Cancer charity is the winner after Killyleagh event

Cancer charity is the winner after Killyleagh event

29 May 2013

MIGHTY Neptune smiled on Killyleagh Yacht Club this weekend when they hosted their annual Sail4Cancer fund raising regatta in a new two-day format.

Despite a worrying forecast of very light winds, the event was blessed with moderate to strong southerly winds and the 33 competitors enjoyed sailing in wall to wall sunshine for the first time this year.

Saturday’s racing consisted of two Olympic windward-leeward courses and the six fleets powered around the course in the strong southerly breeze.

Consistency was the order of the day in many of the classes on Saturday and Ernie Kelly in What’s the Rush II dominated the big boat IRC1 class, with two firsts, while Straiddorn of Down under James Heron and Raymond Beattie’s Tiger Lily achieved the same in their respective classes.

Don and Steven Bridges also showed their mastery in their first races this year, launching on Saturday morning to sail straight to the start line and on to achieve back-to-back wins.

The welcome return of the Flying Fifteen fleet to this event saw Brian McKee and Stevie Martin in Stiffler’s Mom lift two first places, while Shane McCarthy claimed two seconds. Gerry Reilly in Over the Moon and Roger Chamberlain in The Last Resort battled for third place overall but on the day a third in the final race on Saturday saw newly-crowned Northern champion, Gerry Reilly lift a Sail4Cancer third.

The most competitive racing on Saturday came from the IRC2 fleet, with the three forerunners all finishing on six points apiece.

Stuart Cranston’s Fifty Shades and Jonathan Gifford’s Apache finished the day with a first and a third, while Killyleagh’s George Cromie in Chorus Line split the difference with two seconds, leaving all to play for moving into the last race.

The final race on Sunday proved decisive for IRC2 as confusion with the course left Jonathan Gifford’s Apache the only finisher and the overall winner. By virtue of the previous day’s results, Stuart Cranston in Fifty Shades finished second overall while George Cromie claimed third place.

KYC’s Tiger Lily and Firecracker both continued their winning form from the previous day, not only taking the race on Sunday, but the series prizes in the PY1 and Squib classes respectively.

Barr & Bowsie in Cheval de Mer took second overall in PY1 while in the Squib class second place went to Gary Shields in Mikado. Kyle Bolton pulled his brother Ross out of retirement on Sunday to reunite a partnership from the days of the Lightnings at KYC and sailed to third place overall in the Squib class.

In PY2, the conditions were perfect for Mark Bridges’ Extreme who claimed first place on the day, ahead of James Heron in Straiddorn of Down but overall, with two firsts carried forward from the day before, it was Straiddorn who claimed the victory.

A consistent performance over the two days saw Moonshadow under Jones/McNamara take second overall, with Colin Patterson’s Digit in third.

In IRC1, Raymond Killops and his crew in Movistar Bleu romped home to win, with last year’s winner, Dermot Hinds in Hindsight II, claiming second. Le Basculer under Mike Spence raced into third place.

However, fourth on the day was good enough to put Ernie Kelly and his crew on What’s the Rush II into first place overall. Killops’ Movistar Bleu finished in second place, while Hindsight II achieved a comfortable third place in the class.

While competitors enjoyed the excellent racing provided by race officers David Young and Scott Rodgers, the real purpose of this series was to raise funds for the very worthwhile Sail4Cancer charity .

They were the real winners again this year, with a excellent £800 raised from the two days.

The organisers would like to thank Erindar for their very generous sponsorship of this year’s event.

Their generosity, coupled with the many donations the event received from competitors and spectators alike, has allowed this magnificent sum to be raised.

IRC 1 overall result: 1st What’s the Rush II, E Kelly; 2nd Movistar Bleu, R Killops; 3rd Hindsight II, D Hinds.

IRC 2: 1st Apache, J Gifford; 2nd Fifty Shades, S Cranston; 3rd Chorus Line, G Cromie.

PY 1: 1st Tiger Lily, R Beattie; 2nd Cheval De Mer, Barr/Bowsie.

PY 2: 1st Straiddorn of Down, J Heron; 2nd Moonshadow, McNamara/Jones; 3rd Digit, C Patterson.

Squibs: 1st Firecracker, D & S Bridges; 2nd Mikado, G Shields; 3rd Allsorts, R & S Bolton.

Flying Fifteens: 1st Stiffler’s Mom, B McKee; 2nd Final Fling, S McCarthy; 3rd Over the Moon, G Reilly.