WALL-to-wall sunshine meant Strangford Lough was the coolest place to be for the final three races in the Sail4Cancer series at Killyleagh Yacht Club at the weekend.
Two races on Saturday in strong, steady north easterly winds saw Hindsight II and What’s the Rush II claim one win each in the race to be IRC 1 champions.
Raymond Beattie’s Tiger Lily showed her claws in the heavy conditions and roared to two victories on Saturday, while in the PY restricted sail class both Fantisera and Moonshadow claimed one win each.
With three wins behind her already in the Squib class, Firecracker, under Don and Steven Bridges claimed another victory on Saturday, putting them in pole position for the series.
With everything to play for in many of the fleets, the final race on Sunday proved decisive and although the winds were much lighter, Firecracker and Tiger Lily both continued their winning form from the previous day, not only taking the race on Sunday, but the series prizes in the Squib and PY 1 classes respectively.
In the restricted sail class Moonshadow proved better than the rest, claiming the first prize, however it was the stalwart Fantisera under Stephen Stewart that collected the overall series victory.
In the big boat IRC 1 class both Dermot Hinds in Hindsight II and Ernie Kelly in What’s the Rush II needed the win, but on the day the conditions suited Hindsight to a tee and she romped home to victory, a first in this event for Dermot and his crew.
As always, the purpose of this series is to raise funds for the very worthwhile Sail4Cancer charity and they are the real winners again this year, with a record-breaking £1,100 raised to date.
The organisers would like to thank the sponsors, The Dufferin Arms, Killyleagh, and A. Murray & Son, Butchers, for providing food for this series and also the numerous individuals, too many to mention, who sponsored races and prizes throughout the event. Their generosity, coupled with the many donations the event received, has allowed this magnificent sum to be raised.
The overall results from the series are as follows:
IRC 1: 1st Hindsight II, D. Hinds, 2nd What’s the Rush II, E. Kelly, 3rd Movistar Bleu, R. Killops
PY 1:1st Tiger Lily, R. Beattie 2nd Wandering Angus, R. Kelly, 3rd Cheval De Mer, Barr/Bowsie
PY restricted sail: 1st Fantisera, S Stewart, 2nd Finola’s Wing, Galloway/Thompson, 3rd Moonshadow, McNamara/Jones
Squib: 1st Firecracker, D. & S. Bridges, 2nd Nimrod, W. & F. Cannon, 3rd Hawkeye, S. Watson.