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• 1899 – Royal Ulster Yacht Club, Bangor, Co. Down
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Fine club building overlooking the bay. The Club building is listed by the Department of Environment as a building of historic interest.

Bangor Regatta

27th-30th June 2024

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Three in a row for j109 storm as bangor regatta 2024 sees thrilling finish in unpredictable weather.

In like a lion and out like a lamb is said to mean that the month of March should end with quiet weather compared to a lion. But this is June, and the Belfast Lough weather hasn't reached the lamb stage yet. With not much more than 15 knots of a breeze from the North at times, light weather aficionados would have liked today's racing in the final rounds of  Bangor Regatta  2024, though flukey and with severe wind shifts.

Exciting Finale In Prospect at BR 2024 on Belfast Lough

Patience is a virtue they say and that is what was needed this morning when Belfast Lough was like a mirror and the  Bangor Regatta  fleet was motionless in the Marina. However word was that this forced stoppage was very much welcomed by some as after two days of hard racing and some revelling there were many tired bodies.

Kelly Family's J109 Storm Leads at Bangor Regatta 2024

Never mind what's going on elsewhere In Ireland this weekend; with Shania Twain in Belfast's Ormeau Park, Taylor Swift at the Aviva, the All-Ireland Quarter GAA Finals in Croke Park and the  Foyle  Maritime Festival in Derry, there was plenty of action in  Belfast Lough  with the second day of  Bangor Regatta  drawing the full 40 strong fleet racing in rather more encouraging conditions than yesterday.

New trophy for cruising yachts at Royal Ulster Yacht Club

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Water Sports Contract Awarded to W.H. Stephens Ltd.

1st July 2024

W.H. Stephens Ltd. has successfully won the tender for consultancy services to deliver new facilities at Ballyholme Yacht Club. The contract is valued at nearly £950,000.

 This development is a key part of the Bangor Waterfront Redevelopment programme, which aims to rejuvenate Bangor as a premier city and visitor destination in Northern Ireland, supported by the Belfast Region City Deal.

The redeveloped Ballyholme Yacht Club will play a significant role in connecting the waterfront to the rest of the city, providing a variety of opportunities for residents, visitors, and businesses. The new facility, located within the existing site at Ballyholme Bay, will enhance its current offerings, increase capacity, and improve accessibility. This will support a wide range of watersports events, improve the health and well-being of the community, and boost participation in open-water sports for all demographics.

Leading urban regeneration expert, Wayne Hemingway, has expressed unwavering optimism

3rd August 2023

Stella Kontogianni (AECOM), Wayne Hemingway (Hemingway Design), Stephen Reid (Chief Executive of Ards and North Down Borough Council) and Luis Juarez Galeana (AECOM).

Leading urban regeneration expert, Wayne Hemingway, has expressed unwavering optimism about the transformative potential of the multi-million redevelopment schemes planned for Bangor. As an international designer who has played a crucial role in shaping projects like the £50m Queen's Parade and £78.2m Bangor Waterfront developments, Hemingway was keen to dispel any doubts about the city's future during his recent visit to the borough.

Hemingway's impressive portfolio includes transformation projects across the United Kingdom, in cities like London, York, Crewe, and Margate in Kent. He is known for advocating a departure from the outdated High Streets filled with chain stores and consumerism, in favour of revitalizing town and city centres through culture and social gatherings, with a focus on independent-style shops.

The 62-year-old designer praised Bangor's favourable location and stunning natural surroundings, along with its well-preserved built heritage, singling out the recently rejuvenated Court House as a prime example. An avid runner, Hemingway expressed his fondness for staying in Ballyholme and relishing runs along the scenic coastal path.

In terms of town centres' decline, Hemingway asserted that the blame cannot be placed solely on local councils. He pointed out that the shift towards consumerism in the 1980s and 1990s led to the neglect of the social and cultural aspects that historically defined town centres. He emphasized the need to restore the cultural side of city centres, providing spaces for social interactions, dining, and music, even if it means reducing the number of traditional shops.

Hemingway lauded the younger generation for their more sustainable attitudes and lifestyle choices, contrasting them with the excesses of the past. He drew attention to successful transformations in towns like Shrewsbury, Margate, and Hebden Bridge, which have embraced independence and cultural experiences while distancing themselves from chain retailers.

Regarding concerns about the redevelopment schemes, Hemingway reassured the public that the projects would indeed be executed, but they would require careful planning and a gradual process. He urged patience, emphasising that such ambitious endeavours take time and public input to ensure success.

As Hemingway envisions a brighter future for Bangor, he believes the city will gain recognition and attract visitors once the schemes are completed. He predicts the emergence of boutique hotels and Airbnb's as Bangor's appeal grows, and the idyllic solitude of running along the coastal path will become a thing of the past.

With Wayne Hemingway's expertise and unwavering confidence, Bangor's transformation promises to be a captivating journey toward a vibrant and culturally enriched city, drawing both locals and tourists to experience its newfound charm and allure.

Ards and North Down Borough Council will be receiving £40 million in funding for its Bangor Waterfront Development as part of the Belfast Region City Deal.

The news comes a year after UK and NI Executive Ministers signed the first ever City Deal for Northern Ireland in December 2021.  

The Belfast Region City Deal unlocks £1 billion of co-investment that will deliver more than 20 highly ambitious projects and programmes, create up to 20,000 new jobs and make the region a global investment destination over the next decade.  

The highly ambitious Belfast Region City Deal (BRCD) represents a new way of working between central and local government and regional partners. The UK Government and NI Executive have each committed £350 million and partners a further £150 million toward the shared vision of inclusive economic growth that delivers more and better jobs, a positive impact on the most deprived communities and a balanced spread of benefits across the region. 

The Bangor Waterfront Redevelopment represents an investment of circa £73 million in a 2-mile stretch of the city’s coastline. It will connect the city to the sea through a range of sustainable, world-class visitor and leisure attractions/experiences. With £40 million funding now secured, work can begin to deliver this ambitious 10-year plan, regenerating existing assets including Bangor’s 5 Gold Anchor Marina, the popular family attraction, Pickie Fun Park, as well as significant development and improvement of public spaces. This will deliver on a vision for Bangor agreed by local stakeholders in 2018 – to make Bangor a ‘destination of choice’ to live, work, study and invest in.

There are also plans to deliver a ‘Phase 2’ to the recently opened Court House music venue in Bangor that will include new event and performance spaces and to develop an international watersports facility at a new-look Ballyholme Yacht Club and Watersports Centre. This combination of funding and investment will transform and future-proof Bangor, delivering a significant boost to tourism and encouraging further investment. 

The Mayor of Ards and North Down, Councillor Karen Douglas, said: “This is a significant milestone to an exciting new future for the City of Bangor. As the programme of works rolls out over the next 10 years, this redevelopment of the waterfront will bring benefits and opportunities to residents, businesses, and to the wider Borough as a whole. I am very much looking forward to seeing Bangor firmly back on the map as a place to live, work and visit.”

Gerard Murray, Director of the Department for Communities’ Regional Development Office, said: “The Department for Communities is working closely with Ards and North Down Borough Council to support the development and delivery of the Bangor Waterfront Project supported by the Belfast Region City Deal.

“The agreement of the Contract for Funding is a significant milestone and an indication of the excellent collaboration between central and local government to deliver this exciting project. With the recent planning approval for the regeneration of Queen’s Parade by Bangor Marine, this really is an exciting time for the City. Bangor’s residents and visitors can look forward to a revitalised Waterfront reconnecting the city to its marine heritage and re-establishing Bangor as one of our premier tourism and leisure destinations.”

Having received confirmation of funding, the Council will now work through a series of stages as detailed below before any construction begins on the Bangor Waterfront Development.

• Procure consultants to develop design proposals  
• Engage and consult with the public and stakeholders   
• Secure planning and other statutory approvals   
• Develop detailed technical designs and specifications for construction  
• Procure a building contractor   

financed partly by Belfast City Deal investment

The Bangor Waterfront Development is an ambitious proposal to redevelop a two-mile stretch of the seafront (from Skippingstone beach to Ballyholme beach) with the aim of re-establishing Bangor as a thriving town and prime visitor attraction in Northern Ireland.  This will provide opportunities for the wider borough as more people choose to explore the area and, particularly, our local coastline. 

Key elements of the scheme include the redevelopment of Bangor Marina, development of a “Bangor by the Sea” attraction, new greenways and coastal paths linking people, place and sea, reimaging Ballyholme beach and creating new artwork and public realm. Not only will this work enhance the attractiveness of the area and support wider regeneration, but it will create a new destination, encouraging more visitors and residents to enjoy the captivating coastline in new and different ways.

    Video Presentations

Promotional video for Ards and North Down Borough Council & Bangor Marine outlining key features of Bangor's redevelopment programme. (videography by Gary McCormick)

Wayne Hemingway - Bangor Regeneration Renewed Ambition Webinar

Importance of the City Deal Project for Bangor Seafront (Part 1)

Importance of the City Deal Project for Bangor Seafront (Part 2)

Wayne Hemmingway Discusses the Regeneration of Bangor

Bangor Marina

Bangor Marina is the largest 5-star marina development on the Island of Ireland, which attracts a considerable amount of vessels and has achieved Blue-Flag status. Some of the associated infrastructure is critical for the Marina to operate safely and effectively and cannot be moved, however a level of redesign will enable us to increase the number of seafaring visitors to Bangor and to open up the space, making it easier for people to enjoy the sea views. Our proposals recommend redeveloping Bregenz House as a mixed-use development in a new cluster with iconic and high-quality architecture. The redesign will include additional public access with dropped boardwalks, seating and viewing areas and the opportunity for cafés/ restaurants integrated into the Marina. There is also an opportunity to integrate with the plans for the private sector-led Queen’s Parade development, to create a new marine gardens with formal and informal spaces for events and activities, further supporting the leisure and creative sectors within Bangor.

Pickie holds a host of great memories for families from the Bangor area and beyond.  The giant Pickie pedal swans have become an iconic feature on the Waterfront landscape.  With some enhancements and new features we think it can continue to attract and delight families for many more years to come.

We are proposing the development of new all-weather attractions for both children and young adults, and feature landscaping so it better integrates with the new public realm along the coastline.

An extension to the Pickie Puffer (train ride), that will take visitors from Pickie to the Queen’s Parade area is also part of the proposals.

Kingsland/Ballyholme Yacht Club & Sports Centre

We believe this peninsula affords the opportunity to create a state-of-the-art destination for sports, accommodation and relaxation; a waterfront park to rival the best in Europe. It is home to Ballyholme Yacht Club (BYC), which has been identified as the preferred location within Northern Ireland for major sailing and watersports events by the Royal Yachting Association. The redevelopment of BYC would provide Bangor with a world class facility for water sports and the ability to host international events. Supporting this, we propose to enhance the area as a hub for residents and visitors alike.  We envisage waterfront tourism accommodation pods, café kiosks, and a skate park (now an Olympic sport) set in landscaped gardens. There is also potential for a small cluster of high quality residential development to the south of the area.

The Music Hub

The creativity of its people, from earliest times to present day musicians and producers, is a key part of Bangor’s DNA. The borough inspires and supports many key influencers within the music industry including Van Morrison, Snow Patrol, Two Door Cinema Club, Foy Vance, Hannah Peel and Lowden Guitars. Ards and North Down is also home to several successful companies involved in TV/film music production.

Independent charity, Open House, has ambitious plans to regenerate Bangor Court House as a permanent home for the Open House Festival and a much-needed multipurpose venue serving the town. Through grants and crowdfunding activity, Open House had secured the funds for their plans, which we can describe as Phase 1.

Having considered a range of options for a music hub as part of the Waterfront Development, we are proposing further developing and building on the Open House plans to create a Phase 2. This will see the capacity of the building double in size to include additional event and performance spaces and creative work spaces that will further ensure the sustainability of the venue as a significant music and creative hub for the Borough.

Public Realm

Bangor’s coastline and stunning sea views have been referenced time and time again during our consultations as the town’s most significant selling points – but they should be enhanced sympathetically, sustainably, beautifully and in ways that people of all ages can have the opportunity to embrace and enjoy them. We recognise that and so propose to make a significant investment in new public realm features along this 2.2 miles stretch, making the everyday spaces that people move through, and linger within, as attractive as they can be; ‘instagram-able’ to use today’s social media language. Travelling from Skippingstone in the west to Ballyholme in the east (or vice versa) should be a real voyage of discovery and we intend to use creative signage, pathways and artistic features to encourage more people to enjoy the journey. Particular attention will be given to:  Skippingstone Beach  (multi-use pods for beach activities, accessibility features, feature lighting/benches),  Kingsland  (café kiosks,  skate park) and  Ballyholme  (watersports opportunities, feature lighting/ surfacing.

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Ballyholme yacht club.

We are located on Ballyholme Bay within the town of Bangor, and at the entrance to Belfast Lough.

The location is superb with a sheltered bay allowing safe sailing and racing for the numerous dinghies and “big boats” within the club.

As well as regular Sunday racing for dinghies all year and Tuesday evening racing during the summer season, we regularly host many other sailing events including Ballyholme Regatta, Sea Bangor, and Regional, National and International events for Optimist, Topper, Laser, RS200/400, Multi-hull dinghies and others.

In 2013 we hosted the World Police and Fire Games to great acclaim. In 2014 we hosted the Fireball Northerns, RS Sprint Series,  F18 Catamaran World Championships, Irish Laser National Championships and the RYANI Youth Championships ( for a third year in a row) amongst others. We also host the Danske Private Banking Icebreaker from October to April with over 100 boats registered each of the last 5 years. Each year is very busy with over 110 days of organised racing and training for club members which relies on the generosity of the many volunteers within the membership e.g. the 2014 F18 World Championships had over 160 volunteers helping out during the week.

Our racing pedigree has provided sailors and officials to the last 5 Olympic Regattas as well as the Principal Race Officer for this year’s Volvo Round the World Race and many other international events.

Ballyholme YC is very proud to boast 3 members who have competed at the London 2012 Olympics – Ryan Seaton and Matt McGovern in the 49er, and James Espey in the Laser dinghy. All three have already qualified Ireland and are training for the 2016 Rio Olympics. We are also proud to have a world champion amongst us – Liam Glynn was crowned Topper World Champion 2013. In 2014 Liam won Irish Youth Sailor of the year (joint award). We also have many members on RYANI and ISA youth squads.

Ballyholme is an RYA recognised training centre and offers courses throughout the year to adults and cadets (age 8 and upwards) with sailing and power boat courses, including Race Officer, mark laying and many others. We also have a very buoyant cadet membership with over 40 youth sailors regularly training and racing throughout the year. We also run Dolphins and Sharks sessions on Friday evening during May and June, as well as numerous other family events such as the Corinthian Cup and Pirates Raid throughout the summer.

Ballyholme Yacht Club (BYC) is the home of champions and new sailors alike. It is run by its members, for its members, encouraging sailing, racing, diving, training, water based activities and social events.

There is Club racing every Tuesday evening and Sunday afternoon from April to September and on Sunday afternoon Icebreaker Series through the winter for dinghies. Members are also welcome to race with our sister club Royal Ulster on Thursday evenings.

Members also potter about sailing at any time – particularly when rescue boats are on the water for racing.

Regattas are held most Saturdays through the sailing season in Belfast Lough and a number of Open series are held further afield such as West Highland Week and Cork Week.

Ballyholme hosts, and members participate in, numerous national and international championships throughout the year.

Many varieties of dinghy, day boat and yachts are sailed, including Toppers, Lasers, Picos, Bays, Waverleys, Squibs, Multihulls, Sports boats and Cruisers. Individual boats can be handicapped for racing so any boat can be included! There is a family class so the more people you have in your boat, the more points are awarded.

Facilities include:

• Changing facilities.
• Dinghy parks & winter boat storage.
• Grounds for BBQs.
• Cadet/Training room.
• Jubilee Room – available for club and personal functions.
• Galley (kitchen).
• Diving cylinder compressors – air & nitrox.
• Ballyholme Bay, Belfast Lough & beyond!

In the late 19th century, several attempts were made to start a second yacht club in Bangor. Royal Ulster Yacht Club had been founded in 1866, though membership was generally limited to the wealthy upper class, many of whom came from outside Bangor. Local enthusiasts set up Bangor Bay Sailing Club which led to Bangor Corinthian Sailing Club and finally, in 1900, formed Ballyholme Sailing Club (BSC) which commenced racing in 1901.

A clubhouse was built which stands today as the Kingsland Tennis Pavilion. Sadly, when World War I began and members went to serve in the war, the Club had to close and the clubhouse and its grounds passed into the hands of the local Council.

In 1919 after a regatta in Ballyholme Bay, members of the original BSC decided to revive their club and in 1920, created Ballyholme Yacht Club (BYC) as it has been known to the present day.

A wooden clubhouse measuring 18’x5’ was built consisting of a locker room and battery, expanding in 1938 to include a lounge and basic galley, the cost being £100. Membership in 1938 was approximately 170 and the subscription income £80.

World War II interrupted further development but the Club still remained active, 1940 being the only year in which no racing was held. The Club continued to flourish in the post-war years and in 1956 a new Clubhouse (now the Cadet Room) was built at a cost of £2,800 which was, for this era, a state of the art building.

The old wooden Clubhouse was demolished in 1963 being replaced by the two-storey building that now includes the office, the lounge and ladies’ toilets. In 1971, after long and controversial debate, a bar was opened for the first time, as prior to this the Club was ‘dry’ except for rare occasions. Membership was by now over 1000.

The North Dinghy Park and North slipway was created on reclaimed land in 1974/75 while the single storey section which houses the Jubilee Room, galley, gents’ changing room & showers was added in 1977. The most recent stage of development was the Rescue & Training Building which was opened in 1996.

In 2008 Ballyholme YC was chosen by the Olympic legacy committee as the location for the Northern Ireland Elite centre for sailing. A proposed redevelopment with investment of up to £4.7 million included new breakwaters, a crane for disabled sailors, widened slipways and a new clubhouse and training centre was proposed.  Unfortunately an appeal by Belfast City Council against the Olympic legacy council blocked the process and with the sudden downturn in the economy and “financial crisis”, only the Bangor Aurora Olympic Swimming Pool managed to get built as a legacy elite facility. We still await news from the Lottery Commission regarding the potential redevelopment of BYC and are also looking to other potential sources of funding.

Sailing and Racing

Initially racing took place in various keelboats under handicap. As one-design classes appeared around the UK, the members built Lake class boats and acquired the Waverleys from their original home in Whitehead. Other classes such as Seabirds and Snipes came and went. Glens, Fairies and Rivers were built in Bangor but found home elsewhere at RNIYC and SLYC. In 1938 members aspired to have their own individual one-design class which prompted the Ballyholme One-Design Class. Nine boats were built in Scotland for £80 each and seven of this class are still racing today. The class officially changed its name to the Ballyholme Bay Class in 1948.

In more recent years, BYC has been a centre for handicap racing through PY keelboats such as Sonatas and Impala’s. In the 1980’s a half ton IOR fleet targeted the hosting of the Half Ton Cup in Howth Yacht Club in 1984. Many will have great memories of Bangor Week which BYC and Royal Ulster joint hosted. Throughout the 1990’s and 2000’s only the Sigma 33 Class has maintained its numbers at BYC club racing which also saw the rise and fall of a 16 boat Dragon fleet.

More recently BYC members have been instrumental in setting up the Northern Ireland Restricted Keelboat Racing Association which looks to rebuild numbers in keelboat racing in Belfast Lough with inexpensive racing in older keelboats similar to the old IOR Quarter Ton rule.

In the second half of the 20th century, Ballyholme became one of the main centres for dinghy racing on the island of Ireland with large fleets of GP14 and Enterprise dinghies. Burton Allen and Issu Duffy won the British GP14 Nationals – possibly the greatest success by a BYC crew in a huge and very competitive class while Bill Whisker and Jimmy won the GP14 World Championship in the USA. Youths started in Cadets and developed through the Mirror class which saw Allan Bell win every provincial championship for 3-4 years but denied the National title. Keen to say ahead of the game in the 1970’s, members built their own fleet of Fireballs over the winters in the new men’s changing rooms.

The arrival of the Laser class saw a shift to single-handed sailing which could be argued as Ballyholme’s strength over the last 40 years. Members have competed in the “heavy-weight” single hand class – the Finn – in which Chris Boyd, Bill O’Hara, Conrad Simpson and John Driscoll have all represented Ballyholme at the Olympic Games. BYC hosted the Finn Gold Cup (World Championship) in 1992.

Since the Laser became an Olympic class in 1996, Russell McGovern missed out narrowly on qualification while more recently James Espey represented BYC at London 2012 and has already qualified Ireland for Rio 2016. Ballyholme have has great success at the Irish Laser National Championships – Gareth Flannigan (Flipper) won it at the tender age of 17 amongst his many other National titles. In 2004, BYC hosted the Laser Radial European Championships. Our other recent Olympic representation at London 2012 was in the 49er skiff with Ryan Seaton and Matt McGovern. Ryan and Matt have had great success on the ISAF World circuit with podium finishes at Hyeres and Weymouth and have also qualified Ireland for Rio 2016. Jackie Patton has also represented BYC at the Olympic trial event but narrowly missed out on qualification.

In 2014, Ballyholme YC hosted the F18 World Championships – a rich reward for the strong Dart and Hurricane multihull fleets that dominated a lot of sailing at BYC in the 2000’s when we also hosted the Hurricane European Championships twice. The F18 Worlds saw 16 countries represented with many visiting professional sailors including multi world champion and America’s Cup ETNZ crew Glenn Ashby.

BYC hosted Topper World Championships in 2016 with 200 youth sailors competing in the UK’s major youth single-handed pathway dinghy. More than 30 Chinese sailors signed up for the event plus competitors from 10 other countries. BYC boasts Ireland’s only Topper World Champion in Liam Glynn who won the event in France in 2013. Liam has moved on to the Laser Radial class where he has already excelled, representing Ireland at the ISAF World Youth Champs.

Ballyholme YC’s main strength is our active club racing with regular Tuesday evening and Sunday afternoon sailing throughout the summer for dinghies and keelboats. In the autumn/winter we also host our Icebreaker Series which saw 136 dinghies entered last year across all fleets. The number of fleets change from year to year between Laser, Multihull (F18 and others), Large PY (normally doublehanded) and small PY (normally Topper) dinghies.

This year looks to see a great mix across all fleets with a resurgent youth Topper section training and a number of RS400 and RS200 dinghies after the success of the Irish Euro Cup last year. We also have many RYA dinghy instructors and coaches who are very willing to help out on Friday evenings, Saturday and Sunday sessions to help coach the skills of our youth and adult members – at beginner and more advanced levels. Many of our members are and have been involved in the RYANI Youth Topper and Laser squads which are frequently hosted at Ballyholme.

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Let the fun begin! 2024 ILCA 6 Youth Europeans are Open

The 2024 ILCA 6 Youth European Championships & Open European Trophy are officially underway in Bangor, Northern Ireland, following a vibrant opening ceremony today.

Between 29 July and 3 August, Ballyholme Yacht Club is playing host to the event which sees 358 of the world’s best youth sailors battling it out over six days.

Sunday’s opening ceremony saw competitors from 38 nations come together for a parade beginning at Luke’s Point in Bangor and finishing at the BYC. The parade was led by a bagpiper, which served to add to the fantastic atmosphere and colour created by the variety of flags and team apparel from each country.

This is the largest and most internationally diverse sailing competition in Northern Ireland’s history, which is something the eleven sailors competing from Northern Ireland are looking forward to with great anticipation.

Local sailor Bobby Driscoll said: “I’m really looking forward to this competition. My last Europeans was more for experience and to learn how a Europeans works. This Europeans it’s about trying to use all that practice throughout the year and to try and get a good score.

“I’m a member here at Ballyholme which in some ways will be difficult for my mind, as some people might think it will give me an advantage. In reality, I’m just like anyone else.

“I’ve made a ton of friends throughout these events. Sailing is not only about being serious and ‘up tight’, but it’s a great opportunity to socialise.”

The parade was also attended by Lord Mayor of Ards and North Down, Councillor Alistair Cathcart . Speaking after the parade, Councillor Cathcart said: “It’s absolutely wonderful to see over 300 competitors from 38 nations come to a very sunny Bangor. They’ll enjoy great racing out in Ballyholme Bay which is terrific sailing waters.

“We’d struggle to get a bigger sporting event here in Bangor and North Down, and our waters are ideally suited for bringing these events to our borough. We want to do that in the future and we’re looking at an investment to this club to boost our sailing offering that we have here in North Down. This will be an example of a really well organised event and Ballyholme Yacht Club is a terrific club.

“I’ve been speaking to people who run B&B’s, restaurants and hotels. Our hospitality sector will really welcome this boost to have so many visitors come to this borough.

As the sailing eyes of the world look to Ballyholme Yacht Club , they are keen to keep up their proud tradition of environmental sustainability. For their sustainability efforts in the past, they have won the Final Straw Foundation Silver Award and the Platinum Award from Sailors for the Sea Clean Regatta Award. This regatta will also be held in conjunction with the Clean Regattas Programme as they aim to win the Platinum Award for another year.

The club has gone to immense lengths to ensure the sustainability of the event, with initiatives such as the elimination of the use of single-use plastics and ‘Wildlife Wednesday’ which will feature a beach clean-up competition and Ulster Wildlife talks.

Councillor Cathcart stressed the importance of this as he stated: “We as a borough are trying to be more sustainable and we’ve got net zero targets. We want all our events to meet with those standards and it’s welcomed that Ballyholme Yacht Club are doing their part to meet those standards. We hope that this event will be a model for future events in terms of sustainability.”

Racing will start tomorrow with the first two scheduled races per day. First warning signal at 11:00 . Coaches meeting at 09:00.

The 2024 ILCA 6 Youth European Championships & Open European Trophy  are organized by Ballyholme Yacht Club and EurILCA. The event is supported by Ards and North Down Borough Council, and sponsored by Farrans Construction, Taggarts, Navigator Financial Planning, Lunn’s Jewellers, Fraser Millar NI, Rooster, Ridgeway, WPA Health Insurance, Bangor Marina, Lancashire Marine Services, Print Library, Walcon, BJ Marine, Charter Boat and Sail Coach.

Let’s go sailing! The EurILCA Team

How to follow the 2024 ILCA 6 Youth Europeans in Bangor

Live contents.

We’ll be streaming some of the action and races live , along with daily video highlights and interviews , on our Instagram and Facebook accounts:

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We suggest following us to receive instant notifications when we go live!

News and reports

A daily report with news and results, photos and videos will be published at eurilca.org and the event website .

Instant notifications

We have created a Telegram channel that you can join to receive instant communications about the event: https://t.me/ilca6youtheu24

You can opt to receive our daily report with news, results and photos in your email, subscribing to our newsletter here: https://eurilca.org/newsletter/

Photo galleries

We are pleased to inform you that we will be consistently sharing photos on our Smugmug account .

All photos can be downloaded for free and are intended for editorial use specifically related to this event . For any other purposes, including commercial use, please contact the photographer directly at [email protected] .

Video highlights

We will be also sharing video highlights on our YouTube channel:

• Subscribe to our YouTube channel

We recommend subscribing to our channel to receive instant notifications whenever we upload new content.

Daily results will be published as soon as possible at https://2024-ilca6youth.eurilca-europeans.org/results/

Event website

All the information and links to the different contents mentioned before you can also find them at the official event website .

Event hashtag: #ilca6youtheuropeans2024

Report by Agustín Argüelles – EurILCA | Source: Peter Gilmore – RYA Northern Ireland | Photos by Thom Touw.

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