Irish RS Northerns at Carrickfergus Sailing Club sponsored by Mortgage and Financial Guidance Ltd

by Robert Hastings 24 Apr 06:53 BST 18-19 April 2026

The first of the RS Ireland Traveller Series kicked off in style last weekend at Carrickfergus Sailing Club on the north shore of Belfast Lough. With the combined fleets of the RS Aero, RS Feva, RS200 & RS400s, the turnout was the biggest we have achieved in years attracting 53 boats from across the length and breadth of Ireland which was fantastic to see.

The forecast for Saturday was for a base breeze of around 12 knots from the west. What we received on the day was 12+ knots from the north, bouncing and rolling down the hills behind Carrickfergus creating a lot of shiftiness and periodic horizontal icy cold rain showers.

With four separate fleets, the trapezoid course was used with the Aeros and Fevas on the outer loop. After a bit of jiggery pokery with the course under the command of RO Sheela Lewis, the fleets got away without too much delay. In the 8 strong Fevas fleet, Ellen Nolan & Niamh Coman won the 1st and 3rd races and Leo West-Hurst & Ben McCaldin won race 2. In the 13 strong Aero class, Daragh Sherridan, Sophie Crosbie and Noel Buttler each took bullets.

In the 400s, Peter Kennedy & Stephen Kane controlled race one with a strong win. Uncle Liam Donnelly's day was cut short after race one when his spinnaker pole broke after getting a bit too close to the committee boat on the finish line. Gareth Flannigan & Knox Wilson won races 2 & 3.

In the RS200s, veteran Frank O'Rourke and his son Kevin controlled the day with three straight bullets. By the time race three got under way, it was complete survival mode as the wind just kept on building to mid to high 20 knot gusts. Every direction you looked there were rescue boats buzzing about tending to upside down boats. There were many retirements and good number of gear failures throughout the fleets.

There had been talk of a fourth race happening on the Saturday as the forecast for Sunday was light, but to the relief of the tired crews, RO Shiela Lewis decided enough was enough and sent everyone in after a very cold but lively day on the water.

On Saturday evening Carrick treated us all to a huge BBQ, live music and a lot of good craic well into the small hours... some crews were not seen the next morning!

Not many people had any hope for racing on Sunday, but on arrival at the club, there was a small breeze and enough to go racing. With the majority of the crews on the water, the Aeros and Feva escaped the start line and sailed around the windward mark, closely followed by the 400s. The 200s were lining up for their start when the race was stopped for the 200s & 400s. RO Sheela abandoned the race as the wind had spun around a full 180 degrees, every race officer's nightmare.

After a while trying to set the courses, the 400s held racing up for the other fleets as they misbehaved on the start line. Eventually under the black flag they set off into an easterly breeze. Flannigan & Wilson showed everyone how to do it with two firsts and a second to win the day. Special mention should be given to Ross Nolan (feva dad) who stepped into a 400 with Rose White as the boat owner Brian Holmes was sick. Ross managed to put in a great show being at the sharp end of the fleet, often leading.

In the RS200s, overnight leaders O'Rourke father and son duo did not get their way. New to the fleet from the Feva fleet, the Ridout sisters showed they knew what they were doing with two firsts in race 4 and 6, Jakob Ozarek & Amy Stocking won race 5.

In the Aeros, Noel Buttler put on a master class and showed clean heals with three bullets.

Lastly in the Feva Fleet, there were three separate winners, West-Hurst & McCaldin winning race 4, Nolan & Coman winning race 5 and Dadley-Young & Nixon winning race three.

After two long, cold but enjoyable days on the water, the winners were:

RS400s
1st Gareth Flannigan (Ballyholme YC) & Knox Wilson (East Down YC)
2nd Stephen McLearnon & Jake Miller (Carrickfergus SC)
3rd Peter Kennedy & Stephen Kane (Strangford Lough YC & RNIYC)

RS200s
1st Frank & Kevin O'Rourke (Greystone SC)
2nd Jakob Ozark & Amy Stocking (East Down YC)
3rd Matt & Peter Ridout (Ballyholme YC)

RS Fevas
1st Leo West-Hurst (Ballyholme YC) & Ben McCaldin (Lough Erne YC)
2nd Ellie Nolan & Niamh Coman (RNIYC)
3rd Jessica Dadley-Young & Sally Nixon (Ballyholme YC)

RS Aeros
1st Noel Butler (National YC)
2nd Sophie Crosbie (Royal Cork YC)
3rd Daragh Sheridan (Howth YC)

A huge thank you to all the members and volunteers at Carrickfergus Sailing Club for hosting the first event of the season and to the sponsor M&FG. The event was very well organised and I am sure that the RS fleets will be back to Carrickfergus in the near future.

The next event in the traveller series will be the RS Easterns at Greystone Sailing Club on 16th & 17th May.

Overall Results:

Pos	Sail No	Club(s)	Helm	Crew	Age Category	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6	Pts
RS 200 Fleet
1st	781	Greystones Sailing Club	Frank O'Rourke	Kevin O'Rourke	Seniors	1	1	1	‑5	3	4	10
2nd	1315	East Down Yacht Club	Jakub Ozarek	Abbie Stocking	Junior/Students	‑3	2	2	3	1	3	11
3rd	1240	Ballyholme Yacht Club	Matthew Ridout	Peter Ridout	Seniors	‑6	4	4	4	2	2	16
4th	47	East Antrim Boat Club	Joshua Kane	Charlie Patterson	Junior/Students	2	3	5	2	‑6	6	18
5th	1063	Greystones Sailing Club	Chris McConnell	Glen Thompson	Junior/Students	4	5	3	‑6	4	5	21
6th	1113	Ballyholme Yacht Club	Emily Ridout	Annabel Ridout	Junior/Students	(DNC)	DNC	DNC	1	5	1	31
7th	1521	Greystones Sailing Club	Nate Kelly	Charlie Bates	Junior/Students	5	6	7	‑8	8	7	33
8th	421	Greystones Sailing Club	Keela McConnell	Nicole Bolger	Junior/Students	8	(DNC)	6	7	9	9	39
9th	435	Blessington Sailing Club	Sam Smith	Freddie Nelson	Junior/Students	7	7	(DNC)	10	10	10	44
10th	1664	Greystones Sailing Club	Sean Hanley	Cian Hanley	Junior/Students	(DNC)	DNC	DNC	9	7	8	48
11th	747	Donaghadee Sailing Club	Harvey McKNight	Michael Stephens	Seniors	(DNC)	DNC	8	11	11	11	53
RS 400 Fleet
1st	1259	Royal Ulster/Ballyholme/East Down YC	Gareth Flannigan	Knox Wilson	Seniors	‑5	1	1	1	2	1	6
2nd	1415	Carrickfergus Sailing Club	Stephen Mclernon	Jake Miller	Seniors	2	6	5	‑7	1	2	16
3rd	1522	Royal North of Ireland/Strangford Lough	Peter Kennedy	Stephen Kane	Seniors	1	3	2	‑17	6	5	17
4th	1530	Newcastle YC/Carrickfergus SC	Luke McIlwaine	Ryan Wilson	Seniors	3	2	3	6	(DNC)	7	21
5th	741	Carrick SC/East Antrim BC/County Antrim	Jocelyn Hill	Rowan Berry	Seniors	4	‑12	6	8	5	6	29
6th	1366	Strangford Lough/Ballyholme YC	Hammy Baker	Charlotte Eadie	Seniors	10	4	4	5	‑12	9	32
7th	877	Strangford Sailing Club	William Findlay	Tom McMeekin	Seniors	8	5	(DNF)	11	7	3	34
8th	1178	Carrickfergus Sailing Club	Brian Holmes	TBA	Seniors	‑19	16	12	2	3	4	37
9th	1353	Strangford Lough Yacht Club	Robert Hastings	Emma Pierce	Seniors	‑14	10	9	4	10	8	41
10th	1506	Carrickfergus Sailing Club	Paul Robinson	Adam Robinson	Seniors	11	13	‑14	3	8	12	47
11th	1440	Royal North of Ireland Yacht Club	Simon Hutchinson	TBA	Seniors	16	9	(DNC)	10	4	10	49
12th	1076	Killaloe Sailing Cllub	Andrew Mullally	Dominic O'Sullivan	Seniors	9	8	7	12	‑13	13	49
13th	1283	East Down Yacht Club	Patrick Hamilton	Sam Kelly	Seniors	6	11	8	13	15	‑16	53
14th	1438	Greystones Sailing Club	Tom Moran	Sam Savage	Seniors	13	7	10	‑15	11	15	56
15th	1405	Carrickfergus Sailing Club	Liam Donnelly	Rick McCaig	Seniors	7	(DNF)	DNC	9	9	11	58
16th	617	Ballyronan Boat Club	Alex Shaw	Elwyn Agnew	Seniors	17	14	11	14	14	(DNC)	70
17th	1452	BLSC	Alan Claffey	Carl Smith	Seniors	15	15	13	16	‑17	14	73
18th	1264	Carrickfergus Sailing Club	Neil Calvin	Sharon Corkill	Seniors	12	18	15	18	(DNC)	DNC	85
19th	888	Carrickfergus Sailing Club	Tim Leonard	Grant Rintoul	Seniors	‑20	17	17	19	16	17	86
20th	1509	Blessington Sailing Club	Aaron Bailey	Mick Byrne	Seniors	18	20	16	(DNC)	DNC	DNC	98
21st	1207	Blessington Sailing Club	Canice Keane	Emma Keane		21	19	(DNC)	DNC	DNC	DNC	106
RS Aero Fleet
1st	4541	National Yacht Club	Noel Butler			‑3	3	1	1	1	1	7
2nd	3289	Royal Cork Yacht Club	Sophie Crosbie			2	1	3	2	‑4	3	11
3rd	4523	Howth Yacht Club	Daragh Sheridan			1	2	2	‑6	5	2	12
4th	3844	Monkstown Bay Sailing Club	Robert Howe			4	4	4	3	2.5	(DNC)	17.5
5th	3291	Howth Yacht Club	John Phelan			8	7	(DNC)	4	2.5	5	26.5
6th	2912	Ballyholme Yacht Club	Des Magee			5	5	5	‑10	8	7	30
7th	4230	Greystones Sailing Club	Paul Phelan			6	6	(DNC)	8	6	6	32
8th	3181	Ballyholme Yacht Club	John D Woods			7	8	7	9	‑10	8	39
9th	3433	Royal St George Yacht Club	Sarah Dwyer			(DNC)	DNC	DNC	5	7	4	44
10th	3365	Royal Cork Yacht Club	Emmett O'Sullivan			9	(DNC)	6	7	9	DNC	45
11th	3772	Royal St George Yacht Club	Brendan Hughes			10	9	(DNF)	DNC	DNC	DNC	61
12th	1022	Ramor Watersports Club	Mark Brodie			(DNC)	DNC	DNC	DNC	11	9	62
13th	3498	National Yacht Club	John MacAree			(DNC)	DNC	DNC	DNC	DNC	DNC	70
RS Feva Fleet
1st	8624	Ballyholme Yacht Club & Lough Erne Yacht	Leo West‑Hurst	Ben McCaldin		(RDG)	1	2	1	2	2	8
2nd	6581	Royal North of Ireland Yacht Club	Ellie Nolan	Niamh Coman		1	3	1	‑4	1	3	9
3rd	2358	Ballyholme Yacht Club	Jessica Dadley‑Young	Sally Nixon		RDG	2	‑3	3	3	1	11.5
4th	3672	Cove Sailing Club	Alex Mills	Eoin Jones		4	4	6	2	4	(DSQ)	20
5th	3661	Royal St George Yacht Club	Philippa Arthurs	Zoe O'Hare		5	‑7	4	6	5	4	24
6th	8279	Strangford Lough Yacht Club/Ballyholme Y	Charlie Haslett	Emma Westhurst		‑7	5	5	5	7	5	27
7th	8174	Cove Sailing Club	Ruadhain Jackson	Colm Collins		6	6	‑7	7	6	6	31
8th	8153	Royal North of Ireland Yacht Club	Bea Black	Tori Gilliland		8	(DNC)	DNC	8	RET	DNC	43