Peter Kennedy has become the latest inductee to the RYA Northern Ireland Hall of Fame after accepting the accolade at the RYA Northern Ireland 50th Anniversary Dinner in Belfast on 18 October.
Peter Kennedy is one of Northern Ireland’s most decorated sailors and over the years he has been successful in numerous boat classes, winning National Championships in the ILCA, SB20, Flying Fifteen and Squib. Following his National Championship win in the SB20 in 2018, he won the Helmsman Trophy.
Peter began his sailing journey in the Mirror Class, but by his early twenties he had progressed into the Flying Dutchman Class. In the Flying Dutchman, he represented Ireland at 1988 Olympics in Seoul and the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona where he finished 10th and 14th respectively.
On top of Peter’s successes on the water, he has also given back significantly to sailing in Northern Ireland, passing on his experience as chair of the RYA Northern Ireland Performance Committee between 2019 and 2023.
He now joins a small and very exclusive club of individuals who have all made an impact on 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: