50 Years On, RYA Northern Ireland Founders Reflect on How It All Began

28th March 2024

Maeve Bell is a member of RYANI’s Hall of Fame

Last year marked 50 years since the founding of RYA Northern Ireland, and three of those who were there at the beginning have shared their memories of how it got off the ground.

In 1973, amid the turmoil of the Troubles, Northern Ireland had no national governing body for sailing.

“The UDRA [Ulster Dinghy Racing Association] had effectively become ‘defunct’ but there was a need for the RYA to be in Northern Ireland,” Curly Morris said.

Indeed, such a body was a pre-requisite for funding under The Sports Council established by the restored devolved government, according RYANI’s first female chair Maeve Bell.

Her husband Adrian Bell noted: “If you were going to get government funding you had to have some sort of organisation which would be respected, so the current Sports Council needed to have a body. This is where the ISA couldn’t do that at that time.”

The RYA website has more on this story HERE.

Published in RYA Northern Ireland

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RYANI

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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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