Summer sun shines down on Killyleagh

Summer sun shines down on Killyleagh

20 July 2016

MIGHTY Neptune finally played ball as Killyleagh Yacht Club hosted their annual regatta on a scorching Saturday afternoon.

There was an excellent turnout, with 87 boats racing in 14 classes, and despite some very frustrating wind shifts a steady breeze carried all the competitors home.

On the junior course, race officers Kyle Bolton and Jane McMeekin set an Olympic triangle for the Topper, Laser and dinghy handicap classes. 

In the Topper class, first was Philip Crichton, closely followed by Colin Crichton with Fergal Mooney in third.

The Laser class was dominated by the McMeekin brothers with Patrick in first place, Ben in second and Tom in third.

In the Leisure 17 class Terry Hanna in Heidi Q took line honours ahead of McLaughlin and Lynch’s Octavia while in large dinghy handicap a GP14 held off Gordon Jess’ Hart-Beat and Simon Jeffrey’s Quantum Shadow to take first place.

Wind shifts on the Squib course saw Simon Watson and Brian Kelly in Volante slip ahead of Steven Bridges’ Firecracker, while Nimrod, under Warren Cannon finished third. Watson and Kelly also received the Nautilus Cup presented annually in memory of the highly-respected Lightning sailor, Eric Sutherland.

In the NHC RS2 course, a GK24 took first place, well ahead of both Robert Dow’s SeaBorne and Jim Lowry’s Kestrel.  True to form, Kenny Smith in Laragh romped home in the River class ahead of Quoile in second and Strule in third.

In the Glen class Henry Anstey was a popular winner in Glen Iris with Richard Aiken’s Glen Lark in second and Corin Mackenzie’s Glen Moyle in third.

Competitive racing was the order of the day in the NHC RS1 class with only 25 seconds between the top three on corrected time.  In the end, Robert Clegg’s Salena pipped Mississippi, under Jim Gibb, with Ian Bogie’s Drumlin just 2 seconds behind in third.

In NHC2, the ever popular Kelly boys romped home, assisted by the youngest sailor of the day, Lucas Kelly, and his sister Lauren.  Denis Kirk’s Load of Mischief finished second, while Club Coffee under Colin Earney finished third. 

In a highly competitive Flying Fifteen class, Rory Martin’s Carbon ffootprint left its mark as he and crew mate Simon Murray took line honours in the eight boat fleet.  Roger Chamberlain claimed second in The Final Resort, while Andrew McCleery in Ffast Antic finished third.

Barr and Bowsie’s Cheval de Mer put in a sterling performance to take a first in the NHC1 class, their best result this year, with Grant McCullough’s Stardust and John McAlea’s Scampede in second and third respectively.

In the IRC2 class, the larger handicaps could not hold off Jonathan Gifford’s Albin Express as he claimed pole position ahead of Stephen Lynn’s Mipaal in second with Flashpoint under James Murray in third.  Finally, in the increasingly competitive IRC1 class, Ernie Kelly’s What’s the Rush II took first place ahead of Raymond Killops’ Movistar Bleu, with Le Basculer under Mike Spence in third.

Results

IRC1: 1st What’s the Rush II, E Kelly; 2nd Movistar Bleu, R Killops; 3rd Le Basculer, M Spence.

 IRC2: 1st Apache, J Gifford; 2nd Mipaal, S Lynn; 3rd Flashpoint, J Murray.

 NHC1: 1st Cheval de Mer, Barr/Bowsie; 2nd Stardust, McCullough/Maxwell; 3rd Scampede – J McAlea.

Flying Fifteen: 1st Carbon ffootprint, R Martin; 2nd The Final Resort, R Chamberlain; 3rd Ffast Antic, A McCleery.

 NHC2: 1st Wandering Angus, R Kelly; 2nd Load of Mischief, D Kirk; 3rd Club Coffee, C Earney.

 NHC Restricted Sail 1: 1st Salena, R Clegg; 2nd Mississippi, J Gibb; 3rd Drumlin, I Bogie.

 River: 1st Laragh, K Smith; 2nd Quoile, J McVea; 3rd Strule, Mesdames Edwards, Hinds & McKnight.

 Glen: 1st Glen Iris, H Anstey; 2nd Glen Lark, R Aiken; 3rd Glen Moyle, C Mackenzie.

 NHC Restricted Sail 2: 1st GK24; 2nd Sea Borne, R Dow; 3rd Kestrel, J Lowry.

 Squib: 1st Volante, S Watson; 2nd Firecracker, S Bridges; 3rd Nimrod, W & F Cannon.

 Leisure 17: 1st Heidi Q, T Hanna; 2nd Octavia, McLoughlin/Lynch.

 Dinghy Handicap 1130 & under: 1st GP 14192;  2nd Hart-Beat, G Jess; 3rd Quantum Shadow, S Jeffrey.

 Topper: 1st Philip Crichton, 2nd Colin Crichton, 3rd Fergal Mooney.

 Laser Radial: 1st Patrick McMeekin, 2nd Ben McMeekin, 3rd Tom McMeekin.