Following Cormac Bradley’s report from the 2026 Flying Fifteen Championship of Ireland at Carrickfergus, a second account of the event gives another perspective on the racing and conditions on Belfast Lough.
The Irish Flying Fifteen fleet was welcomed to Carrickfergus Sailing Club over 3 days, 4-6 September 2026, for their Championship of Ireland. Although the welcome was warm, the fleet was met by gusts up to 40 knots recorded at the nearby Stena ferry port, and the first day of sailing was cancelled at the midday briefing by Race Officer Bill O’Hara.
Four races were planned for Saturday, which arrived with glimpses of sunshine and a pleasant 8-10 knot westerly; upwind tactics were very tricky as there was a forecast of steadily backing breeze and an incoming tide, which both should have favoured the left side of the course, but against that an irregular stream of gusting shifts to the right, turbulent from the hills to the north west of the course. These conditions were mastered by Flying Fifteen debutants from the local club, Matthew McLernon and Paul Fekkes, who were sailing a boat borrowed from Matthew’s dad, Alan, who was also competing, crewing for Trevor D’Arcy. Matthew/Paul scored a first and second in the first two races, fading just a little with a 9th in the third race.
Downwind Duel — The Flying Fifteen fleet powers downwind in the brighter conditions that allowed five championship races to be completed at Carrickfergus. Photo: Steve Atkinson
Current national champions Niall O’Brien and Dermot Flaherty were a model of consistency, always able to pull themselves up the fleet, scoring 3,2,2 for the day. In the fading breeze of only a few knots in the third race, another past champion, John Lavery, sailing with Chris Doorly, found the biggest snake of the day, sliding from the front of the fleet to the back – few of the rest of the fleet found any consistency in their results, with Lee Statham and Andy Paul being the only other boat which managed to avoid a double-digit score for the day.
The forecast for Sunday was poor, with southerly gusts of up to 30 knots expected to build; allied to a low tide at lunchtime, which would make retrieval of the boats up the south-facing slip treacherous, the fleet was persuaded to make dig themselves out of bed early for a 09:30 starting signal. Two excellent races were run with good courses in a steady 16-knot breeze, with very tight racing and photo finishes for the top spots. Niall/Dermot showed their class and pace with two bullets, easily taking the overall Championship win.
Photo Finish — Flying Fifteens converge on the finish line with little separating the leading boats in tight racing off Carrickfergus. Photo: Steve Atkinson
Trevor/Alan pulled out two seconds, avoiding the upstart son, with the family finishing second and fourth overall; Matthew/Paul also won the bronze fleet prize as newcomers. Chris Arrowsmith and Cormac Bradley showed good pace in the breeze with a 4th and 7th, thereby taking the silver fleet prize.
Carrickfergus Sailing Club ran a very slick event, which was not surprising as it was their eighth championship event of the summer - many thanks to their fantastic squad of volunteers who made it all happen.
Race Report by: Peter Kennedy
