Results / Noble Marine National Championship Royal North of Ireland YC - 03/08/2025

Mercedes Benz Belfast RS400 Eurocup, Noble Marine UK and Irish National Championship 2025

Congratulations to Ollie Groves and Esther Parkhurst, Mercedes Benz Belfast RS400 Eurocup and Noble Marine UK National Champions and to Robert Espey and Michael Ferguson Irish National Champions!

Final Results here

Full photo gallery thanks to Thomas Anderson online here for viewing or purchase.

Reports

Days 1 and 2

The prestigious RS400 Championships at Royal North of Ireland Yacht Club got off to a ferocious start before a single start gun had even sounded.

Day 1: Grounded by Gales

Racing on Monday was abandoned faster than a port tack layline, as gusts hit 72 mph and Belfast Lough resembled more of a washing machine on turbo spin than a racecourse. With many planes grounded at Belfast Airport, it was clear the only thing flying would be the scones in the clubhouse. The fleet wisely kept boats strapped down, and with the wind howling and white horses galloping past the slipway, many sailors headed off to visit the Titanic Museum, keen to learn about disasters that made even less headway than they would have on the water.

Day 2: Wind, Drama, and a Statement Win

Tuesday brought more promising but still challenging conditions. After a three-hour postponement, the breeze dropped to a more sailable 18–26 knots, and the race officer seized the chance to get the championship underway with Race 1.

One team seized it earlier than most. Robert Espey and Michael Ferguson from Ballyholme Yacht Club confidently launched wearing 1st place bibs before a single other boat had hit the slipway, an audacious move on home waters that raised a few eyebrows. But the locals delivered the goods in spectacular fashion, leading from start to finish to claim a dominant bullet and throw down an early marker in front of a watching fleet.

Behind them, Chris Eames and Rachel Tiley from Queen Mary Sailing Club, had to fight back from a difficult position after being OCS at the start. Returning and restarting cleanly, they showed impressive speed to carve their way back through the fleet and take second place.

Ollie Groves and Esther Parkhurst, from Beaver Sailing Club crossed the line in third, sailing a composed and quick race…..until the OCS board delivered the bad news. Their premature start handed the final podium place to Robert Dickson and Adam Hyland, from Howth Yacht Club who had been in the chasing pack all race and capitalised to move up to third overall.

The challenging breeze also took its toll on the rest of the fleet. A significant number of boats overstood the first leeward gate, resulting in screaming reaches back in, which the event photographer was perfectly positioned to capture.

Further back, conditions got even spicier. There were some spectacular capsizes, none more theatrical than that of youth team Andrew and Leon Mullaly, who managed to synchronise a double dive through both the mainsail and the kite in what could only be described as artistic dismounting. Their entry for “most committed exit” is currently unchallenged.

Beyond the action on the water, the fleet has been treated to the warmest of welcomes ashore. Royal Northern Ireland Yacht Club has proven to be an exceptional host, offering not just stunning views of Belfast Lough but also top-tier hospitality. From excellent food to silky cold pints of Guinness, the club has gone above and beyond to make sailors feel at home. Special thanks must go to Race Director Gerry Reid, several competitors are wondering if Gerry is also available to organise their weddings and house moves. If the rest of the week lives up to this start, we’re in for a cracking championship.

Jacob Ainsworth

Day 3 - fantastic racing across the fleet

After breezy conditions on the first day of racing, leading to several hours of postponement and only one race sailed, sailors arrived at the boat park with heavy legs and there were certainly several prayers for more forgiving conditions. 

Mercifully, westerly conditions of 10-12 knots were the story of the day, but big wind shifts provided challenges across all legs of the course. 

Ollie Groves and Esther Parkhurst had a stormer of a day, winning all four races, bouncing back from an OCS on day 1. 

Meanwhile, the chasing pack remains close, with Christopher and Rachel Eames in second place and Robert Espey and Michael Ferguson in third. 

The day was capped off in the best possible way as sailors were greeted with a beer at the top of the slipway, the perfect tonic for a long day on the water. 

The forecast for tomorrow is for stronger breeze, so sailors will need to show their ‘all court game’ if they are to be successful in the overall standings.

Peter Gilmore

Day 4 – Challenging conditions- Fantastic racing- Great hospitality

The Royal North of Ireland boat park is now a great place to hang around and chat about the day before, the day to come and the day we just had. Everyone swaps tales of derring do, chances missed and chances taken. The event feels like a family occasion.

We launched into a gentle breeze with a forecast of stronger winds to come, but nothing too dramatic. The wind had other ideas and the first of what was to be 3 races turned out to be pretty exciting with very hard upwind legs and super-fast downwind. The wind moderated a bit for races 2 and 3, but with plenty of strong gusts, lulls and shifts to keep us on our toes.

We started at 11 prompt and that was the order of the day with our excellent RO Sheela Lewis getting each race going, with barely time to get your breath back from the last.

 They were “only” two laps per race but the windward mark was much farther than the eye could see until at least halfway up the beat. That led to hard work upwind, but great slalom style long downwind reaches at full pelt.

From the results, we can see that the score sheet is finely balanced with a great day for Rob Espey and Michael Ferguson, setting up a tight finish tomorrow.

Off the water, the RNIYC hospitality continued with Gerry Reid handing out cool beers when we’d dragged our boats up the slip, very welcome to end an excellent day’s sailing.

Tonight we have a gala dinner at the clubhouse where we will enjoy the fine RNIYC food courtesy of our Eurocup Mercedes Benz Northern Ireland.

Simon Edwards

Day 5 - Congratulations and celebrations

The morning after the night before and the dinghy park at The Royal North of Ireland Yacht Club was eerily quiet, following the spectacular Gala Dinner that competitors, guests and sponsors were treated to. The band played until the wee hours and the craic was perfect, leading to many a sore head.  One of the barmen had commented that he had never served so many pints of Guinness! 

Coming into the final day of racing, it was all to play for up and down the results sheet, not just at the top of the table. Many crews were eager to get on the water to try and get one over on their closest rivals.  The biggest showdown was going to be between Endeavour winners Ollie Groves & Esther Parkhurst from Beaver SC in England and the Irish Champions Cup winners Robert Espey & Michael Ferguson from Ballyholme YC in Northern Ireland. There were just two points separating them and tensons were high.

After a very eventful week weather-wise, we had our fingers crossed that the wind would abate enough for the fleet to get out.  The Met Office forecasted that the breeze would be 14 knots gusting 28 knots from the west and it was accurate.  Most boats were getting rigged, and everyone was changed and ready to hit the water when the safety team put a quick halt on launching due to a big gust. Sadly, that big gust never really went away, so the postponement flag was hoisted.  Espey & Ferguson went out followed by a rib, did a few laps of the moorings, with a couple of spinnaker hoists and manoeuvres to impress the TV crew, before coming ashore.  Even they, who love the big winds and had much to gain, thought it was too much for safe racing.  The final straw was the committee boat reporting that it was pitching so badly in the troughs of the waves that not only was the bow getting covered with sea water, but the stern was also close to going under.  With that, racing was cancelled, and the points from the day before stood as the final results.

Congratulations to Ollie Groves & Esther Parkhurst in first place.  They took home the Mercedes Benz Belfast RS400 Eurocup and the Noble Marine UK National Champions Trophy.  They were closely followed by Robert Espey & Michael Ferguson in Second place overall and winning the RS400 Irish Nationals Trophy.  In third place were Chris & Rachel Eames from Queen Mary SC.  They also collected second Irish as Chris is originally from SLYC. Robert Dixon & Adam Hyland from Howth took third Irish.  

Peter Kennedy from SLYC & RNIYC picked up 1^st Grandmaster and 1^st Master Trophies.  Paul & Adam Robinson from CSC won 1^st Family trophy.  Andrew & Leon Mullally from Killaloe won the Holt Trophy for 1^st Youth Helm & Crew.  The Loving Cup (not in top three) was presented to Jacob & Kayleigh Ainsworth from Tynemouth SC.  First Lady Crew (not in top three) was presented to Catherine Hide from Tynemouth SC.  Finally, Adam Lockhart & TC Mulvenna won the Combined age of under 50 Trophy.

In Ollie’s speech he thanked everyone at RNIYC for an incredible week.  He said the hospitality shown to them was second to none, and this sentiment was echoed by the entire fleet.  Running an event like this takes a massive amount of organization, so huge thanks goes to Event Director Gerry Reid and his team, Sally Campbell from the RS Class Association, Frank and his team on Rescue and mark laying, Sarah & Kevin running the slipway, Brick recording the race results, Leigh and her team in the office, the bar and catering teams and all of the other club volunteers and staff.  Without the volunteers, we couldn’t have had the brilliant racing, shoreside efficiency and warm hospitality that everyone enjoyed this week.

Race Officer Sheela Lewis and her team did a brilliant job in extremely testing big conditions, very much appreciated by the sailors. 

Both Ollie Groves and Gerry Reid thanked the generous sponsors, Mercedes Benz Belfast, Noble Marine, Ridgeway, Rooster and official chandlery partner of the event, the RS Sailing Store.

Moving a few to tears, Ollie’s final, emotional thanks were to Esther, who he said “he was immensely proud of” and “will soon be my wife!”

A superb event from start to finish, thank you Royal North of Ireland Yacht Club!

Robert Hastings 

Photos courtesy of Thomas Anderson www.sdsphoto.pro,

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