UCD men won the Gannon Cup by 4 lenghts in a time of 6:33.5

Trinity ladies won the Corcoran Cup.

Trinity Novice Men won the Dan Quinn Shield.

UCD Novice Ladies won the Moorehead Cup

Detailed race reports to follow

Race Day Details

Alumni Reception, Clarence Hotel starting at 13:30

Busses to collect spectators from the Taxi Rank at O’Connell Bridge for the Corcoran Cup and Gannon Cup races.

Race Times

Gannon Cup Race 15:30
Corcoran Cup Race 15:00
Dan Quinn Shield 14:30
Moorehead Cup 14:00

It was a good race and I’m proud of the crew. For a while it was looking like everything was going to go against us.

Based on the weather forecast, the decision had been made to use the shortened course, which we felt would make everything a lot tighter. We had just watched our Novice men and women lose to Trinity above the weir an hour earlier. Backing onto the start at Sean O’Casey bridge, we then heard that our Senior Women had lost aswell. The momentum seemed to be with Trinity.

Our warmup had gone well however and a couple of excellent practice starts had boosted our confidence. Also, mentally we knew that it fell to us to prevent Trinity getting a clean sweep, something we were determined we would not let happen.

In almost every race I have had against Trinity over the years, they have gotten out of the blocks ahead and so we were anticipating their same quick start. As expected, they were off fast and hard but we kept our heads when we went down by a quarter of a length, trusting that if we rowed to our own strengths, we would come through.

The previous week had been the National Squad Trials, where 7 of our 8 were trialling - not ideal preparation for the Gannon Cup. The whole crew had travelled down to Cork and training was arranged around the trials. During these short evening sessions, we had focussed on developing a strong stride and rhythm and it was this training which paid off in the rolling conditions on the course.

Coming into the half-way mark, we were up by almost three quarters of a length but passing the MV Cill Airne, Trinity put in a very strong push and we were into the deciding point of the race. Trinity had pushed back to just 2 seats down and our blade tips were getting very close. As we were trying to hold their push, we were also getting warned by the umpire. This could have rattled us but we kept our heads and we pushed on again just when theirs was beginning to fade, regaining our lead.

Now with just 500 metres to go, we were in a controlling position and began to relax and lengthen out a bit more, opening up a lead of a length by the finish.

It was a great race and I would like to extend congratulations to Ali and the Trinity crews for their successes in the other races.

I would also like to thank the Dublin Docklands Development Authority and Buitoni Pasta for their sponsorship of the event on behalf of all at UCD Boat Club.

The crews have been selected, the preparation has been completed, and with just over 48 hours left, all that remains is the race.

This year’s lead in to the Gannon for the Senior Men has been exceptionally busy; in fact it was rare to have a weekend where we weren’t either racing or preparing to race. Pacing with Oxford’s Isis boat, competing at London Head, competing at the National Squad Trials – all were done to raise our own standards, for a top quality performance needs to be produced this Thursday. Complacency is not an option.

The Novice race is just as important to us and should provide the usual excitement, 2 crews with 6 months experience, side-by-side over 2km – anything can happen. Aiming to be a part of this race and its importance has been made clear to the crew since they took up a blade for the first time in October. The time has finally come for them to become a part of this historic event.

As this weekends Boat Race finishes on the Tideway over the Championship course Oxford and Cambridge can take a break. Meanwhile here in Dublin, the somewhat smaller events of the Gannon Cup as well as the Corcoran Cup, Moorhead Cup and Dan Quin Shield will have crews from UCD and Trinity competing in the Dublin Docklands Colours Regatta.

The race with the longest history and that has been the main focus of supporters over the last number of years is the Gannon Cup contested by the top crews from Trinity, the current National Champions at Senior 8s and UCD the Intermediate Champions from 2008.  The other events on the day are the Corcoran Cup for the Senior Ladies from the two universities and then the Dan Quinn Shield for the Novice men and the MoorheadCup for the Novice women. For details of race start times.

This years race has generated quite a bit of interest as a result of the new course. This course starts at Sean O’Casey Bridge and heads eastbound towards a point past the Eastlink bridge. This new course will hopefully help to bolster spectators by drawing in crowds from the IFSC, hence the seemingly unusual start time.

Before this years race there will be a drinks reception on board the MV Cill Airne from 17:00 all welcome just email us with your intent to attend at gannonalumni@gmail.com

Other than that we hope you enjoy this years event and that we have a great days racing

The Committee