Strangford Lough didn’t disappoint the Irish Flying Fifteen fleet at the weekend with the usual mixture of sunshine, wind, no wind, tides in both directions, thunder, lightning and hail stones as big as marbles and a bit of sailing thrown into the mix!
The Flying Fifteen Northern Championships was hosted by Portaferry Sailing Club at the weekend and was won by former World Champion and guest UK helm Charles Apthorp with Alan Green (NYC) crewing. Ian Mathews & Keith Poole were second with Dave Gorman & Chris Doorly (NYC) a close third.
On Saturday the wind settled to be reasonably steady from the sw and there were three races. In race 1 Gorman was out of the blocks quickly and led all the way, Mathews was second with .McCleery third and Apthorp fifth after having to do penalty turns. The wind was holding and the right was generally favoured, Apthorp won Race 2 with Mathews second again after gybsetting on the run to get inside Gorman who finished third with Brien Willis fourth. Shortly after Race 3 got going, Gorman got stuck on the second row as most sailed on, surprisingly no one was over the line. Gorman cut out to the right to get clear wind and work the shifts and came in second behind Apthorp at the weather mark. It was a triangle course and Apthorp went too high looking for the mark allowing Gorman to take the lead. It was short lived as Apthorp passed him at the gybe mark, a bit of rustiness in the crewing! It is strange that triangles are been taken out of club racing and then when we go to regional events we end up doing something we don’t practice, we live and learn!. On to the next beat, Gorman was flying and took the lead again but again it was not to last downwind. Apthorp won by a couple of boat lengths from Gorman with McKee and Darren Martin third and Mathews fourth. Over night it was Gorman just ahead of Apthorp with Mathews a close third- all to play for on Sunday with two races and a discard to come into the equation.
Sunday started off with little or no wind, ir was difficult for the PRO and each time he set a course and started the sequence it shifted and the AP went up. Eventually he started with the zephre of wind from Killleagh in the west. It was adrift up the beat, at one stage Ben Mulligan was flying over the glass like pond, soon spinakers went up and yet the ‘race’ went on, Apthorp, Mathews, Willis and Gorman all arrived at the weather . . or was it the leeward mark together but then it changed into a run as the wind filled in, Andy & Rory Martin who are back in the fleet were flying out on the right. The course was strangly shortened while there was wind, you could have thrown a blanket over the first six boats but it was Apthorp who continued his good form to win, Willis was second, Mathews third, the Martin boys fourth and Gorman suffered in sixth place.
The forecasted wind from the south slowly made its way up from the south and Race 5 got going after the course was reset. Gorman, the holder, still had a chance if he won the race but it was not to be as he had a poor start and got stuck in a pile up at the committee boat end, unfortunate as Apthorp also had a poor start. On the first beat right seemed to pay with McKee leading from Shane McCarthy and the Martin brothers and Ian Smith. The second beat the left paid, Apthorp was making inroads and moved to third, that was the way it was to stay and this was enough for Apthorp & Green to deservedly win the event which is the oldest Flying Fifteen trophy in the land. As the fleet headed back towards Portaferry the heavens opened with thunder and hailstones pounding on to the frozen crews, it was a sight and sound to behold!
As this year is the 30th anniversary of the foundation of the Flying Fifteen Association of Ireland its first President and Flying Fifteen stalwart Jim Rodgers presented the prizes to the Gold fleet while Colin Coffey also a member of the original committee presented the prizes to the Silver and Bronze Fleet winners.
Special thanks to the PRO and his team who did a great job in really difficult conditions, to Shane, Peter, Jo and all the local sailors and volenteer’s who made the event happen. It’s always a pleasure to go to Portaferry which is one of the friendliest clubs in the country. Those who didn’t travel missed out on a great weekend.
