Ten Northern Irish Optimist sailors travelled to East Antrim Boat Club for the recent Ulster Championships on 14 and 15 June, producing some excellent performances in all four fleets.
Nine of the sailors hailed from Strangford Lough Yacht Club, competing alongside local sailor Penny Doig, making this the largest Northern Irish contingent at an Optimist Ulster Championships in recent years.
The growth of the Optimist Class has been a consistent trend over the last several years and all ten of the Northern Irish sailors competing have developed their racing skills as part of winter training which has taken place at Pathway Club, Strangford Lough Yacht Club.
Pathway Clubs receive RYA Northern Ireland funding to support training programmes and the continued growth and development of young sailors. This group of Optimist sailors have consistently performed well in the 2025 season and recently put in a strong showing at the Leinster Championships at the National Yacht Club in Dún Laoghaire.
If you would like to find out more about how to apply to become a Pathway Club, contact contact hannah.wilcox@rya.org.uk
Ulster Championships Results
At regional Optimist events, competitors are split into four fleets according to age and experience.
Regatta Coached Fleet
The Regatta Coached Fleet is geared towards younger sailors with less experience and the competitors receive coaching alongside the racing experience. This is a similar concept to the Regatta Fleet at the RYA NI Youth Championships which will take place on the 13 and 14 September in Ballyholme Yacht Club.
- Patrick McMichael 1st overall
- Hugh Williams 4th overall
- Callum Johan Wijkstra 7th overall
Hugh also won the Fair Sailing Prize for taking penalty turns, and Callum won the Perseverance Prize for determination in difficult situations.
Regatta Fleet
- Olivia Cherith Wijkstra 3rd girl (6th overall)
- Elsie Smyth 4th girl (7th overall)
- Livia Westhead 6th girl (11th overall)
- Ethan Neil 21st
These were some fantastic results as Elsie counted a 1st, 2nd and 3rd, even though she was sailing her first ever Optimist event and Olivia sailed extremely consistently, finishing all eight races inside the top 10.
Junior Main Fleet
- Ollie Gundersen 5th (1st in the Bronze Fleet)
Senior Main Fleet
- Anna Williams 8th girl (16th overall)
- Penny Doig 14th girl (26th overall)
Anna’s performance secured her promotion to the Silver Fleet- an achievement which marks a trend of consistent improvement at recent events.
On top of this promotion, Anna was also awarded the old Optimist North Coast Trophy. This accolade had not been awarded for 25 years, but the trophy recently re-emerged and with that event no longer taking place, it was decided the trophy should be awarded to the top Ulster sailor at the Ulster Championships. This year, that was Anna Williams but it was first awarded back in 1988, to SLYC sailor, Darren Martin.
To read the full results, click here.
Thank you to all the volunteers at East Antrim Boat Club for making the event happen.
Photo credits: Lesley Craig
