After another unpromising start to the day, and a postponement of an hour and a half to allow the breeze to materialise, the scheduled three races to complete Round 3 of the UK 18 foot Skiff Grand Prix were sailed in a Force 3-4 south-south-westerly in the central Solent. These conditions were ideal for the 18 footers, making the racing very enjoyable – especially as the sun made an unexpected appearance.

The Hermes team of Ed Browne, Mark Tait and Lachlan Torrance got straight back in the groove for the first race of the day (Race 4 of the series) and won from White Stuff, sailed by Tim Robinson, Chris Cleary and Dave Smith, with Tim Penfold, Matt Alvarado and Jono Baker third on Link Associates.

Jon Bennett, Andy Jeffries and Nick Jerkins on Computacenter judged their lay line tack across the tide to perfection, putting them in the lead of Race 5 at the first windward mark, but they were overtaken by White Stuff and Hermes. The White Stuff team established a good lead but, unfortunately for them, they had not checked the course board, and tried to finish after three rounds instead of four, which dropped them to third position behind Hermes and Computacenter.

In the final race, Computacenter, still showing excellent judgement in finding the best lanes both upwind and down, won from Hermes and the Base 1 team of Rob Dulson, Paul Constable and Alec McKinlay.

Overall, Hermes was the worthy winner from Base 1 and Computacenter.

The next event for the Skiffs is the National Championship in Plymouth on the 18-20 July.

Overall Results

1. Hermes Ed Browne, Mark Tait and Lachlan Torrance 6 points

2. Base 1 Rob Dulson, Paul Constable and Alex McKinlay 12 points

3. Computacenter Jon Bennett, Andy Jeffries and Nick Jerkins 15 points

4. Magic Marine Alex Tobutt, Stuart Appleby and Henry Clarke 21 points

5. Renewable Energy Charles Tavner, Ed Clay and Jonathan Finn 23 points

6. Link Associates Tim Penfold, Matt Alvarado and Jono Baker 27 points

7. White Stuff Tim Robinson, Chris Cleary and Dave Smith 29 points

8. SP Systems Bill Dawber, Justin Biddle and Sandy Wright 38 points