Competitors tame the conditions at Sail4Cancer series

3 June 2015

KILLYLEAGH Yacht Club’s annual Sail4Cancer series was another outstanding success.

Racing took place over two weekends and

consisted of traditional round the cans courses combined with Olympic windward leeward

courses.

Week one wreaked havoc with the entry list as monstrous gusts made conditions very tricky for the competitors, but left the field wide open for better conditions in week two.

In IRC1, consistency counted and it was Ernie Kelly in What’s the Rush II who lifted first place overall ahead of Mike Spence in Le Basculer and Raymond Killop’s Movistar Bleu.

In the NHC1 fleet, dedication meant Jessie Murray and Flashpoint lifted the overall prize, while Raymond Beattie’s strong performance in the last two races put Tiger Lily into second overall, ahead of Jonathan Gifford’s Apache in third.

A disappointing turnout in NHC2 left Kim McCourt and Stephen Tate’s Romparound unchallenged as they romped home to an overall first in their class.

Quoile Yacht Club tried to dominate the restricted sail class, with James Heron and Straiddorn of Down taking third while, club mate Jeff Baker and Trinity finished second overall.

It was, however, a delighted Trevor Hooks in Nik Nak whose first place in the final race, cemented his dominance of this class.

In the Squib class, the competition was hot and heavy as the crews practiced for the upcoming Squib Northern Championships at RNIYC next weekend.

At close of play on Saturday Volante, under the guidance of Simon Watson and new crew Brian Kelly, was in pole position, just one point ahead of Robert Marshall’s Slipstream.

With the battle lines drawn, neither crew were prepared to admit defeat, and despite gusts of 30mph they powered neck and neck to the finishing line, with spinnakers flying.

With only seconds to spare, and some magnificent spinnaker work from Ryan Withers, Slipstream pulled ahead to take the race, and the series. Watson and Kelly finished second in Volante with Killyleagh Yacht Club commodore David Hanna’s Blue in third.

While competitors enjoyed the racing the real purpose of this series was to raise funds for the very worthwhile Sail4Cancer charity.

Despite a greatly reduced entry list in the event this year, the generosity of the competitors and the sailing fraternity on Strangford Lough means Sail4Cancer are the real winners again, with an excellent £1000 raised so far.

The organisers would also like to thank the members of the Gilmore and Lowry families for their very generous sponsorship of this year’s event. This generosity, coupled with the many donations the event received from competitors and spectators alike, has allowed this magnificent sum to be raised.

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