Locals flying high in F15 championship

Locals flying high in F15 championship

22 May 2019

ROGER Chamberlain and Charlie Horder won the Northern Ireland Flying Fifteen Championship on Strangford Lough at the weekend.

It was a deserved triumph for the Whiterock duo and also for Strangford Sailing Club, which hosted the event less than a month after the re-opening of its clubhouse which was gutted by an accidental fire in September 2017.

The five-race championship attracted a 22-strong fleet, which included a sizeable contingent of southern visitors, mainly from Dun Laoghaire.

After three races on Saturday Chamberlain and Horder were in third place, behind Killyleagh pair Andrew McCleery and Colin Dougan — who got off to a flyer by winning the opening race — and overnight leaders Brian McKee and John Gibson, also from Whiterock, who were second and seventh in the first two races before winning the final race of the day.

Chamberlain and Horder came out of the blocks early on Sunday and comfortably won the fourth race before sealing the championship with fifth place in the final race.

McKee and Gibson were a disappointing 15th in the fourth race, but with the discard brought into play, they still had a chance of outright victory. However, a fifth place in the last race meant they had to settle for the runners-up spot.

McCleery and Dougan also suffered disappointment. Eleventh place in race four followed by ninth in the last race saw their challenge ended and they eventually fifth overall.

Third place overall went to Neil Colin and Margaret Casey, from Dun Laoghaire Motor Yacht Club, and in fourth spot were reigning Irish champions Dave Gorman and Chris Doorly, from the neighbouring National Yacht Club.

Overall, Strangford Lough sailors dominated the top of the leaderboard. Hammy Baker and Peter Chamberlain overcame a few bumps along the way to finish sixth, brothers Andy and Rory 

Martin were seventh, and Shane McCarthy and Jeremy Rogers, from Portaferry, won the final race by a handsome margin to secure eighth.

Niall Meagher and Nicky Matthews, from National Yacht Club, won the silver fleet, while Peter Sherry and Michael Cotter, also from the National club, topped the bronze standings.

Conditions were tricky over the two days and race officer Gerry Reilly and his team were commended for managing to get five races sailed.

At the presentation ceremony Sean Curran. commodore of Strangford Sailing Club, congratulated the winners and thanked all the competitors for supporting the event.