![Betty Armstrong](/media/k2/users/517.jpg?t=20211026_1436)
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
![Going to Red, Peter Holden's J109 from East Down YC Photo: Tommy Brown Going to Red, Peter Holden's J109 from East Down YC Photo: Tommy Brown](https://m.psecn.photoshelter.com/img-get/I0000icePArG9ow0/s/767/I0000icePArG9ow0.jpg)
Northern Ireland Cruiser-Racers are Competing at 75th Anniversary of Scotland's West Highland Yachting Week
31st July 2023 Scottish Waters
Northern Ireland sailors are showcasing their skills at the 75th Anniversary of West Highland Yachting Week in Scotland. Michael Petticrew's Nicholson 43 Magdaleyne from East Down Yacht Club on Strangford Lough took second place in the Gigha to Craobh Feeder Race,…
![Portavogie's Colin Dixon with Seafarer's Charity voyager Mark Miller Portavogie's Colin Dixon with Seafarer's Charity voyager Mark Miller](https://m.psecn.photoshelter.com/img-get/I0000gKY5sgbyef8/s/767/I0000gKY5sgbyef8.jpg)
The Seafarers’ Charity is the subject of a fundraising voyage by Mark Miller, who is on an around Britain and Ireland Harbour Master Sailing Challenge. Over the last three and a half years, Mark’s voyage has taken him around England,…
![Ross Boyd is on onboard Robert Rendell’s Samatom from Howth for this Saturday's Fastnet Race from Cowes Ross Boyd is on onboard Robert Rendell’s Samatom from Howth for this Saturday's Fastnet Race from Cowes](https://m.psecn.photoshelter.com/img-get/I0000y9vtOaj7gM0/s/767/I0000y9vtOaj7gM0.jpg)
Two Belfast Lough sailors are racing in the 50th Anniversary Rolex Fastnet Race, which starts on Saturday from Cowes on the Isle of Wight and finishes in Cherbourg. Ewan Finlay is racing as foredeck crew on Mark Emerson’s A13 Phosphorus II,…
![The SAR Joint Exercise on the North Down Coast gets underway The SAR Joint Exercise on the North Down Coast gets underway](https://m.psecn.photoshelter.com/img-get/I0000ZZmnR0odJV8/s/767/I0000ZZmnR0odJV8.jpg)
On Monday last (17th), several search and rescue teams held a very active training session out of the village of Groomsport on the North Down coast. Taking part alongside Lagan Search and Rescue’s Ribcraft Class 1 Lifeboat were Bangor Atlantic…
![Captain Gordon MacArthur (left in black cap) and visitors from LSAR, Bangor Coastguard Rescue and K9 SAR at the TS State of Maine in the Port of Belfast Captain Gordon MacArthur (left in black cap) and visitors from LSAR, Bangor Coastguard Rescue and K9 SAR at the TS State of Maine in the Port of Belfast](https://m.psecn.photoshelter.com/img-get/I0000MguxBMY15mg/s767/I0000MguxBMY15mg.jpg)
Belfast Lough Rescue Crews Welcomed on Board Visiting TS State of Maine
18th July 2023 Belfast Lough
On July 7th, the TS State of Maine, the current training ship of the Maine Maritime Academy, docked at the Gotto Wharf in the Herdman Channel in the Port of Belfast. She was formerly in the United States Navy service…
![John Minnis and his Final Call II crew were the top performing Northern Ireland boat at Ireland's biggest regatta at Dun Laoghaire Harbour John Minnis and his Final Call II crew were the top performing Northern Ireland boat at Ireland's biggest regatta at Dun Laoghaire Harbour](https://m.psecn.photoshelter.com/img-get/I0000Ou6UIJmdyoM/s/767/I0000Ou6UIJmdyoM.jpg)
Final Call II's Win in IRC One is Top Northern Ireland Result at Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta 2023
15th July 2023 Volvo Regatta
Seven boats from Northern Ireland made the trip to Dun Laoghaire for the Volvo Regatta, one of which, FA 2, trailed from Antrim and craned in off the town's Carlisle Pier. John Minnis’s first place in the 22-strong Cruisers One…
![The transom of the Ballyholme Yacht Club Insect, Tarantula peeks out from her dry storage The transom of the Ballyholme Yacht Club Insect, Tarantula peeks out from her dry storage](https://m.psecn.photoshelter.com/img-get/I00009ZE6C83YTUo/s/767/I00009ZE6C83YTUo.jpg)
Insect Class Dinghy 'Tarantula' Turns Up in Larne, Co. Antrim and Seeks New Owner
14th July 2023 Historic Boats
The Ballyholme Yacht Club Insect class dinghy number 12 Tarantula has turned up in Larne in Co. Antrim. One of 17 built by French and McDermott in the early 1950s, this 14-foot clinker dinghy was owned by the late Mr…
![The Leisure 17 flotilla at Whiterock Bay on Strangford Lough The Leisure 17 flotilla at Whiterock Bay on Strangford Lough](https://m.psecn.photoshelter.com/img-get/I0000DNwFiAiCjk0/s/767/I0000DNwFiAiCjk0.jpg)
Leisure 17s 50th Anniversary Celebrations Continue on Strangford Lough
12th July 2023 Northern Ireland Waters
Celebrations of 50 years of Leisure 17s at East Down Yacht Club near Killyleagh on Strangford Lough continued on the first Saturday in July with the second of the series of day sails. This outing proved to be rather more…
![Cormac Byrne (49092), BYC runner-up in the 5.3 and Craig O'Neill third overall at the Topper Irish Nationals Cormac Byrne (49092), BYC runner-up in the 5.3 and Craig O'Neill third overall at the Topper Irish Nationals](https://m.psecn.photoshelter.com/img-get/I0000kTYJrcLVZsM/s/767/I0000kTYJrcLVZsM.jpg)
Home Pride as Tom Driscoll Wins Topper 5.3 Nationals for Ballyholme Yacht Club
11th July 2023 Topper
It was worth waiting for. Belfast Lough having suffered the same fate as the first day of the Dun Laoghaire Regatta, the Irish Topper Nationals got underway a day late at Ballyholme on the north Down coast last Saturday afternoon…
![Gusts of 37 knots at Ballyholme Yacht Club meant no sailing on Friday 7 July for the Topper fleets Gusts of 37 knots at Ballyholme Yacht Club meant no sailing on Friday 7 July for the Topper fleets](https://m.psecn.photoshelter.com/img-get/I00000AkD_nwHzkU/s/500/I00000AkD_nwHzkU.jpg)
Ballyholme Yacht Club’s online Baycam had a very prominent red line on Friday (7 July) with the southerly offshore wind forecast to reach 37 knots in the gusts, putting paid to the first day of the 2023 Topper Nationals. In…
![Multiple youth medalist Eve McMahon was the ILCA 6 Ulster Championship winner at Ballyholme just a week before she heads off to the Olympic Test Even in Marseille Multiple youth medalist Eve McMahon (left) pictured with Rob Milligan of Commodore BYC was the ILCA 6 Ulster Championship winner at Ballyholme just a week before she heads off to the Olympic Test Even in Marseille](https://m.psecn.photoshelter.com/img-get/I00003sSnX97NMfQ/s/767/I00003sSnX97NMfQ.jpg)
Howth Yacht Club's McMahon Siblings are Ulster ILCA Championship Winners at Ballyholme
5th July 2023 Laser
It was a challenging, very windy two days at Ballyholme on Belfast Lough for the ILCA Ulster Championships last weekend. The big fleet in three divisions, ILCA 4, 6 and 7, attracted 47 competitors from as far away as Glandore…
![The Ladies Cruise in Company with (right back) Keith Carr, Commodore, EDYC and right front, Margie Crawford, Event organiser The Ladies Cruise in Company with (right back) Keith Carr, Commodore, EDYC and right front, Margie Crawford, Event organiser](https://m.psecn.photoshelter.com/img-get/I0000VQOdpjGk2Dg/s/767/I0000VQOdpjGk2Dg.jpg)
If you could bottle the energy, enthusiasm and excitement of the 24 ladies who took advantage of East Down Yacht Club’s day set aside for women to learn how to handle a big boat, then a fortune is to be…
![Pat Kelly's J109 Storm travelled from Rush to compete - and win Class Two - at the Royal Ulster RC35/IRC weekend on Belfast Lough Pat Kelly's J109 Storm travelled from Rush to compete - and win Class Two - at the Royal Ulster RC35/IRC weekend on Belfast Lough](https://m.psecn.photoshelter.com/img-get/I0000XrYZBbDOBtM/s767/I0000XrYZBbDOBtM.jpg)
A35 Final Call II and J109 Storm Share the Spoils at Royal Ulster's RC35/IRC Weekend
27th June 2023 RC35
The RC35/IRC event at Royal Ulster on Belfast Lough last weekend came about because of a chance suggestion by a club member. Although it attracted a small fleet of eight, it did include the very welcome visitors, Ben Shelley in…
![RS Elite racing at the Irish Championships at Royal Ulster on Belfast Lough RS Elite racing at the Irish Championships at Royal Ulster on Belfast Lough](https://m.psecn.photoshelter.com/img-get/I0000OLB6YxSry.U/s/767/I0000OLB6YxSry.U.jpg)
Having spent the weekend racing in the Irish RS Elite Championships at Royal Ulster on Belfast Lough, most of the 14-strong fleet are making their way the 18 miles to the UK Nationals hosted by Strangford Lough Yacht Club at…
![Wayfarer dinghies landing at Devenish Island on Lough Erne Wayfarer dinghies landing at Devenish Island on Lough Erne](https://m.psecn.photoshelter.com/img-get/I0000BNWnwX6msTM/s/767/I0000BNWnwX6msTM.jpg)
Once the International Wayfarer rally ended at East Down Yacht Club on Strangford Lough last weekend, five boats with 13 crew headed west to another, albeit smaller but memorable gathering at Lough Erne Yacht Club in County Fermanagh. They were…
![The Antrim Boat Club Summer Series winner, the Limbo 6.6 FA2 The Antrim Boat Club Summer Series winner, the Limbo 6.6 FA2](https://m.psecn.photoshelter.com/img-get/I0000up806mvlaM0/s/767/I0000up806mvlaM0.jpg)
The final four races in the Antrim Boat Club Summer series saw Jeff Harrison and Charlie McAllister’s Limbo 6.6 FA2 dominating the score sheet as they had done in the previous four races, to take the overall prize by nine…
![Alan Hannon’s new French-designed JPK 1030 Coquine competing in the Ailsa Craig Race
Alan Hannon’s new French-designed JPK 1030 Coquine competing in the Ailsa Craig Race](https://m.psecn.photoshelter.com/img-get/I0000_vrRQFRywoo/s/767/I0000_vrRQFRywoo.jpg)
At what proved to be the end of a three-week spell of light weather, Royal Ulster Yacht Club’s Rollins Insurance supported traditional offshore Ailsa Craig race started at 8 pm on Friday, 16th June. The fleet of seven wound its…
![Wayfarer dinghies at Ardkeen during their International rally on Strangford Lough Wayfarer dinghies at Ardkeen during their International rally on Strangford Lough](https://m.psecn.photoshelter.com/img-get/I0000fFnyMmJaUNI/s/767/I0000fFnyMmJaUNI.jpg)
Last week, the International Wayfarer gathering in Strangford Lough attracted over 40 visitors from as far away as the USA and from mainland Europe. The event was hosted by East Down Yacht Club on the west side of the Lough.…
![The two millionth visitor to Belfast arrived on the Norwegian Dawn The two millionth cruise liner visitor to Belfast arrived on the Norwegian Dawn](https://m.psecn.photoshelter.com/img-get/I0000vJG_fTofP1c/s/767/I0000vJG_fTofP1c.jpg)
The number of cruise ships expected to dock in Belfast Harbour this season represents a 20% increase on the previous record set in 2019. In 2019, Cruise Belfast opened the first dedicated cruise terminal on the island of Ireland, and…
![40 Wayfarers launched in light winds on Strangford Lough for the International Rally 40 Wayfarers launched in light winds on Strangford Lough for the International Rally](https://m.psecn.photoshelter.com/img-get/I0000GDZBW3QNm9o/s/500/I0000GDZBW3QNm9o.jpg)
The Wayfarer dinghy was designed by Ian Proctor in 1957 and since then has proved to be a tough and seaworthy cruising dinghy, yet at the same time being responsive and rewarding to race. At nearly 16 feet long and…