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
Howth Yacht Club's Des Turvey Wins Optimist Ulsters at Larne's East Antrim Boat Club
20th September 2021 Optimist
East Antrim Boat Club on Larne Lough on the Antrim coast welcomed 60 Optimists from all over Ireland to the Ulster Championships last Saturday and Sunday 18th and 19th September. A stalwart of the club, Tom Jobling, reckons it may…
Strangford Lough Yacht Club Big Boat Frostie Series Begins This Weekend at Whiterock
15th September 2021 Northern Ireland Waters
At Ballyholme Yacht Club, they call it the Icebreaker- it's for dinghies - and at Strangford Lough Yacht Club, they call it the Frostie Series (it's for big boats). The club lies on the eastern shore of Strangford Lough in…
137 Dinghy Sailors Contest RYA NI Youth Sailing Championships at Carrickfergus
13th September 2021 RYA Northern Ireland
A huge fleet of 121 dinghies took to the waters of Belfast Lough from Carrickfergus Sailing Club on the north shore on Saturday and Sunday (11th and 12th) for the Royal Yachting Association NI Youth Championships. The 137 youth sailors…
Second Outing for the Restored Snipe Dinghy Ranger on Lough Erne
10th September 2021 Northern Ireland Waters
In late August, the Snipe dinghy Ranger, restored by Fred and George Ternan after sixty years lying abandoned on the Crom Estate, County Fermanagh, had her second outing on Upper Lough Erne at Crom. Ranger was one of two Snipes…
Royal North of Ireland's Inaugural Glenarm Offshore Sailing Challenge
7th September 2021 Northern Ireland Waters
Come Saturday 18th September, cruising boat owners from Royal North of Ireland Yacht Club on Belfast Lough will be sailing north on the club's inaugural 'Glenarm Challenge'. Glenarm is a small village on the famous Antrim Coast Road on the…
Mixed Fortunes for Northern Ireland Yachts at the ICRA Nationals on Dublin Bay
7th September 2021 ICRA
Snoopy, the Joubert/Nievelt designed Quarter Tonner with bases at Courtown Sailing Club in Wexford and Royal Ulster on Belfast Lough can most certainly be classed Top Dog after Marty Mahon's consistent top three performance at the ICRA Nationals in Dublin…
Five boats based at Northern clubs are making their way to Dun Laoghaire Harbour for this weekend's three-day ICRA championships hosted by the National Yacht Club, which has attracted 77 entries. Two of the northern contingent are by the same…
200 Sea Swimmers Take to Belfast Lough from Ballyholme Yacht Club Slipway
1st September 2021 Sea Swim
Nearly 200 swimmers took to the waters of Ballyholme Bay on Belfast Lough in perfect weather on Saturday 28th August, marking the culmination of a very successful season of regular Monday night swims off the Club slipway. Of the huge…
The Fairy class from the Royal North of Ireland fleet at Cultra on Belfast Lough and the River class-based at Strangford Lough YC have raced since 1960 for a special trophy called the Friver Cup. The Rivers, designed by Alfred…
Beneteau 40.7 Game Changer Tops IRC at Royal Ulster Yacht Club Keelboat Event (Update)
23rd August 2021 Northern Ireland Waters
The keelboat weekend held at Royal Ulster Yacht Club on Belfast Lough on 21st and 22nd August is a new venture and benefitted from generous sponsorship by Shortcross Gin. The nine-strong fleet included five visitors, and of these two were…
Daniel Palmer of Ballyholme on Top in Topper Irish Nationals on Belfast Lough
23rd August 2021 Topper
That's the thing about an unstable weather system – testing conditions in Belfast Lough, which threatened the race programme for the Irish Topper Championships this weekend. Hosted by Carrickfergus Sailing Club on the north shore of Belfast Lough over three…
It has been a busy August for several young Laser sailors from Northern Ireland clubs who have competed at a high level in the RYA Youth Nationals at Plymouth, the UK Laser Association Nationals at Weymouth and the World Laser…
The Snipe class dinghy Ranger appears to be first listed in the Ballyholme Yacht Club 1953 Regatta programme in Belfast Lough, owned by a Mr J Morrison. But by 1956 she had moved west and found a home in Lough…
For a relatively small club, Antrim Boat Club certainly achieved its aim of introducing to sailing and other water sports, many people who had never experienced the sport before – 150. Antrim Boat Club lies on the northeast shore of…
Belfast Lough Sailability held a very successful regatta out of Carrickfergus Marina last Saturday (7th August) and welcomed visitors from Lough Foyle in the North West and Lough Erne in County Fermanagh, making eight boats in all. Sailability gives access…
Glenarm Marina now has a new fully serviced pontoon increasing the berthing capacity of this Blue Flag popular spot to 50 within the picturesque village's historical limestone harbour on the east coast of County Antrim. Glenarm lies at the foot…
Bobby Driscoll from Royal North Wins Topper 5.3 Northern Ireland Championships
9th August 2021 Topper
It was worth the wait for Ballyholme Yacht Club on Belfast Lough to stage a full-on Topper Northern Ireland Championships over the past weekend. Sixty-nine young sailors came from the length and breadth of Ireland; from Royal Cork and Waterford…
Royal Ulster Foray to West Cork's Calves Week Proves Fruitful for Mahon's Belfast Lough Quarter Tonner
8th August 2021 Quarter Ton
Martin Mahon from Courtown Sailing Club in North Wexford is also a member of Royal Ulster Yacht Club in Bangor, having lived in Holywood on the south side of Belfast Lough for some years. He regularly sails his Joubert-Nievelt 1/4…
Strangford Narrows Tidal Turbine Mooring System Undergoes Decommission
4th August 2021 Power From the Sea
Glasgow based Flex Marine Power has issued a Notice to Mariners regarding its activity within the Strangford Narrows in County Down in Northern Ireland. The turbine mooring system is being decommissioned and there is a workboat, and buoys marking the…
New Scottish Sailing Scheme for Young People Affected by the Pandemic Begins
2nd August 2021 Scottish Waters
On Friday last (30th July), a new scheme for young people affected by the pandemic began in Oban on the Argyll and Bute coast in Scotland. The first participants include a cabaret singer, intensive care doctor and a student. Named…