IRC Northern Ireland Championship 2026 at Carrickfergus Sailing Club

IRC Northern Ireland Championship at Carrickfergus © Ryan Wilson Video

Last weekend Carrickfergus Sailing Club hosted the GBR IRC Northern Ireland Championship as part of their annual regatta. 18 boats entered with 12 in IRC/YTC 1 and 6 in IRC/YTC2.

Racing began on Saturday morning with a Windward Leeward Race in 10-12 knots of breeze from the south. In class 1 Victric 3 and Final Call II had a close dual, with Victric 3 taking the win. In class 2 racing was extremely close between Hellaby Puffin, Symmetry and Squawk, all finishing within 10 seconds on corrected time, with Hellaby Puffin scraping the win.

Race 2 saw a 10 mile coastal for both fleets, with breeze filling in; this became a faster race than expected with gusts of 19-20knots. Fleets had two tricky reaches, with sail inventories being tested with some boats opting for Code Zeros, Symmetrical kites or Jibs.

IRC Northern Ireland Championship at Carrickfergus - photo © Ryan Wilson Video

In YTC 1, the VX One's dominated due to the reaching legs, with Sheep Dawg taking the win and Vixen in second. A35 Succession sailed a fantastic first beat, leading by over a minute on the water by the windward mark, but got pipped by sistership Final Call II later in the race. In IRC 2, Endeavour led the fleet over the line, with Symmetry taking the win on corrected time.

With most competitors ashore, they were greeted with bags of free beers, soft drinks and Haribo delivered to their boat on arrival, before heading to the Regatta Tea, equipped with the traditional brass band.

IRC Northern Ireland Championship at Carrickfergus - photo © Ryan Wilson Video

Sunday saw a lot of rain, but a steady 8-12 knots from the South East. The race committee made clear their intentions to run 4 Windward Leewards. Racing started on time, with 3 races ran in similar conditions. In IRC1 Final Call II had a clean sweep of bullets, with the largest boat in the fleet Spirit of Jacana became the 3rd boat to get a 2nd place in race 3, with event director Ryan Wilson taking 2nd in race 4 in Elixir. Victric 3 took the 2nd place in the podium in both race 5 and 6.

IRC 2 saw close racing between the whole fleet, with Quarter Tonners Hellaby Puffin and Symmetry taking 2 1st's each for the day.

Race 4 got a bit funky, with a replacement committee boat due to a smoking battery, followed by a 180 degree shift of breeze on the first downwind of the race. This offered a bit of a reset, but with racing being so close, nobody paid or lost massively from this so the race continued. Elixir was first over the line, but unfortunately to the sound of silence as they had been OCS.

IRC Northern Ireland Championship at Carrickfergus - photo © Ryan Wilson Video

Prize giving took place after a protest in IRC 2. Thanks to North Sails who provided a selection of hats, kit bags for the winners. Congratulations to IRC winners Final Call II and Hellaby Puffin, and YTC Winners Victric 3 and Hellaby Puffin. Final Call II took the overall event win with a 2,1,1,1,1,1 score card, taking home a 20% of voucher for a new North Sails sail.

The event returns to RUYC for its third year in 2027 on the weekend of the 26th / 27th June.

Full results

IRC Northern Ireland Championship at Carrickfergus - photo © Ryan Wilson Video

IRC 1 Results:

IRC 2 Results:

YTC 1 Results:

YTC 2 Results: