The final four races in the Antrim Boat Club Summer series saw Jeff Harrison and Charlie McAllister’s Limbo 6.6 FA2 dominating the score sheet as they had done in the previous four races, to take the overall prize by nine points in the twelve-strong fleet.
Racing out of Antrim Boat Club on the north shore of Lough Neagh, a downwind start in the fifth race resulted in a compact crowd at the bottom mark. There were many close battles throughout the fleet, with less than 90 seconds separating 4th to 9th on corrected time. FA2 and the H323 TicTac (Peter Frazer) had done enough to score 1st and 2nd with some fast reaching from Main mark to the finish. But it was the new boat in the fleet Michael Browne’s Avalon, another Limbo 6.6, who, after a slow start, made a great recovery to take 3rd place.
What was becoming a weekly tradition with the same preset course as the previous two weeks, albeit with the wind in the opposite direction, another close race enfolded in the sixth outing. It was JouJou (Hunter F1 Ivan Miles) and TicTac (H323) quick off the start leading the fleet round the first two marks with FA2 (Limbo 6.6) fast approaching. The three MG Springs seemed pre-occupied with racing each other and lost touch in the race. The long upwind leg from Main mark to finish saw FA2 claim line honours and a rejuvenated JouJou pip TicTac for second on the water and corrected time.
The Antrim Boat Club fleet on a downwind start to Kettle bottom mark
With a steady breeze forecast for Race 7 the Race Officer saw an opportunity for one of the longer courses with a long reach to Watertower and an even longer reach across to Main Mark. It was FA2 and TicTac quick off the line in the biggest turnout of the series so far with 12 boats on the short start line meaning many boats struggled to cross the line on one tack. TicTac used her speed advantage over FA2 to gain ground quickly, first to Kettlebottom and extending up the long reach to Watertower while FA2 tried in vain with the only spinnaker up on that tight reach to keep in touching distance midfield and battle for 3rd. But the long beat from Main to the finish saw both Limbos use their upwind advantage, with FA2 overtaking TicTac on the water to claim another win.
At the Antrim Boat Club Summer Series Prizegiving were from left to right Peter Frazer TicTac, Zee of sponsors Eagle Divers NI, and Katie Ryles from FA2
The final race of the series saw a consistent turnout of 11 boats. The Race Committee reverted to the pre-set course of B5 yet again, but another dramatic race on the water followed. FA2 (Limbo 6.6) and JouJou (Hunter F1) fought long and hard all race long to see who would get line honours - the race lead changing at least eight times on the water.
The battle for 3rd overall was going to the wire, with Wild Rover (MG Spring 25) having a slow beat to Kettlebottom, allowing Jena Collier’s Bandersnatch (Beneteau 211) to eke out some distance over them. Even the battle for who would be last, went down to this final race, with the improving Mr. J (Pegasus 700) beating his race series nemesis Coriander (Corribee) to avoid the dreaded wooden spoon.
Eventually, the Hunter F1 JouJou took line honours, but FA2 secured another win on corrected time with a solid race from Avalon to get 3rd place in as many races. Bandersnatch did enough to secure 3rd overall, while TicTac secured 2nd overall in the series, with FA2 again the overall winners.
Antrim Boat Club Summer Series Overall Results
