Menu

Ireland's sailing, boating & maritime magazine

Plan to Make Bangor Town Regatta a Regular Feature on the Irish Sailing Calendar

27th May 2018
Following its class championships in Dun Laoghaire in June, the Sigma 33 class is expected to compete at Bangor Week in July Following its class championships in Dun Laoghaire in June, the Sigma 33 class is expected to compete at Bangor Week in July Credit: Afloat.ie

Sunshine and wind and the start of the Scottish Series to get everyone in the mood again for the new sailing season. And not long to go until Howth host their inaugural Wave Regatta followed by the return to Belfast Lough in early July for the renamed 'Bangor Town Regatta'.

The event is being hosted by the town’s two yacht clubs – Ballyholme Yacht Club and Royal Ulster Yacht Club.

More than a dozen classes of yachts and dinghies, and hundreds of sailors, will compete on four courses during the four days of the regatta, with both the RS200 & RS400 classes using the event to hold their Irish National Championships. With so much activity on the water, this will be a wonderful event for participants and spectators alike, and, with a full programme of shore-side activities, this will be a real family attraction.

There are a number of heavy hitters enrolled in Class 1 including Jamie McWilliam's Ker 40 Signal 8 (Hong Kong YC) and Jay Colville's Forty Licks (East Down YC) as well as a good number of RC35's and Quarter Tonners entered.

The Sigma 33 class are expected to come out in force after competing at their Class Championship in Dun Laoghaire.

And the oldest fleet in the Lough – the Waverley Class which has blossomed again in recent years with 12 on the water last summer – hope to attract other classic fleets such as the Fairies, Glens, Rivers and even some of the Howth 17's that made the journey up for RUYC's 150th celebrations.

Early entry discount is still available but ends next Friday

Event Chairman, Jim Coffey of RUYC, said: In Ballyholme Bay and Belfast Lough we have a wonderful sailing area that is internationally renowned, and in recent years our clubs have hosted a number of international events. Even so, this will be the largest sailing event ever to be hosted in Bangor. Bangor is a popular tourist destination for day-trippers and holidaymakers, and its five-star marina welcomes sailors from all over the world. We are keen to ensure that this is an event that will become a regular feature in the sailing calendar.”

Classes:

Class 1 – IRC with TCC 1.041 and above

Class 2 – IRC with TCC from 1.015 to 1.040 (RC35 Class)

Class 3 – IRC with TCC 1.014 or less

Class 4 – Quarter Ton Class – see NOR Attachment 1 for eligibility

Class 5 – NHC with Base Number 0.901 or above

Class 6 – NHC with Base Number 0.900 or below

Class 7 – Sigma 33 OOD

Class 8 – Restricted Sail Class NHC

RS Elite

Waverley

Multihull Dinghies

International Laser

RS400 & RS200 Irish National Championships:

RS400

RS200

Afloat.ie Team

About The Author

Afloat.ie Team

Email The Author

Afloat.ie is Ireland's dedicated marine journalism team.

Have you got a story for our reporters? Email us here.

We've got a favour to ask

More people are reading Afloat.ie than ever thanks to the power of the internet but we're in stormy seas because advertising revenues across the media are falling fast. Unlike many news sites, we haven’t put up a paywall because we want to keep our marine journalism open.

Afloat.ie is Ireland's only full–time marine journalism team and it takes time, money and hard work to produce our content.

So you can see why we need to ask for your help.

If everyone chipped in, we can enhance our coverage and our future would be more secure. You can help us through a small donation. Thank you.

Direct Donation to Afloat button