Richard Honeyford

Richard has been the Chief Operating Officer for RYA Northern Ireland since 2017. He has sailed since childhood and gone on to win a number on Irish National titles in Toppers and Lasers.  He also went on to represent Ireland in the Laser class at the ISAF Youth Worlds in 1997 and 1998.   Academically, he qualified as a Modern Languages Teacher and professionally has worked as an instructor in a number of training centres and went on to become a racing coach at national and international level.

Richard has been with the RYA Northern Ireland since 2005, where he began as a coach and then became Performance Manager for over 10 years.  Developing the performance pathway, he saw Northern Irish athletes win 15 World and European medals from junior to senior level and also coached James Espey at the London 2012 Olympics in the Laser class.  He now enjoys windsurfing, getting on the water with his 2 daughters and competes on the Irish Windsurf Association’s slalom series, when time allows.