New Page 1

Elaine Taylor former Commodore of BYC accepts a cheque from Ashley Holden of SMW Volvo Belfast. Also present Cadet members Ryan Glynn and Rory Flannigan, along with visiting RS sailors to the BYC Icebreaker series.

Ballyholme Yacht Club

Ashley Holden of SMW Volvo, Belfast presented an Eco Challenge cheque to the Club. Cadets from BYC made an application for dry ‘bags for life’ instead of using and dumping plastic bags. It will raise awareness of the problems of plastic bags and they will be re-usable for all rescue boats and Club instructors – a “sailing bag for life”.

'Sailing Bag for Life' Project

The Current Situation

In the UK plastic bags are available free in Supermarkets but they cause a lot of problems because they take so long to degrade. The Beachwatch project run every year estimates that there are at least 45 plastic bags found on every one kilometre of beach covered and that is only the ones visible on the surface of the beach. If they degrade in landfill at least they are out of harms way but the problem is worse at sea.

The problems caused

Plastic bags at sea can kill animals either when they accidentally eat them (mistaking them for jellyfish for example) of if they become entangled in them. Even worse is that a plastic bag can kill an animal one day and when that animal has died and decomposed the same bag could kill again and again as it takes plastic bags hundreds of years to decompose. They also cause a hazard to motor boats which can have their propellers fouled or a water intake clogged possibly disabling a boat which is a risk to the crew.

The Solution

The proposal is that in our yacht club we raise awareness of the problems of plastic bags and make sure that we use them as little as possible when people take lunches out on the water. Having seen some of our visiting competitors use dry bags for their lunch we thought it would be a good to take that idea one step further. We want to start this off by offering people a “Sailing Bag For Life” which will have the Volvo Champion Club logo on it. The bag would be a dry bag which we know people will use and that it is re-usable as the club instructors use them all the time when on courses.

County Antrim Yacht Club

Steven Canning (Commodore CAYC) and Ashley Holden (SMW Volvo). Also included are Stephanie Lewis, Scott Carse, Robbie Coburn, Jenny Lewis, David Carse and Ellen McNally who are all Junior Members at CAYC.

CAYC were awarded with a cheque towards the insulation aspect of their new building as well as expanding the recycling programme at the Club which involves all Members both young and old.

ECO Challenge Two RYA NI Champion Clubs have received awards for their projects Elaine Taylor former Commodore of BYC accepts a cheque from Ashley Holden of SMW Volvo Belfast. Also present Cadet members Ryan Glynn and Rory Flannigan, along with visiting RS sailors to the BYC Icebreaker series. Ballyholme Yacht Club Ashley Holden of SMW Volvo, Belfast presented an Eco Challenge cheque to the Club. Cadets from BYC made an application for dry ‘bags for life’ instead of using and dumping plastic bags. It will raise awareness of the problems of plastic bags and they will be re-usable for all rescue boats and Club instructors – a “sailing bag for life”. 'Sailing Bag for Life' Project The Current Situation In the UK plastic bags are available free in Supermarkets but they cause a lot of problems because they take so long to degrade. The Beachwatch project run every year estimates that there are at least 45 plastic bags found on every one kilometre of beach covered and that is only the ones visible on the surface of the beach. If they degrade in landfill at least they are out of harms way but the problem is worse at sea. The problems caused Plastic bags at sea can kill animals either when they accidentally eat them (mistaking them for jellyfish for example) of if they become entangled in them. Even worse is that a plastic bag can kill an animal one day and when that animal has died and decomposed the same bag could kill again and again as it takes plastic bags hundreds of years to decompose. They also cause a hazard to motor boats which can have their propellers fouled or a water intake clogged possibly disabling a boat which is a risk to the crew. The Solution The proposal is that in our yacht club we raise awareness of the problems of plastic bags and make sure that we use them as little as possible when people take lunches out on the water. Having seen some of our visiting competitors use dry bags for their lunch we thought it would be a good to take that idea one step further. We want to start this off by offering people a “Sailing Bag For Life” which will have the Volvo Champion Club logo on it. The bag would be a dry bag which we know people will use and that it is re-usable as the club instructors use them all the time when on courses. County Antrim Yacht Club Steven Canning (Commodore CAYC) and Ashley Holden (SMW Volvo). Also included are Stephanie Lewis, Scott Carse, Robbie Coburn, Jenny Lewis, David Carse and Ellen McNally who are all Junior Members at CAYC. CAYC were awarded with a cheque towards the insulation aspect of their new building as well as expanding the recycling programme at the Club which involves all Members both young and old.