McKee on top of the world

Dovestone winners, left to right, back: Andy McKee, Ian Jones, Alistair Docherty and Tarren Jones with (front) May Wall.

SAILING: 

GREENFIELD’S Andy McKee had plenty to smile about at Dovestones Sailing Club’s annual prize presentation evening.

He proudly displayed the Flying 15 Classic World Championship trophy after his success in Melbourne, Australia.

After failing to score in the opening race, McKee and Maf Smith went on to record four wins and two second places in a dominant performance.

It completed a superb double for the pair as they won the Australian Classic Nationals, a warm-up for the main event, the previous week.

The first day of the World Championship didn’t go entirely to plan for the Dovestones-led team.

Conditions deteriorated rapidly after the start of the race and, after being hit by a series of steep waves, the boat became swamped and they were forced to retire to prevent serious damage.

Last in the regatta — in consolation they only had to count six out of the seven scheduled races — they still harboured hopes of victory if they could avoid any more mishaps.

McKee and Smith upped their performance, posting an excellent series of results, to lead the regatta from two Australian teams going into the last-race.

They had to finish no lower than third to secure the world title, so the pressure was still on.

But they sailed a flawless race, leading from start to finish, carefully positioning the boat so as to always keep tactical advantage and prevent the opposition from overtaking.

The Dovestone club boasted a bumper haul of silverware in 2009 at the Royal George Hotel, Greenfield.

As well as McKee’s success, Ian Jones won the English and Irish National Laser Class Championship, Tarren Jones enjoyed victory in the National Scorpion Class Championship, Alistair Docherty was crowned the Laser Radial champion at the Abersoch Dinghy Week, and May Wall was a member of the crew that won a 12-hour endurance race in Southport.