Betty Armstrong
Betty Armstrong is Afloat and Yachting Life's Northern Ireland Correspondent. Betty grew up racing dinghies but now sails a more sedate Dehler 36 around County Down
Two Different RS Dinghy Events to be Contested at Ballyholme Yacht Club on Belfast Lough
5th August 2022 RS Sailing
Ballyholme Yacht Club will be the venue over the weekend of 19th till 21st August for an RS championship event which organiser Bob Espey hopes will attract around 60 competitors. The event will be held in the waters of Belfast…
Lagan Search and Rescue has a new Class 2 Lifeboat on station. The independent charity is run by volunteers and based at Belfast Harbour Marina on the River Lagan in the City. It covers all types of search and rescue…
Belfast Lough's Bobby Driscoll Takes Silver at Topper Worlds in Italy, Callum Pollard Wins 4.2 Gold
30th July 2022 Topper
The countback to determine the World champion Topper 5.3 sailor dashed the dreams of Bobby Driscoll of Ballyholme and Royal North Yacht Clubs on Belfast Lough when he lost out on the tie break of 22 points to Joe Rowe…
Northern Ireland's Bobby Driscoll shares the lead Topper World Championships on Lake Garda in Italy after winning six of eight races sailed so far in the 5.3 division. The Ballyholme sailor from Belfast Lough has a three-point lead over Leo Yates of…
Gerard Doherty has said in a Foyle Maritime Festival social media video that he was the oldest crew member on the Clipper Ha Long Bay (Vietnam). He is 68 years old, and not only is he the 'senior' of the…
Grace O’Malley or in Irish, Grainne Ni Maille, was the head of the O Maille dynasty in the west of Ireland. She is a well-known historical figure in sixteenth-century Irish history and in popular culture often referred to as "The…
Foyle Maritime Festival Closed Early Due to Torrential Rain on Saturday
24th July 2022 Maritime Festivals
Apart from a half hour of torrential rain at midday yesterday, the Foyle Maritime Festival ran smoothly till around 6 pm and then due to Health and Safety concerns had to end its programme of events. A spokesperson for Derry…
Newly Built Traditional Lough Erne Cots Launched at Enniskillen Castle
28th July 2022 Historic Boats
The Lough Erne Landscape Partnership focuses on the conservation and promotion of Lough Erne’s landscape character and unique heritage, and it recently celebrated, along with the Belleek Men’s Shed and West Island Cot Heritage Group, the launch of community-built traditional…
Jessika Robson Wins Seaside Revival Pickie to Pier Swim in Bangor, County Down
17th July 2022 Sea Swim
From Skippingstone Beach on the west side of Bangor Bay on Belfast Lough to the RNLI slipway in the Harbour is 800 metres and last week 200 swimmers raced that distance in the swim called the 'Pickie to Pier' named…
This year’s Narrows Series held jointly last week by Strangford Sailing Club, Portaferry Town and Portaferry Sailing Club turned out to be a truly memorable event, blessed with sunshine and a good breeze. The three Regatta Series is traditionally sailed…
Corby 29 Elixir from Carrickfergus Wins IRC One Bar Buoy Race at Strangford
13th July 2022 Northern Ireland Waters
The Bar Buoy lies at the mouth of Strangford Lough in the Narrows which is the six mile long fast-flowing and very tidal neck of water between Ballyquinton Point to the east on the Ards Peninsula and Killard Point on…
Larne Lough Weekend Regatta, held on the first weekend in July, drew visitors from Carrickfergus SC and Ballyholme YC on Belfast Lough, and a surprise visit too when Sea Legs, one of the rowing boats taking part in the GB…
The late Pat Kelly from Antrim Boat Club on Lough Neagh in Northern Ireland was known far and wide in Ireland. His passing last week at the age of 85, less than a year since he last sailed, was acknowledged…
Cockle Island is a small club in the village of Groomsport on Belfast Lough and members there will be rooting for one of their own who is racing the only Northern entry in this year’s Cork Week, Shaun Douglas in…
Last year there were over 140 boats in the long-established Bar Buoy Race and Narrows Series, a four-day bonanza of sail racing in the fast-flowing Strangford Narrows, the six-mile stretch of water that empties and fills the 58 sqm of…
In a warm-up for the 12-day long GP14 Worlds in Skerries in early August, a very competitive 40-strong fleet came to the line for the Ridgeway Irish GP14 Championships hosted by the Royal North of Ireland Yacht Club on the…
Strangford Lough Yacht Club Pair Win Flying Fifteen Northerns at County Antrim
4th July 2022 Flying Fifteen
Peter Kennedy and Stephen Kane from Strangford Lough YC topped the fourteen-strong fleet of Flying Fifteens at the Northern Championships hosted by County Antrim YC on the north shore of Belfast Lough. Competitors travelled from as far away as Draycote…
Family Values Win Overall for The Kelly J109 Crew at Bangor Town Regatta
1st July 2022 Bangor Town Regatta
Maybe future Bangor Town Regattas could present a prize for the boat with the most family members on board? For the three-generation crewed J109 Storm from Rush Sailing Club and Howth Yacht Club which won Class 2, the RC 35…
The southerly wind today (Sunday), Day 4 of Royal Ulster’s Bangor Town Regatta wasn’t quite as enthusiastic as it was yesterday when racing was cancelled, so Principal Race Officer Con Murphy got the fleet away in 25 knots gusting 30,…
Today – Day 3 of Bangor Town Regatta turned out to be one of those High Stool Days WM Nixon wrote about in Afloat’s Sailing on Saturdays. For the same unseasonably windy weather which has put paid to several sailing…