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
Just a Few Northern Ireland Boats Heading for West Highland Week and the Scottish Series
16th February 2023 Scottish Series
For many years, Northern Ireland has had several entries in West Highland Week, and hopefully, that will be the case this year. But so far (though the event isn’t till the end of July), of the fifteen listed entries, there…
Did you know that Shrove Tuesday was the last opportunity to use up eggs and fats before embarking on the Lenten fast and Pancakes is the perfect way to do this? Not that Kevin and the Bangor Marina staff on…
The Tall Ship Phoenix has been lying in Belfast Harbour for a year and is now offering the opportunity to take to the high seas on a famous old vessel, reports Belfast Live. Built in 1929 in Denmark, Phoenix carries…
Restoring Ballyholme Yacht Club's 70-Year-Old Insect Dinghies
15th February 2023 Northern Ireland Waters
Insect dinghies are like buses. You wait for ages (in this case, years), and then two (or more) turn up at once. The exciting aspect of this is that Insect dinghies are over seventy years old and a testament to…
East Down Yacht Club welcomes Impala and Sonata keelboats to a two-day combined racing event on the 27th and 28th of May. The club is situated near Killyleagh on the west side of Strangford Lough on a nine-acre site, including…
St. Ayles Skiff Racing at Skiffiefest 2023 Returns to Strangford Lough This Summer
5th February 2023 Coastal Rowing
A country park doesn’t readily come to mind as a venue for a weekend of St.Ayles Skiff racing, but Delamont lies on the shores of Strangford Lough near Killyleagh and has proved an ideal base for this activity in the…
Ladies That Launch: A New Women in Sailing Initiative is Underway at East Antrim Boat Club
4th February 2023 Women in Sailing
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.…
Heritage Foyle Punt to be Built by Northern Ireland Student in Basque Boatyard
25th January 2023 Historic Boats
The Portaferry and Strangford Trust (PAST) is a charity, based in Portaferry at the mouth of Strangford Lough in Northern Ireland, which aims to promote an awareness of the rich maritime heritage and natural environment of the Lough and the…
Bangor Waterfront Development will receive £40 million in funding as part of the Belfast Region City Deal. Ards and North Down Borough Council welcomed the news a year after the UK and NI Executive Ministers signed the first-ever City Deal…
A County Down swimmer has broken a world record and claimed two gold medals at the ice swimming world championships, reports The Belfast Telegraph. Grace McLaughlin from Bangor defied freezing temperatures to triumph at the International Ice Swimming Association’s (IISA)…
It’s amazing what can be achieved if you put your mind to it. In September 2021 Rob Espey of Ballyholme Yacht Club bought a Waszp and at that time, his was the only one at the Club. Having a vision…
First Northern Ireland Boats Enter July's Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta
9th January 2023 Volvo Regatta
The first Northern Ireland boats to enter the Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta in July are Stuart Cranston’s Ker 32 from Strangford Lough Yacht Club and John Minnis’s Final Call II, an Archambault A35 from Royal Ulster on Belfast Lough. By…
RS Elite Irish Championship Coincides with RC35 Open Event at Royal Ulster Yacht Club
9th January 2023 RS Sailing
Belfast Lough will be awash with boats over the weekend of 24th and 25th June when the RS Elite Irish Championship coincides with an RC35 open event. Both fixtures will be hosted by Royal Ulster Yacht Club in Bangor on…
The last time the RC35s raced in Belfast Lough was in the 2022 Bangor Town Regatta. And so successful was the class that it can look forward to a stand-alone event in June this season. Hosted by the Royal Ulster…
Ballyronan Boat Club is a small club on the Northwestern shore of Lough Neagh in Northern Ireland, the largest body of inland water in the British Isles, and it was from this small outfit that the Commodore, Elwyn Agnew and…
Good Weather for East Antrim Boat Club Christmas Regatta on Larne Lough
1st January 2023 Northern Ireland Waters
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…
Over 100 'Baywatch' Sea Swimmers Take Charity Dip in Helen's Bay on Belfast Lough
29th December 2022 Sea Swim
Helen’s Bay is a small village on the Belfast to Bangor railway line on the south shore of Belfast Lough and is named after Helen Blackwood, Baroness Dufferin and Clandeboye, who lived in the early nineteenth century. It’s not recorded…
The Strangford and Lecale Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) is looking for Youth Rangers. Lecale is a peninsula in the east of County Down and lies between Strangford Lough and Dundrum Bay. It was designated an AONB in 1967…
Erin McIlwaine is an 18-year-old sailor from Kilkeel on the South Down coast and a member of the nearby Newcastle Yacht Club and Royal St. George in Dun Laoghaire on Dublin Bay. Erin has recently teamed up with Ellie Cunnane…
A Viking burial site was discovered at Ballyholme Bay on the North Down coast in 1903 suggesting that the Vikings landed there. Although the Belfast Kayak Club landed there, too last weekend on their Christmas outing, they certainly didn’t grab…
