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 Whiterock on the west shore of the Lough, which starts on Wednesday 28th June.

The five-race Irish event was won by Tom Hewitson in his new and aptly named Soak Therapy, one of five crews from Hayling Island on the south coast of England who took part. His crew was Colin Smith and Pippa Judd. With three firsts, a second, and a discarded sixth, Hewitson won by five points from Jane Buchanan’s The Love Bug (Royal North), helmed by Michael Browne and crewed by Russell McGovern and Conor Simms. In third overall was Gavin Vaughan’s Toucan, also from Royal North, helmed by Warren Polly with Andrew Vaughan – both ended up on 11 points with the tie broken in favour of The Love Bug.

Polly family battle Storm (37) Stephen Polly and son Warren in Toucan at the Irish RS Elite Championships at Royal Ulster on Belfast Lough Photo: Aquaventus

Race Officer was Con Murphy from National YC in Dun Laoghaire, who had just returned from officiating at Kiel Week Regatta. Saturday’s conditions were kind, with a force four southerly, but closer to the shore, the breezes were fluky. After three races, Michael Browne and The Love Bug were on 5 points, leading overnight, and Soak Therapy on nine, including a sixth, which turned out to be their discard. The Polly family – Warren sailing Gavin Vaughan’s Toucan and Stephen sailing the jointly owned (Polly, Gunning and Kelso) Storm from Royal Ulster, were close behind on ten and 12, but the Sunday proved a very different matter with light to non-existent winds from the northwest forcing an abandoned start. But the two races were sailed although shortened.

The Love Bug Michael Browne with winner Soak Therapy behind and the Bulk Carrier Jonas Oldendorf on Belfast Lough Photo: Aquaventus

Mid-fleet racing was close between Hayling Island boats Eclipse (Ellito Caldwell) and Cygnet (Paul Lewis) and Strangford’s Tuppence (Brian Corry) with just 4 points between them.
The threatening downpours eventually arrived, but minus the wind

Stephen Polly was enthusiastic about the event, complimenting the organisation and the Club hospitality and looks forward to racing at Whiterock with an even larger fleet in the UK National Championships.

RS Elite Irish Championship prizewinners at Royal Ulster Yacht Club Photo Fiona Hicks

The Spring Series at Royal Ulster Yacht Club on Belfast Lough ran over three Sundays in April and attracted 12 cruiser racers. IRC winner after six races was the local boat, five points ahead of Stuart Cranston’s Ker 32 Hijacker from Strangford Lough YC. Michael Eames’ All or Nothing was in third slot.

Final Call II light airs on the first day racing of the Royal Ulster Yacht Club Spring Series Photo: courtesy RUYC

In the Whitesail division, Vicki and Martin Dews’ Sigma 33 Elandra was the first of two starters, having something of an easy time of it as Jacada (Andrew Kennedy) sailed only two races.

Elandra, the Sigma 33 of Vicki and Martin Dews (left) with Ian Chapman's Cheoy Lee 36-ft Classic yacht

The first day’s racing was in light winds, as was the second outing, with only the last meeting having anything of a decent breeze.

The Hijacker team looking relaxed at the Royal Ulster Yacht Club Spring Series Photo: Bob Espey

For the first three races, Hijacker looked as if they were going to give Final Call II a run for their money with two wins and a second, but a drop to seventh in the final two races meant they were down to second overall. John Minnis says they can laugh about it now but in one of the early races, the crew was debating which spinnaker to use, only to find they actually had none on board. All were in the marina store.

It was good to see three boats new to the fleet - Elandra the Sigma 33, Alan Hannon’s JPK 1030 Coquine and Ian Chapman’s Cheoy Lee 36 Classic yacht.

At the prizegiving, Hon Secretary Catherine Gallagher thanked everyone who helped make the Spring Series successful. She also mentioned the new rating system, RYA YTC, which the club will use this year alongside the more traditional systems.

Michael Gunning, a Final Call II crewman on John Minnis's Archambault 35, the overall RUYC Spring Series winner with Barbara Coffey Photo: Fiona Hicks

Stuart Cranston, skipper of Highjacker, the RUYC Spring Series runner up in IRC with Barbara Coffey Photo: Fiona Hicks

Martin Dews, the Whitesail division winner of the RUYC Spring Series with Barbara Coffey Photo: Fiona Hicks

The overall winner John Minnis was happy with the Series and the result of Final Call II. “Great series conditions and racing format for everyone… super to see so many yachts from different clubs creating some tight competition… the RUYC sailing committee, mark layers, battery team and Tom Bell of Grange Wine Merchants deserve special thanks for all their organisation and extremely generous sponsorship” He added, “Well done to the team on Final Call II who showed composure and commitment securing a series win only on the last day”.

Some would say that there were better racing conditions at the end of the 2022 season for the Royal Ulster Yacht Club Autumn Series than during the summer.

A total of 13 boats in two classes competed over nine races in the RUYC series on Belfast Lough. Top in IRC 1 and NHC unrestricted was John Minnis’ Final Call II with a clean sheet of results and in Whitesail, it was the relaunched Sigma 33 Starshine Challenger under the new owners' Garth and Paul Finlay and Ian Blair in first overall.

After a full set of first places in nine strong IRC 1 class John Minnis said, “While we were delighted to win every race in the A35, the competition was really close”. And although the points difference was marked, the racing was particularly intense between the first three, with the O’Tiarnaigh/Mullholland/Harrington trio in the IMX 38 Excession and the Carrickfergus Corby 29 entry Elixir owned by Brian and Ryan Wilson.

The Royal Ulster Yacht Club Autumn Series on Belfast Lough

The Final Call II team enjoyed the fact that there was very little light weather. “It was fantastic racing” said owner John Minnis. “The best racing of the season, both on the windward/leeward course and the last day’s round the buoys”.

Asked what his plans are for next season, he said that Final Call II will be at Kip Regatta on 13th and 14th May, the first ‘Major’ event of the season on the Clyde. Then in his sights is the Scottish Series which is returning to Tarbert over the May bank holiday in the classic Friday to Monday format, starting on Friday the 26th of May.  After all that activity, there’s the massive Volvo Dun Laoghaire regatta on 6th – 9th July. 

Only three points separated the top two in the less well-supported four-strong Whitesail division. The Sigma 33 Starshine Challenger, which had been out of the water for some years, was back with a bang and never scoring less than third; finished three points ahead of Andrew Kennedy’s Dufour 34 Jacada, who missed two races but used one as a discard. In third place was the Oceanis 37, Merry Jack (Bell, Bell and Lawther) who had missed three races and had to count two of them.

Gavin Watson, RUYC Hon Sailing Secretary, was pleased to see the fleet out at this time of the year as racing has been affected due to Covid restrictions. “The series culminated in some exciting round the buoys racing in 20 knots of wind off the shore at RUYC. Congratulations to the winners and a big thank you to all the volunteers who helped provide the racing this year and RUYC is looking forward to continued good sailing in 2023”.

Royal Ulster’s Classic offshore overnight Ailsa Craig race will start from the club line at Bangor in Belfast Lough on Friday evening (17th) with the first warning signal at 19.00 hrs. On a good day, the Craig can be seen from the Club.

With a forecast of light winds, the course will probably be round the rock at the mouth of the Clyde and back to the club, about 80 miles.

At the moment there are four competitors, all of whom may be using it as a warm-up for the Bangor Town Regatta a week later, but given the unstable weather at present, some prospective entrants may be waiting until the last minute to make a decision.

On the other hand, they may be saving their energies for those four days of racing.

Brian and Ryan Wilson's Corby 29, Elixir

Johnny Ritchie’s Dufour Classic 41, Mingulay from the host club, will join on the starting line, visitors Michael Eames in his Sunfast 3200 All or Nothing from Strangford Lough Yacht Club, Stuart Cranston’s Ker 32 Hijacker from Down Cruising Club, and Bryan and Ryan Wilson’s Corby 29 Elixir from across the Lough at Carrickfergus.

Tyrena (Dr W E "Darty" Glover), winner of the first RUYC Ailsa Craig Race in 1962. She was a 39ft Charles A Nicholson design, built Berthon Boat Company of Lymington in 1959

Winner of the inaugural race in 1962 was the late Darty Glover in the 11-ton sloop, Tyrena and the late Dickie Brown of Portaferry was the winner the following year in the famous hard chine Black Soo, a van de Stadt design. Another memory is that of John Taylor who now lives in New Zealand, who recalls racing in the first race in what he describes as a “fair old southwesterly hammering in the channel”.

And the winner of the Fiftieth Anniversary event was Kenneth Halliwell’s She 31, She of the North. Many of those who had raced in 1962 turned out again for that event fifty years later. Among these was Darty Glover, then in his Eighties, who had travelled from Australia and John Taylor from New Zealand.

The Copeland Islands lie on the North Down coast just a short distance off Donaghadee but separated from the town by a fast strong tidal sound which provides interesting but necessarily accurate navigation. So to have the Royal Ulster Yacht Club coastal race round these islands which also have significant overfalls to the east, made an attractive race hosted by Royal Ulster Yacht Club from its start line in Bangor.

Mew Island Lighthouse Photo: Mark Mackey

Top of the IRC fleet was Shaun Douglas from Cockle Island Boat Club just east of Bangor on Belfast Lough in the Beneteau 40.7 Gamechanger ahead of Stuart Cranston’s Ker32 visiting from Strangford Lough Yacht Club. This is the start of a busy season for Gamechanger as they head to the Isle of Man for the Round the Island race starting at Port St Mary on 3rd June; then comes Bangor Town Regatta on 24th June followed by the race to Strangford Lough on 2nd July, then Cork Week in mid-July followed by West Highland Week at the end of that month. Certainly, the Irish Sea will be well travelled. In third slot was the Sigma 33 Squawk owned by Paul and Emma Prentice.

Shaun Douglas's Beneteau 40.7 Gamechanger from Cockle Island Boat Club on Belfast Lough

Winner in the four strong Whitesail division was the Bell, Lawther and Bell trio from the host club and Ballyholme in the Oceanis 37 Merry Jack with the Byres/Russell duo in the Sigma 33 Signet from the same clubs.

Stuart Cranston's Hijacker from Strangford Lough YC

As it turned out for the thirteen strong fleet made up of IRC and Whitesail, the tides were slack so weren’t a problem on the course which started in a lively 15 to 20 knot south westerly on a run from the RUYC line, taking them east leaving the Islands to starboard. The leg along the east side of the Copelands past the Mew Island Lighthouse where the Ram Harry race was in quiet form, involved only two tacks and then it was back west up the Sound where the tide was slack on a closehaul to Bangor Bay and the finish.

In common with many other organisations Royal Ulster Yacht Club on Belfast Lough in Northern Ireland put a call out for donations for the Ukrainian Aid Appeal and it turned out the response was overwhelming.

In the end there were 200 boxes of medicine, baby items, new clothes, toiletries, food, and other essentials sent directly to the shipping container bound for Poland.

Club members will remember Przmek Giblewski, Chef of many years, who is now living in Poland. Przmek has friends and family heavily involved in supporting refugees as well as directly in the conflict. He has been in touch to thank the Club members and to provide first-hand an update on the items most needed on the ground, particularly in regard to displaced women and children, and those on the front line.

Hon Secretary Catherine Gallagher said; “A huge thank you to everyone who donated and a very special thank you for our team of volunteers who spent two days organising, packing and running up and downstairs with boxes”.

The keelboat weekend held at Royal Ulster Yacht Club on Belfast Lough on 21st and 22nd August is a new venture and benefitted from generous sponsorship by Shortcross Gin.

The nine-strong fleet included five visitors, and of these two were fleet winners. From nearby Ballyholme and Cockle Island clubs, Shaun Douglas's Beneteau 40.7 Game Changer topped the IRC 1 fleet, and in IRC 2, it was the Carrickfergus based Corby 29, Brian and Ryan Wilson's Elixir. The local Dufour Classic 41, Mingulay (Johnny Ritchie) won the Whitesail division. NHC 1 saw a different winner with Jay Colville's First 40, Forty Licks from Royal Ulster and East Down on Strangford Lough first. In NHC 2 Elixir enjoyed another victory with a clean sweep, keeping at bay Paul Fekkes from East Antrim BC in Larne and Carrickfergus SC in the Ultimate 20 Black and Slippy.

The windward-leeward racing suffered the same changeable weather conditions as the Topper Irish Championships at Carrickfergus across the Lough, with 22-knot gusts and rain on the Saturday and the opposite on the Sunday.

Johnny Ritchie, RUYC Rear Commodore, thanked Shortcross Gin for its generous sponsorship; "An enjoyable and well-organised event. Despite the inclement weather on Saturday, we had a wonderful variety of wind conditions. Race Officer Colin Loughead did well to get Race 5 set on Sunday in very light conditions".

RUYC Keelboat Weekend Lucy Smith (Game Changer) with RUYC Rear Commodore Johnny Ritchie

Light winds at RUYC Keelboat Weekend for Forty Licks Jay Colville RUYC and East Down YC

This article was updated on August 26 2021 following revised results published by RUYC

It has been a long time coming. Royal Ulster's Opening Day will be on Saturday 1st May. Although this is an annual event, it will have its own particular difficulties this year due to the Covid restrictions.

Opening Day is traditionally not an event that requires formal entry and is open to nearby Ballyholme YC members and it is difficult to predict the turnout.

The club will be managing the event within the latest RYANI guidance for starting racing and have protocols in place at both Clubs to ensure numbers are contained within the recommended limit of 100 attendees.

That process will be made considerably easier given that neither the Waverleys nor the Sigmas have yet launched.

It is anticipated there will be four classes: IRC unrestricted, Whitesail, Lasers and Dinghy Handicap. The Notice of Race and Sailing Instructions will be on the website

Given the current weather forecast for generally light conditions, it is anticipated racing will be around the buoys, and the start will be around 13.00

In anticipation of an eagerly awaited easing of the Lockdown in Northern Ireland, and looking forward to a return to racing, the Royal Ulster Yacht Club Sailing Committee has arranged for Bill O'Hara, OBE, to lead a Zoom session to help refresh and update members' knowledge of some of the more common sailing rules.

The Zoom session is tomorrow night – Wednesday 14th April from 7.30 pm till 8.30 pm.

The talk is also available to crew members who may not be members of the Club.

Bill represented Ireland in the Finn class in the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles and the '88 games in Seoul. And as mentioned in afloat.ie his career profile on the international front runs through such major events the Volvo Ocean Race in 2008 for which he was Principal Race Officer, via Chief Umpire for the Extreme 40s in 2009 to Chief Umpire for the J class in 2019.

A large part of Bill's time is spent on the water as an umpire adjudicating yachts, either in match or fleet racing all around the globe. He is also a rules advisor to several countries, especially Ireland, in the run-up to the next Olympic Games.

Since 1970 it has been the tradition that Royal Ulster Yacht Club in Bangor on Belfast Lough, presents the Sir Thomas Lipton Memorial Cup to the America's Cup Challenger's Yacht Club. When the first Challenger series was run in that year, RUYC decided it would be a fitting tribute to Sir Thomas's memory to present a trophy to the winner of the challenger series. He had challenged five times with his yachts, all called Shamrock, through Royal Ulster as he was not admitted to the elite Royal Yacht Squadron until 1931, shortly before his death. It is said that both King Edward VII and King George V shared their interest in yachting with Lipton and enjoyed his company.
The club, therefore, commissioned the Sir Thomas Lipton Memorial Cup.

But how was this presentation going to be possible during the pandemic? Through a stroke of luck, it did go ahead on 24th February. That's where the man in Auckland came in. Member John Taylor and his wife Charlotte live in the city, and John agreed to present the Trophy to the Challenger; the Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli Team entered through Circolo Della Vela Sicilia Yacht Club Sicily. John is well known in sailing circles in Belfast Lough, and pre-Covid regularly spent the summer in Bangor.

Lipton was of Irish parentage and lived in Glasgow. After humble beginnings and years of working in America, in 1870, he established Lipton's Market in that city. This enterprise was successful, and a chain of groceries followed. When his empire had grown to 300 stores, he entered the tea trade and established the Lipton brand.

Royal Ulster presented the Trophy to the Challenger; the Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli Team entered through Circolo Della Vela Sicilia Yacht Club Sicily Photo: COR/Borlenghi

The first occasion the Trophy was presented was to Gretel II entered through Royal Perth Yacht Club. This was presented by Karl Smyth, Honorary Secretary RUYC at the Ida Lewis Yacht Club, Newport, Rhode Island. Since 1970 RUYC has presented the Trophy on 13 occasions. Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron are the current holders, and they were first presented with this Cup in 1995, then again in 2007, 2013 and 2017, so they have been the custodians for 18 years, making them the longest holder.

In recent months, RUYC Hon Secretary Garth Maxwell built a working relationship with Hayden Porter, CEO of RNZYS, who also sits on the America's Cup organising Committee in New Zealand. John and Charlotte Taylor are well known in both yacht clubs in Bangor, where pre-COVID-19, he regularly spent his summer months.

RNZYS hosted a small dinner on the night of the 24th February, sponsored by Prada, to facilitate the presentation of the Sir Thomas Lipton Cup by RUYC. The Ida Lewis Yacht Club also presented their Pell Cup, a trophy they have presented to the Challenger since 1958.

The small but exclusive guest list includes Francesco Longanesi Cattani - Prada, Agostino Randazzo-Commodore - Circolo Della Vela Sicilia Yacht Club, Max Sirena – Director and Skipper Luna Rosso Prada Pirelli, Aaron Young – Commodore, RNZYS, Hayden Porter – CEO, RNZYS, Simon Davidson – Commodore, Ida Lewis Yacht Club, and of course, John Taylor - all with their respective partners.

A letter of congratulations from HRH The Duke of Gloucester, Commodore of Royal Ulster, was also sent.