RS Ireland, the new trading name for all things RS in Ireland, has rebranded from its parent company MarineServices.ie.

As part of this rebrand, RS Ireland has launched its all-new website, www.rsireland.com; check it out!

The page for the RS Fest is particularly interesting on the website, which outlines the inaugural RS Fest taking place this year in collaboration with Blessington Sailing Club and The Avon Resort.

RS 200s & RS 400s will sail for their National Championships from the 23rd to the 25th of June for their National Championships with the RS Aeros & RS Fevas joining on the 24th and 25th. If there is enough interest, the RS Teras will also join the fun!

RS 200s & RS 400s will sail for their National Championships from the 23rd to the 25th of June for their National Championships

With racing held across two courses led by a top race committee, including race officer Michael Tyrell backed up by extra resources from the Irish National Sailing & Powerboat School.

RS Ireland will be on site every day with spare parts, and a repair team to keep the fleet on the water no matter what.

RS Fevas are part of the RS Fest line up at Blessington Sailing Club and The Avon Resort

For sailors interested in stepping into any of the classes, RS Ireland has a number of charter boats available. These will be listed on the website in the coming days. To register interest in chartering one of these boats, please do not hesitate to contact [email protected]

Post-sailing entertainment will take place in the Avon resort and food area. RS Ireland will host a raffle with attractive prizes for every class, including sails, covers and much more!

For those interested in getting on the water this year in any RS boat, RS Ireland currently has a stock of new and used boats for all prominent classes in Ireland, including Aeros, 200s, 400s, Teras & Fevas! In fact we have a very limited offer of new Fevas for under €7k, including VAT!

Please contact [email protected] for more information.

It’s happening, the inaugural RS Fest, a fun action-packed weekend for RS racing classes!

RS Sailing Ireland in collaboration with Blessington Sailing Club and The Avon resort, are bringing back fun, family-orientated sailing events with activities and entertainment for all the family. From the 23rd to the 25th of June, multiple RS classes will race on the beautiful Blessington Lakes in County Wicklow, incorporating sailors of all genders and ages. The RS 200s & 400s will race on the 23rd to form their National Championships. The RS Fevas will also have their National Championships, however, they will only race on the 24th and 25th. RS Aeros and RS Teras will race on the 24th and 25th to form part of their regional calendar.

For a sneak preview, this is what we are basing the event from;

In a cohesive effort to recognise entertainment and fun for all the family, The Avon will be offering entertainment packages for all family members. Kayaking, SUPing and bicycle hire all feature from the nearby resort. There are enviable bicycle greenways around the lake, ensuring plenty of options for non-sailors who may be accompanying the RS sailors to the event.

Avon will also cater for post-racing entertainment and food in their food court at the inaugural RS Fest on Blessington Lakes in County Wicklow in June 

Avon will also cater for post-racing entertainment & food in their food court, which should have some new additions this year in time for the event. Think freshly cooked wood-fired Pizzas, succulent Burgers and fresh salads!

The 2022 RS Aero Worlds Photo: Bob Stawicki Photography 

For any young or old sailors who may be interested in taking to the water for the first time, RS Sailing Ireland will have some of their demo fleet on locations including the RS Tera, RS Neo and RS Zest for new sailors to try their hand at the sport and test out the latest models from RS.

For those sailors looking to sample new boats and classes or to minimise travel hassle, RS Sailing Ireland will have many charter boats available.

RS Fevas, RS Aeros & RS Teras will all be available for charter for the event.

Stay tuned for the Notice of Race and Charter pricing which will be released soon on the all new RSIreland.com website and on the RSSailing.club entry platform.

In a year that Ireland has hosted the 505, GP14, Fireball, SB20 World championships, some of the other classes have had a quieter year.

However, the RS fleet has seen some resurgence with boats changing hands quickly already in late summer/autumn with sailors joining fleet for first time and some coming back to join the fleet after a year or two away.

Why sail RS? RS is a forward-thinking sailboat manufacturer, the boats are light, fast and fun, sure to put a smile on your face and a thrill for sailing.

The RS Aero has transformed the game while RS200 numbers thrive as youth/lighter teams come through with as many as 180 boats at UK Nats in Hayling Island August-2022.

The RS400 is the original "modern classic" RS boat. It has a wide weight range that combines power & speed with an asymmetric at an affordable price! Just take a look at this video from RS400 Nationals this year (in champagne conditions in Ballyholme. 

The RS fleet is scheduled to have the final event of the year 8/9 October in the brand new clubhouse of Killaloe SC, Co. Clare for the RS200/400 Inlands. The club already has an established RS fleet, with many more coming from strongholds of Greystones, Blessington and across Northern Ireland expected to travel.

Signup is available for the inlands for anyone thinking of coming, NOR, Entry Page, SIs and Whatsapp Group, all listed on the page with some suggestions for places to stay while Camping etc will be available at the club.

For those not yet with a boat but interested in joining the class, there is a Crew Union Facebook page below (anyone interested can join) and Class website here and the Irish RS200 / RS400 Dinghy Crews' Union (Facebook page)

The AGM is to be scheduled at the end of October and will decide Irish events for 2023.

Already confirmed for 2023 is RS400 Eurocup is the epic venue of Torbole, Lake Garda 29 May-2nd June and UK Nationals Mounts Bay SC 31st July-4th Aug with the same event strongly rumoured to be coming back to Northern Ireland in 2025.

The RS event comprising the National Championship for RS200s and RS400s and the Northerns for RS Fevas, 2000s and Aeros at Ballyholme YC last weekend was judged an outstanding success, particularly in that it attracted many younger sailors and some of the prizes were awarded for that participation.

As Afloat reported previously, over the three days, conditions varied wildly with winds mostly in the south but with fickle strengths from 20 knots to very light and, in that direction, mostly manageable seas.

Race Officers were Aidan Pounder from the host club and Sheela Lewis of County Antrim YC on the north shore of Belfast Lough.

The biggest fleet was the RS400s and here it was the event organiser Bob Espey with Richard McCullough who topped the 18-strong entry with seven wins in the nine races.

David Fletcher and Ryan Smith were the RS 2000 winners Photo: Simon McIlwaine

Second were Mikey Ferguson and Phillip Adams from BYC who also won the Mug of the Week prize for (it was said) having chilled out too long on the Friday morning and missed the first race. The Greystones pair, Conor Galligan and Evan Smith were third.

The decisive winners in the RS200 fleet were Joycelyn Hill and Jenny Lewis from County Antrim YC and runners up were Alex and Martin Roe from Galway City SC who made the five-hour journey to be there. The Roes tell me that their Club is relatively new and right in the heart of the City and that’s where the RS Westerns will be held on 17th and 18th September.

Local man Liam Glynn dominated the Aeros with a string of firsts and second overall was Howth sailor Daragh Sheridan with five-second places and a third as discard.

Daragh Sheridan (3187) from Howth RS Aero runner up and John Simms (Ballyholme YC)

The interest in the Feva class at Ballyholme has grown dramatically this season and some of the Club boats have been rented and some are privately owned.

Feva racing Photo: Simon McIlwaine

Originally the Club rented to the youngsters to encourage the class, and some of them were keen enough to buy boats of their own which freed up the rentals. Winners here were Ross and Ellie Nolan from Royal North of Ireland YC, who also took the family prize, with the Ridout family in second and third.

Matthew and Peter Ridout, runners up in the Feva class Photo: Simon McIlwaine

The runners up were Matthew and ten-year-old Peter and third Emily and Annabel. Glynis Ridout explained how the Feva class is organised “In the RS Feva fleet, we welcome family team combinations of say, parent and child as we know how much a young sailor’s confidence can be boosted by this experience.

RS Feva Northern Champions Annabel (left) and Emily Ridout with organiser Bob Espey Photo: Rachel Nixon

But the Northerns can only be won by helm and crew who are both under 18”. So third placed Emily and Annabel Ridout took that prize.

Nine year old Peter and Matthew Ridout runners up in the Feva class are congratulated by organiser Bob Espey (centre) Photo Rachel Nixon

BYC had hosted an RYA two day training event before the RS event and no doubt that served to hone the skills of the competitors.

Dave Fletcher and Ryan Smith had a clean sweep in the RS 2000 fleet with Aileen and Dave Smith runners up.

At the prizegiving, Rear Commodore Sailing Des Magee thanked all the volunteers.

Results are downloadable below as a PDF file

A lively south-westerly forecast for the start today (19th) of the RS event at Ballyholme should give exciting racing in Belfast Lough for the 48-strong fleet.

Racing for the National Championship will be the RS 200s and RS 400s and for the Northern Championship will be the Fevas, Aeros and 2000s.

The event comes hot on the heels of the RS 400 Nationals at East Lothian Yacht Club in Scotland and two Northern Ireland crews who raced there have made it to Ballyholme to take part. They are Paul and Jane McMeekin and William Findlay and Tom McMeekin from Strangford Sailing Club.

Unfortunately, the runners-up in the Nationals at East Lothian, Chris Eames, originally from Strangford Lough YC and crew Rachel Tilley will not be competing in Ballyholme. They were lying first until the last race when on countback, they were pipped by Sam Knight and Chris Bownes.

The Feva class at BYC is showing increased numbers this season, and of these two crews who raced in the UK RS Feva Nationals and more recently the Worlds at Weymouth, Matt & Peter Ridout, Emily & Annabel Ridout, will relish sailing on home waters.

Among the senior contestants in the RS Aero are John and Julia Simms from the host club. John, with Adam Winkelmann and Martin Byrne, were the Royal St George team who came third in the Edinburgh Cup in Falmouth in July. 

Given that it seems that some crews leave entering until the last minute, the fleet may well increase to over 50. It is pleasing though that the event has attracted competitors from as far away as Galway, Killaloe, Greystones and Howth as well as from all over the North.

Four RS fleets totalling 25 boats raced the RS Southern Championships at the refurbished Sand Quay at Monkstown Bay Sailing Club in Cork Harbour at the weekend.

“A very successful first regional event of the year for the RS Class and a great way to get back into tactical racing,” said Club Commodore Sandy Rimmington. “Officers of the Day and mark-laying teams did a fantastic job in difficult conditions to give great racing.”

The Monkstown Commodore crewed the winning 400 Class boat which was helmed by MBSC club member Joan Downey.

An MBSC/RCYC combination, Robbie O’Sullivan and Phil McGlade were second and Govan Berridge and David Coleman from Killaloe SC third.

The 200 class winners were Tadgh Donnelly and Meabh Ryan from the National Yacht Club, Dun Laoghaire; Monkstown Bay’s Richie Harrington and Sandy O’Brien were second and Alex and Martin Roe from Galway City SC third.

Aero Class single-handed winner was Daragh Sheridan from Howth YC, with Monkstown’s Robert Howe second and Noel Butler NYC third.

The Fevas Class winners were the St. Mawes SC visitors from Truro, Cornwall, Kitty and Lily O’Halloran. The host club’s Tony Geraghty and Tara Kennedy were second and another MBSC boat third – Afric Barry, Siofra Deasy and Even Barry combining to crew.

Download results below

The RS Feva offers a double-handed alternative and stepping stone for young sailors, The world’s leading double-handed dinghy for youngsters and parent/child teams. Exciting performance is the secret behind the success of the RS Feva. The modern styling and practical features make it irresistible. The Fevas have been incredibly successful in getting thousands of sailors on the water.

The Feva is known for its social and competitive class, the design of the boat with mainsail, jib and asymmetric spinnaker allows for sailors to develop their teamwork skills, between helm and crew while also developing their technical skills and boat handling. All while still being an extremely practical boat with a large cockpit allowing space for both parents and children. The Feva is fast, stable, self-draining with a high boom The hull is made of Comptec PE3, which is a state of the art three layer rotomoulding system. The Feva is an extremely low maintenance boat. The optimum weight for the RS Feva is a combined weight of 60-120kg between helm and crew, ideal for children between the ages of 11-15.

Double-handed sailing has so many benefits in comparison to its single-handed competitors, developing skills that lead to a pathway and introduction of crewing that sets young sailors up for a lifelong hobby, with skills that are required in dinghy and yacht sailing. Double-handed sailing offers more flexibility with regard to physique, gender and age combinations, along with the option of being able to split the cost. With a smaller class in comparison to common single-handed boats, it allows far more opportunities for young sailors to grow their skills and their confidence both on and off the water.

The RS Feva has big plans for 2022 with huge support coming for the RIYC, RSGYC, NYC and RCYC with the hope of developing programs to get as many young sailors out racing in Fevas as possible this season. The racing calendar is jam-packed starting with the :

• Southerns in Cork in April,
• Easterns in Dun Laoghaire in June,
• Nationals in Dun Laoghaire in July,
• Inlands in Lough Ree in July,
• Worlds in Weymouth also in July.
• Northerns in Ballyholme in August
• finishing the season with The Autumn Challenge in Dun Laoghaire in October.

There is a huge demand for new Fevas meaning lead times from RS would be at the earliest mid-summer luckily Irish Marine Services currently have stock of Fevas and two more shipments due in before the summer season kicks off.

For more information on anything RS Feva, from price lists and information on events to demo sails and ordering of parts please do not hesitate to contact Heather on [email protected]

Irish Sailing President Jack Roy got proceedings underway at the RS Aero Open Day last Saturday morning. The event was hosted by the Irish National Sailing & Powerboat School in conjunction with the RS Sailing agent in Ireland, Irish National Marine Services and the new class association.

“We were delighted with our first RS Aero Open day hosted by the INSS and Kenny Rumball. Irish Sailing President Jack Roy was very impressed by the boat, Mark Gavin who kindly loaned his boat as a demo had to convince Jack that the boat was in fact six years old so good is the build quality that it looked as good as new.

Kenny Rumball reported that "it was brilliant to see people of all ages trying out the boat from Oppie sailors to lifetime Laser sailors looking for something more rewarding". "All came back in with one thing in common – a smile on their face!", he said. The 5 and 7 rigs proved to be a great hit with people and they loved the instant speed.

The most consistent feedback on the RS Aero was around three areas;

• fun with instant acceleration
• excellent build quality and systems
• stability in strong winds

Brendan Foley, Chairman of the RS Aero Ireland Association said: "We look forward to the class continuing to grow and to seeing lots of new sailors on the water enjoying this truly exceptional dinghy.” 

The classes next big outing will be the RS Aero Irish Open, taking place on Saturday 2nd and Sunday 3rd of May, hosted by the Irish National Sailing Club from Dun Laoghaire.

A strong contingent of UK based boats is expected, and there are new boats in stock here in Ireland that will be ready in time for the event.

A short video of some of the action can be seen here. The Irish class already is 17 strong, and off the back of the Open Day, those numbers are expected to rise.

The ‘game changer’ Pulse58 was officially launched at boot Düsseldorf yesterday (Sunday 19 January), and RS joint chief executives Alex Newton Southon and Jon Partridge spoke passionately about the vision for this project and what they have planned for the future.

“We are so proud and excited to have brought the first 100% fully integrated electric production RIB to market — the response at the show has been overwhelmingly positive,” said Southon.

“We felt that it was time for change and to challenge habits, from the conversations we’ve been having around the Pulse58 its so apparent we’re not the only people that think it’s important.”

During the launch, Southon, who is technical CEO of RS, talked through the innovative technology used for the 100% electronic RIB and the hydrodynamic design as previously outlined on Afloat.ie.

From initial design, manufacturing and distribution, RS says the Pulse58 is the product of two years of development and has been packed full of sustainable credentials that compliment its zero-emissions propulsion.

This is only the beginning for the sister brand of RS Sailing, with a Pulse42 currently in development and talk of a commercial workboat and superyacht tenders showing the electric is not just limited to the leisure and coaching market.

South went on to thank RAD Propulsion, Hyperdrive, Hypermotive, Jo Richards, Clive Johnson, Raymarine, Marine360 and Tree Aid for all their work in the project.

Partridge added: “RS was born 25 years ago with the dream of changing how people race and enjoy small boats. Our motivations and dreams haven’t changed.

“With the Pulse58 we want people to enjoy the water in a completely new way — we want to reduce the amount of pollution in our waters and enjoy our playing field for a lot longer to come.”

Alongside the launch, RSelectricboats.com has gone live where you can find further information about the Pulse58, the technology behind it and ways to get in touch.

As previously reported on Afloat.ie, Irish National Marine Services are hosting a demonstration day for the RS Sailing range at the Irish National Sailing & Powerboat School in Dun Laoghaire this Sunday 28 April.

Included in the line-up will be the new RS21 keelboat, with opportunities to get sailing on the exciting design.

There’ll also be a selection of RS Sailing’s training fleet of RS Quests and RS Zests, while a demo RS Aero will be on the water for trials.

Time slots will be managed by the INSS office to ensure everyone gets out on their chosen boat for a test sail of between 60 and 90 minutes. For more details see the Facebook event page HERE.

Full changing and clubhouse facilities will be provided by the INSS ashore, and RS Sailing agent Kenneth Rumball will be afloat to chat about the boats and help out with the demos.

Ahead of the demonstration day, the RS21 will sail to Greystones tomorrow afternoon (Saturday 27 April) to coincide with the RS Easterns at Greystones Sailing Club.