Simon flies the flag

25 July 2018

AFTER a very wet and dismal Friday, the sun returned in abundance on Saturday as Killyleagh Yacht Club hosted its annual regatta.

While the sun played ball, however, fickle winds made life difficult for the race management team as they watched a 180 degree wind shift play havoc with their best laid plans.

Despite this, over 80 yachts in various shapes and sizes lined up on the main course to compete on the day. Almost all of them finished, with only one heading home in frustration at the light conditions.

Commodore Simon Watson and his team provided a fantastic day at the club, with a traditional regatta tea followed by live entertainment from two bands playing late into the night.

As well as co-ordinating all the efforts ashore, Simon also kept the KYC hopes alive as he took the only first place for the club, winning the Squib class in Volante in a tight finish ahead of clubmate George Cromie in Dotzboat.

SLYC unsurprisingly claimed both the River and Glen prizes. However in a massive twist of fate it was River Quoile and John McVeigh in pole position in the River class, wresting a victory from the ubiquitous Laragh – no mean feat!

While Richard Aiken and Glen Lark won the Glen fleet, the Shane McCarthy put one on the table for Portaferry Sailing Club as they finished first over the line in the Flying Fifteens.

Peter Holden’s Go To Red showed that the more sail you carry, the faster you go in the IRC1 class, while in IRC2 Mipaal, from neighbouring East Down YC, powered home to their third regatta win this year.

James Regan in Lizante, also from EDYC, returned from Bangor Town Regatta in fine form, winning the NHC1 class by almost 8 minutes, while in NHC2 Clyde Markwell’s Sonata Hi-Note took the honours over 6 minutes ahead of its closest rival.

EDYC also won the NHCRS1 class as the Findlay/Ramsey team in charge of Self Expression held off Narrows champions Green Ginger by just 24 seconds.

Meanwhile, Graham Chambers, race officer on the Junior course, had an equal amount of difficulty finding a steady breeze in which to set his course.

A quick change of location between races however allowed him and his team to finish two successful races on the day for the 21 dinghies taking part.

In the dinghy handicap class, the much faster Laser 4.7 decimated the Picos with Daniel Smith taking first place overall, leaving KYC’s Anna-Rose Kelly in second.

Girl power ruled in the Radial class as SLYC’s Olivia Mooney took first overall with a first and second place, ahead of Philip Crichton and Paul McMeekin in second and third respectively.

Consistency was the order of the day in the Topper class with Colin Crichton’s two first places putting him on the top of the table, ahead of Conor McVeigh in second overall.

With 102 taking part overall, this has been one of the biggest regattas in many years. Killyleagh Yacht Club would like to thanks all those who helped to make this regatta a huge success, both on and off the water, including Jim Lindsay and Graham Chambers, who provided committee boats and a wealth of expertise on the day.

For those who like a challenge – and a massive amount of fun – why not try out Topperdome at KYC this Saturday? Check out the KYC Facebook page for full details.

Results:

IRC1: 1st Go To Red, P Holden; 2nd Movistar Bleu, R Killops;p 3rd What’s the Rush II, E Kelly.

IRC2: 1st Mipaal, S Lynn; 2nd Tuppence, B Corry; 3rd Alcyone, P Thompson.

NHC1: 1st Lizante, J Regan; 2nd Scampede, J McAlea; 3rd Stardust, McCullough/Maxwell.

Flying Fifteen: 1st Final Fling, S McCarthy & J Rogers; 2nd ffast Antic, A McCleery & C Dougan; 3rd Hi Flyer, G Reilly & J McMeekin.

NHC2: 1st HI-Note, C Markwell; 2nd Club Coffee, C Earney; 3rd Wandering Angus, R Kelly.

NHC Restricted Sail 1: 1st Self Expression, Findlay/Ramsey; 2nd Green Ginger, M McGrogan; 3rd Trinity, J Baker.

Rivers: 1st Quoile, J McVea; 2nd Laragh, K Smith; 3rd Gweebarra, Cunningham, Marten, Brooks.

Glens: 1st Glen Lark, R Aiken; 2nd Glen Moyle, C Mackenzie; 3rd Glen Dora, Gault/Uprichard.

NHC Restricted Sail 2: 1st Swift, S Clarke; 2nd Kestrel, K Carr; 3rd SeaBorne, R Dow.

Squib: 1st Volante, S Watson; 2nd Dotzboat, G Cromie; 3rd Andromeda, B Kelly.

Dinghy Handicap 1134 & under: 1st Busy Bee, F & G Reid; 2nd Sink the Pink, R Hall; 3rd GP14, Unknown.

Topper: 1st Colin Crichton, 2nd Conor McVeigh, 3rd Sarah Kelly.

Laser Radial: 1st Olivia Mooney, 2nd Philip Crichton, 3rd Paul McMeekin.Dinghy Handicap 1134 & over: 1st Laser 4.7, Daniel Smith; 2nd Laser 4.7, Anna Rose Kelly; 3rd Pico ASA7.

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