Titanic model to set sail at Belfast Maritime Festival

Titanic is to take to the waters of Belfast Lough again this weekend.

Not the legendary liner itself, of course, but a 22-foot-long replica built by East Belfast Yacht Club.

The club was founded by workers from the Belfast shipyards in the early years of the 20th Century, in the years before construction of the Titanic began in 1909.

Its Titanic will take to the city's waters as part of the Belfast Maritime Festival on Saturday and Sunday.

The model was built over a decade ago but has been dusted and repaired for its sailing this weekend

With its home between Victoria Park and Belfast City Airport, East Belfast Yacht Club is only a stone's throw away from Harland & Wolff where Titanic was built.

The company's modern-day cranes Sampson and Goliath overlook the part of Belfast Lough where members sail.

And the club's history is tied to the shipyard, according to long-time member Brian Larmour.

"The club was actually set up in 1904 by a number of shipyard workers, including some of the higher-ups - management types," he said.

Paul has been careful to recreate many of the features and details of the original Titanic

"The Titanic was for many years forgotten about.

"Nobody wanted to talk about it for a long time until (Robert) Ballard found it out in the Atlantic."

It was club member Paul Andrews who originally built the Titanic replica to commemorate the centenary of the tragedy in 2012.

"East Belfast Yacht Club was founded by shipyard men who originally worked on the Titanic," he told BBC News NI.

"I built this boat at absolutely no expense, it was all stuff I had lying about.

Yacht clubs members have spent hours in the workshop to get the model ready for the water

"I'm not a model-maker by any means but I just decided to give it a go and it turned out quite well.

"The Titanic is very special, we should claim it.

"It was a horrible loss of life but we should remember it for the beautiful thing that it was.

"The whole world has gone on to build bigger and better ships but I don't think we ever built more beautiful ships."

Bunting has been attached to the model Titanic for the sailing this weekend

Over a decade after he originally made it, Paul's Titanic has been repaired by club members and spruced up to sail in Belfast Lough again.

It takes four people to get it into the water for it to sail the short distance to the nearby Queen's Quay and Belfast Harbour Marina for the Maritime Festival.

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But it is Paul who has to actually climb inside to pilot it.

One of the four iconic funnels is removed to let him get into the ship, then replaced when he is inside.

"I'm an amateur boat-builder so I thought if I build it that I can ride in it it'll be more interesting than just building a model," he said.

Paul says his attempt at building a Titanic replica has "turned out well"

"I actually prefer to sit in it and steer it because if something goes wrong at least there's an overgrown child to put things right!

"Everybody's looking, thinking: 'Where's it being remote controlled from?' and then you pop the hatch up and the kids love it, it's a bit of fun."

He admits that he is proud of his handiwork.

"Sometimes I feel a bit embarrassed as not everybody makes an eejit of themselves like this!

"But I've grown to love it, I've grown to love it."