The weekend of the 17th - 18th of May saw the first sailing event on the GP14 calendar arrive with great sailing conditions to Lough Erne YC. This is not the first time this group of hardy sailors had come to the serene Lough Erne shores and with the total of 48 sailors coming to LEYC it was a great weekend of tactical sailing.

With the first gun scheduled for 12 noon the Race Officer of the day, Fred Ternan, had his work cut out for him as the wind though perfect for the event just would not settle and with each dark cloud the wind would change again.

After a little postponement the racing started without a hitch and three races were raced.

The fleet did see some of LEYC's members taking part.

Local lady Jo Thompson helming her own Gp14 'Black Magic' was crewed by her regular crew Andrew Gray. Jo is also LEYC's Gp14's fleet captain and co-ordinates this event which was a huge success with record numbers for a first outing of the fleet.

Also racing was Jorgen Peterson and Alex Knowles. Both these gentlemen are avid racers of this two man dinghy and are always present in the club, and their experience paid off with a 7th place in the Bronze fleet.

The Gp14 fleet was joined with two yeoman sailors, who came out for a sail over the two day event.

One of them though, Raymond Morrison is definitely no stranger to this boat. Raymond who is an avid Yeoman owner is more commonly known in the sailing community as a top notch Gp14 sailor, holding his own position at the top of the fleet for many years.

His crew was Declan Dooley who is also a Yeoman owner. The two guys did well as they both got a first in the Bronze fleet.

Chris Scott and Mark Taylor both now in the Gold fleet held their own with a second and two third places over the two days of racing.

Chris and Mark are both working in the Share Centre to bring water sports to the outreaching community, and with plans of going to the Gp14 Worlds they have the backing and support of those at LEYC.

This was the first visiting Fleet of the sailing year at Lough Erne YC, and if these are the standards of racing within the club it will be a fabulous year.

LEYC would kindly like to invite all readers to come and sail. With a new fleet of Yeoman's growing and the J24's celebrating their Silver anniversary at the club this year it will be a place to be.

All information can be obtained on the website leyc.net or marylou_1977@hotmail.com.