In 10 knots of breeze and brilliant sunshine, 12 teams battled it out to stay in the final eight at the RYA National Match Racing Championship sailed in Portland harbour in the RYA’s fleet of Beneteau First Class 8s yesterday.

In group A, Mason Woodroth and last year’s winner Ian Williams came out on top of the group with nine wins each, followed by Owen Modral who had six wins, although he was penalised a point due to damage in a collision. The fourth person to go through to the final day was James Fox who finished the second day on three wins.

In group B, Mark Campbell-James showed good form to win nine races, followed by his younger brother Paul who finished with eight race wins, losing only to his older sibling. Christian Hamilton came through the second round robin in third place, and Nick Cherry qualified for the finals in fourth place.

Today the final eight will sail each other and it will be the first chance for the top dogs in each of the groups to eye up the competition on the final day of racing.

Race Director Robin Richardson is hoping for an early start in order for the full series to be completed. With a similar forecast to that experienced yesterday, the competitors will be giving it their all in the hope of taking home the national title and a percentage of the prize money.