Ten of Northern Ireland’s Topper and ILCA sailors travelled to Plas Heli in Pwllheli for the Celtic Cup earlier this month (3-4 February).

This annual event sees the best youth and junior sailors from Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland compete for the accolade of top Celtic nation.

And this year it was Wales who claimed the crown with a narrow single-point victory — though the RYANI contingent put in a strong showing, edging the overnight leads in both classes.

The event also provided a great opportunity to solidify friendships with the other Celtic nations, which will be even more vital in light of the summer events schedule with competitions such as the ILCA 6 Youth Europeans at Ballyholme Yacht Club.

For more see the RYA website HERE.

Entries are now open for RYA Northern Ireland’s Team Racing Programme, following on from a successful coach development weekend last month.

This RYANI programme, which is the first of its kind for Northern Ireland, aims to provide more double-handed pathway opportunities for junior and youth sailors.

Five open training sessions will be run over the next few months at Ballyholme Yacht Club and Strangford Lough Yacht Club with the support of Queen’s University Sailing Club.

These sessions will cover boat handling, tactics and strategy, racing rules, scenarios and teamwork — with a view to sending a Northern Ireland U19 team to compete for the Elmo Trophy at the Royal St George Yacht Club in Dun Laoghaire this August.

For further details, see the RYA website HERE.

RYA Northern Ireland’s Coach Development Programme held its first session at Ballyholme Yacht Club last Saturday 20 January.

Launched in December, the new initiative — part of RYANI’s five-year strategy, Navigating The Future — offers free training in an effort to develop a pool of coaches capable of coaching at a national level.

Day one featured a team racing workshop hosted by RYANI marketing and communications executive Peter Gilmore, a safeguarding presentation as well as an on-the-water session to put theory into practice.

While Northern Ireland currently lacks an active team racing circuit, there are plans to develop the format as part of RYANI’s pilot Project Theia.

For more details, see the RYA website HERE.

RYA Northern Ireland launches its first ever podcast this coming Friday 26 January.

Crest Of The Wave will be hosted by RYANI marketing and communications executive Peter Gilmore and will feature a diverse array of guests and topics intended to paint a broader picture of sailing and boating in Northern Ireland, highlighting the goals of RYANI’s five-year strategy Navigating the Future.

RYANI chief Greg Yarnall said: “I’m really excited for the launch of our podcast, as the stories being shared can inspire others, whether to get involved as a volunteer, coach or official, to explore having a go at a different part of the sport they hadn’t considered, or even to pursue a career in the sport.”

Crest Of The Wave will be available fortnightly from all major podcast platforms. For more, see the RYA website HERE.

Several of RYA Northern Ireland’s ILCA squad spent the New Year break at a warm-weather training camp in Valencia, Spain from 27 December to 3 January.

Supported by RYANI performance manager Hammy Baker, the contingent comprised ILCA 6 sailors Lewis Thompson and Daniel Palmer from Ballyholme Yacht Club as well as Bobby Driscoll (RNIYC) and Zoe Whitford (East Antrim BC), who received support from Irish Sailing, and Cormac Byrne (Strangford SC) who received support as part of Liam Glynn’s ILCA 4 Development Squad.

While this was the second year that Northern Ireland sailors have make the trip to Valencia for winter training, it was the first time they were joined by their counterparts from RYA Scotland and RYA Wales.

“It was great to have the other home nations with us,” Performance manager Andrew Baker said. “Ahead of the Celtic Cup (3-4 February in Plas Heli, Wales) and The Europeans (27 July-3 August, Ballyholme YC) I feel it’s important for the sailors to meet each other and create new training groups that are logistically in reach. There also seems to be more enthusiasm for the Celtic Cup and some competitive rivalries forming.”

For more on the RYANI ILCA training camp in Valencia, see the RYA website HERE.

RYANI is currently recruiting for two lead coach roles for the Development Academy and Team Racing as well as a Women On Water Ambassador.

The lead coach of the Development Academy provides a supportive learning environment for junior sailors within the academy, sharing their passion towards the racing pathway to the younger generation in Northern Ireland.

Meanwhile, in the Team Racing Programme, the role of the lead coach is to help deliver the programme, with structured sessions to increase the knowledge of this developing area of sailing. Team racing coaches should ideally have an in-depth knowledge of team racing rules and tactics.

The Women On Water Ambassador is expected to lead and develop the Women On Water Development Programme. By providing a supportive learning environment for women within clubs and centres, RYANI’s aim is to encourage higher participation levels, upskill people across a variety of pathways and develop a passion for people to develop in their chosen pathway.

For more details on these open roles at RYANI, see the RYA website HERE.

RYA Northern Ireland has announced the launch of its Coach Development Programme designed to develop a pool of coaches capable of coaching at a national level.

This free programme is inviting people already involved in coaching to apply to develop their existing skills through a series of workshops and on-the-water coaching days over the next 12-18 months.

In addition, not only will being part of the programme increase the chances of gaining paid work as an RYA coach, but members of the programme will also have free access to RYANI’s regional training day for Northern Ireland on Saturday 23 March 2024.

The RYA website has more HERE.

As RYA Northern Ireland marks its 50th anniversary and reflects on a fantastic year for sailing and boating in Northern Ireland, it’s time to submit nominations for its end-of-season awards and celebrate the best of the region in 2023.

The award ceremony will take place on Friday 19 April 2024 at Queen’s University Belfast’s Riddle Hall.

Alongside the regular categories of Race Coach, Race Official, Volunteer, Young Powerboater, Young Volunteer, Instructor and Young Sailor of the Year, as well as the RYANI Chair’s Nomination, this year there is the new category of Club Project of the Year, which replaces Club of the Year to align more closely with RYANI’s five-year strategy Navigating the Future.

The closing date for nominations on Wednesday 31 January 2024. For the different awards criteria and how to submit your nomination, visit the RYA website HERE.

RYA Northern Ireland’s new five-year strategy, Navigating the Future, recognises that volunteers are one of the main driving forces behind sailing and boating in Northern Ireland.

Now the organisation has announced a pilot scheme, We’re All In, which aims to reduce the impact of “volunteer burnout” and ensure the long-term sustainability of sailing in NI.

Clubs and centres will be able to apply for a small amount of funding aimed at increasing engagement, either via training of volunteers or holding a volunteer engagement day before the end of April 2024.

In addition to financial support, RYANI says it will work with clubs on a one-to-one basis “as we appreciate that each club is unique”.

Clubs who are part of the scheme will receive direct support from RYA staff about how to reach out to new volunteers most effectively and they will be supported through interactive workshops.

For more details on the pilot scheme, see the RYA website HERE.

This month, RYA Northern Ireland marks 50 years since its formation as the Ulster Branch of the Irish Yachting Association.

And to celebrate all aspects of sailing and boating in the region, a series of commemorative events will be held over the next year, culminating in a special evening in Autumn 2024.

RYANI chief executive Greg Yarnall said: “When we launched the Navigating the Future five-year strategic plan this year, we made a promise to celebrate the people and places in the sport and tell the stories of their accomplishments, dedication and commitment to the sport in Northern Ireland. The 50th-year anniversary gives us the perfect opportunity to do this.”

As part of this initiative, RYANI will be working closely with clubs and individuals around the country, encouraging them to share their stories to build a better understanding of Northern Ireland’s boating history during this period.

For more on this story, see the RYA website HERE.