There was a great turnout recently at Lough Erne Yacht Club for the scheduled Sunday Yeoman Class race. The weather from the day before blew all the nasty black clouds away and brought to the sailors a wonderful blue sky and favourable winds.
The Yeoman Fleet saw eight of its boats jostle together on the start line once Raymond Morrison on Utter Chaos blew the five minute whistle. The Yeomans were also joined by Mick Whaley's restored Fairy, Maeve, who was joined by Jo Thompson.
The course was a beat to Davan and a run to the Bay South; this was to be completed twice with the Clubline as the finish. The start was a flurry of boats dipping and tacking as they frantically positioned themselves to the start.
Kenneth Wilson and Fred Ternan in the 'Red' Yeoman, Declan Dooley on Honeybee, Raymond Morrison and Warren Cooper in Utter Chaos and Donald McCarthy with Sam Webb in RA all got off with good clean starts.
They were followed closely by Bertie Forsythe, who was sailing Crista. Also close by were Sandra and Clive Burgess and Brendan Gallagher in Nelly Kelly. They were seen before they were heard as they were trying out new sails that sounded very crispy and new and snapped as they tacked up the beat.
Wilfie Graham and Richard Smith were out in Growler, and newcomer Andrew Gray and Steven Carson were in Skidoo.
The fleet split with some going up the left of the course and some along the right.
The Red Yeoman seemed to gain the best lead along the right and Utter Chaos and Crista did well going the opposite way.
The sight of all the boats with their spinnakers raised as they rounded the Davan mark and progressed down the run was wonderfully colourful and a great testament to the great skills of these devoted sailors. The practice of the last few races where the winds were light had almost all hoisted hassles free. Though the efforts of Honeybee and Crista were valiant, Utter Chaos proved why it is ahead with the points and they read the winds well to gain an impressive lead.
They were the winners of this race with Crista second and Honeybee third. Kenneth and Fred in Red were next over the line with Ra close behind.
The wind had eased a little by the end of the race and with spirits high and adrenaline pumping, the helms and crews were all for another race.
John McCrea with his Yeoman Thief in Time joined at the start along with another beautifully restored Fairy, Storm, sailed by Joey Kelly.
The course was shortened to one leg up to Davan and home. Honeybee, Utter Chaos and Ra started off well, with Ra going to the right-hand side of the course. Utter Chaos and Honeybee went into a tacking duel, which resulted in Honeybee just pipping the lead and using it to cover Utter Chaos up the beat.
Nelly Kelly weaved behind Honeybee and Utter Chaos, and followed Ra, which proved to be a bad choice as the lead that Ra had gained at the start was taken back.
Honeybee was first around the Davan mark with Utter Chaos close on its tail, but with a swift spinnaker hoist Honeybee kept its lead, though if mistakes were made Utter Chaos would have easily taken the top position as the gap was so slim.
However, Ra was also just as close behind Utter Chaos, so the same situation could have happened easily. The positions did not change though and Honeybee, Utter Chaos and Ra arrived at the clubline, with Nelly Kelly taking fourth.
The months of September and October always prove to be optimal sailing weather and with the disappointing summer months, the sailors of LEYC are hoping that this weekend was only a taster of fun to come.
LEYC are hosting a variety of events in the coming months from the Multihull Championships to the GP14 Hot Toddy in October. For more information and news log on to www.leyc.net
