 2 Enniskillen

Four – Under-23: 1 Enniskillen, 2 Mount Lourdes. Jun 16, coxed: 1 Col Iognáid B, 2 Enniskillen, 3 Col Iognáid A. Jun 15, coxed: 1 Col Iognaid, 2 Mount Lourdes.

Pair – Under-23: 1 Enniskillen, 2 Laurel Hill B, 3 Laurel Hill A.

Sculling

Quadruple – Under-23: 1 St Leo’s, 2 Loreto, Fermoy A, 3 Loreto, Fermoy B. Junior 16, coxed: 1 Gaelcholáiste Cheatharlach, 2 Regina Mundi, 3 St Leo’s. Jun 15: 1 Loreto, Fermoy A, 2 Christ the King, Cork, 3 St Brigid’s A.

Double – Under 23 (Final One, Timed): 1 St Angela’s, Cork, 2 Methody, 3 Ursuline, Sligo. Final Two, timed: Sacred Heart. Final Three, timed: St Leo’s B. Jun 16: St Dominic’s, 2 Sacred Heart, 3 Christ the King A. Jun 15: 1 Regina Mundi, 2 Loreto, Fermoy, 3 St Louis.

Single – Under-23: 1 Gaelcholáiste Luimnigh (S Murphy), 2 Christ the King (Cummins), 3 Methody (Deyermond). Junior 16: Scoil Mhuire (Synnott), 2 Loreto Fermoy (O’Sullivan). Jun 15 (Final One): Loreto, Fermoy (Murphy). Final Two: Loreto (McGirr).

#Rowing: St Joseph’s of Galway won both the junior 16 and junior 15 boys’ eights at the Irish Schools Rowing Regatta at O’Brien’s Bridge. Another Galway school, Coláiste Iognáid, took the girls’ junior 15 eight. Presentation of Cork were the fastest crew in the men’s under-23 coxed four. There was a good spread of wins through the island of Ireland.

Irish Schools Regatta 2015, O’Brien’s Bridge, Selected Results

Men

Eight – Junior 16: 1 St Joseph’s, 2 Col Iognáid, 3 Presentation, Cork. Jun 15: 1 St Joseph’s, 2 Pres, Cork, 3 Portora.

Four – Under-23, coxed: 1 Pres, Cork, 2 St Joseph’s, 3 CBS, Cork. Junior 15, coxed: 1 St Joseph’s A, 2 Portora, 3 Presentation Cork.

Pair – Under-23: 1 Portora A, 2 St Joseph’s B, 3 Ardscoil A.

Sculling

Quadruple – Junior 16, coxed: 1 Ardscoil A, 2 Methody, 3 Killorglin. Jun 15, coxed: 1 CBC Cork A, 2 CAI, 3 Methody.

Double – Under-23: Schull CS A, 2 Marist, 3 Summerhill. Junior 16: 1 Rochestown, 2 Methody, 3 Pres, Carlow. Jun 15: 1 St Mary’s, Carlow, 2 CBC, Cork, 3 Castleknock.

Single – Under-23 (Final One, Timed): 1 Waterpark (Goff), 2 St Munchin’s (Carmody), 3 Rochestown (Larkin). (Final Two, Timed): Portora (Murray).

Women

Eight – Junior 15: 1 Col Iognáid, 2 Enniskillen

Four – Under-23: 1 Enniskillen, 2 Mount Lourdes. Jun 16, coxed: 1 Col Iognáid B, 2 Enniskillen, 3 Col Iognáid A. Jun 15, coxed: 1 Col Iognaid, 2 Mount Lourdes.

Pair – Under-23: 1 Enniskillen, 2 Laurel Hill B, 3 Laurel Hill A.

Sculling

Quadruple – Junior 16, coxed: 1 Gaelcholáiste Cheatharlach, 2 Regina Mundi, 3 St Leo’s.

Double – Under 23 (Final One, Timed): 1 St Angela’s, Cork, 2 Methody, 3 Ursuline, Sligo. Final Two, timed: Sacred Heart. Final Three, timed: St Leo’s B. Jun 16: St Dominic’s, 2 Sacred Heart, 3 Christ the King A.

Single – Under-23: 1 Gael Lmk (Murphy), 2 Christ the King (Cummins), 3 Methody (Deyermond). Jun 15 (Final One): Loreto, Fermoy (Murphy). Final Two: Loreto (McGirr).

#ROWING: Next weekend will see one of the biggest rowing invasion of the Mid-West since the Vikings sent their longboats up the Shannon estuary in the 9^th century. With over 800 crews entered over two days it is the largest rowing undertaking ever to take place at the Limerick Regatta course in O’Briensbridge. On Saturday, Limerick Regatta has a full programme, with events running every four minutes over 11 hours, while on Sunday the biggest ever Irish Schools Regatta will be held.

The Schools Regatta was first run in O’Briensbridge in 2006 as part of the University Championships. Eleven crews from five schools battled for honours in two double sculls events. The following year additional events were added and the event started to grow. Given that the University Championships always took precedence at the combined event, there was a limit on the size of the Schools Regatta. This ceased to be the case when Limerick Regatta agreed to run the event in 2014 on a stand-alone basis: there was an entry of just over 300 crews from 45 schools. This year there are almost 400 entries from 71 schools.

#Rowing: UCD took some late and notable wins at Trinity Regatta in Islandbridge today. They won the intermediate men’s eight final with a convincing win over the hosts, and also took the club eights with a win over Queen’s. Trinity’s A crew had just one and a quarter lengths to spare over their B crew in the men’s senior eights final – suggesting that had UCD put out a senior eight there could have been a good race. Commercial’s Neil Gahan and Colm Dowling won the senior pair and were part of Commercial’s winning four, while Damien Kelly won the senior single sculls, beating Fionnán Groome, and the intermediate single, where he was given a serious test by clubmate Ronan Allen. Bann won the junior 18 women’s eight and coxed four.

Trinity Regatta, Islandbridge, Saturday (Finals, Selected Results):

Men

Eight – Senior: Trinity A bt Trinity B 1¼ l. Intermediate: UCD bt Trinity 3¾ l. Club: UCD A bt Queen’s ¼ l. Novice: Queen’s bt Trinity A 3ft. Jun 16: Commercial bt Methodist canvas. Junior 15: Reading A bt Commercial ½l. Masters: Neptune bt Old Collegians ¼l.

Four – Senior, coxed: Commercial A bt Trinity B 4l. Intermediate, coxed: UCD bt Cork 1¾ l. Club, coxed: UCD B bt UCD A 2½ l. Masters, coxed: Neptune bt Commercial ¼l.

Pair – Senior: Commercial B bt Lady Elizabeth/Old Collegians easily.

Sculling

Quadruple – Novice, coxed: Reading bt Trinity easily. Jun 18B, coxed: Athlone bt Graiguenamanagh 1½ l. Junior 16, coxed: Methody bt Three Castles 1l. Jun 15, coxed: Graiguenamanagh bt Commercial A easily.

Double – Senior: Trinity bt Belfast 4½ l. Jun 15: Neptune bt Reading easily.

Single – Senior: Garda (D Kelly) bt Commercial (F Groome) 1¼ l Club: Garda (R Allen) bt Trinity (Browne) easily. Intermediate: Garda (D Kelly) bt Garda (R Allen) 1l. Jun 18: Athlone (Munnelly) bt Graiguenamanagh (Lennon) easily. Jun 16: Athlone (Byrne) bt Three Castles (Irwin) 1l. Jun 15: Commercial bt Neptune 3l. Masters: Commercial (O’Toole) bt Belfast BC (Curran) 1½ l

Women

Eight –Intermediate: Trinity bt Queen’s easily. Club: Commercial bt Queen’s 2¾ l. Novice: Queen’s bt Methodist College, Belfast easily. Jun 18: Bann bt Neptune easily. Jun 16: Commercial bt Bann 2¾ l.

Four – Club, coxed: Garda bt UCD ¼ l. Jun 18, four: Bann bt Methody easily.

Sculling

Quadruple – Novice, coxed: Carlow bt UCD easily. Jun 18B, coxed: Bann bt Carlow 1¼ l. Jun 16, coxed: Carlow bt Commercial canvas. Junior 15, coxed: Commercial bt Carlow 2l.

Double – Jun 15: Athlone bt Commercial 4l.

Single – Club One: Methody (Deyermond) bt Garda easily. Junior 18: Neptune (Coleman). Jun 16: Three Castles (Darcy) bt Carlow (Nolan) easily. Jun 15: Three Castles (Darker) bt Athlone (Donovan) easily.

#ROWING: Commercial Regatta got back on track after a six-year break with a relatively small event in excellent weather at Islandbridge today. The host club provided the bulk of the entry, but Trinity supplied the two eights which competed in the women’s senior eights final, where the B crew beat the A crew. The men’s senior single sculls final saw Michael Maher beat his Commercial clubmate Colm Dowling.

Commercial Regatta, Islandbridge, Sunday (Selected Results)

Men

Eight – Intermediate: Commercial A bt Commercial B. Club One: Commercial A bt Commercial B.

Four – Intermediate, coxed: Trinity bt UCD

Sculling, Quadruple – Club One: Commercial bt Trinity. Junior 16, coxed: Three Castles bt Commercial A. Junior 15, coxed: Commercial A bt Commercial C.

Double – Senior: Commercial A bt Commercial B. Junior 15: Commercial bt Three Castles

Single – Senior: Commercial (M Maher) bt Commercial (C Dowling). Intermediate: Commercial (N Gahan) bt Commercial (F O’Toole). Junior 16: Three Castles (O Clune) bt Three Castles (D Gilheany). Junior 15 – Final One: Commercial (A Holton) bt New Ross (J Becker). Final Two: Commercial (K Browne) bt New Ross (L Sutton).

Women

Eight – Senior: Trinity B bt Trinity A. Club One: Trinity bt Neptune. Novice: Commercial bt Trinity A. Junior 16: Commercial bt Athlone.

Four – Intermediate, coxed: Commercial bt Trinity B.

Sculling, Quadruple – Club One, coxed: Neptune bt Commercial A. Novice, coxed: Carlow bt Commercial. Junior 16, coxed: Commercial bt Athlone B. Junior 15, coxed: New Ross bt Commercial.

Double – Junior 18: Neptune A bt Athlone. Junior 16: Commercial bt New Ross B.

Single – Intermediate: Trinity (H O’Neill) bt Three Castles (A Feely). Club One: Commercial (C Edwards) bt Commercial (S O’Neill). Junior 15 - Final One: Commercial (A Keogh) bt New Ross (C Flanagan). Final Two: Three Castles bt Commercial (Dolan). Final Three: New Ross (A Coughlan) bt New Ross (L Brown).

#hyc – Howth Yacht Club's (HYC) Shane Diviney, a former Dublin City University student now based in Australia, was on pit duty for Chris Steele's winning 36 below team in Perth for the Warren Jones Youth Regatta this week. 

Steele and his crew from the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron beat local skipper Sam Gilmour on a count back after racing in the final was curtailed by light winds.

Steele and his crew of Hamish Hardy, Shane Diviney, Josh Salthouse and Harry Hull were challenged all the way in the testing conditions, being taken to a third race in the quarter-finals by Japan's Kohei Ichikawa. Then in the semi-finals it was Australia's Lachy Gilmour who took them to three races, before he needed a count back to win the final.

The Warren Jones Regatta was hosted by the Royal Perth Yacht Club, and run by Swan River Sailing, and is for sailors under the age of twenty five. The trophy was given in memory of Warren Jones, who was the driving force behind Australia II's famous victory in the America's Cup in 1983.

Overall Results:

1 Chris Steele (Royal New Zealand Y.S.)
2 Sam Gilmour (Royal Freshwater Bay Y.C.)
3 Henry Kernot (Jay Griffin) (Cruising Y.C. of Australia)
4 Lachy Gilmour (Royal Freshwater Bay Y.C.)
5 Matt Jerwood (South of Perth Y.C.)
6 Joachim Aschenbrenner (Royal Dansh Y.C.)
7 Kohei Ichikawa (Japan Sailing Federation)
8 Peter Holz (Chicago Match Racing Centre)
9 Sam Ellis (Cruising Y.C. of Australia)
10 Mark Lees (Royal Southern Y.C.)
11 Will Boulden (Royal Freshwater Bay Y.C.)
12 Malcolm Parker (Royal Prince Alfred Y.C.)

#greystonesharbourregatta – Greystones Sailing Club Cruiser Regatta was held yesterday in sparkling conditions off the Wicklow coastline giving a large visiting fleet from Dublin Bay a new nearby race course area so very convenient to the capitals waters. 

James Kirwan's Beneteau 36.7 Boomerang from Dun Laoghaire was the class one winner in a 22–boat fleet. Austin Whelan's Quarter Tonner Solidarity was the winner of a 25–boat class 2. David Shanahan's Warrior was the White Sails division winner. Scroll down the page to download full overall results below.

The second Annual Cruiser Regatta attracted a register of 80 boats from up and down the East Coast. Boats came from from eight clubs including Wicklow, Arklow, Bray, Poolbeg, Clontarf, Dun Laoghaire, Howth and Malahide making it something of a unique, multi club event. At least five held feeder races on Saturday from their clubs to Greystones, giving the new 200–berth Greystones marina a buzz with visiting sailing boats all weekend. Significantly, the overall numbers were up on last year's inaugural event, acording to GSC.

The event – hailed by Greystones SC as the third third biggest cruiser event in Ireland this season –  benefitted from some high level race management too with London 2012 Olympic Race Officer Jack Roy in charge on the water.

Olympic race officer Jack Roy was on hand to manage the racing off Greystones yesterday

The second event fully lived up to the expectations created by last year inaugural regatta. The entry fee of €50 had included vouchers for the club bar and vouchers for pints in the Beach House as well as a free overnight berth so great merrymaking rolled well into the early hours in both establishments!

Sunday morning saw hot breakfasts in the Greystones SC clubhouse courtesy of Spendlove's Coffe Shop, followed by a short trip to the starting area in flat seas, bright sunshine and light southerly winds for the 80 competing boats. Race Officers Jack Roy and Tim Costello fired off the first gun of a three class, two race event, on a windward leeward course at 11.00 after a 15 minute postponement.

Three fleets, all sailing the same course against a strong north flowing tide which caught many unawares at the windward mark. Much excited activity and high decibel vocalising took place between the windward and wing marks.

Follow a race averaging an hour and a quarter the second race got going with a strengthening southerly wind.

Beneteau yachts (above and below) competing off Greystones. Photos: David O'Brien

The tide again caught sailors on the hop by turning and flowing south against the still southerly and now increasing wind. Rounding marks became even more frantic than the first race as the wind touched 25 knots in wind against tide sea conditions.

Boats started finishing from about 2.00 o'clock and after berthing, all competitors, marina berthholders and invited guests were treated to the BJ Greystones Harbour Marina hot lunch, salad, and wine reception. Food was provided again by Spendlove's and wine by La Touche Wines.

The BJ Marina Deck also played host for the prizegiving and speeches followed by a reluctant but steady exodus of yachts to their home ports with the buzz of an all inclusive event still ringing in their ears.

The regatta organising committee of Mark Usher, Daragh Cafferky, Joe Taylor and Graeme Noonan look forward to welcoming even more boats to the GSC "Taste of Greystones" Cruiser Regatta next year !" Check back for dates for 2015 on Afloat.ie

Results below for download

#rsgyc –One novel addition to this weekend's Royal St George Frank Keane BMW George Regatta, one of the biggest club regattas of the year, is the "Try Sailing" initiative which allows non sailors, family members or first timers to get out on the water in the Club 1720s. Life jackets will be provided and the idea is that it should be a fun half hour or so in a sailing boat with a qualified Club instructor in charge.

In addition the RSGYC White Sails & Non–Spinnaker Team Challenge is a new event run over three days to include the racing in the Regatta on Saturday. See details downloadable below. This is an event designed by the White Sails Class to encourage a sociable, time friendly, event with a mixture of competitive and fun sailing. Emphasis is as much on the activities ashore as well as those on the water.

Posters for the TWO events happening in RSGYC this weekend are downloadable below as PDF files.

#dmyc – Dominic O'Keefe's Graduate, a J80 class yacht, was the IRC winner of class 2 in the Dun Laoghaire Motor Yacht Club's (DMYC) Summer Regatta on Saturday. Second was William Despard's Blakc Sheep from the National Yacht Club. The regatta attracted a strong turn out in most classes despite a clash with the 36–boat Round Ireland Race from Wicklow. 

In the dinghy classes, two more Royal Irish sailors took honours in the single–handed Laser class. Paul Keane won from Justin Maguire in a four boat fleet over two races. 

In the eight boat Ruffian class, Michael Cutliffe was the winner of a two race event from Frank Bradley's Ripples, both of the host club.

Regatta results supplied by DMYC are downloadable below as a zip file. The results can be opened with ms word, notepad or wordpad