Waverley Cup at Belfast Lough Autumn Keelboat Series

Another beautiful morning's race saw the half-way stage of the Belfast Lough Autumn Keelboat Series and the end of the Waverley series. The 18 boat fleet have enjoyed 3 very enjoyable races so far in gorgeous sunshine, wondering why the rest of the summer wasn't the same. We can only hope that October fares similar.

Traditional tight racing in the 110 year old Waverley class has seen all of the boats win one race. John McCrea's Ivanhoe won the final one but any hopes of winning the series overall were dashed when the husband and wife team of Robin "Sailor" and Victoria Millar followed them home in front of Ben Gouk's Fair Maid, winning the series by a single point.

In the IRC fleet, Phil Davie's Giggle took advantage of the absence of Indigo to take the lead in the series overall with 2 wins from Richard and Pauline Donnan's 1. John Minnis and B Roche are enjoying their first few races in their new Final Call but finding it hard to stay close enough to the bigger yachts.

In the Sigma's, Sqwawk struggled with the lack of their leader Paul Prentice and a depleted team on duty at the RYANI Youth Nationals and elsewhere. Even in relatively light winds, Johnny Henry struggled to keep the boat upright enough with only 2 on the rail, and Starshine Challenger took advantage to score their first win of the series. Special mention must be made of Burton Allen (and Adrian Allen) who was absent due to attending the wedding of his grandson Michael.

The NIRKRA fleet have also seen different winners in each race and this week was the time for Garth and Myles Lindsay's Johnathon Star to maximise the advantage from their bigger sail plan to lead by 90 seconds over the water from Jim Coffey and Tom Bell's QtPi with David Milne's Manzanita just behind. Last week's winner Chatterbox was 5th on corrected time struggling in the lighter winds in Race 2 and 3 having ran Manzanita close in Race 1, coming 2nd in that race only 3 seconds behind on corrected time.

Alan Morrison's Starflash has struggled so far this series on handicap, possibly due to success earlier in the year when they were setting the benchmark. Only 5 minutes on the water separated the 6 boat fleet in the first two races showing the competitive nature of this restricted class. After 3 races, Johnathon Star leads from Manzanita and Chatterbox by 2 points.

The white sail NHC fleet have also enjoyed changing fortunes and having won the first two races and leading the series overall, John Ritchie's Mingulay saw D Lowe's Gecko cling on close enough to the quicker boats last Sunday to clinch the race on handicap although the results posted look a bit irregular and may need reviewed. John Moorehead's Margarita was 2nd and lies 3rd overall behind Messrs Curry, Wilde and Nixey in Enigma in 2nd place.

Many thanks must go to Colin Loeonard who has set great courses over the first 3 races. We now look forward to Elaine Tyalor who will take over for the remaining 4 races running until 25th Oct October.

IRC Fleet

1st Giggle, RUYC, Phil Davis
2nd Indigo, RUYC, R & P Donnan
3rd Final Call, RUYC, J Minnis/ B Roche

SIGMA Fleet

1st Squawk, BYC/RUYC, P Prentice
2nd Starshine Challenger, BYC/RUYC, B Allen
3rd Caria,d BYC/RUYC, G Bell

NHC Fleet

1st Mingulay, RUYC, J & M Ritchie
2nd Enigma, BYC/RUYC, Messrs Curry/Wilde/Nixey
3rd Margarita, RUYC, J Moorehead

NIRKRA Fleet

1st Jonathan Star, RUYC, G Lyndsay
2nd Manzanita, BYC/RUYC, D Milne
3rd Chatterbox, RUYC/BYC, D Quinn

WAVERLEY Fleet

1st Montrose, RUYC/BYC, R & V Millar
2nd Ivanhoe, BYC/RUYC, J McCrea
3rd Fair Maid, BYC, B Gouk