Displaying items by tag: Affiliated Clubs Conference

23rd November 2022

RYA Northern Ireland Gears Up for Affiliated Clubs Conference

RYA Northern Ireland is giving sailing and boating clubs across the region an opportunity to come together and share knowledge on how best to grow activity, membership and supporting volunteering.

The Affiliated Clubs Conference, which will take place on Saturday 3 December at Holywood Yacht Club from 9am to 3.30pm, will be an opportunity to connect with other Northern Ireland clubs as well as RYA staff and volunteers.

RYANI’s active clubs coordinator Kate Pounder says: “The Affiliated Clubs Conference is a fantastic place for those within the sailing and boating community to come along to hear information and updates and share knowledge.

“It’s an ideal opportunity for anyone involved in a club or its activities including, flag officers, committee members, staff and volunteers.

“I am looking forward to meeting with clubs at the conference, it will be a great chance to make plans for the year ahead.”

Workshop sessions on the day will cover such topics as what you can do to make volunteers’ experience meaningful, and how to secure the funding you need for your club.

There will also be extra workshops running online (7.30pm-8.30pm) during the week commencing Monday 5 December. These include:

Monday 5 - What are the needs and motivations of your club members and how can you provide an experience that’s right for them?
Tuesday 6 - What can you do to make your volunteers experience meaningful?
Wednesday 7 - How can the RYA’s new Club Management Compliance Toolkit help you manage your club?
Thursday 8 - How to secure the funding you need for your club?
Friday 9 - How can you make your club welcoming to a wider range of members?
Monday 11 - How can you increase yacht racing participation at your club?

For more details on how to take part in this year’s RYANI Affiliated Clubs Conference, see the Eventbrite page HERE.

Published in RYA Northern Ireland

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Ireland & La Solitaire du Figaro

The Solitaire du Figaro, was originally called the course de l’Aurore until 1980, was created in 1970 by Jean-Louis Guillemard and Jean-Michel Barrault.

Half a decade later, the race has created some of France's top offshore sailors, and it celebrated its 50th anniversary with a new boat equipped with foils and almost 50 skippers Including novices, aficionados and six former winners.

The solo multi-stage offshore sailing race is one of the most cherished races in French sailing and one that has had Irish interest stretching back over 20 years due to the number of Irish stopovers, usually the only foreign leg of the French race.

What Irish ports have hosted The Solitaire du Figaro?

The race has previously called to Ireland to the following ports; Dingle, Kinsale, Crosshaven, Howth and Dun Laoghaire.

What Irish sailors have raced The Solitaire du Figaro?

So far there have been seven Irish skippers to participate in La Solitaire du Figaro.

In 1997, County Kerry's Damian Foxall first tackled the Figaro from Ireland. His win in the Rookie division in DHL gave him the budget to compete again the following year with Barlo Plastics where he won the final leg of the race from Gijon to Concarneau. That same year a second Irish sailor Marcus Hutchinson sailing Bergamotte completed the course in 26th place and third Rookie.

In 2000, Hutchinson of Howth Yacht Club completed the course again with IMPACT, again finishing in the twenties.

In 2006, Paul O’Riain became the third Irish skipper to complete the course.

In 2013, Royal Cork's David Kenefick raised the bar by becoming a top rookie sailor in the race.

In 2018, for the first time, Ireland had two Irish boats in the offshore race thanks to Tom Dolan and Joan Mulloy who joined the rookie ranks and kept the Irish tricolour flying high in France. Mulloy became the first Irish female to take on the race.

Tom Dolan in Smurfit Kappa competed for his third year in 2020 after a 25th place finish in 2019. Dolan sailed a remarkably consistent series in 2020 and took fifth overall, the best finish by a non-French skipper since 1997 when Switzerland’s Dominique Wavre finished runner up. Dolan wins the VIVI Trophy.

Dolan finished 10th on the first stage, 11th on the second and seventh into Saint Nazaire at the end of the third stage. Stage four was abandoned due to lack of wind.

Also in 2020, Dun Laoghaire’s Kenneth Rumball became the eleventh Irish sailor to sail the Figaro.

At A Glance – Figaro Race

It starts in June or July from a French port.
The race is split into four stages varying from year to year, from the length of the French coast and making up a total of around 1,500 to 2,000 nautical miles (1,700 to 2,300 mi; 2,800 to 3,700 km) on average.
Over the years the race has lasted between 10 and 13 days at sea.
The competitor is alone in the boat, participation is mixed.
Since 1990, all boats are of one design.