A massive rowing weekend as the Wicklow and Arklow Rowing Clubs will jointly host the Irish Offshore Championships on 10th and 11th September

The Rowing Clubs of Wicklow and Arklow will jointly host the Irish Offshore Rowing Championships in Wicklow Harbor and Bay this coming weekend (10/11 September) in what is an amazing event for the sport in the county.

The Swift Racing Irish Offshore Rowing Championships are the national inshore/offshore rowing championships in Ireland. The Championships are run under the auspices of the Rowing Ireland Offshore Committee

Both clubs have vast knowledge and experience of hosting and participating in inshore/offshore events at the highest level and will ensure this is a safe, fair and most importantly a fun championship for participants and spectators alike.

Wicklow and Arklow’s joint bid to host this championship regatta was successful almost two years ago, despite stiff competition from Donegal, and the event has been in the pipeline ever since.

Wicklow is a fantastic Championships venue with all the facilities required for both athletes and spectators with a full view of the race from start to finish.

The organizers invite you to come down and see this new way of rowing.

Most heats take place on Saturday, all finals on Sunday.

Coastal/Offshore Rowing. It’s basically a fiberglass/carbon fiber push seat boat very similar to what you would see at the Olympics except it’s built for the sea and the harsh conditions aren’t a problem for them, plus they’re rated over 4 km rowed or 6 km buoy course very similar to a sailing course.

What makes it very exciting is that all boats have to turn the same buoys, which can cause traffic jams or collisions as everyone is vying for the best tacking line.

Not only is speed required, good navigation skills are also essential, especially in doubles and singles where you don’t have a helmsman to steer you out of trouble.

There are three types of boats, single, double and quad, all built to (FISA) World Rowing specifications, the standard used worldwide.

The sport has now become so popular that it’s not just practiced by coastal rowers, there is now a lot of crossover with shallow water rowers and a number of prominent Irish Olympians have also picked it up and hopefully we’ll see some of them in Wicklow along with the large number of athletes from all parts of the country and also from overseas.

Nine categories are offered at the championships: men’s singles, men’s doubles, men’s quad, women’s singles, women’s doubles, women’s quad, men’s U18 quad, women’s U18 quad and mixed doubles.