A YACHT club which will fly the flag for Scotland at a British awards ceremony is celebrating after clinching a national award.

Iain McGonigal of East Lothian Yacht Club was named Coach of the Year at the RYA Scotland Awards Dinner on Saturday evening.

The awards celebrate some of the achievements and the commitment of people within sailing throughout Scotland.

Mr McGonigal, a member of the North Berwick-based club for more than 30 years, was delighted.

Alastair Macintyre, the club’s secretary, said: “Iain is naturally delighted that the efforts of his team, and he stresses the team, have helped so many gain confidence and are enjoying sailing as much as he does.

“He recognised several years ago that there was a gap in the formal training from ‘learn to sail’ and set out his programme – a programme that the participants and the club have benefitted from.”

The 60-year-old retired teacher, who previously taught at North Berwick High School, has given his time over a number of years to run novice coaching sessions at the club.

The team have been able to help develop new and less experienced sailors into competent and confident sailors who now regularly race.

A spokesman for the club added: “He is a fantastic coach who takes the time to get to know each participant and supports them both on and off the water.”

The yacht club was founded more than 90 years ago and enjoyed an active 2018.

That saw the club attract 150 dinghies to their regatta, making it the largest dinghy event in Scotland, while they also held a successful ‘Push The Boat Out’ event in May, which gave 212 people 266 water-based experiences, many for the first time.

The club was in the running for five awards at the annual ceremony.

Alastair Macintyre (Volunteer of the Year), Ben Wilcox (Race Officer of the Year) and Will Derries (Instructor of the Year) were all shortlisted, while East Lothian Yacht Club was shortlisted for Club of the Year at the ceremony in Inverkip, on Scotland’s west coast.

Meanwhile, the club could be celebrating further as it is also in the running for Club of the Year Award at the RYA and Yachts & Yachting Club of the Year Award. The winner is decided by a public vote and Mr Macintyre encouraged people from throughout East Lothian to vote before Monday.

He said: “This is a huge award that would mean so much for all the club volunteers who put in hours of hard work to make the club what it is today.

“None of this would be possible without the commitment of the club volunteers and this award would recognise their efforts and would be a fitting tribute to sporting excellence in North Berwick and East Lothian.”

A winner will be revealed at the RYA Dinghy Show in London in March.

Vote at awards.yachtsandyachting.co.uk/east-lothian-yacht-club