A cold, wet and windy morning couple with a dire weather forecast greeted twelve cats racing for the first time as a separate multihull class in Ballyholme's traditional Boxing Day Regatta. While the charity swimming event (!!) went well, there was a noticeable lack of enthusiasm for sailing, and by eleven o'clock it was obvious that the wind was continuing to rise and there would be no Regatta. It was decided to postpone the event until Sunday 3rd January!

The forecast for the new date was, if anything, worse than Boxing Day's with a minimum 5 - 7 predicted from the west and south. However RO Gary McNinch set a tight course within Ballyholme Bay with the intention of running two swift races back-to-back if conditions did not deteriorate further, and eight cats started into the gusty 5/6 in bright winter sunshine. After half an hour the wind eased and backed slightly and the race finished with Brace-yourself-Bridget (John Mullan & Ian Wilson's H5.9) pulling out a 4.5 minute lead over Tiercel (Pete & Dee McDowell) who had started from the pit lane / North Slip due to technical problems! In the Dart 18s, Stephen Polly & June McMinn (Mine's-a-Double) finished just after Elaine Taylor's Yani-the-Cat (Hurricane crewed this time by Stephen McMinn), close enough to be 9 seconds behind Brace-yourself-Bridget on corrected time. Second Dart 18 Richard Swanston, back in his former boat with Jan Nixey crewing, corrected to third place, and Seeing Double (Peter Kernohan & Jo Rennie) contrived to pip Elaine Taylor for fifth by one second!

By the end of Race 1 the wind has eased enough to cause quite a long interval until the dinghy fleet back-markers had finished. The cold conditions caused Rob & Aileen Armstrong to think better of starting Race 2, and Peter Kernohan and Alan Bell (no gloves!!) retired after a few rounds. At the front of the fleet Brace-yourself-Bridget and Tiercel were having a great battle with the lead changing hands several times. Brace-yourself-Bridget was nine seconds in front at the end, and Elaine Taylor in third lead the two remaining Darts over the line. Corrected time order was the same as the finishing order. Overall winners were John Mullan & Ian Wilson with two firsts, followed by Pete & Dee McDowell (Tiercel) tied on points with Stephen Polly & June McMinn (Mine's-a-Double), then Richard Swanston in fourth place. All in all, a good day's sailing, apart from the cold!

Place	Sail No.		Helm / Crew	Type	Race 1	Race 2	Total Points
1	80	Brace-y'self-Bridget	John Mullan & Ian Wilson	H5.9	1	1	2
2	769	Tiercel	Pete & Dee McDowell	DH	4	2	6
3	6932	Mine's-a-Double	Stephen Polly & June McMinn	D18	2	4	6
4	7117	Two's Company	Richard Swanston & Jan Nixey	D18	3	5	8
5	189	Yani the Cat	Elaine Taylor & Stephen McMinn	H5.9	6	3	9
6	6983	Seeing Double	Peter Kernohan & Jo Rennie	D18	5	9	14
7	5736	The Business	Rob & Aileen Armstrong	D18	7	9	16
8	5775	Supernatural	Allan Bell & Michael Crowe	D18	8	9	17

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