Young ones end series on a high

Young ones end series on a high

20 September 2017

IT was third time lucky this weekend as Killyleagh Yacht Club were finally able to host the finale of the Strangford Lough Youth Series on Saturday. 

Although six races were originally planned in this annual youth event, two of the regular hosts were unable to offer racing this year, so KYC stepped in to provide a finale for all those who had taken part throughout the year.

The previous four legs of the series saw over 60 junior sailors in total compete for personal glory and the chance to win the coveted Strangford Lough Youth Series Shield for their club.

A damp and dreary Saturday afternoon reduced the fleet size to just 17, but with the overall prizes on offer, those on the water represented the best talent in Strangford Lough and they all had their eye on the main prize.

For the second year in a row in the Laser Radial class, it was a battle of the Strangford SC brothers as Paul and Ben McMeekin had created unassailable leads earlier in the event.

In fact, only four entries in the class on Saturday meant that from the minute racing began, all Paul McMeekin had to do was to stay afloat to claim first overall! Despite a strong challenge from Ben, Paul finished first overall on the day, and in the series, with Ben taking second place in both event and series.

A very consistent performance from Fergal Mooney put him on third place on Saturday, ahead of Matthew Crichton in fourth, but it was Adam Fermor from SLYC whose earlier performance in the series kept him in third place overall.  

In the female dominated Laser 4.7 class, Daniel Smyth from SLYC took on the girl power with a healthy four-point lead behind him as racing commenced.

Despite losing out to clubmate Aimee Cushley, who took first overall on the day, Smyth claimed first place overall, with Cushley in second and KYC’s Anna Rose Kelly in third, both on the day and overall.

Throughout the year 25 young sailors have competed in the ever popular Topper class and 10 of these turned up to compete for the top spot overall on Saturday.

Going into the final day it was a three horse race with Annie McVeigh (SSC) and Nikita Kirk (KYC) tied on 30 points each and Conor McVeigh (SSC) just behind on 28 points. 

With the rest of the fleet unable to challenge, Kirk took on the McVeigh siblings to battle for overall glory in the biggest class this year.

While out of the battle for overall places, the Crichton brothers were not going down without a fight and the light and shifting winds suited younger brother Colin Crichton to a tee.

Despite a terrible start in race two, sheer will and competitiveness saw him soar home with two firsts, leaving him the clear winner on the day.

While KYC’s Sara Kelly took second place in race one, a consistent performance in both races by Annie McVeigh put her in second place at the event and clearly in first overall, while a third on the day for Philip Crichton unfortunately also left him off the overall leader board. 

Despite being untouchable by the rest of the fleet, both Nikita Kirk and Conor McVeigh suffered in the shifting winds, ending up with 11 points each at Saturday’s event, and while the virtue of a fourth place put Conor ahead on the day, it was Kirk, who lifted second place in this highly competitive fleet, with Conor McVeigh in third. 

Going into this final round, not even a disaster 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 Strangford Lough Youth Shield some 60 points clear of their nearest rivals Strangford Lough Yacht Club, with Killyleagh Yacht Club in a 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 for the background logistics and coaching involved.

In particular, the organisers would like to thank those who sponsored the individual and overall series prizes at each of the events throughout the year.