Portora challenge Skibbereen's dominance at Queen's Regatta

Portora's junior quad beat Skibbereen's A and B crews into second and third position in the Division 1 quad event at Queen's Regatta at Castlewellan on Saturday. The Portora crew will take much from this win as no junior crew has truly challenged Skibbereen's dominance in the event over the last number of seasons.


Queens University dominated in a number of key events. They won the Division 1 men's eight, while their B crew crossed the line in second place. The UCD crew who defeated Queens at the University's championship in April did not travel to Castlewellan due to exams. Another crew who will challenge Queen's this season, Grainne Mhaol, were also missing.


In the Division 1 men's four Queens again took first place beating Bann RC and Fossa RC. The university's ladies' club, QULBC, took first place in the Division 1 eight.


The weather posed a threat to the event, and, due to strong winds the course was shortened to 1,000 metres at lunch time. Despite rough conditions, both the finals of the women's four and men's eight were run over a full course in the evening due to requests by the competing crews.


The Grand League moves to Blessington Lake on May 28th for the Dublin Metropolitan Regatta. This will be the penultimate event in the 2011 League.