Strangford’s young ones champions of lough once again

24 August 2016

EVERY great athlete starts somewhere and for the young sailors on Strangford Lough, that somewhere could just possibly be the Strangford Lough Youth Series.

This annual youth event offers six races throughout the year, hosted by six different yacht clubs around the lough, providing a great opportunity for the sailors of the future to come together and hone their skills.

With five legs completed, Portaferry Sailing Club hosted the final event of the series in almost perfect conditions in Castleward Bay on Sunday afternoon. With everything to play for, 32 young sailors took to the water to compete for individual trophies and to help their respective clubs lift the highly-coveted Youth Series shield.

Going into the last race in the Laser Radial class, it was a battle of the Strangford SC brothers, as Patrick, Paul and Ben McMeekin had created unassailable leads earlier in the event, but any of the brothers could reign victorious on the day.

Despite a sterling performance from SLYC’s William Browne, who claimed a second place on the day, the place at the top of the podium went to Patrick McMeekin, who cemented his victory with a first place on Sunday, while Paul and Ben finished in second and third respectively.

In a smaller Laser 4.7 class, the overall order was unchanged by the last day’s racing and it was a KYC victory for Adam Morrison, who claimed first place ahead of a move to the more competitive Radial fleet next year. In second was SLYC’s Fergal Mooney, with SSC’s Jordan Conway in third.

Throughout the year 31 young sailors have competed in the ever popular Topper class and 16 of these turned up to compete for the top spot overall on Sunday.

Going into the final race lying three points ahead of the rest, KYC’s Anna Rose Kelly kept a cool head and a third place on the day catapulted her straight into pole position as overall winner of the Topper class.

Despite sterling performances on the day from Ewan Briggs, who claimed an individual first, and Colin Crichton with a second, it was the consistency from big brother Philip Crichton which put him into second place overall with EDYC’s Eva Briggs a very close third.

This year saw a much smaller turn-out in the Topper 4.2 class, and attendance at two events was enough for each of the top three to claim an overall place.

Although all three were tied on points, on countback, SSC’s Colin Crichton emerged the overall victor, with Lochlain Briggs from EDYC in second and SLYC sailor Matthew Cooke in third.

This year saw a more consistent turnout in the Pico class, and while the Radial class was all about the McMeekin brothers, the Pico class was dominated by the Kelly sisters from KYC.

Despite having a healthy lead going into the event however, both Sarah and Isabella Kelly were pushed hard on Sunday as SSC fielded Jordan Conway and Guy Crichton, whose excellent performance gave them first place overall on the day.

A second on Sunday was enough for Sarah Kelly to take first place in the class, while younger sister Isabella secured third overall, despite a last minute challenge from team-mate Nikita Kirk, who lifted a second place on Sunday with an excellent performance in race three.

The youth series encourages all-comers and Sunday saw young George McBratney from SSC take on the Picos on the start line in his much smaller Optimist dinghy, while at the other end of the scale, Lucy Bell and Emma Greer put in an elegant appearance in their high performance 420, adding a splash of colour on the downwind leg.

Going into the final round only a tragedy could have knocked Strangford Sailing Club from the top of the leader board in the hunt for the club shield and once again, they claimed the overall club prize — the Strangford Lough Youth Shield — some 90 points clear of their nearest rivals East Down Yacht Club, with Killyleagh Yacht Club just two points behind in a very close third.

Many people are involved in this series, and the organisers would like to thank everyone involved for their hard work and dedication in encouraging, supporting and managing this event and the background logistics and coaching involved.

In particular this year, the organisers would like to thank CH Marine, Newtownards, who very generously sponsored the overall series trophies, and also provided vouchers for the winners in each class.

For those who are keen to keep sailing, Killyleagh Yacht Club will be hosting a Topper Traveller event on September 11, followed by the Die Hard Dinghies Series, which is open to all dinghies, with two races every Saturday in October.

Overall results

Laser Radial: 1st Patrick McMeekin, SSC; 2nd Paul McMeekin, SSC; 3rd Ben McMeekin, SSC.

Laser 4.7: 1st Adam Morrison, KYC; 2nd Fergal Mooney, SLYC; 3rd Jordan Conway, SSC.

Topper: 1st Anna Rose Kelly, KYC; 2nd Philip Crichton, SSC; 3rd Eva Briggs, EDYC.

Topper 4.2: 1st Colin Crichton, SSC; 2nd Lochlain Briggs, EDYC; 3rd Matthew Cooke, SLYC.

Pico: 1st Sara Kelly, KYC; 2nd Isabella Kelly, KYC; 3rd Nikita Kirk, KYC.

Optimist: 1st George McBratney, SSC.

Terra: 1st Molly O’Kane, QYC.

Mirror: 1st Charlotte Ashe, QYC.

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