East Antrim Boat Club (EABC) on Larne Lough in Northern Ireland has a new commodore - Chris Dorman, who has been a member of EABC since boyhood.

He is also a long-serving RNLI coxswain with the nearby lifeboat station and manages to fit the club business in with his family hardware shop and builders’ suppliers in the town.

Chris takes over from Lucy Whitford, who served as Commodore for three years and is now Rear Commodore.

Dorman has worked on many committees, demonstrating his leadership qualities.

East Antrim Boat Club (EABC) dinghy sailing on Larne Lough

Chris commented, “Having come through an extremely busy festive season, the various subcommittees are now working hard preparing our club to receive early season visits from a number of classes. I’m especially thrilled that we’ll be witnessing the first-ever visit to EABC of the RS regatta fleet (RS400, RS200 and the RS Fevas) on 4th and 5th May, and I’m delighted to be welcoming the Topper Class for its Winter Series on 16/17 March and the Optimist Class Ulsters on 11th and 12th May. Yeah, a busy early season ahead for me... can’t wait!”

East Antrim Boat Club at Larne in County Antrim, Northern Ireland recently celebrated a successful Keelboat and Dinghy series at its annual prizegiving.

The keelboat series was raced across four months, from May to August, with an overall winner each month.

Ian Patterson’s Viper Sid won the May Series, and each of the June, July and August Series was won by Money for Nothing (Mark Fekkes). Sid also won the Doig Cup and the Maidens Race.

It is a real family affair on Sid with Ian’s daughter Kelly helming and both her Mum and Dad crewing. It is thought that Kelly is the only female helm in Northern Ireland in the Sports Boat Class competing at Regattas throughout Belfast Lough and also this year at the Strangford Lough Sailing Week.

Ian Patterson's East Antrim Boat Club Viper Sid Photo: courtesy EABC

The dinghy double-handed class in the early series (Jan, Feb, March) was won by Gordon Kane and Stephen Liddle sailing a Flying 15, and the Spring series was won by another Flying 15 sailed by Richard Doig and Kathryn Boyle.

Each year the Sailing and General Committees present three special recognition awards, and this year, these went to youth sailors and were presented by the Mayor of Mid and East Antrim Council, Alderman Gerardine Mulvenna. The three were Jenna Reid, who lifted the Gingles trophy – Jenna is on a new Irish Sailing programme for 49erFX development; Zoe Whitford was awarded the T&T trophy; and Tom Coulter, who was awarded the Endeavor trophy.

Zoe and Tom are both in the Performance Squad - Tom in ILCA 7 and Zoe in the ILCA 6 Performance Academy.

Flying Fifteen sailors Stephen Liddle (left) and Gordon Kane at the East Antrim Boat Club prizegiving with outgoing Commodore Lucy Whitford

In her last of her three years as Commodore, Lucy Whitford commented: “What a fantastic evening and a great way to round off our season. I was absolutely delighted that the Mayor was able to join us and present our special recognition awards to Tom, Jenna and Zoe”. Lucy stood down and, at the AGM last week, became Rear Commodore with Chris Dorman, the new Commodore.

The next sailing event at East Antrim BC is the Christmas Regatta on 27 December, and Part 2 of the Winter Series runs from January 7 until March 31, 2024.

While most of the country seemed to have little or no wind, with many races and events cancelled, East Antrim Boat Club managed to get all six races of this year's GP14 Ulster Championship completed.

The event attracted 30 GP14s with seemingly no hangover from the 2022 Skerries Worlds. There were a number of new boats in the fleet and some old friends returning to enjoy the competitive racing.

PRO Richard Doig managed four races on Saturday in light conditions made more tricky with the tides in Larne Lough with four different race winners.

Sam Street and Josh Lloyd were First Time Race Winners at the GP14 Ulster Championships at East Antrim Boat Club

Amongst them were the Blessington Youth crew, Sam Street & Josh Lloyd, taking their first-ever race win. An amazing result considering the calibre of some of their opponents, including Shane MacCarthy, Ross Kearney, Olympian Curly Morris, last year's leading Irish Worlds helm Colman Grimes and top Flying Fifteen helm Hammy Baker. Ross Kearney, Shane MacCarthy and Alan Blay were the other Day one race winners.

Andy Thompson (left) and Shane MacCarthy were runners-up in the GP14 Ulster Championships at East Antrim Boat Club

Sunday saw two races, with Shane & Andy Thompson and Ross & Daniel Nelson taking the wins in better wind conditions. Overall Ross Kearney & Daniel Nelson tied with Shane MacCarthy & Andy Thompson but took the Ulster Championship title on count-back while Alan Blay & Hugh McNally maintained a consistent day to hold on to third place.

Alan Blay & Hugh McNally were third overall in the GP14 Ulster Championships at East Antrim Boat Club

Silver Fleet
1st Michael Cox & Josh Porter (Newtownards SC)
2nd Sam Street & John Lloyd (Blessington SC)
3rd Simon Cully & Libby Tierney (BLESSINGTON sc)

Bronze Fleet
1st Robbie Richardson & Colin Watson (East Down YC)
2nd Adam& Emilyy Torrens (Lough Erne YC)
3rd Mac Cully & Tighe Wardell (Blessington YC)

A new ladies' sailing initiative at East Antrim Boat Club on Larne Lough in Northern Ireland got underway at the end of January when Ladies that Launch dusted off the wetsuits and had a fun afternoon trying to find the wind.

The aim of the initiative is to engage with existing female club members and get them back to dinghy sailing. Members were invited to attend a new ladies' match racing programme where they race the club RS Quests and learn through an exciting race format. This low-cost option to get on the water has proved attractive to the seven members who attended the first session with more expected to join in the future.

About half of East Antrim's membership is female but mostly active in the keelboat series, and this new effort offers opportunities to get out all year round. Training manager Debbie Hanna said, "This initiative is targeted to offer members something different from traditional fleet racing. Team racing and match racing are exciting formats of the sport that will engage people's interest and give a social sport outlet to those attending".

A new ladies' match racing programme is run in East Antrim Boat Club's RS Quest dinghies

Commodore Lucy Whitford is excited about the progress; "This is a fantastic initiative, and I enjoyed the first session. We had a mix of beginners, experienced dinghy sailors and some of us more used to big boat racing. It's all about gaining new skills, getting on the water, and taking time out to have fun, and we certainly did that".

Luckily for East Antrim Boat Club the weather for its Christmas Regatta in Larne Lough didn’t live up to the forecast and there was a lot less wind than expected. Despite the constantly shifting breeze the race officer Richard Doig and his team managed to run three races with a lot of mark moving. Windspeeds were up and down a lot keeping everyone sharp on what was a surprisingly mild day with a very high tide.

Ellen Barbour racing an ILCA 6 dinghy at the East Antrim Boat Club Christmas Regatta on Larne Lough

The hotly contested single-handed handicap saw Ellen Barbour from County Antrim YC on Belfast Lough win in a Laser Radial. In the double-handed class, it was sisters Jocelyn and Emily Hill racing a RS 200 who topped the most diverse class made up of Flying Fifteens, RS200s, a GP14 and a RS 400.

Joycelyn and Emily Hill racing an RS200 dinghy at the East Antrim Boat Club Christmas Regatta on Larne Lough

Runner up was the Club President, Curly Morris, crewed by Rachel Stewart in a GP14. In the Junior fleet, George Doig of the host club in an Optimist took the honours. Among the visiting sailors were three from Malahide YC in this fleet; Paidí and Tomas A Choistealbha, and Siun Ni Choistealbha.

Visiting sailors (from left to right) Paidí A Choistealbha, Tomás A Choistealbha, Siún Ní Choistealbha, Freddie Doig, George Doig, Fraser Doig, Mollie McKeown and Connie Wilson at the East Antrim Boat Club Christmas Regatta on Larne Lough

The third-time Commodore, Lucy Whiteford, was delighted with the event's success: “Great racing in tricky conditions but our race officer Richard Doig did a fantastic job to get all three races in. We have been delighted with the support from McWilliam Sailbags, Sailingfast, and Squall Sailing for this event”. She added “ The end of January will see the start of a new initiative ‘Ladies that Launch, ’ which will introduce team racing in our Club. Female sailors of all ages and abilities are encouraged to sign up”.

Ellen Barbour first in single handed class with her prize of a McWilliam Sailmakers bag at the  at the East Antrim Boat Club Christmas Regatta on Larne Lough

Hot on the heels of several stories in Afloat about women appointed as Club Commodores, East Antrim Boat Club has joined the ranks again for 2023 as Lucy Whitford has been given that position for the third time.

When she was made Commodore in 2020, Lucy was only the third lady in the Club's 70-year history to enjoy that position. The others were Lilian Stewart and Anne Morris. 

Time was when a woman wouldn’t have been considered for the position of Officer or even a General Committee member. Many have faced the ‘glass ceiling’ syndrome, but thankfully times and attitudes are changing, and it has at last been recognised that a woman can do the job as well as a man. It is thought too, that for the first time in over 70 years, EABC has an even split female/male on the General Committee.

Although Lucy is a regular sailor, and her daughter Zoe is a leading ILCA 6 sailor, Lucy comes from a motorsport background. She competed in motorsport from the age of 16, first auto testing and then rallying, surely a lot faster than anything she would be used to now. It was a family thing as both her parents competed, and her husband is also involved.

Lucy says she is looking forward to working with Vice Commodore Chris Dorman as well as the other Committee members, including the women at the top – Hon Secretary Alison Liddle, Hon Treasurer Melanie Morris (well known in the GP14 world), RYA Principal Debbie Hanna and Caroline Wilson Membership Secretary.

Looking ahead, East Antrim Boat Club will run its Christmas Regatta on 27th December, a Junior Coaching Clinic at Half Term (13th -15th February) next year, and new for 2023, a ‘Ladies that Launch’ campaign to get females participating in a fun race series on a regular basis.

With some of the World Championship Toppers appeared to be stuck in a container somewhere, there is some doubt if they'll make it to East Antrim Boat Club in Larne for this weekend's Northern championship. But maybe if they happen to be destined to Larne port they could just be unloaded and wheeled to the nearby Club!

The Topper class is certainly very well-travelled, having had a presence at the Worlds at Lake Garda and also at Weymouth for the Nationals.

The host club is East Antrim Boat Club and Club commodore Lucy Whitford said “We’re delighted to have the Topper family back with us in Larne. This will provide a great boost for our emerging Topper sailors. The organising team led by Gordon Kane and Race Officer Richard Doig has been working tirelessly to ensure that EABC’s reputation for fair and friendly eventing is maintained at the highest level. I am especially delighted to welcome the high-flying Pollards and Driscolls: Callum and Bobby high scoring champion sailors.”

Callum took 4.2 Gold in the Worlds and Bobby took Silver on a countback in the 5.3 division. At the UK Nationals in Weymouth, Bobby was second overall and took Silver again.

The club is also offering – free-of-charge – ‘localised training’ with 420 champion Lucy Kane. This is to acquaint visiting competitors with the vagaries and mysteries of the Larne Lough tides and winds. Interested competitors should pre-book via the club website. 

Current sailors associated with the club who had their racing grounding in Toppers are Zoe Whitford, Ellen Barbour and Tom Coulter.

East Antrim Boat Club at Larne recently ran a very successful Discover Sailing Open Day when 29 people turned up to sample the sport under the guidance of 41 club volunteers. The mastermind behind the effort for what was reportedly a fantastic day at the club was EABC RYA Principal, Debbie Hanna.

Conditions were kind with a good breeze and 17 signed up to take part in the forthcoming courses at the Club.

Commodore Lucy Whitford was delighted with the response, "We had an absolutely brilliant day and everyone who attended seemed to enjoy getting out on the water. Events like these need lots of volunteers and I would like to thank all our club members for their support during the day”.

The courses are all Adult (17 and over) Level 1 Learn to Sail are held on Thursdays in June and on Saturday 18th, and on Thursdays in July and on Saturday 23rd. 

Debbie Hanna with (left) Michael Kane and James Keenan of East Antrim Boat Club

A combination of rain, mist and flat calm meant a 30-minute postponement by Race Officer Richard Doig for the East Antrim Boat Club Christmas Regatta yesterday (27th).

But that didn’t dampen the enthusiasm of the 37 starters. As forecast, the breeze filled on Larne Lough giving a good breeze of 10-15 knots, and they sailed three races with a bonus for spectators that the leeward mark was just off the club.

Christmas Regatta at East Antrim Photo: Trevor Jackson

Commodore Lucy Whitford was pleased with the turnout – “It was great to have visiting boats from Carrickfergus, Ballyholme, Newcastle and Malahide Yacht Clubs”.

The biggest fleet was the Single Handers which included one Aero. Here Laser Coach Barry McCartan came out on top with Gavin Doig just one point behind and Lucas Nixon 3rd. Five Optimists crossed the line and first was Freddie Doig from the host club. That fleet included Siun, Paidi and Tomas A’Coistealbha from Malahide Yacht Club. Ryan Wilson and Katie Nelson in an RS400 won the Double Handers.

Louis Leonard’s three firsts gave her the prize for first Topper and the Flying Fifteen prize went to Philip Ford-Hutchieson and Michael Kane.

There’s just a short break from sailing at East Antrim as racing continues with the late Winter series running from 2nd January to 27th March 2022.

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 have been three decades since there was an Optimist event at the Larne

Only four of the sixty strong fleet were from the North of Ireland; the Doig brothers and Ben Brownlees from the host club and Matthew Holden of Ballyholme.

In the 21 strong Senior fleet, Howth Yacht Club sailors Des Turvey and Harry Dunne dominated, finishing first and second, respectively. Turvey finished consistently in the top four, with Dunne never out of the first five but close on their heels was Oisin Pierse of Royal Cork in third slot.

Oisin Pierse from Royal Cork YC chasing Des Turvey (1556)

In the Junior division, first places were spread over the top scorers with Conor Cronin of Malahide, who had three, runner-up Carolina Carra of Royal St.George and fourth-placed Sarah Scott of Howth YC with one each in a fleet of 23.

The 16 strong Regatta fleet had seven races, and here Maeve and Emily Donagh from Lough Derg YC dominated, with Maeve counting four bullets and Emily one to finish first and second in that fleet. In third slot was Basile Dion of National YC.

The Lough experienced some of the very quiet conditions, which have occurred frequently in the North over the last couple of weeks, but Race Officer Richard Doig and his team did manage to get six races in the Senior and Junior fleets and seven in the Regatta fleet.

Full results here