Multiple Irish National Champion Gareth Flannigan is one of the leading contenders for the Laser Masters title when it is sailed on his home waters of Ballyholme Yacht Club in three weeks time (25/26th May).

Visitors from Scotland and England are swelling the fleet at Ballyholme to over 50 entries.

Four entries leave for warm weather training in Lake Garda this weekend, a sign of how competitive Laser sailing is in Ireland right now.

#GP14–Ballyholme Yacht Club on Belfast Lough will host the Irish GP14 Championships on July 21st and 22nd.

In 2014, the GP14 World Championships come to Northern Ireland for the first time in many years, so next month's  CraftInsure Irish Championship represents a an ideal way for visitors to complete some early research into local sailing.

The launch for the event was held in Belfast on Sunday 10th June beside the Lagan. The local GP14's held a short event on the river to salute Alastair Duffin for 50 years of building wooden boats (mainly GP14's) in East Belfast. Alistair Duffin's superb dinghies are sailed across the world. In the days of fibre glass boats, a wooden Duffin hull currently holds the World title.

Ballyholme Yacht Club regularly holds Regional, National and International Championships in many dinghy classes with club member Robin Gray an RYA NI Regional Race Management Coordinator.

Ballyholme YC has a long history in GP14s. Bill Whisker and Jimmy McKee from Ballyholme YC won the GP14 World Championships in Australia in the 1970 and Burton Allen won the GP14 British National Championship.

It is hard to believe that Easter is upon us and that another BYC Stena Line Icebreaker winter series is over. Once again it was a fantastic series for those competitors who took part with the full range of weather conditions and cracking racing. It would not have been possible to race without the help of all the volunteers who gave up their spare time on Sundays (and other days as well) to make this event so successful. The guys and girls who go out to provide rescue, often in freezing conditions; the Crew of the Start boat; the battery teams and race officers; the results team, and everyone else who supports..... a big thank you from everyone who took part. Results are available to download as a pdf below.

Last Sunday was a great sailing day with blue skies and moderate wind. There was a good turnout for the last race of the series with lots of different battles going on in all the fleets and of course prizes and honour at stake!!!

In the Laser Standard fleet there was, really, only going to be one winner. Gareth Flannigan had the series wrapped up well before the end but he kept focused and finished 3rd on the day which gave him the second series win. Colin Leonard made a welcome return to the racing and recorded first place last week sailing a faultless race. Chris Boyd continued his good form and was second with Gareth in 3rd. David Fletcher and Brian Spence were just behind in 4th and 5th with Trevor Patterson having his best result ever in the Icebreaker series in 6th place. (another to benefit from Bob's coaching sessions!)

That meant Gareth Flannigan was the winner of the second series with Chris Boyd in second and Hammy Baker in third.

The overall results for both Part A & B for the lasers were Gareth Flannigan in first, Chris Boyd second and David Fletcher third.

In the silver fleet Robin Moran finished 10th on Sunday which was enough to secure him first place in the Sliver Fleet. David Wilson didn't have his best afternoon and couldn't put much pressure on him so he finished 2nd overall. Paddy Brow got over excited at the start in his quest to catch Robin and was black flagged so he dropped back to 3rd overall in the silver fleet.

The Bronze fleet was won by Robert Kirk who finished 24th on Sunday but had enough of a cushion to protect his lead. Francis Kennedy was 2nd with Chris Escott in 3rd.

In the radials Suzanne Flannigan had her best race in this fleet to date and took the honours with Ryan Glynn in 2nd and Brian Bibby in 3rd. The second series was won by Ryan Glynn with Tim Brow in 2nd place and Jessica Rutherford in 3rd place.

The overall results for the Radial were 1st Ryan Glynn, 2nd Brian Bibby, 3rd Chris Eames.

The Topper fleet has a huge number of entrants although due to other commitments such as NI Squad training, many sailors couldn't attend all events. In the end, a new entrant Ben Martin managed to win Part 2 with a first in the final race - this is his first full season racing, having come from the BYC "Race Squad" last summer. Ben also managed second in the overall series with Tom Purdon winning with consistent finishes in both series, and Mark McDonough third.

The large dinghy fleet was dominated by RS400's in Part 2 filling the top 4 places with Mark McAllister from RNIYC coming first from BYC's Robin Flannigan, and Liam Donnelly. Also of note, BYC's Bob Espey (brother of Olympic hopeful Laser sailor James) who only purchased a RS400 half way through the series and has had to sail with a broken mast, finished off the last five races with two thirds and two firsts. The summer season will certainly be competitive. Wic McCready won the overall series in his K1 dinghy/keelboat.

In the multihull class, Adrian Allen showed his continued form winning Part 2 and the Overall series.

Ballyholme YC would like to thank StenaLine for their sponsorship of the event, and all the visiting competitors from clubs throughout Northern Ireland - 120 boats across 6 fleets and 22 races from the start of October until end March. The summer will seem much quieter in comparison.

As a post-script, Gareth Flannigan heads to the Laser Munsters this weekend with many other BYC members. Our next racing is the Dennis Finlay Memorial Trophy on 21st April for Lasers, and Opening Day is the following Saturday with a RUYC start line.

Garth Maxwell, Mark Mackey

#ICEBREAKER – Last Sunday saw the conclusion of Part 1 of this year's Ballyholme Yacht Club "StenaLine" Icebreaker series. The event has been a great success so far with only 2 weekends un-sailable due to weather. The numbers have been huge with 44 Laser standards, 15 laser radials, 7 laser 4.7's and 28 Toppers as well as the large dinghy and multihull fleets - all regularly in contention. Report by Garth Maxwell and Rory Flannigan.

After a couple of windy races, the breeze died down over last weekend. In fact, we could have done with a bit more wind to keep active and warm. It was still a great days racing with the light westerly breeze shifting about which kept everyone on their toes.

The Laser fleet were a bit twitchy at the start and even with the "standard" black flag start a number of competitors were too keen to get an early advantage. Luckily our Race Officer Robin Gray couldn't identify the numbers so we were all brought back and given a second life. Behaviour improved for the next start and everyone got away unscathed. The first beat from the North East mark to the north West was tricky as the wind had dropped slightly and everyone was trying to work out which side of the course would be favoured. Keith storey grabbed the headlines as he was 2nd to the windward mark and maintained his good position through out the race. Keith eventually finished 5th overall which was a PB for him in this series. Gareth Flannigan Colin Leonard and David Fletcher were fighting it out for the overall title but Chris Boyd sailed the last beat in fine style to record his first bullet of the series. David Fletcher was 2nd with Gareth 3rd and Colin 4th on the day. So the overall winner of part A was Gareth Flannigan who finished 5 points clear of Colin Leonard. David Fletcher was 3rd with John Simms in 4th. Gareth was a worthy winner with 5 firsts in the series. He was pushed all the way by both Colin and David who put together a fine series.

The Silver fleet was won by Cavan Fynes who actually didn't need to sail in the last race to win. Cavan had some very strong finishes and this now moves him to the gold fleet for Part 2. Mike Kimber also sailed a very consistent series and was only 4 points behind Cavan. Trevor Patterson was 3rd in the silver fleet another 2 points behind Mike.

The Bronze fleet was won in fine style by Des Magee. Des finished 20th last Sunday and this was enough for him to keep ahead of Stephen Dobbs and Robert Kirk. The bronze fleet was highly competitive and if some guys had not had so many DNCs the results would have looked much different!!

The Radial fleet was missing a few of the key players. Ryan Glynn sailed well to get his second bullet in a row with Suzanne Flannigan recording her best result of the season in the radial in 2nd place.Sarah Eames was 3rd and Jennifer Whittaker in 4th. So it really was a day for the girls in this fleet. Chris Eames had done enough to win overall with Ryan Glyn pushing him really close in 2nd. Brian Bibby held on to take 3rd place from Sam Purdon.

There were more 4.7s on the water this week with Tim Brow getting first place, Michael Lewis in 2nd and Lucy Robinson getting 3rd. Craig Campbell had done enough to win but only by a point from Michael with Tim Brow in 3rd and Lucy Robinson in 4th overall and first girl in this fleet.

There were 10 boats afloat in the Topper Fleet this week, although we now have had . From the start there was closely fought action with Sam Wilkinson, Tom Purdon and Liam Glynn and Ben Martin fighting it out for the the top three places. Ben Martin showed the rest of the fleet how it's done by keeping the National Squad members on their feet! Weather suited the Toppers and they had a good clean sail round the course.

Overall, at the end of the first half of the icebreaker, Mark McDonough is 3rd, Liam Glynn is 2nd and in 1st place and winner of the Stena Line prize is Tom Purdon!

The Large Dinghy class was down on numbers this week. It was great to see the regulars out and about! Wic McCready got round the course so fast that he nearly finished with the multihulls! Our Rescue Captain, Rob Milligan, also had a terrific race! At the start all boats started with a 'country mile' as our race officer Robin Gray, would say. Over all, Wic McCready is leading the Large Dinghy Fleet at the end of this season.

The Multihull fleet has a nice wee jolt round the course with Adrian Allen having an excellent tack right on the starting line as the gun roared. It was good to see three boats out in this fleet. Maybe next season we will see more as its a fleet we all love to watch. Adrian Allen won this season and won the Stena Line prize.

A huge thanks goes to the Battery Hens and the Battery Rooster Jimmy McKee for all their hard work this half of the ice breaker! They have been excellent up in the battery, recording the results of the biggest sailing fleet in Northern Ireland.

We would further like to thank the BYC Rescue team, Rory Flannigan, Kyle Dougan, Tim Addy and Garvin Halliwell along with their many various weekly assistants such as Mia Taylor, Ive, Aiden Pounder, Dave Mullen. You have all been amazing!

The series ended with our traditional Icebreaker dinner at Ballyholme YC on Sunday night with the prize giving and Christmas fare.

We look forward to Part 2 of the series which starts on 29th January 2012 and are hoping to attract the growing RS400 fleet down from RNIYC (Cultra) for more fantastic racing. A few of our Masters have been missing in the Laser Standard fleet so hopefully we can get over 50 entries by the end.

Part 1 Winners:

Laser Standard - Gareth Flannigan BYC

Laser Silver Fleet - Cavan Fyans BYC

Laser Bronze - Stephen Magee BYC

Laser Radial - Chris Eames BYC

Laser 4.7 - Craig Campbell RNIYC

Small Dinghy/ Topper - Tom Purdon SLYC

Large Dinghy - Wiclif McCready BYC

Multihull - Adrian Allen BYC

The Laser National Championships run by Ballyholme YC on Belfast Lough over the last four days (Thursday 26th - Sunday 29th August) saw a mix of wind conditions with the final day, like the Feva Nationals on Dublin Bay, being blown out for the 120 competitors.

In the Standard Rig, Ronan Wallace (Wexford B & TC) took the title from Robert Espey (Ballyholme YC) and Stpehen Mc Lernon (Cushedall SC).

Annalise Murphy (National YC) won the Radial Championships from Philip Doran (Courtown SC) and Tiffany Brien (Ballyholme YC).

Annalise won 4 of the 8 races sailed including all three in the 16-20 knot breeze on Saturday. The National YC sailor becomes the first female sailor to take the Laser Radial Irish National title.

The 4.7 rig was won by John Flynn (Dungarvan SC) from Colm O Regan (Kinsale YC) and Stephen Duke (Courtown SC). The first girl in the 4.7 was Georgina Corbett (LDYC/NYC).

The Irish Multihull Championships visit Ballyholme for the bank holiday weekend, and they'll be going the distance, with the even stretching across three days and a variety of formats.

Saturday and Sunday will feature three races each, which won't surprise many, but Monday is a passage race, covering somewhere between 25-40 miles, which will pose a fresh challenge to the fleet.

Catamaran fleets around the world are renowned for being innovators in small boat racing, with the likes of the Worrell 1000, a 1000-mile beach cat race in the US and the Archipelago Raid in the Scandinavian Islands.

Socially it will also have a packed agenda starting with a welcoming family night on the Friday, South African braai barbeques and music.

Full details on the Ballyholme YC website, HERE. 

In the late 19th century several attempts were made to start a second yacht club in Bangor. Royal Ulster Yacht Club had been founded in 1866, membership there limited to the wealthy upper class, many of whom came from outside Bangor. Local people of more limited means, desiring a club for local enthusiasts, set up Bangor Bay Sailing Club, then Bangor Corinthian Sailing Club and finally, in 1900 formed Ballyholme Sailing Club (BSC) and commenced racing in 1901. A Clubhouse was built which stands today as the Kingsland Tennis Pavilion. Sadly, the Club had to close when World War I began as members went to serve in the war, the Clubhouse and its grounds passing into the hands of the local Council.

In 1919, after a regatta at Ballyholme, members of the original BSC decided to revive their club and so it was, in 1920, Ballyholme Yacht Club evolved and thus it has been known to the present day. A wooden clubhouse measuring 18' x 5' was built, consisting of a locker room and battery, expanding in 1938 to include a lounge and basic galley the cost being £100. Membership in 1938 was approximately 170 and the subscription income £80. World War II interrupted further development but the Club still remained active, 1940 being the only year in which no racing was held.

The Club continued to flourish in the post-war years and in 1956 a new Clubhouse (now the Cadet Room) was built at a cost of £2,800 which was, for this era, a state of the art building. The old wooden Clubhouse was demolished in 1963 being replaced by the two-storey building that now includes the office, the lounge and ladies' toilets. In 1971, after long and controversial debate, a bar was opened for the first time, prior to this the Club was 'dry' except for rare occasions. Membership had by now passed the one thousand mark and there was further development for the Club when the North Dinghy Park and slip was completed in 1974/75; the single storey section which houses the Jubilee Room, galley, gents' changing room and showers was completed in 1977. The completion of the Rescue and Training Building in 1996 is the most recent stage in the development of the Club.

Initially racing took place in various handicap classes, then one-design classes appeared; the members built Lake class boats and acquired Waverleys from their original home in Whitehead. Seabirds, Snipes and others came and went, then in 1938 members aspiring to have their own individual one-design class, prompted the building of the Ballyholme One-Design Class. Nine boats were built in Scotland for £80 each and seven of this class are still racing today. The class officially changed its name to the Ballyholme Bay Class in 1948. 

Ballyholme Yacht Club, Seacliff Road, Bangor, Co. Down BT20 5HT. Tel:028 9145 4768. Email: [email protected]

(Details courtesy of Ballyholme Yacht Club)

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