The traditional opening weekend of the year for regattas normaly takes place in Nepture (Sat) and Commercial (Sun) in Islandbridge in Dublin. The tight winding course down the Liffey makes for a tough challenge for the uninitiated but always results in incredibly exciting racing. The course is a 2 lane 1000m and 1200m stretch of the Leiffey at Islandbridge with J14 and younger using the 1000m course that finishes outside Commercial Boat Club. The 1200m course finishes just past UCD boat club.
J16 and upwards races consist of Quarter finals upwards. Some of the races even have heats before the Quarter Finals
WBC usually use Commercial was our first regatta of the year and after a very successul outing at Cork Head of the River the club entered 27 crews for the day.
The Weather was perfect on the day with blue skys all day long. Given the large amount of entries it’s typically a long day’s racing.
Time Trial 1
The first races of the day for the club took place in in the Time Trial 1 slot. This featured
WJ18 2X – The Waterford A boat of Deirdre and Jessica placed 7th in the time trial. The Waterford B boat of Edie and Katie placed 3rd just 0.2 seconds outside of a place in the final. Great performance from both crews here.
MJ18A 1X – Harry Whelan took an excellent 5th place out of a large field in the MJ18A TT
MJ16 1X – Colm took 6th place in his TT in the MJ16 1X event, again out of a large field
WJ16 4X+
Our first boat to launch on the day (outside of the time trials) would prove to be the busiest. The WJ16 4X+ quad of Molly, Rachel, Hannah, Faye and cox Harry Grant raced Galway in their Quarter Final, winningh that race that put them through to a Semi Final against Shannon A. The girls started their Semi and won comfortable, only for the race to be delared null as the wrong crew had lined up against WBC at the start. As a fresult thew WBC crew had to re-race the Semi Final against the Shannon A crew. Luckily they made their way through the final but because of the mix up and lack of time they had to immediately turn around after their semi and row back up to the start where they would have to immediately race again. The fonal was between Waterford and Shannon B and despite the exertion the Waterford boat took the final win with a great performance. Fantastic effort girls and a hard-earned victory.
WJ18 4X-
Next of our quads on the water were the WJ18 4X- crew of Kate, Edie, Sarah and Jessica not long after their time trials ion the doubles.In their Querter final the girls took on Commercial B and won through by a couple of lengths. In the Semi final they faced Sligo where again they had a great race and took another good win. In the 2nd last race of the regatta the girls took on Beptune in the final and afgter a fantactc effort took the win by 2 lengths. Another great outing for the WJ18 4X crew carrying on their good form from Cork HOTR.
MJ18 4X-
The MJ184X- crew of Henry, Oran, Gosha and Harry Whelan were next to hit the water for their Qurter final against a strong Neptune crew. Despite a great race the lads lost out by a length at the finish but will take heart from a really good performance.
MJ16 4X+
The men’s J16 4X+ crew of Colm, Mykola, Sam, Harry and cox Aine drew Offaly in their heat which they won comfortably to progress to the qurter final. In the QF they drew Athlone and repeated their performance from the heats winning through to the semi-final. In thw Semi Final they faced a strong Neptune crew. After a very close race most of the eay down the course the Neptunre crew pulled clear just before the finish and took the victory by a length. Howeevr it was a good overall performance fro a crew rowing together for the first time.
WJ14 2X
Our first doubles debutants of the day were next out. Siri and Sofia were racing in their first doubles race against Sligo. Commerical is always a really tricky course especially for your first try in a double and iunfortunately the girls got stuck in the reeds which resulted in what was later called a “cooling dip”. Both of the girls were fine and were rearing to go for their quad later in the day.
MJ14 4X+
For the first time Waterford had 3 quads enetred in the MJ14 4X+ category
The Waterford A quad of Leon, Maksym, Padraig, Toby and cox Sofia took a good win over Enniskillen. Special congratulations to Padraig on his debut here
The Waterford B quad of Hugh, Thomas, Jeff, Mads and cox Aine took an excellent 2 length victory over Colaiste Iognaid. Again congrats to our Thoams and Jeff on their debute here
The younger (MJ13) Waterford C quad of Hayden, Cathal, Richie, Lochlan and cox Amelie drew St Josephs in their final and despite a fantastic effort were beaten by St Josephs. Valuable experience for all of the lads in their first regatta. Special thanks to Cathal here who was moved from his original quad to ensure everyone got to race.
MJ14 2X
Commercial was our first opportunity to get our MJ14 doubles racing. For this category we had 4 people out of the three crews making their doubles debuts. A great opportunity for these crews to get experience on what is a very difficult course even for experienced crews
Waterford A – Cathal and Mads – A last minute swap meant Cathal had to jump in to this double. Despite the lads not having rowed together before they made a great effort against Col Iognaid. Great effort for a debut race.
Waterford B – Maksym and Leon – Another debut, this time against Enniskillen A. Anyother good effort with Maksym doing a fine job in bow in his first doubles races but with Enniskillen ultimately taking the win here.
Waterford C – Hugh and Toby – Another new pairing for the doubles got a tough draw against a very strong Shannon crew, but as with the others, a good row giving invaluable experience.
MJ15 2X
We had two crews entered in this category
Waterford A – Bill and John. First time in a double together and JJohn’s first time in bow of a double. Depite a strong row the lads lost to carlow but the experience here was well worth it
Waterford B – Seán and Tadhg were due to race garda in their final but unfortunately the opposing crew weren’t available to start so a the lads got a row-over.
Time Trial 2
WJ16 1X – Molly and Rachel took part in Time Trial 2 in the WJ16 1X event. Rachel took 7th overall and Molly set the fastest time in her time trial to make it through to the final. Unfornately MOlly fell just short in the final but took 2nd overall in a tremendous result.
MJ18A 2X – Waterford A – Darragh and Oran took 7th overall in the time trial qualifying. The Waterford B crew of Henry and Gosha finsihed just ahead of their clubmates in 5th position.
WJ14 4X+
The WJ14 4X+ crew of Amelie, Amy, Siri, Sofia and cox Leah took on Enniskillen in their final and after a close race the girls took a great victory.
WJ15 2X
We had 3 entries in this category
Waterford A – Hannah and Faye. The girls carried on their grea from from the WJ16 4X+ boat to take a comfortable win in their final.
Waterford B – Leah and Amy were out for their first doubles race and drew CGS and despite a good row CGS took then win here.
Waterford C – Moya and Emily. First race for the girls in a double but unfortunately the Col Iognaid crew didn’t turn up for the start so the girls got a row-over.
MJ15 4X+
The MJ154X+ crew of Bill, Seán, John, Tadhg and cox Harry took on Neptune in their final. The lads got off to a very strong start and never looked back taking the win comfortably.
WJ15 4X+
The newly formed WJ15 crew of Moya, Emily, Leah, Amelie and cox Sofia were next on the water to take on a very strong Colaiste Iognaid A crew. The girls rowed a very strong race but had some technical issues on 2 occasions during thre race and despite catching up both times Colaiste Iognoid managed to pull clear at the end. A great performance from the girls nonetheless who’ll look forward to their next race knowing they have more in the tank.
Summary
A great days racing and start to the regatta season by the club. Well done to Commerical for hosting a great event. Thanks to all the parents, volunteers and coaches for all their efforts over a packed day. Of course huge thanks to all our hard-working athletes and to all the people making their regatta debut today. Great performances from all crews today.
Huge thanks to Tony for providing the towing vehicle and driving the trailer up and down. It’s really appreciated.
Next up for the club is the Skibbereen Grand League Regatta in the NRC on 12/13th April
Results
| Category | Crew | Placing |
|---|---|---|
| WJ18 4X- | Kate Lemon, Edie O’Flaherty, Sarah Power, Jessica Cooke | 1st |
| WJ16 4X+ | Molly O’Flynn, Rachel Weldon, Hannah Lemon, Faye O’Flaherty, Harry(c) | 1st |
| MJ14 4X+ (A) | Leon Mullins, Maksym Indiuchenko , Padraig Phelan, Toby Cooke, Amelie(c) | 1st |
| MJ14 4X+ (B) | Hugh Brady, Thomas Harpur, Jeff Grant, Richie Mulally, Aine Power(c) | 1st |
| MJ15 4X+ | Bill Ogilvie ,Seán Fitzpatrick, John Brady, Tadhg Hawkins, Hannah Lemon(c) | 1st |
| WJ14 4X+ | Amelie Mullins, Amy Trant, Siri O’Flynn, Sofia Mullins, Hugh Brady(c) | 1st |
| WJ15 2X (A) | Hannah Lemon, Faye O’Flaherty | 1st |
| WJ15 2X (B) | Moya Carragher, Emily Whelan | 1st |
| MJ15 2X | Seán Fitzpatrick, Tadhg Hawkins | 1st |
| WJ16 1X | Molly O’Flynn | 2nd |
| MJ16 4X+ | Colm Brennan, Mykola Podmarkov, Sam O’Neil, Harry Grant | SF |
Full results here
Gallery
