RYA Northern Ireland Recognises Northern Ireland Sailing Stars

22nd April 2023

Nominees and winners from Strangford Lough Yacht Club with their commodore, Fiona Chamberlain. Pictured left to right are: Max Robinson, Jack Kennedy, Fiona Chamberlain, Dan Cooke, Sarah Cushley, Cody Halliday at at the RYA Northern Ireland annual awards in Belfast

Eight unsung heroes of sailing and boating have been recognised by RYA Northern Ireland at its annual awards.

The awards, which were hosted by Denise Watson, took place at the Crowne Plaza in Belfast with more than 80 guests.

This was the first year the sailing governing body could hold the awards since 2019 due to covid.

Young Sailor of the Year, Bobby Driscoll of Ballyholme Yacht Club & Royal North of Ireland Yacht Club with his parents at the RYA Northern Ireland annual awards in Belfast

With more than 19 nominations for the eight categories, the standard of nominations was very high, say the RYANI.

This year a new ‘Race Official of the Year’ category was also introduced.

RYA Northern Ireland’s Chief Operating Officer Greg Yarnall commented: “I was very proud to welcome all the nominees, their nominators and other people from the sport to the Annual awards. It is a fantastic privilege to be recognising some of the great and good of the sport at the 2023 Annual Awards.

The East Antrim Boat Club Team from Larne at the RYA Northern Ireland annual awards in Belfast

“We recently launched the ‘Navigating the Future’ strategy for RYA Northern Ireland. One of its Strategic Foundations is ‘Celebrating the Sport’ and the Annual Awards provided a perfect launch pad to enable us to do this. Congratulations to all of the very deserving nominees and winners.”

Lough Neagh Yacht Club. Pictured left to right are: Kevin Cushnahan, Instructor of the Year Nominee, Paul Matthews, Commodore and Chris Walsh, Race Official of the Year nominee at the at the RYA Northern Ireland annual awards in Belfast

Chair of RYA Northern Ireland, Susan McKnight, said: “I am delighted that we were once again able to host the RYANI annual awards. It was great to be able to recognise and celebrate the achievements and commitment of all our nominees, who have all made such a contribution to our sport.

“One of the awards is the RYANI Chair’s Award, the Patton Trophy. This award is for a person or persons who are not covered in our other categories but who have gone above and beyond for their dedication to boating.

Graham Chambers, Killyleagh Yacht Club winner of chairs award, with RYANI chair, Susan McKnight at the RYA Northern Ireland annual awards in Belfast

“This year I was delighted to announce the award winner, Graham Chambers from Killyleagh Yacht Club (KYC). Graham has been a member of KYC for over 50 years; throughout this time he has been an active volunteer in the club, not only encouraging new members into the club but also being active in the ongoing development of KYC, as treasurer, senior instructor and RTC principal.

“He has always given freely of his time to give help and advice and his influence, without doubt, has been instrumental in the success of KYC. We congratulate and celebrate all that Graham has achieved.”

The full list of winners and categories is listed below:

Chair’s Award nomination – Graham Chambers, Killyleagh Yacht Club
Race Official of the year - Sheela Lewis, County Antrim Yacht Club
Volunteer of the Year - Sam Rutherford, Holywood Yacht Club
Instructor of the Year - Sarah Cushley, Strangford Lough Yacht Club
Club Race Coach of the year - Cody Halliday, Strangford Lough Yacht Club
Young Powerboater of the Year - Dan Cooke, Strangford Lough Yacht Club
Young Volunteer of the Year - Max Robinson, Strangford Lough Yacht Club
Young Sailor of the year - Bobby Driscoll, Royal North of Ireland Yacht Club

Published in RYA Northern Ireland, Northern Ireland Waters

Published in RYA Northern Ireland

Tagged under

RYA Northern Ireland

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About the Royal Yachting Association (RYA) Northern Ireland

The RYA is the national body for dinghy, yacht and motor cruising, all forms of sail racing, RIBs and sports boats, windsurfing and personal watercraft and a leading representative for inland waterways cruising.

The RYA is recognised by Government, the media and opinion formers as the representative body and voice for the activities that it represents. It continually fights for the rights and freedoms of its 112,000 personal members.

The RYA has more than 1,500 affiliated clubs and classes, which represent some 350,000 boaters throughout the UK. It is estimated that 4 million people in the UK take part in boating activity annually.

The RYA also sets and maintains recognised standards for training for both leisure and commercial boating through a network of more than 2,400 RYA Recognised Training Centres across 58 countries. More than 250,000 people per year complete RYA training courses.

The RYA is responsible for one of the UK’s most successful Olympic medal-winning sports. Our coaching and development schemes actively support 800 of our country’s top sailors, from talented juniors to Olympic and World champions.

The RYA is committed to promoting all forms of boating and making them accessible to everyone. For more information please visit www.rya.org.uk.

The Royal Yachting Association Northern Ireland (RYA NI) acts for the RYA in Northern Ireland (NI) and the Chairman of RYA NI is invited to join the Irish Sailing Association (ISA) Policy Review Committee.

You can find the RYA Northern Ireland at Sketrick House, GE8, Jubilee Road, Newtownards, BT23 4YH.

RYA NI is a company limited by guarantee – Registration number NI 51945

Contact RYA NI: Tel: 02891 827154 email: [email protected]

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