Movistar Bleu wins big boat class by just a whisker

Movistar Bleu wins big boat class by just a whisker

29 July 2015

LIGHT and shifting winds did not deter the race officers at Killyleagh Yacht Club as they hosted their annual regatta on Saturday.

There was an excellent turnout, with 106 boats racing in 16 classes and despite the trials presented by a 180 degree wind shift, a gentle breeze eventually crossed the race area and carried the competitors home.

The benefit of a perfect start was not wasted by KYC’s own Raymond Killops and the crew of Movistar Bleu who claimed a victory in the big boat IRC1 class, just 10 seconds ahead of Ernie Kelly’s What’s the Rush II in second and John Dixon’s Lion in third.

In IRC2, Stephen Lynn’s Mipaal claimed first place again this year, ahead of Jonathan Gifford in Apache, with George Cromie’s Chorus Line in third. 

In the NHC1 class, Grant McCullough in Stardust romped home over three minutes clear of second placed Scampede, while in NHC2, Ryan Kelly in Wandering Aengus sneaked ahead of Colin Earney’s Club Coffee to claim first prize.

In the NHC2 restricted sail class, it was an East Down 1-2-3 with less than a minute between the leaders. In the end the top spot went to Graeme Farrington in Quinto, just ahead of Robert Dow’s Seaborne with Jim Lowry and Kestrel in third.

The host club however, staked their claim on the NHC1 restricted sail honours with Ronnie Crosby in Mad Fish, beating club mates Almaviva and First Magic to the line.

In the Flying Fifteen class Shane McCarthy and Jeremy Rogers claimed line honours in Final Fling ahead of Roger Chamberlain’ and Charlie Horder in The Final Resort in second with Andrew McCleery and Colin Dougan’s  Ffantastic in third.

In the Squib class, Robert Marshall and Ryan Withers from KYC held off the best the rest to come first in the eight boat fleet, also receiving the Nautilus Cup. John and Joanne Magowan’s Flora finished second, while the distinguished combination of KYC’s commodore David Hanna and vice-commodore James Marks claimed third.

In the much smaller Glen and River fleets, Richard Aiken in Glen Lark held off Glen Shiel and Glen Iris to take the top spot while John McVea in Quoile was the winner of  the River class. 

The Wayfarer and Leisure 17 classes from EDYC made a welcome return to Killyleagh regatta this year with Brendan McPolin in Snow Goose claiming the Leisure 17 prize while Gordon Jess in Hart Beat had line honours in the Wayfarer class.

In the Dinghy Handicap 1131 and over class, a poor turn-out saw Richard Ramsey claiming first place unchallenged on the day.

In the junior classes, Olivia Mooney claimed victory in the well-attended Topper class, ahead of Daniel Smith and Philip Crichton, while Colin Crichton won the 4.2 class.

Dinghy Handicap 2 was won convincingly by Catherine Pooler and Anna Wilson in their RS Feva with Jack Crichton in a Laser 4.7 in second. 

The Laser Radial class proved extremely competitive, with the top three competitors finishing within one minute, but on the day William Findlay, from Strangford Sailing Club, finished one point clear of Angus Ferris with Tom McMeekin in third.   

Unfortunately adverse conditions meant that day two of the regatta, the Killyleagh leg of the Strangford Lough Youth Series, had to be postponed.  This event will now be held on September 6.

The organisers of the Youth Series would like to wish Angus Ferris the best of luck as he travels to Medemblik in the Netherlands next week to represent Team Ireland in the 2015 Laser 4.7 Youth World Championships. 

All eyes will be watching this local hopeful as he competes against the best in the world in a 258-boat fleet.

The overall regatta results were as follows:

IRC1: 1st Movistar Bleu, R Killops; 2nd What’s the Rush II, E Kelly; 3rd Lion, J Dixon.

IRC2: 1st Mipaal, S Lynn; 2nd Apache, J Gifford; 3rd Chorus Line, G Cromie.

NHC1: 1st Stardust, McCullough/Maxwell; 2nd Scampede, J McAlea; 3rd (tie) Gaelforce, Curran/Hamilton; Cheval de Mer, Barr/Bowsie.

Flying Fifteen: 1st Final Fling, SMcCarthy/J Rogers; 2nd The Final Resort – R Chamberlain/C Horder; 3rd Ffantastic, A McCleery/C Dougan.

NHC2: 1st Wandering Angus, R Kelly, 2nd Club Coffee, C Earney; 3rd Whisper, S Edwards.

NHC Restricted Sail 1: 1st Mad Fish, R Crosby, 2nd Almaviva, L McCann, 3rd First Magic, A Shields.

Rivers: 1st Quoile – J McVea, 2nd Strule, Edwards, Hinds, McKnight, 3rd Roe, Hicks and Irwin.

Glens: 1st Glen Lark, R Aiken; 2nd Glen Shiel, Gleadhill/Nelson; 3rd Glen Iris, H Anstey.

NHC Restricted Sail 2:  1st Quinto, G Farrington; 2nd Sea Borne, R Dow; 3rd Kestrel, J Lowry.

Squib: 1st Slipstream, Marshall/Withers, 2nd Flora, J & J Magowan; 3rd Blue, Hanna/Marks.

Wayfarer: 1st Hart Beat, G Jess; 2nd Mistral, M Crawford; 3rd Megb, B McDowell.

Leisure 17: 1st Snow Goose, B MacPolin; 2nd Shalso, C Grey; 3rd Gypsy, R Livingston.

Dinghy Handicap 1130 & under: 1st Laser 202055, R Ramsey.

Dinghy Handicap 1131 & over: 1st RS Feva, Pooler/Wilson , 2nd Laser 4.7, J Crichton.

Topper: 1st Olivia Mooney, 2nd Daniel Smyth, 3rd Philip Crichton.

Topper 4.2: 1st Colin Crichton.

Laser Radial: 1st William Findlay, 2nd Angus Ferris, 3rd Tom McMeekin.