Displaying items by tag: Belfast Lough Yachting Conference

Q: Give examples of marine leisure tourism?

Sports: sailing, surfing, diving and fishing Heritage: Unesco coastal villages, archaeological sites of interest, biospheres and historical points of interest Arts: coastal museums, art galleries, museums, wrecks Education: Eco-tourism, field courses, NGOs. Food: Seafood restaurants, Seafood festivals

27th February 2023

Belfast Lough Yachting Conference Replaces NHC with YTC Rating System

Handicap systems are sometimes the stuff of controversy. So what will transpire when Belfast Lough Yachting Conference replaces the NHC system with the Royal Ocean Racing Club YTC (Yacht Time Correction) system remains to be seen.

Cockle Island Boat Club at Groomsport on the south side of Belfast Lough has notified its members of the change and provided explanatory information about the new system.

An introduction can be found on RORC Rating home page, rorcrating.com, by opening Services and clicking RYA YTC. The YTC application process is free and can be found at ytc.rorcrating.com.

BLYC is a group that encompasses all the yacht clubs on Belfast Lough and Larne Lough, and its primary aim is to look after scheduling the regattas that each club hosts to try to prevent clashing events.

The RORC website explains, “Since the pandemic, there has been a boost in numbers of people getting afloat – mostly sailors relatively new to the sport – and the RYA and the Royal Ocean Racing Club (RORC) are keen to encourage as many keelboats and cruiser-racer sailors as possible to enjoy racing at their clubs or local regattas. Recognising the need for and current lack of an entry-level rating system, the Royal Yachting Association (RYA) and RORC have joined forces with the South West Yacht Time Correction Factor (YTC) rating system to develop and roll out a new initiative: the RYA YTC, powered by RORC Rating”.

“YTC has been developed over recent years by a group of volunteers, initially based in Falmouth, but now more widely spread across the South West, to rate the wide variety of cruiser/racer yachts to be found racing in clubs so that they can race against each other easily, competitively and fairly”.

CIBC says the boat information required includes manufacturer's data - dimensions, weights, keel type, propellor, and measured sail dimensions - main sail and head sail for white sail races. If you wish to participate in both white sail and unrestricted races, you will have to have your spinnaker measured and apply for a second YTC.

CIBC has arranged a sail measurement workshop in the Boathouse on Saturday 18th, March, which Ken Walsh and Jimmy McKee will facilitate. There is the possibility of a second workshop on Saturday, 1st April, and help with the application will be available for CIBC members, who are asked to inform the Hon Secretary at [email protected] if they wish to attend the workshop

It is important to note that the Race Officer will assign a boat which enters a BLYC regatta without a YTC a YTC.

Published in Northern Ireland Waters

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Belfast Lough Yachting Conference

Belfast Lough Regatta Dates for 2012

#BELFAST LOUGH - Provisional dates for the 2012 Belast Lough Yachting Conference (BLYC) Regattas have been announced.

The BLYC encompasses all yacht clubs on Belfast Lough and Larne Lough and co-ordinates their individual events.

The interim schedule for 2012 runs to nine events from Saturday 9 June to Saturday 25 August:

Sat 9 June - Royal Ulster Yacht Club
Sat 23 June - Ballyholme Yacht Club
Sat 7 July - Holywood Yacht Club
Sat 21 July - East Antrim Boat Club
Sat 28 July - County Antrim Yacht Club
Sat 4 August - Cockle Island Boat Club
Sat 11 August - North of Ireland Yacht Club
Sat 18 August - Donaghadee Sailing Club
Sat 25 August - Carrickfergus Sailing Club

Published in Belfast Lough

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Marine Leisure & Aquatic Tourism

Domestic coastal tourism expenditure was approximately €698 million in 2018, while domestic marine tourism generated €381 million.

Activities such as walking/ running along the coast, swimming and beach visitations are among the most popular activities for domestic visitors on both day and overnight trips.

While participation rates in pursuits such as bird and wildlife watching in coastal areas and visiting nature reserves, etc. in coastal areas were lower, these activities did see the highest frequency of both day and overnight trips for those active in these activities.

According to the National University of Galway (NUIG) research the average expenditure per coastal day trip in 2018 was calculated at €95. The equivalent for coastal overnight trips was €310. The estimated water-based activity expenditure per person per trip across the sample was €56 rising to €73 for the subsample that actually undertake waterbased activities on their coastal visits. The results also indicate that domestic tourists undertake the majority of their marine activities on the West and South coasts of Ireland and that there are notable differences in participation rates across age groupings, social classes and by family makeup.

A domestic tourist is defined in this report as a person who spends at least one night away from home on their trip. Total expenditure by domestic tourists in coastal areas was estimated to be €698 million in 2018, which represents 35% of the total expenditure by domestic tourists (using the broader Fáilte Ireland measure for domestic tourists that includes business trips equating to 10.92 million in total trips and €2,006 million in total revenue).

The marine-related activity expenditure, or what might truly be referred to as domestic marine tourism, is estimated to generate revenue of €381 million with €172 million being spent on water-based activities. Marine tourism makes up an estimated 19% of total domestic tourism expenditure.

Marine Leisure Tourism - FAQ

What is marine leisure tourism?

Coastal tourism refers to land-based and water-based tourism activities taking place on the coast for which the proximity to the sea is a condition including also their respective services. Coastal and Marine Tourism & Leisure are seen as one of the Blue Economy (BE) sectors that can help unlock the potential of multi-use of space at sea by engaging with Blue Growth (BG) sectors such as Aquaculture and Marine Renewable Energy among others.

Give examples of marine leisure tourism?

Sports: sailing, surfing, diving and fishing Heritage: Unesco coastal villages, archaeological sites of interest, biospheres and historical points of interest Arts: coastal museums, art galleries, museums, wrecks Education: Eco-tourism, field courses, NGOs. Food: Seafood restaurants, Seafood festivals

What marine leisure tourism studies have been conducted in Ireland?

NUI Galway carried out a survey of domestic residents in Ireland in 2019 as part of a survey entitled "Valuing and understanding the dynamics of Ireland's Ocean Economy". The purpose of the household survey was to profile the domestic market for single-day trips (leisure) and overnight trips (tourism) for coastal and marine-related activities in Ireland. The results of the survey are also used to estimate what proportion of an Irish resident's total domestic tourism expenditure is in coastal areas (coastal tourism) and what proportion is spent on undertaking marine-related activities (marine tourism).

What were the results of the NUI marine leisure tourism study?

The NUI results highlight the important contribution that Ireland's marine and coastal resources make to the leisure experiences of the general population and the importance of the domestic tourism market to local coastal economies. The analysis indicates that domestic coastal tourism expenditure was approximately €698 million in 2018, while domestic marine tourism generated €381 million. Activities such as walking/ running along the coast, swimming and beach visitations are among the most popular activities for domestic visitors on both day and overnight trips. While participation rates in pursuits such as bird and wildlife watching in coastal areas and visiting nature reserves, etc. in coastal areas were lower, these activities did see the highest frequency of both day and overnight trips for those active in these activities. Satisfaction with the available marine-related leisure facilities was also found to be very high across all activities.