Helensburgh Sailing Club’s commodore, James Miller, completed a notable double last week by winning the Sigma 33 Offshore One-Design class championship, including the Irish Championship, at Bangor in Belfast Lough.

The triumph for Miller and his crew came hot on the heels of ‘Team Mayrise’ taking top spot in the Sigma class at the Scottish Series in Loch Fyne at the beginning of June.

Their championship campaign in Northern Irleand started with a fourth and a first on day one, followed by three bullets on day two when the fresh breeze turned distinctly strong.

This put Mayrise four points ahead by the series mid-point, with the Irish boat Insider in second place and Sigmatic (Donald McLaren, also of Helensburgh Sailing Club) in third and Leaky Roof 2 (Alan Harper, Cove Sailing Club) fourth.

Day three was blown off, with some crews favouring Top Gun: Maverick at the cinema, while others enjoyed the sunshine and the hospitality on offer at the Royal Ulster Yacht Club.

The Scottish Sigma contingent also held their own on the dancefloor, with some bleary eyes as rendezvous time arrived on the morning of Day Four.

It was distinctly “strong” again, but a fading wind was promised – so off they went for the start of the sixth race. In reality the wind strength came closer to “survival”, so no tears were shed when the race was shortened after just one round. The overall positions remained unchanged with Mayrise counting four bullets and second, after discard.

A Helensburgh club spokesperson said: “It was great to see this event – postponed from 2020 and 2021 due to Covid – finally taking place.

“Whilst the overall turnout in all classes ended down on the organisers’ expectations, the quality of racing was absolutely excellent.

“HSC looks forward to hosting the Sigma Championship in either 2023 or 2024.”