A steady 20kt breeze under cloudless skies provided perfect sailing conditions in Portland Harbour, Weymouth, for the first three races in the final round of the UK 18 foot Skiff Grand Prix yesterday.

Series leaders Ed Browne, Mark Tait and Lachlan Torrance on Hermes won the first race of the day, with Neale Fitzgerald, Paul Constable and Alec McKinlay on Base 1 second and Alex Tobutt, Stuart Appleby and Henry Clark third on Magic Marine.

Andy Richards, Andrew Fairley and Dave Richards on Radii took the second race by a wide margin, while the places behind them were largely dictated by who capsized and how long it took them to recover. Jon Bennett, Andy Jeffries and Nick Jerkins on Computacenter got theirs in early, just after the start, and set off in pursuit of the fleet with a seemingly impossible task. By dint of good sailing on their part and some swimming by others, they took second place at the finish, ahead of Hermes.

The third race of the day was extremely close, with Radii remaining in the groove, and in perfect control, to win from Computacenter again. Base 1 finished in third place after losing the lead they had held for most of the race due to just one slow tack.

Three more races are scheduled for today.

Results (after 3 races, no discard)

1. Hermes Ed Browne, Mark Tait and Lachlan Torrance, 8 points

2. Radii Andy Richards, Andrew Fairley and Dave Richards, 9 points

3. Base 1 Neale Fitgerald, Paul Constable and Alec McKinlay, 10 points

4. Computacenter Jon Bennett, Andy Jeffries and Nick Jerkins, 11 points

5. Magic Marine Alex Tobutt, Stuart Appleby and Henry Clark, 12 points

6. Link Associates Tim Penfold, Matt Alvarado and Will Penfold 19 points