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
Bangor Waterfront Project Envisages Development of Ballyholme Yacht Club as Watersports Centre
20th December 2021 Belfast Lough
Investment in a two-mile stretch of Bangor Waterfront on Belfast Lough is part of the recently announced £1billion Belfast City Deal funding. Plans already published for Bangor Waterfront aim to “reconnect the town with the sea through a range of…
Council Advises Vigilance as Hemlock Water Dropwort Plant Washes up on Groomsport Beach
19th December 2021 Belfast Lough
Ards and North Down Council has warned the public that Hemlock Water Dropwort, also known as ‘Poisonous Parsnip’ has washed up on Groomsport beach where it was seen and reported by a member of the public. Groomsport is about two…
SUPHUBNI is a mobile paddleboarding school based in Bangor on Belfast Lough and last week ran an event in Bangor Harbour to raise funds for RNLI. A record 92 paddlers hit the water dressed as Santas and raised £1000 for…
Crew Transfer Vessel 'Farra Orla' Visits Bangor Marina on Belfast Lough
15th December 2021 Belfast Lough
Farra Marine Ltd is a new company set up in Dublin. It is a CTV (Crew Transfer Vessel) owner and operator and has had the first in a new line of catamaran wind farm vessels built by Penguin Shipyard in…
With the end of the first half of Ballyholme’s Icebreaker Sunday series in Belfast Lough finishing on 19th December it would be nearly impossible to forecast winners when the discards come into play. The Icebreaker winter series has always been…
Work Progresses on Historic Sir Samuel Kelly Lifeboat at Donaghadee Harbour
8th December 2021 Historic Boats
Take a walk from Donaghadee Harbour east towards the Commons on the North Down coast and you’ll see the 70-year-old Sir Samuel Kelly lifeboat in its purpose-built shed near the Harbour. Protected now from the elements, it is being restored…
Strangford Lough Ferry 'Carol Ship' to Create Magical Winter Atmosphere
30th November 2021 Northern Ireland Waters
It’s nearly two years since the Strangford Ferry was transformed into a Carol Ship in celebration of the Christmas Season, its last transformation being in December 2019 before Covid restrictions were imposed. There has been a ferry crossing the fast-flowing…
Royal Ulster’s John Minnis Picks up His Scottish Series Trophy at Clyde Cruising Club’s Annual Prizegiving
30th November 2021 Scottish Series
The North Rotunda in Glasgow was the swanky venue for the Clyde Cruising Club’s Annual Prizegiving last weekend and there to pick up his prizes won at the Scottish Series way back at the end of May was Royal Ulster’s…
Ulster Wildlife Trust to Establish First Native Oyster Nursery on Belfast Lough at Bangor Marina
27th November 2021 Belfast Lough
Did you know that our Native oysters have been an important food source for centuries - the Romans even exported them back to Italy! The first report of a recognised commercial oyster fishery in Belfast Lough was in 1780 and…
It’s been seven years since herring were landed in Bangor on Belfast Lough, but the Fairwind whose home port is Kilkeel on the Mourne coast in south Down, landed its catch in the harbour last week. The crew transferred the…
Refurbishing Lough Neagh's Joyce, a World War II Torpedo Recovery Vessel
18th November 2021 Historic Boats
The charity Silvery Light Sailing based in Newry at the head of Carlingford Lough is passionate about the refurbishment of old boats. One of these is now temporarily berthed in Carlingford Marina on the southern shore of Carlingford Lough. She's…
In 2018 Co Down sailor Del Fairley made a wish list of boats to buy from which he would choose his favourite design, and top of the list was a Swan 36. His wife Gill knew nothing about this! But…
Noel Hanna on Summiting Everest at Royal Ulster Yacht Club Talk
11th November 2021 Northern Ireland Waters
Although Noel Hanna has virtually no sailing experience, this renowned Co Down adventurer from Dromara is an endurance athlete of the highest order. His illustrated talk about his career to date drew a large crowd to Royal Ulster Yacht Club…
20 Northern Ireland Sailors Compete at Royal Cork Youth Dinghy Championships
3rd November 2021 Youth Sailing
Twenty young sailors from Northern Ireland made the long journey south to Royal Cork Yacht Club for the Investwise Youth Sailing National Championships last weekend. They were members of Newcastle Yacht Club on the south Down coast, East Antrim BC…
Two marinas and two harbours in the Mid and East Antrim Council area will be dredged over the coming winter and following Spring. They are Carnlough Harbour and Glenarm Marina on the Antrim Coast Road and Carrickfergus Marina and Harbour…
Artemis Technologies, founded in 2017, is the lead partner in the Belfast Maritime Consortium, a 13-member syndicate working on designing and building zero-emission high-speed ferries in the city through the creation of its unique electric hydrofoiling propulsion system, which is…
Louet-Feisser Wins Open Windsurfing Ulster Championship at Ballyholme Yacht Club
27th October 2021 Northern Ireland Waters
An entry of thirteen on Saturday 23rd October was certainly not an unlucky number for Ballyholme Yacht Club's first windsurfing event, the Open Ulster Championship, as the Irish Windsurfing Association intends to include this as a ranked event in the…
The annual East Antrim Boat Club's Hot Toddy GP 14 meet was back last weekend after Lockdown, albeit with a vengeance. Thirty-five-knot winds and a nasty chop on Larne Lough on the east coast of County Antrim on Saturday played…
In the early evening of Saturday, 2nd October, Belfast Coastguard put out a MAYDAY in response to a 20ft yacht with four people on board reportedly taking on water and without power, a mile north of Corsewall Point, at the…
Ballyholme Yacht Club's Laser 50th Anniversary Brings Back Memories of the Birth of the Class
29th September 2021 Belfast Lough
Some of the 'old hands' mixed it with the Laser sailors who had come on the scene since the birth of the Laser class at Ballyholme in 1974. The 39-strong fleet on Saturday (18th September) had a memorable day's racing…