IUSA Intervarsities 2016

The IUSA Intervasities 2016, organised by Trinity sailing and DIT sailing club took place in Kilrush, Co Clare from the 25th-27thof February. The sheltered Kilrush Creek provided an ideal racing area for both competitors and spectators. 

The event kicked off on Thursday with 27  teams from 11 different universities from Ireland and the UK competing in 4 different round robin flights. UCC1, Loughborough University, CIT and UCD1 came out on top of each flight after the first day. The teams were split into Gold, Silver and Bronze for a second round robin on Friday before entering the knockout stages on Saturday. The quarter finals saw some intense racing with Trinity winning over the undefeated reigning champions, UCC1. UCD1 raced UCD2 in the semi finals and Trinity came up against Loughborough University. 

The best of 5 final came down to colours rivals, UCD and Trinity in light, challenging conditions. While Trinity won the first race, UCD came back with 3 consecutive wins, taking the varsities title. UCD2 were the third placed team. 

Full Results: 

Gold Fleet

1.    UCD1

2.    TCD1

3.    UCD2

4.    Loughborough University 

Silver Fleet 

1.    UCD3

2.    CIT

3.    TCD6/DIT 

Bronze Fleet

1.    Queens University Belfast 

2.    UCD4

IUSA Awards 

•    Sailor of the year: Scott Flanigan, TCD

•    Crew of the year: Cliodhna Connolly, UCD

•    Fresher of the year: Mark Bolger, TCD

•    Club of the year: CIT

•    Event of the Year: IUSA intervarsities hosted by TCD & DIT 

This excellent event could not have gone ahead without all of the people who helped facilitate the large group of sailors; the staff at Kilrush marina, Adrian O’Connell of the Royal Western Yacht club, Relax Ireland for organising the accomodation and all the jury and race committee who kindly gave up their time over the 3 days. We would also like to thank our sponsors Hunky Dory, Jump Juice bars,  Dubarry and Red Bull.

Words: Lucy Bolger 

Photos: Eoin Cambay & Michael Dunne 

DUSC holds Third Annual Alumni Regatta

At 8am on Saturday the 12th of December, a bunch of DUSC’s finest showed up in the Royal St George Yacht Club to kick off the Third Annual Alumni Regatta. Boats were rigged, registration was taken and after a few minutes with a non-compliant printer the flight sheets were handed out. The weather was described by some as “treacherous”, while this may be a slight over-exaggeration it was typical of an Alumni Event. It was raining heavily all day and lots of encouragement was need to get the sailors out from the safety of indoors. Despite the awful rainy conditions, the wind in the morning was perfect. The two flights of boats were launched and the other teams were brought out to the Spirit of the Irish which was acting as mother ship for the day. We had eight teams competing on the day: four DUSC alumni teams, including the reigning champions of the Alumni Event, the DUCATIS. Two current DUSC teams tried their hand at showing the Alumni how the new kids do it, but unfortunately their youth and eagerness to impress could not quite match the experience of the Alumni. Two UCD Alumni teams decided to join in the fun, but a mishap with one of their alarm clocks resulted in a last minute shake up of the helms. 

Sailing started off well, despite the rain. Shifty wind conditions meant that the course had to keep being adjusted slightly, but the races kept going. The teams were all closely matched making for exciting races. From 12 o’clock the wind kept building, but was still manageable. There were a few close shaves and boats almost capsizing. At half past 1 the wind shifted again, now coming directly in through the harbour mouth. This caused the waves to become quite big inside the harbour and coupled with the increase in wind it was decided that sailing would be cancelled before boats started to break. Much to everyone’s relief they were able to go in and enjoy their lunch and post sailing pints in peace from the rain and the wind.

With the afternoon off people had time to go home and get ready to look their best for the dinner that was taking place in the George at 8pm that evening. Suits were dusted off and shoes were polished. A drinks reception took place at 7pm and all the teams gathered together to congratulate each other on not getting lost at sea. The George kindly organised for the dinner to be downstairs so the event had the whole area to themselves. After the main course “prize giving” took place. Unfortunately, as racing had to be cancelled there could be no winner, but our ever modest Captain, Richard Roberts, figured that his team won the first flight and DUCATI took the second flight. The curse of the Alumni Event continues as the trophy has not been awarded since 2012, when DUCATI took the trophy. To soften the blow of another year without a winner, DUSC were able to unveil the new Colours trophy: “The Graham Elmes Memorial Trophy” which the club commissioned jointly with UCDSC in honour of our old coach Graham Elmes. 

After the “prize giving” the microphone was passed along and people were encouraged to reminisce about their days in DUSC. Stories were shared, mostly about the biggest event in the IUSA calendar, the Varsities Ball. Glasses were raised to DUSC, as for many it was the biggest part of people’s college life. The big turn out of Alumni is a testament to the club and its committee and the success of the event has set precedent for the event getting even bigger in the future. 

DUSC would like to say a special thanks to everyone that took part in the event, the Royal St George Yacht Club for accommodating us and supplying a flight of boats, the Royal Irish Yacht Club for supplying our mother ship and most importantly the Umpires, without whom we could not have held the event. 

Words: Alva McDermott                                                                           

Photos: Eoin Cambay

DUSC compete for Loughborough Lemming 2015 - Dan O'Beirne

It was an early start for the 12 Trinity sailors who travelled across the Irish Sea via an 8am flight on Friday morning. Two teams of six athletes from the Dublin University Sailing Club travelled to East Midlands UK for a two-day team-racing regatta hosted by Loughborough University. Expectations were high following excellent results in previous years and the teams were excited to get their hands dirty (and their feet stuck in to the muddy shores of Loughborough reservoir).

Things got off to a slow start on Saturday morning when sailing was abandoned for the day due to stormy weather. Unfortunately there is not much anyone can do when 60 KPH winds begin blowing other than deem conditions unsafe for sailing and keep the tension building until Sunday. 

Eager to get as much racing in as possible organisers set the first gun for 9 am on Sunday morning with Trinity 2 sailing in the 3rd race of the day. Things got off to a promising in Trinity’s first race when TCD 2 took a commanding 1st 2nd 3rd lead, and went on to win the race. Next it was TCD 1’s turn in the driver’s seat, they too won their first race of the day. A positive morning was rounded off by another victory for TCD 2 who won their 2nd race as well, albeit by a much closer margin than the first. Good boat speed and smart tactics by Trinity meant both teams they were looking forward to the afternoon’s racing. 

The afternoon proved to be more challenging for DUSC. The wind died down consistently throughout the day and got shiftier as the afternoon went on. Miscommunication off the start line combined with poor use of the tricky wind conditions hampered TCD 2’s efforts, they lost their final 3 races. TCD 1 had more success, savvy boat handling and a brilliantly executed leeward mark trap allowed them to see off Durham with a satisfying 1st 2nd across the finish line in their final race of the day. Both teams finished in the Silver Fleet.

A slightly disappointing result for Trinity means all sailors have come home with plenty to work on. The event was a fantastic learning experience and great fun all around, you would have been hard pressed to find a sailor without a smile on their face as they made there way back to Dublin. A huge thanks to Loughborough University Sailing Team for organising the event, DUCAC and DUSC’s sponsor, Hunky Dory. Looking forward to seeing everyone again at next year’s Loughborough-Lemming.