Today’s racing was held in light and shifty winds that made it a long hike to the Needles and back for the Britannia Cup, but you wouldn’t have known it at the finish when Nick Hewson’s Team Tonic crossed the line just nine seconds behind Kit Hobday’s Bear of Britain to take first on handicap by just one second, making it a Farr 52 one-two.

Hewson, whose yacht is named Contribution in the Skandia squad this week, said he was “delighted with the result, and the crew were over the moon – we were absolutely neck and neck all the way for four hours. We had a feeling we may have got it at the line, but probably so did the other boat. Conditions were almost ideal today, a bit more wind would have been nice, but that may have given Volvo for Life an advantage.”

Team Tonic had Jeremy Robinson at the helm and Olympic 49er hopeful Paul Brotherton managing tactics and the team is beginning to string together a useful set of results. But Hewson says they are taking nothing for granted: “if the wind is light our competition is Wolf, if it is like today it’s going to be Bear.

Peter Morton and Adam Gosling’s Mills 50 Mandrake took third and Glynn Williams’s Wolf placed what for her will be a disappointing fourth. Volvo for Life aka Serano might also now be further christened ‘Too many cooks…’ perhaps. Boasting Ben Ainslie at the helm, fellow Olympic medallists Shirley Robertson, Iain Percy and Ossie Stewart plus Volvo Ocean Race skippers Neal and Lisa McDonald amongst the crew and Yachting World’s Sue Pelling on the runners, the deep-draughted Swan 70 ran aground right off the Squadron, just a boat length short of the line before wriggling free for seventh. Look out for a separate report tonight.

Overall leadership of the Black Group has changed after Dick Dastardly could manage no better than sixth in IRC Class 6. Up until now it was John Danby’s Corby 25 that was having some wacky races in this class, with a 15th, a retired and a fifth finish, so her first place ahead of Mark Jephcott’s Contessa 33 Spirit of Defiance and Nick Goodhew’s J/29 Jumbo J (the latter another yacht in need of a good finish) will be cause for celebration.

White Group leaders Neil McLure and Keith Stewart onboard So consolidated their lead by taking another first in the National Sonata class – that makes it a straight run of four out of four poles – not a bad performance for McLure who this morning said the placing was “unexpected.”

In IRC Class 4, the HOD 35 Dog Tag got back to winning ways albeit by just a few seconds over Captain Jim MacGregor’s Triple A with Flair to make it three firsts out of four; that also takes her to the top of the Black Group table, albeit tied on points with two others. Peter Schofield, Dog Tag’s skipper said, “We have a good boat which is always successful and some stunning new sails, which helped a bit. The shifty conditions of the last few days have not made racing easy, but were generally better today, with a stronger breeze that was less fluky.” The HOD 35’s crew are a bunch of regulars who have sailed her in the Lymington Spring Series, on the Round the Island Race and across at St Malo so their experience is probably telling as well.

Perhaps the unluckiest skipper of the day was the Class 1 IRC Beneteau 47.7 Azzurra’s David Edmund-Jones. The race officers had their work cut out today when a whole flotilla of yachts from different classes conspired to cross the line pretty much at the same time. In the confusion it looked as though Azzurra crossed first. The skipper’s reaction at that time: “Surpised! I knew we were having a better race today, but had no idea that we had come first on corrected time. We were happy to be ahead of some of the guys that we felt we were racing against.”

Sad to say Azzurra placed 18th once the numbers were redialled and it was the more familiar names of the Swan 45 McFly, Beneteau 47.7 Kirribilli and Corby 41.5 Carphone Warehouse that placed first through third respectively. The latter is at the head of the Black Group now along with Dog Tag and the Contessa Gualin.

Results day five

Class 0 IRC
1Team Tonic (Nick Hewson)
2Bear Of Britain (Kit Hobday & Tim Louis)
3Mandrake (Peter Morton & Adam Gosling)
4Wolf (Glynn Williams & Kevin Sproul)
5Anthem (Tom Gill)

Class 0 IRM
1Team Tonic (Nick Hewson)
2Bear Of Britain (Kit Hobday & Tim Louis)
3Wolf (Glynn Williams & Kevin Sproul)
4Mandrake (Peter Morton & Adam Gosling)
5Tonnerre De Breskens (Peter Vroon)

Class 1 IRC
1McFly (Tony Mack)
2Kirribilli (Douglas & Lynne Flynn)
3Carphone Warehouse (Charles Dunstone)
4Desperado (Richard Loftus)
5Kung Fu Fighter (Rob Greenhalgh)

Class 1 IRM
1Arbitrator (Stephen Bailey)
2Farrfalina (Rob Goddard)
3Kung Fu Fighter (Rob Greenhalgh)

Ker 11.3
1Kung Fu Fighter (Rob Greenhalgh)
2Minnie The Moocher (Anthony Richards)

Class 2 IRC
1Firestorm (Jonathan Perry)
2Mighty Max 2 (Andy Williams)
3Kylidh (Mr & Mrs Guy Spurr)
4Born Slippy (Julian Bates)
5Closing Time (David Riley & Andrew Yates)
5Bounty Hunter (Jonathan Baines)

Prima 38
1Firestorm (Jonathan Perry)
2Kylidh (Mr & Mrs Guy Spurr)
3Born Slippy (Julian Bates)
4Closing Time (David Riley & Andrew Yates)
5Mighty Max 2 (Andy Williams)

Class 3 IRC
1Fastwave (St James’s Place Partnership)
2Chieftain (Ger O’Rourke)
3Jackdaw (D K Walters)
4Pissaro (Mr Barry Polley)
5Heartbeat (Pascal Minjon)

Beneteau 40.7
1Fastwave (St James’s Place Partnership)
2Chieftain (Ger O’Rourke)
3Pissaro (Mr Barry Polley)
4Shockwave (Dr Nick Lutte)
5Fulcrum First Challenger (Fulcrum Trading)

Class 4 IRC
1Dog Tag (Mr J Delacave & Mrs B Butcher)
2Triple A With Flair (Captain Jim MacGregor)
3Capitali$M (Tim Harrington)
4Owl (Peter Bruce)
5Avocet (John Thompson)

HOD 35
1Dog Tag (Mr J Delacave & Mrs B Butcher)
2Capitali$M (Tim Harrington)
3Owl (Peter Bruce)
4Carpetbagger (Michael Ronson)

Class 5 IRC
1Software Mistress (Ian Maclean)
2Great Scott II (Eurof Phillips & Barbara MacKay)
3Winsome (Harry Heijst)
4Evelyn R (Jon & Karen Yorke)
5Leo Lady (Graham Nixon)

Class 6 IRC
1Respect (John Danby)
2Spirit Of Defiance (Mark Jephcott)
3Jumbo J (Nick Goodhew)
4Cyclone (William Curtis)
5Effusion (Chris & Jackie Welch)

Class 7 IRC
1White Mischief (Andy Hind)
2Disko Trooper (Jules Hall, Rob Garlick & Will Hamilton)
3Tsunami (Roger & Liz Swinney)
4Dynamite (John Mcintosh)
5Minim III (Oliver Dunne)

Class 8 ISC
1Moonlighting (Roger Frost)
2Splendid (Lionel, Janet & Malcolm Miller)
3Antilope (Willem Wester)
4Iona (David Clementi)
5Second Love (Michael A Palette)

Class 9 ISC
15 More Tarts (Five Star)
2Murena (Charles Liddell & Hugh Carter)
35 Tarts Dominic (Five Star)
4So! (Simon Osgood)
5Rio (Mike Shepherd)

Class 10 IRC Bowsprit
1Waverider (Mike Bennett)
2Judgement Day (Mr & Mrs N Brooke)
3Wings Of The Wind (Andrew McIrvine & Steven Thorpe)
4Moose On The Loose (Mervyn Gutteridge and Duncan Money)
5Magi (Mark Francke & Richard Grevis)

J92
1Big Wednesday (Roger Mavity)
2Forza (Jack & Joan Hardie)
3Moby J (Mark Franklin)
4Vampire (David Moore)
5Jupiter (James Owen)

Contessa 32
1Drum Beat (Eldred Himworth)
2Gualin (David & Mary Parson)
3Blanco (D Richards, R Rouse & T V Anner)
4Shardik (Geoffrey & Susan Palmer)
5Wild Thyme (Lizzie Vickers)

Mumm 30
1Pogo Bogo (David Knight)
2Mumbo Jumbo (Hugh Courtenay)
3Highlander III (Gregor Logan)
4Monkey Business (David Wilkinson, Ian Poynton & Peter Edwards)
5Marauder (Tim Barclay)

Sigma 33
1Stickleback (J Godfrey & C R Dick)
2Oxygen (Michael Birmingham)
3Summation (Julia Wright)
4Alexa (Ian Le Maitre)
5Jupa (Julian Spencer-Smith)

Sigma 38
1Red Arrow (RAFSA)
2Prophet (Grenville Snowdon)
3Rapscallion (Pete Diamond)
4Gambit (J C A Tildesley)
5Fat Chance (Mr R Lee)

Sunsail 37
154 Polypipe Plc (Sunsail)
262 Marsh (Paul Fuller)
375 Hire Car (Credit Suisse) (Nick Andrews)
457 National Grid (Mark Oaten)
573 Team Brown (Matt Brown)

X332
1X-Therapist (Russell Hodgson)
2Elixir (Rick Waterhouse)
3X Parrot (Mike Garvey)
4Yellow Rose (Marten Jan Ringers)
5Xabyte (Flying Fish)

Daring
1Doublet (R W G Syme, R E Richardson & R C E Richardson)
2Dionysus (Bruce Huber & Jonathan Goodwin)
3Dauntless (Giles Peckham)
4Decanter (Jeremy Preston)
5Loup Garou Vii (Jamie Clark)

Hunter 707
1The Ant Hill Mob (Russell Mead)
2Black Sheep (Jim Ross)
3Impulse (Rob Cage)
4Chiilli Chaser (Ian Southworth)
5Surfeit (Foster, Deakin & Webster)

National Sonata
1So (Neil McLure & Keith Stewart)
2Cobweb (Matt Glasgow)
3Crisis (Guy Palin)
4Pizzicato (Tom White & Simon Townsend)
5Missred (Toby Gorman)

International Dragon
1Apalala (Chris Caws & Jeremy Field)
2Luder (Fred Solly & Andrew Cassel)
3Etc Hell (Graham Bailey)
4Frantic (Eric Williams)
5Rackham (Robert Gray)

International Etchells
1Diva (Mr Gareth Jones)
2007 (Mike Sparks)
3Fuzzy Duck IV (Woodman, Proudlove & Ford)
4Claudia III (Peter Andreae & D Shanks)
5Pointless (Messrs Ewart-Smith & Richards)

International Flying Fifteen
1Saffina (Roger Palmer)
2Affore The Weak (Nick & Estelle Clarke)
3Dusty IV (Tony Bedingfield & Paul Wills)
4Fritilary (Gil McCutcheon & Mike Boll)
5Funny Enuff (John Mander)

National Squib
1Archimedes (Mark Heseltine & David Searle)
2Firecracker Too (Andrew Porteous & Jerry Westbrook)
3Firestreak (Miss Sarah Everitt)
4Yes M’Lady (Stephen & Angie Whittone)
5Nan (Graham Smyth)

National Swallow
1Serenade (Mr & Mrs Hugh Kemlo)
2Solitude (A J Lunch & A M Reid)
3Boomerang (Jeremy & Gilda Buckwell)
4Archon (Prof Malcolm Green)
5Avocet (Mr & Mrs J A Houghton)

Redwing
1Toucan (Peter & Lynne Romer-Lee and Colin & Becky Samuelson)
2Siskin (Mr T Montagu Douglas Scott & Miss A Montagu Douglass Scott)
3Quail (James Wilson & Johnathan Peel)
4Lady Laetitia (William F Clegg, William H Clegg & Erik Cole)
5Musicus (David McCue & Nicholas Robertson)

RS K6
1Fat Face (Martin Wadhams)
2Pukka Clothing Company (Phil McDonald and Malcolm Morley)
3Stalking Horse (Paul Young)
4Team Purple (Philip Wright)
5Take Two (Johnathan Calascione)

Seaview Mermaid
1Scuttle (Alexander, Noel & Richard Dobbs)
2Bluebell (David Rowley, David Stevens & Anthony Roberts)
3Naomi (John Sandiford-Haigh)
4Sheen (Andrew McCullough & Jonathan Woodall)
5Scuttle 62 (Nick Wakefield)

Solent Sunbeam
1Danny (Roger & Jacky Wickens)
2Daisy (Dr Mike Moss & Mike Law)
3Joy (Peter O’Hea)
4Symphony (Anthony & Jill Robinson & Susie Barker)
5Query (Tim Hill)

Sonar
1Dolphin (Duncan Bates)
2Geronimo (Day & Hamilton)
3Sonnet (Steve Sleight)
4Sonic Lady (Richard Perkins)
5Sonic (Simon Barker)

Sportsboats Rule
1F’Eightal Attraction (Andrew Thorpe & John Roberson)
2Seeing Red (Phil Cornick)
3Oi! (Cooper, Vance & Swalwell)
4Wee Jamarama (Stewart Hawthorn)
5Hybrid Challenger (Jonny Marshall)

Bull 7000
1Seeing Red (Phil Cornick)
2Rustler (Robin & Jill Stevenson)
3Hullabulloo (Martin Forster)
4Cow’S Rig (David Neate)
5Rampage (Russ Fairman)

Cork 1720
1Oi! (Cooper, Vance & Swalwell)
2Hybrid Challenger (Jonny Marshall)
3Sdm (Neil Angel)
4Flamboyant (Chris Jago)
5Morpheous.Com (James W Flynn)

Laser SB3
1Wee Jamarama (Stewart Hawthorn)
2Laser Sb3 (Richard Gibson, Nico Honor & Sandy McPhail)
3Proctor Winning Masts (Zeb Elliot, Chips Howorth & Neil MacGregor)
4Doolalli (James Dobbs)
5Hyde Sails (Mark Richards & Rob Andrews)

Victory
1Steadfast (Roddy Bowerman)
2Hawk (Martin Hunter & John Hunter)
3Ripple (Team Evans Dolan Stone)
4Zephyr (H Pringle, J Scammell & P Pringle)
5Zephyrus (Shaun Hopkins)

X One Design
1Kyperini (Kim Slater & Alistair Evans)
2Kathleen (M O S Fitzgerald)
3Chartreuse (Colin McKinnon, Neil Hart & David Foster)
4Lass (Russell, Akhurst, Maple & Faulkner)
5Dolce Vita (Barry Dunning)