Bangor ready for action

News of Northern Ireland's biennial event which commences on Monday

This weekend will see a change to Bangor’s seafront view. New boats will be seen arriving in the marina and the event marquee will emerge heralding the start of Bangor Week 2003.

The organising committee have been working for months now to ensure that this is the best Bangor Week in history. Competitors will be arriving from Scotland, England, The Isle of Man, and Dublin Bay to compete with local boats in the biennial event.

The event is once again based at the marina and the marquee is located in the BJ boatyard courtesy of Bernard Gallagher who is also a sponsor of the event. This proved to be a very successful venue in 2001 and brings Bangor Week closer to the town centre. Alan Morrison is Site Liaison Officer and will be supervising the construction of the event complex. There will be a new more imposing entrance to the complex this year, the brainchild of Organising Secretary Gary McNinch.

No event of this size can be organised without the support of sponsors and this year Bangor Week has once again secured the backing of North Down Borough Council and Crest Nicholson Marinas. A major new sponsor has come onboard this year in the form of the Northern Ireland Events Company and this has provided a very positive contribution to the growth of the series. Other new sponsors include Dubarry of Ireland, who are sponsoring the Castle race to Carrickfergus on Wednesday, Octagon(NI) Ltd and Parcellink. Belfast Lough sponsors include Belfast Harbour Commissioners, SeaCat and StenaLine.

The competitors will register during Saturday and Sunday at the marina with Sally McKee in charge of the Race Office. Scrutineering of the competing yachts will be also carried out on both days by John Stewart and Gil Stevenson. Safety is obviously an important feature of any sailing event and this year as in 2001 there will be a RNLI Seacheck advisor present to work with the Bangor Week inspection team.

A briefing and welcome reception is planned for all entrants on Sunday evening followed by live music in the marquee by Belfast based band Spotty Dog.

Principal Race Officer Robin Gray has his team of helpers at the ready and racing will commence on Monday morning with Triangular and Windward/Leeward races for all divisions with the first start at 10.30am. Prizegiving each day will be held in the event marquee at 7.00pm, following the ever popular , but least coveted, Mug of the Day Award which will be presented by Richard Sherriff.

This year the event will also be covered by the BBC team who are filming over the event period for the programme ‘A Month of Sun Days’. So those of you who miss out on some of the action during the week or just want to relive those experiences again will get a second chance.

The film crew are taking the opportunity of filming from onboard some of the competing yachts during the week and there is bound to be some very exciting footage of the racing taken in the course of the event.

There have been a number of new yachts entered in 2003 although some of the crews are Bangor Week faithfuls. Tom and Dianne Andrews from Strangford Lough have entered every Bangor Week since 1987. They initially sailed in Gumdrop, a Contessa 35 which won its class on at least two occasions. In 2001 they sailed High Jinx, an X412 in Class Two. Last year they bought Amethyst, an Elan 40 and their first brand new boat. They finished 5th in Cork last year in a class of forty yachts and have won various events in Belfast Lough over the past year. They are racing Amethyst in Class One in Bangor Week and are hoping for a good result here before heading to Cowes Week later this month.

Racing against Tom and Dianne in Class one is local yachtsman Kenny McCullough in Dublin Bay yacht Azure. Kenny has pulled together a team of sailors from north and south of the border to compete in Bangor Week including owner Bob Stewart. The crew have just brought the boat up from Howth after competing in an offshore qualifier for the Fastnet. They are hoping to collect some prizes in Bangor Week and also use it as a tune up for the Fastnet itself.

Friday 18th July will see the final racing of the series followed by a new format for the overall prizegiving which will commence in the marquee at 5.30pm provided Michael Kearney and his protest committee do not have too much work to do. The musical entertainment will be provided in the early evening by William Byrne followed by the Chevy’s with a comedy cabaret style performance.

Tickets for all social events can be obtained at the race office throughout the week.