Diehard Dinghy Series brings season to fine finish at Killyleagh Yacht Club

2 November 2016

NEPTUNE kept smiling on Killyleagh Yacht Club for the fifth weekend in a row as the Diehard Dinghy Series came to a close on Saturday.

A steady southerly breeze carried the 18 competitors around the course in the final two races of the series and with everything to play for in some of the classes, concentration and dedication were the order of the day.

In the dinghy handicap class, Gordon Reid returned to seal his own fate in his RS Quest, with crew Ann Dorrian leaving her Laser Radial ashore for a final trip in the two-hander.

Coming into the final day in second place overall, Reid and Dorrian needed a good result in race one, but it was Catherine Pooler and Anna Wilson who powered away in their RS 200, Wingbeat, to take their first win in the series.

Bryan and Nina Monson put in a good performance to land a second, leaving Reid and Dorrian with a third.

However, when all looked lost for the RS Quest, a poor start for Monson’s Soggy Bottom, saw the Quest slide into first place in the final race, snatching victory from the father and daughter combination at the eleventh hour.

Meanwhile, in the Laser 4.7 class, Adam Morrison cemented his series win with two more first places as he remained uncontested in the fleet.

With ten for ten first places, he trumped Fergal Mooney who finished in second overall. Best wishes go to Adam as he moves into the larger Laser Radial fleet next year with a sterling performance to boost him on his way.

In the Laser Radial fleet, and sailing for the home club, Angus Ferris just needed to keep his head in the game to remain supreme — and with another two firsts on the day he certainly did that.

Seven firsts from ten races saw him a deserving winner of his class, but a pitched battle was taking place just behind him to decide the outcome for second and third.

Ben McMeekin started race nine one point ahead of big brother Paul, and with two races to go he needed to keep Paul behind him to secure the win. Age and experience, however, proved decisive as race nine saw a third for Paul, while Ben lifted a discardable seventh. The final race would decide the battle of the brothers and while Olivia Mooney and Luke McIlwaine took second and third places, Paul yet again swept ahead of Ben to take a fourth place, leaving him second overall, with Ben four points behind in third.

All eyes were on the Topper class where the battle lines were drawn between KYC’s golden girl, Anna Rose Kelly, and Strangford Sailing Club’s rocket child, Colin Crichton.

While Anna Rose has only been competing for a couple of years, Colin has wealth of experience behind him in Topper 4.2s, winning the Irish Championship earlier in the year and going on to compete in the 4.2 Worlds in July.

Moving up to the larger rig during the summer, Crichton may be younger and lighter, but has race craft and experience that Kelly still has to develop. The starters hut at KYC was the place to be as all eyes were on the two races as they unfolded under the watchful eye of race officer Scott Rodgers.

With an Olympic triangle course set for both races, all looked lost for Anna Rose in race nine as Colin powered ahead, accompanied by Erin McIlwaine, leaving the rest of the fleet wallowing in their wake.

Luck was a lady though, with girl power on her mind, as a course error at the end of lap one saw both Crichton and McIlwaine take the wrong line, allowing Kelly and Philip Crichton to nip ahead into first and second place.

Despite a valiant fight back from young Crichton, Anna Rose had tasted victory and she held off the rest of the fleet to take first, with Colin Crichton in second and elder brother Philip in third.

Although they hadn’t worked it out afloat, the victory was secured for Anna Rose Kelly, but both she and Colin Crichton set out in the next race with a point to prove.

Unfortunately for Colin, so did his elder brother. Missing two days of racing had left Philip with too many non-discardable results to achieve a series victory.

But he was determined to show younger brother who was boss and with a superb performance he lifted a first place in race ten.

Whilst Colin took a commendable second place, with Aimee Cushley in third, a broken kicker saw Anna Rose flounder at the back of the fleet, hanging on bravely to struggle to the finish line.

Regardless of this, however, it was a female victory with Anna Rose taking first overall, ahead of Colin Crichton in second and Aimee Cushley in third. Definitely ones to watch in the future!

As this series comes to a close, racing finishes at Killyleagh Yacht Club for another season. The organisers of the Diehard Dinghy series would like to express their thanks to anyone who helped out throughout the series, but in particular to Jane McMeekin, Evelyn Mooney and David Ferris who helped provide rescue cover throughout the event. Without their valuable assistance this event just would not have happened.

Big thanks also go to vice-commodore Kyle Bolton and his wife, Sharon, for catering every week.

Overall results

Dinghy handicap: 1st RS Quest, Gordon Reid; 2nd Soggy Bottom, Nina and Bryan Monson; 3rd Wingbeat, Catherine Pooler and Anna Wilson.

Laser 4.7: 1st Adam Morrison, 2nd Fergal Mooney.

Laser Radial: 1st Angus Ferris, 2nd Paul McMeekin, 3rd Ben McMeekin.

Topper: 1st Anna Rose Kelly, 2nd Colin Crichton, 3rd Aimee Cushley.

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