RYA Northern Ireland Hall of Fame: Brian Black
Brian Black has become the latest inductee to the RYA Northern Ireland Hall of Fame, after the achievements of several Northern Irish sailors were recognised at the RYA Northern Ireland 50th Anniversary Dinner in Belfast on 18 October.
Brian was a television journalist for RTE and UTV who specialised in filming and writing about Arctic environments.
In a lengthy career, he can be credited for helping to increase public awareness of climate change through documentaries such as ‘To The Edge of The World’ and used his experience in sailing to film in remote and challenging conditions. Brian was an expert in his field and become a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society and a Visiting Professor at the University of Ulster.
Following the tragic death of Brian and his wife Lesley in 2020, his legacy lives on through the Brian Black Memorial Award. This award celebrates the best writing about marine environmental issues and entrants are encouraged to focus especially on issues based in higher latitudes.
Fellow Quoile Yacht Club member, Thomas Trinick, accepted the award on his behalf.
He now joins a small and very exclusive club of individuals who have all made an impact in different areas of our sport.
Decisions on who is inducted into the RYA Northern Ireland Hall of Fame are made collectively by the RYA NI Chair, RYA NI Vice Chair, RYA NI Chair of the Performance Committee, Chair of Development Committee, the CEO and one independent member/Chair.
The current Hall of Fame is as follows:
- Maeve Bell OBE
- Bill O’Hara OBE
- James Nixon
- Curly Morris
- Peter Kennedy
- Bob Harper MBE
- Ron Hutchison
- Brian Black
- Mike Hendra MBE