Action hot at Killyleagh

Action hot at Killyleagh

19 July 2017

MIGHTY Neptune certainly played ball as Killyleagh Yacht Club hosted their annual regatta on a hot Saturday afternoon, with a steady breeze and some extra strong gusts.

While the turnout was affected by the holiday season, the day still saw 80 boats racing in 15 classes across the two courses.

On the junior course, race officers Gerry Reilly and Jane McMeekin, from Strangford Sailing Club, set an Olympic triangle for the Topper, Laser and dinghy handicap classes and guided the younger sailors safely round the two race event.

In the Topper class, the winner was Colin Crichton, closely followed by Isabella and Sara Kelly in second and third respectively.

The Laser class was highly competitive and count back gave the first place to Paul McMeekin with Emma Greer in second.  

In the dinghy handicap class, Philip Crichton matched his brother’s performance by lifting a first place in a Laser 4.7 ahead another Laser 4.7 in second place and a Feva XS in third.

A big thanks to our friends from SSC who helped with the event — we couldn’t have done it without you.

Race officer Scott Rodgers and his team were in charge of the remaining 12 classes on the main course and they performed an excellent job in setting up and managing the racing.

In the large dinghy handicap class Alaistair Duffin’s GP14 Bossy Boots held off both Margie Crawford’s Mistral and Gordon Jess’ Hart-Beat to take first place.

On the Squib course, Simon Watson and Brian Kelly in Volante held on to a commanding lead throughout the race, finishing well ahead of Stevie Bridges’ Firecracker in second and Robert Marshall’s Slipstream in third. Watson and Kelly again received the Nautilus Cup presented annually in memory of the highly-respected Lightning sailor, Eric Sutherland.

True to form, Kenny Smith in Laragh romped home in the River class, ahead of River Strule in second and River Quoile in third.

The Glen class had been campaigning all year for a longer race, so it was a little ironic that all but the evergreen Henry Anstey arrived late for the start, but perhaps fitting that their class captain, Nicky Bloch, was the last finisher of the entire day.

Despite Anstey’s favourable start, it was Patrick Storey’s Glen Elg which took first place, with Glen Iris and Anstey in second and Ian Gleadhill’s Glen Shiel in third.

Results were slowed as the race management team hunted down an unregistered yacht who had turned up to compete in NHCRS2.

However, this did not spoil the day for KYC Commodore Kyle Bolton as he and the rest of the crew of Backdraft lifted first place in this class, with the newly registered Swift in second and Stooriefit in third.

KYC team mate Trevor Hooks may have hoped for a similar result in NHCRS1. However, he had to be happy with second place as the Ramsey/Findlay combination in Self Expression romped home, with Peter Niblock’s Zeelander in third.

In NHC2, the ever popular Kelly boys held off Robert Darnley’s Triad and Curran/Swail’s Escape to lift the top spot at KYC for yet another year, while a massively under-represented NHC1 class saw Frank Pettigrew’s newly refitted Magdaleyne hold off their EDYC team mates, McCullough/Maxwell, in Stardust to take first overall. PSC’s Rock n Goose finished third with Scampede in fourth overall.

With crew and tidal issues also affecting the attendance in the Flying Fifteen class, Brian Willis’ Smooth Gold left its mark as he took line honours from Shane McCarthy and Jeremy Rogers in Final Fling, while technical issues forced the retirement of the Crichton brothers. 

A fantastic turnout of eight competitors in the IRC2 class allowed the organisers to provide a separate prize for the RS Elite fleet sailing within IRC2, with Brian Corry and Tuppence in first, TNT under the Fletcher brothers in second and Brian McKee’s Elle in third.

Although the overall first and second places were unchanged, splitting the fleet saw Signet of Kip, under Stevie Martin, first in the IRC2 class with Stephen Lynn’s Mipaal second and James Murray’s Flashpoint third. It is a delight to see this highly affordable fleet grow again for the first time in many years and we all hope this is the shape of things to come.

With just minutes to the start, Raymond Killops received the news he was a grandfather again, so KYC regatta provided him with a double reason for celebration this year as he also claimed first place in the competitive IRC1 big boat class.  Ernie Kelly’s What’s the Rush II finished in second while Le Basculer under Mike Spence finished third.

Results

IRC1: 1st Movistar Bleu, R Killops; 2nd What’s the Rush II, E Kelly; 3rd Le Basculer, M Spence.

IRC2: 1st Signet of Kip, S Martin; 2nd Mipaal, S Lynn; 3rd Flashpoint, J Murray.

RS Elite: 1st Tuppence, B Corry; 2nd TNT, Fletcher Brothers; 3rd Elle, B McKee.

NHC1: 1st Magdaleyne, F Petticrew; 2nd Stardust, McCullough/Maxwell; 3rd Rock n Goose, McLarnen/Wilkinson.

Flying Fifteen: 1st Smooth Gold, B Willis; 2nd Final Fling, McCarthy/Rogers.

NHC2: 1st Wandering Angus, R Kelly; 2nd Triad, R Darnley; 3rd Escape, Curran/Swail.

NHC Restricted Sail 1:  1st Self Expression, Findlay/Ramsey; 2nd Nik Nak, T Hooks; 3rd Zeelander, P Niblock.

Rivers: 1st Laragh, K Smith; 2nd Strule, S McKnight; 3rd Quoile, J McVea.

Glens: 1st Glen Elg, P Storey; 2nd Glen Iris, H Anstey; 3rd Glen Shiel, I Gleadhill.

NHC Restricted Sail 2:  1st Backdraft, K & S Bolton; 2nd Swift, S Clarke; 3rd Stooriefit, Jenkins/Lavin.

Squib: 1st Volante, S Watson; 2nd Firecracker, S Bridges; 3rd Slipstream, R Marshall.

Dinghy Handicap 1134 & under: 1st Bossy Boots, Alastair Duffin;  2nd Mistral, M Crawford; 3rd Hart-Beat, G Jess.

Topper: 1st Colin Crichton, 2nd Isabella Kelly, 3rd Sara Kelly.

Laser Radial: 1st Paul McMeekin, 2nd Emma Greer, 3rd 209097.

Dinghy Handicap 1135 & over: 1st Philip Crichton, 2nd Laser 4.7, 3rd Feva XS.