Northern Ireland Sailing & Boating News
Pippa VI Wins Portpatrick Race as eXcession Takes NIOPS Titles
16th September 2026 Northern Ireland Waters
The Portpatrick Race brought the 2026 Northern Ireland Offshore Points Series (NIOPS) to a close on Saturday, 5 September, with Pippa VI taking line honours and corrected-time victory after a closely fought crossing of the North Channel. Strong but fading…
Larne RNLI came to the aid of two people aboard a fishing boat after it broke down in Larne Harbour on Sunday morning. HM Coastguard requested the volunteer crew to launch their inshore lifeboat, Terry, at 11.59 am after someone aboard reported the…
Six people have been brought safely ashore following a seven-hour overnight operation by Red Bay RNLI after a yacht got into difficulty off Cushendall in gale-force conditions. The volunteer crew were requested to launch their all-weather lifeboat at 3.22 am on…
O’Brien and Flaherty Win Flying Fifteen Irish Nationals at Carrickfergus
8th September 2026 Flying Fifteen
To paraphrase the astute football commentator who told his audience that football was a game of two halves, the Flying Fifteen Nationals, hosted this past weekend by Carrickfergus Sailing Club on the shores of Belfast Lough, could be described as…
Portrush RNLI Lifeguards Rescue Bodyboarder in Flash Rip Current and Walker Trapped After Fall
7th September 2026 RNLI Lifeboats
RNLI lifeguards rescued a bodyboarder who got caught in a flash rip current off Portrush East Strand on Sunday (6 September) while, further along the coast, their lifesaving colleagues came to the aid of a walker who slipped and fell…
Ballyholme Yacht Club Cadets and their parents were delighted that the Bangor lifeboat crew were able to take some time out from their Sunday morning training on 23 August to present them with a donation towards the work of the RNLI in…
Strong south-westerly winds provided a lively finish to the Thursday Night Points Series at Royal Ulster Yacht Club (RUYC), with gusts of up to 20 knots for the final race on Thursday, 3rd September. Twenty-one yachts and two dinghies took…
Strong winds wiped out the opening day's racing at the Flying Fifteen National Championship of Ireland at Carrickfergus Sailing Club on Friday (4th September), leaving the 20-boat fleet ashore and raising the prospect of a four-race programme on Belfast Lough…
Peter McConnell of Royal North of Ireland YC is “Sailor of the Month (Championship)” for August
1st September 2026 Sailor of the Month
The Royal North of Ireland YC at Cultra on Belfast Lough had quite a month of it in August with the hosting of the hundred-strong fleet racing in the GP14 Worlds. And then, in the very last weekend of the…
Ger Owens of Wicklow & Mel Morris of Newtownards are “Sailors of the Month (World Champions)” for August
1st September 2026 Sailor of the Month
A successful 27-year south/north championship dinghy racing crew combination would be unusual enough in any country, and in Ireland it’s a beacon of goodwill with its own special messages for all sport. Not least of the messages is that you…
Peter McConnell and Aaron Goodman-Simpson’s Karaboudjan, racing under the Royal North of Ireland Yacht Club burgee, scored four race wins to take the J/109 UK National title at Dartmouth. Royal North of Ireland Yacht Club’s Karaboudjan, owned by Peter McConnell…
Belfast Lough’s Chris Lindsay has been appointed Chief Umpire for the 2028 Olympic Sailing Competition in Los Angeles, securing a prominent Irish role in the officiating team for a second successive Games. World Sailing has confirmed Lindsay among its lead…
Three Foyle Sailability sailors took to the podium at this year’s Foyle Sailability Regatta on Lough Foyle earlier this month. The regatta brought together disabled sailors from across Northern Ireland for a day of inclusive racing on Lough Foyle, with…
A new Shannon-class lifeboat has been officially named Bobby Cameron at Kilkeel RNLI in County Down in memory of the late brother of its principal donor, Margaret Cameron. The naming ceremony and service of dedication took place at Kilkeel Lifeboat…
Kinsale Yacht Club’s Ian Travers and Keith O’Riordan have won the Mash Direct-sponsored Squib Irish National Championship at Killyleagh Yacht Club on Strangford Lough. The *Atomic* pairing emerged seven points clear after six races sailed from Friday, 14 August to…
Portaferry RNLI’s volunteer crew pagers sounded at 4.11pm on Saturday afternoon (15 August) after Belfast Coastguard received a mayday call from a yacht with two people onboard, which had run aground on Rock Angus at the mouth of Strangford Lough.…
