Diehards to the last

Diehards to the last

4 November 2015

LIGHT, shifting breezes and a strong tide made life hard for race officer Scott Rodgers as the Diehard Dinghy Series came to a close at Killyleagh Yacht Club on Saturday.

With the lough emptied of racing yachts, 14 dinghy sailors provided a splash of colour on a glorious Halloween afternoon.

The addition of a very welcome Wayfarer provided some competition for Bryan and Nina Monson in the Dinghy Handicap class.

However, five firsts in the series overall were just too much to beat and saw the father-and-daughter partnership lift the overall prize in their Mirror Miracle, Soggy Bottom.

The incredibly light winds meant no-one wanted to compete in the small sail Topper 4.2 class, so the top spot overall went to the diehard Colin Crichton, who later announced his intention to move permanently to the Topper class next year. 

The Laser classes were again decimated due to a RYA squad training day clashing with the event, so although the Laser 4.7 fleet was unrepresented on Saturday it was Adam Fermor who took first place overall, ahead of Tori Ferris in second.

While Angus Ferris led the fleet going into the final race in the Laser Radial class, both he and Ben McMeekin were notable by their absence on Saturday, leaving the top spots wide open for the taking.

Two second places on the day were enough to catapult Tom McMeekin on to the winner’s podium, ahead of his brother, Paul, who finished second overall.

Despite a sterling performance from William Browne, who took two firsts on Saturday, it was Angus Ferris who retained third overall with Browne finishing just behind in fourth. 

In a Topper class that grew week on week throughout the series, Aimee Cushley dominated from the start, so much so that a third and fourth place in the very light breezes on Saturday couldn’t touch her unassailable first place overall.

The ever consistent Adam Morrison sailed into a strong second place overall in his last ever race in a Topper on Saturday.  Next year Adam is moving into the Laser fleet, where hopefully he will quickly become a contender as well.

Third place was open to all takers, but the absence of hopefuls Estelle Coulter and Fergal Mooney, left the way wide open for Philip Crichton who put in an amazing performance to claim an uncontested first in race one and a sound third in race two.

This is the first year an autumn dinghy series has been run at Killyleagh Yacht Club.

The organisers would like to thank all those who helped to make it a success, including the race officers, committee boat owners and crew, mark layers and all who helped ashore.

With 20 entries over the course of the 10 races, the event has definitely been a success and promoted dinghy sailing on Strangford Lough.

Look out for the DieHards 2016 – coming back bigger and better next year.