Northern Ireland Sailing & Boating News
Ballyholme's Leo West-Hurst Takes Topper Traveller Series Win at Royal Cork
4th October 2026 Royal Cork YC
Leo West-Hurst of Ballyholme Yacht Club produced three race wins to take the 41-boat Topper 5.3 division at the Topper Ireland Traveller Series meeting at Royal Cork Yacht Club on Sunday (October 4). Four races were sailed at Crosshaven, bringing…
Portrush Lifeboat Launches to Reports of Kayakers in Difficulty Off White Rocks
4th October 2026 RNLI Lifeboats
Portrush RNLI was requested to launch by the coastguard at lunchtime on Sunday (4 October) to reports of kayakers in difficulty at White Rocks on Northern Ireland’s North Coast. The two persons with their inflatable kayak had entered the water…
Portrush Lifeboat in Daybreak Launch to Fishing Vessel in Difficulty at Inishowen
1st October 2026 RNLI Lifeboats
Portrush RNLI’s all-weather lifeboat was requested to launch by the coastguard early on Thursday morning (1 October) to reports of a fishing vessel in difficulty at Inishowen. The vessel with five persons on board had run aground and Greencastle Coastguard…
Stormont Announces £700k Support Scheme for Lough Neagh Eel Fishery
27th September 2026 Northern Ireland Waters
Lough Neagh eel fishers and hauliers are to receive a £700,000 financial support package in a bid to support a sustainable industry while conserving eel stocks, DAERA Minister Andrew Muir has announced. The Lough Neagh Eel Fishery Transition Scheme will…
Irish sailor Pete Hogan spent 60 days this summer circumnavigating Great Britain in his 1982 Jeanneau Symphonie, sailing around half of the 1,600-nautical-mile voyage single-handed. From Scotland and the North Sea to Whitby, Dover and the English south coast, he…
RYA Northern Ireland is recruiting for three new board director positions — two independent directors and one nominated director — to help deliver its Navigating the Future strategy. The board is particularly keen to hear from people with skills or…
Sailing Clubs Urged to Review DBS Supervision Changes for England, Wales and Northern Ireland
20th September 2026 Youth Sailing
Following a recent change in UK Government legislation, the rules on regulated activity changed from 1 September 2026, such that supervision no longer automatically excludes an individual from being considered to be undertaking regulated activity. As a result, anyone who…
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…
