Saturday 20th June, 2009
Race Briefing: 11.00 First Gun 11.55
Lough Neagh Sailing Club would like to extend an invitation to all boats to compete in their Annual Regatta to be held on Saturday 20th June, 2009
There will be two Classes, a Spinaker Class and Whitesail Class.
Regatta 2009 - Notice of Race
Saturday 20th June 2009
Briefing 11.00am
First Gun 11.55pm
1. Rules.
Lough Neagh Sailing Club is the organising authority. Racing shall take place under the current ISAF Racing Rules of Sailing (2009-2012), prescriptions of the RYA, LNSC sailing instructions and the appropriate class rules. Additional sailing instructions relevant to this event are included in this Notice of Race.
2. Conditions of entry.
All participants must be fully paid members of Lough Neagh Sailing Club with guests obtaining temporary guest membership by registration. See the sailing secretary at the Race Briefing. All boats must fly their class flag (Spinaker Class – Green Flag, Whitesail Class – White Fag) and club Burgee.
3. Race Course and schedule.
Racing will be held under two classes, Spinaker Class and Whitesail Class with courses decided on the day by Race Committee. Each class will have their own course and individual class starts. Starting sequence will be as follows. (5,4,1,0). The course to be sailed and the descriptions of the marks to be used will be displayed at the starting battery (The whitesail course will be displayed on the bottom row preceded by a white board).
4. Time Limits
Time limits for individual races are as follows; Whitesail 2 hours, Spinaker Class 2 hours.
5. Schedule.
It is proposed to run 3 races for each class. Two races will be run before a break on the water (break approx. 20 mins after last boat finish) for lunch with a further race held after lunch. Racing will start with the Whitesail class followed by the spinnaker Class with subsequent races commencing as soon after as possible. All starts and finishes will be from the starting battery.
6. Discards
No discards will be permitted in either classes Class. In the event of a tie, results in latter races will have priority ie. A win in the last race will be treated as a better score to a boat that wins the second last race.
7. Handicapping
Handicaps will be calculated off standard. LNSC’s Race committee will be responsible for allocating handicaps to visiting boats.
8. Prize Giving
The Lough Neagh Sailing Club Regatta prizes are as follows;
Class (Trophy/Cup)
Spinaker Class (The Peggan Plate)
Whitesail Class (TSB Shield)
9. Presentation of Awards
Results will be announced after the race in the clubhouse with an official presentation made.
10. Social/Food
A BBQ will be provided with boats required to confirm numbers at the race briefing. There will be a small cover charge of £5.00 for BBQ packs provided. Lunch will NOT be supplied to boats on the water during the planned break for lunch.
11. Dinghy
Dinghies are not permitted to participate in the Reggata.
12. Race Committee
Sailing Secretary: Kevin Cushnahan
Club Handicappper: John Williams
Whitesail Representative: Ken Espie
Spinaker Representative: Walter Johnston
Challenging Conditions for Fireballs
This year’s Fireball Ulster Championship was held on Lough Neagh where a fleet of 17 boats competed at the two-day event hosted by Lough Neagh Sailing Club. The quality of organisation and the level of hospitality offered by the club was very impressive, which was fortunate because strong and gusty southerly winds prevented racing on Saturday so Fireballers had to content themselves with a fine buffet dinner and live music instead.
The weather allowed for racing to go ahead on the Sunday but conditions were challenging. OD John Murtagh ran three quick races on an olympic course with a fast turn around in between. The first and second races saw over 18 knots of breeze and a chop on the lake. Gusts of around 25 knots were experienced by the fleet as rain squalls crossed the course…
Click here to read full report in Afloat.
Fireball Championships at Lough Neagh Sailing Club
17 Fireballs made the trip to Lough Neagh Sailing Club. Over the last few months the club have re-introduced dinghy sailing after a long break of 20 years, so we were more than happy for the Fireball Event to take place…
Ulster Fireball Championships 2009 at Lough Neagh Sailing Club.
Wet and Windy at Lough Neagh
16th – 17th May 2009


17 Fireballs made the trip to Lough Neagh Sailing Club. Over the last few months Lough Neagh Sailing Club have re-introduced dinghy sailing after a long break of 20 years so the club where more than welcome for the Fireball Event to take place.
Unfortunately the Saturday’s racing had to be cancelled due to Force 7 gusting Force 8 winds. Everyone enjoyed the food and entertainment put on by the club that night.
On Sunday the race officer John Murtagh and his team set Olympic Courses for the fleet. The wind was gusting up to force 6 which made excilerating sailing but testing conditions for the fleet. The rescue teams where kept busy for Race 1 and Race 2 as many boats ran into difficulties with some having gear failure and having to retire.

By Race 3 the wind had eased slightly to a force 4 for the remaining 10 boats. At the top end of the Gold fleet T. Gillard & F. Rowan where having a great battle with N. Butler & S. Moore throughout the event. It was T. Gillard and F. Rowan who prevailed as they managed to win all three races putting in some impressive boat handling in the challenging conditions. In the Silver fleet S. Oram and L. Bishop dominated claiming victory.
At the prizegiving former Fireballer’s Adrian and Maeve Bell presented the prizes. Adrian and Maeve represented Lough Neagh Sailing Club in Fireballs winning many Regional and National Championships in the 70’s and 80’s.
Results:

Gold Fleet:
1st 14840, T. Gillard & F. Rowan (SVSC) 3pts.
2nd 146, N. Butler & S. Moore (DMYC) 6pts.
3rd 14790, A. Pearce & H. Butler (RSGYC) 10pts.

Silver Fleet:
1st 14854, S. Oram & L. Bishop (DMYC) 22pts.
2nd 13787, J. Nicholson & V. Bessler (RSGYC) 44pts.
3rd 14691, L. McKenna & G. Denzler (RSGYC) 44pts.
Photographs from the event can be seen here. Click link.
Additional thanks to ;
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