Sunshine and a strong breeze from the north-west gave ideal sailing conditions in Portland Harbour on Sunday 9 September, 2001 for the second day of the third and final round of the UK 18 foot Skiff Grand Prix.

The top team of Rob Greenhalgh, Dan Johnson and Jonny Meers were back to their best form on ‘RMW Marine’ after suffering a rare defeat in the previous day’s third race, and they duly reeled off three victories to take round three and the Grand Prix series overall.

The main feature of Sunday’s racing was the closeness of the competition, with all boats starting well, and many equal battles taking place around the course. All boats were using their No 2 rigs in a breeze that peaked at 20 knots, but sometimes had lulls that prevented the teams from three-wiring.

The day’s first race (race four of the weekend) saw ‘RMW Marine’ take an early lead, which was held to the finish. Andy Richards, Andy Fairley and Dave Richards on ‘mStation’ took second place, ahead of ‘White Stuff’ sailed by Victor Brellisford, James Storey and Dave Smith.

Race five went, in the usual manner of things, to ‘RMW Marine’ with ‘White Stuff’ second and Jon Bennett, Andy Jeffries and Don Francis third on ‘Gofish’.

The ‘Gofish’ team were recalled at the start of race six, but ‘RMW Marine’ made no mistakes and achieved their fifth win from six races, to ensure a clean sheet after the discard. ‘White Stuff’ finished second again, ahead of Tim Penfold, Andrew Jameson and Will Penfold, back to form on ‘Marlow’.

Perhaps the unluckiest team of the weekend was Martin Goodlad, John Aikman and Roy Goodlad, who had travelled down from Scotland as usual for the event. They missed the first two races on the first day with rigging problems, before taking third place in race three, but Sunday was even worse for them when their bowsprit broke in the first race of the day, putting an end to their racing. Also disappointed were Rob Dulson, Alec McKinlay and Paul Constable, whose rudder was damaged in Saturday’s third race.

The 18 footers will return to the Weymouth and Portland Sailing Academy in just under two weeks time for their national championship from 21-23 September.

Overall Results (round three after six races, one discard)

1st ‘RMW Marine’, Rob Greenhalgh, Dan Johnson and Jonny Meers, 0 points

2nd ‘White Stuff’, Victor Brellisford, James Fawcett and Dave Smith, 12 points

3rd ‘Gofish’, Jon Bennett, Andy Jeffries and Don Francis, 35.4 points

4th ‘TBRS’, Toby Collyer, Stephen Homewood and Keith Willis, 48.8 points

5th ‘mStation’, Andy Richards, Andy Fairley and Dave Richards, 53 points

6th ‘Marlow’, Tim Penfold, Andrew Jameson and Will Penfold, 53.7 points

7th ‘Alba Marine Ltd’, Martin Goodlad, John Aikman and Roy Goodlad, 66.7 points

8th ‘Base 1’, Rob Dulson, Alec McKinlay and Paul Constable, 70 points