Meningitis Chase Race at East Antrim Boat Club

Rory McKenna & Alan Hill win the Meningitis Chase Race in their Flying Fifteen © Tom Jobling

Meningitis Chase Race prizegiving (l-r) Alan Hill, Heather Kane, wife of EABC Commodore & Rory McKenna © Tom Jobling

Heather Kane, wife of the EABC Commodore, with Freddie & Gavin Doig - winners of the Meningitis Minor Race © Tom Jobling

After months of meticulous planning it seemed that at 08.00 hours on 7th September battered by a chill northerly gale and drenched in horizontal rain, the Great Circumnavigation of Larne Lough and indeed the whole Meningitis Chase Race day would have to wait for another time!

The organisers were frantically fingering ipads in search of a sympathetic weather site... Then as race officer Richard Doig was reaching for 'that' flag, both the wind, now with a touch of easterly in it, abated and the rain eased. An eerie calm had descended on East Antrim Boat Club. The committee boat was fired up and it was, game on.

The dire morning however had seriously eaten into the turnout prediction. The organising team at EABC estimated that it took probably a dozen craft out of the entry forecast.

However, for the morning's Minor Race, seven Toppers two Mirrors and a RS Feva took on the first challenge of the day. But the weather Gods were playing games. Going from 40 knots to four had left Larne Lough devoid of its steady wind pattern. After 50 minutes of sailing it was the Mirror dinghy of Freddie(5) and Gavin Doig - son and father - from the home club who crossed the rolling finish. They were comfortably ahead of Ellen McCarlie (12) from Co.Antrim Yacht Club in second place.

For the afternoon outing some thirty entries took to the waters for what would be an 'interesting' inaugural Chase Race. It was light and it was shifty – some said it was mystical others described the conditions differently...

First away in the staggered starting sequence was the Laser 4.7 of Niamh Dean followed by Katie Kane in her Europe. But they were soon gobbled up by the chasing GP14s in an increased breeze. After some forty minutes the conditions challenged the fleet again – it was 'spot the pockets of air' time. Gary Fekkes in the Laser Radial was the first to see it. Rory McKenna & Alan Hill in the classic Flying 15 followed him. They gained even more. They lead the fleet at the halfway stage. The RS400 quartet visiting from Belfast Lough had picked up another breeze on a course which was now biased in favour of close reaching legs. The chase was on!

They tore through the 15's, crushed the various Laser rigs and picked off the GP14s one by one. Leading the chase were Bangor's Gareth Flannigan & David Fletcher. Their red spinnaker was sensing blood as they hauled in the competition. Seventeen-year-old Fekkes was next on their target list. Time was running out.

The huge crown which had forsaken the onshore entertainment - even the soaking of the commodore stall - roared encouragement for Laser lad. The one minute (to run) horn blasted... The '15 crew were safe, young Fekkes was looking over his shoulder, but the '400 fire had all but been extinguished.

A relieved Tom Jobling, speaking on behalf of the Jobling family, who were the drivers of the novel event, said later; "What greeted us that morning was nothing short of devastating. Months of hard planning washed away in the autumn equinox." He continued, "But we didn't factor in the resilience of either the sailors of Northern Ireland, or the members of East Antrim. Once the races started, the onshore fête stalls were moved inside to the relative shelter of the vacant boathouse. The show got underway. Then the sun came out, as did the stalls again, the bouncy castle was inflated and our world was restored." He concluded, "On behalf of the family I say thank you to all involved in this generous effort for Meningitis. The weather smiled on us as did everyone assembled on Curran Point. And, we remembered Stan's smile again."

Overall, as the organising team had hoped for, it was indeed a day of mixed abilities. It covering a huge age range; the youngest competitor was five, the oldest knocking on the door of 70. At the gala prize-giving the Chase Race winners, Rory McKenna & Alan Hill praised the slickness of the whole operation and the warmth of the EABC membership. Rory closed by suggesting that the Chase Race could be an annual Larne Lough challenge.

At the time of going to press the total raised for the Meningitis Trust was looking to be on the starboard side of £3,000. A formal cheque hand-over will be held at East Antrim Boat Club in the coming weeks and it will be covered on YachtsandYachting.com.

Overall Results: (top three)