That Scottish word dreich aptly described the weather at Ballyholme Bay on Belfast Lough the last weekend in October – wet, dull and dreary – but livened up by the colourful windsurfers and wingfoils.They were there for the Ulster Windsurfing Championships – an Irish Windsurfing Association-ranked event.
The event was run in association with the Irish Windsurfing Association and sponsored by Boardwise, OTC, Energia Group and Wild Atlantic Surf Co. It was billed as being made up of the Ulster Championships and Coastal
Windsurf/Wing foiling on the Saturday and Novice Windsurfing on Sunday, 23rd October 2022, but the absence of novices did cut the entry considerably.
Ulster Windsurfing Championships on Ballyholme Bay
The light winds on the first day curtailed the excitement, but the Sunday brought a better breeze with some challenging conditions, especially to the east of the headland called Ballymacormick Point.
On the podium on Saturday were Hannes Louet-Feisser from Carlingford in first place, who won overall last year, and the runner-up was the far-travelled Martin Pelican from Cork. Third was the local man, Richard Honeyford.
Sunday saw the Coastal Foil Race in more testing conditions, open to windfoils (foiling windsurfers) and wing foils (foiling boards with inflatable wing sails).
The overall first prize and 1st windfoil went to Andrew Gallagher, with Martin Pelican runner up. In third slot was Chris Loughridge from Belfast.
