Tight racing at RS Northern Championships as sailors battle it out in tough conditions
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The RS Northern Championships came to Strangford Lough Yacht Club in County Down, producing some tight racing across the RS Aero, RS 200 and RS 400 classes.
The event, hosted on the 17 and 18 of May, featured had a total of 33 entries across the three classes, with competitors travelling from all over Ireland for the event. As the RS 200 and RS 400 are recognised NI Sailing Team classes it was encouraging to see such a positive turnout for the first event of the 2025 season.
Despite light winds meaning that at times starting a race very difficult, Race Officer Aidan Pounder and his team managed to ensure that all classes completed four races across the two days of racing.
In the RS 400 class, 2021 and 2024 Olympian, Rob Dickson, along with his crew, Michael Ferguson, showed their consistency through the light and shifty breeze, to top the standings at the close of play on Sunday. Dickson and Ferguson were closely followed by Ballyholme Yacht Club pairing Gareth Flannigan and Knox Wilson in 2nd and Royal North of Ireland’s Ross Kearney and Andrew Vaughan in 3rd.
Meanwhile, Newcastle Yacht Club's Erin McIlwaine finished as First Lady and 5th overall, alongside her helm, Luke McIlwaine.
In the RS 200 class, East Down Yacht Club’s Jakob Ozarek finished 1st overall, with his crew and First Lady, Emma Pierce. The gap between 1st and 2nd was incredibly tight in the RS 200 class, with Emma and Frank O’Rourke narrowly losing out on the overall victory on countback. East Antrim Boat Club’s Joshua Kane and Charlie Patterson finished 3rd overall.
In the RS Aero fleet, class rules allow sailors to use the ‘RS Aero 6’, ‘RS Aero 7’ or ‘RS Aero 9’ rigs, opening the class up to sailors of different sizes. At the Northern Championships, the fleet saw all rig sizes used, with results being decided via a handicap system.
Howth Yacht Club’s Daragh Sheridan picked up the overall victory, but like in the RS 200 fleet, second placed Noel Butler only lost out on the win due to countback. Meanwhile, Sarah Dwyer from the Royal St. George Yacht Club finished 3rd overall and First Lady.
Full results from all classes can be seen here.
Following the event, SLYC Vice-Commodore, John Gilmore, said: “We were absolutely delighted to host the RS Northerns. SLYC is really keen to promote adult dinghy sailing and we believe that it is a really important for creating a pathway for lifetime participation in the sport. For our junior sailors, it's great that they see this as a cool, exciting, next step. We would love to see the RS fleet back at our club soon!
“As in any event like this, we relied on lots of volunteers giving up their time to make it a success for the sailors. As well as all the volunteers from SLYC, I would particularly like to thank Aidan Pounder and his race management team from Ballyholme Yacht Club who did a great job on the water.”
2025 promises to be a momentous year for the RS 400 class in Northern Ireland as the RS 400 ‘Eurocup’, British Nationals and Irish Nationals comes to Royal North of Ireland Yacht Club between the 3rd and 8th of August. A large fleet of travelling boats from across the British Isles is expected and entries for this event can be made here.
The future looks bright for double-handed sailing across Ireland, and tightly contested events such as this can only be positive for the sport overall.