Sponsored again this year by local Estate Agents, Marchand Petit, 26 National Twelves enjoyed very competitive racing over the May Bank holiday weekend on the Salcombe Estuary.

Saturday's race began as a portent of things to come; a stiff north-easterly breeze combined with a flood tide inevitably meant the first general recall of the weekend! At the second time of asking, the fleet got away towards Crossways, Blackstone and Gerston. On the reaches to and from Gerston, four boats - three Final Chapters in the hands of and Geoffrey Camm and Amelia Hall, Tom Stewart and Elisabeth Ross in a Feeling Foolish and Jon and Charlotte Ibbotson and Antony Gifford & Jo Brown in two more chapters established a slight lead from the rest of the fleet. These four boats split across the estuary to run against the tide down back down to Blackstone - Camm & Hall and Stewart & Ross stayed on the Salcombe side while the Ibbotsons and Gifford & Brown (in third and fourth) chose the East Porlemouth side which proved to be the favourable side as they rounded the final mark with a clear first and second and kept those positions for the short beat to the finish with the tide.

After a night of healthy and restful partying (Happy Birthday Antony!), a slightly diminished fleet started Sunday morning's race, again in a stiff north-easterly, but this time against the tide, making for exhausting sailing! Tom Stewart lead the fleet off towards Gerston and established a sizeable lead on the very fast reaches in the Bag then up and down the Estuary to win easily from the Ibbotsons with Mike Cooke and Helen Hilditch, from Notts County SC in third.

A very jaded fleet came to the line on Sunday afternoon, having finished off the remnants of Saturday nights food for lunch! Tom Stewart and Elizabeth Ross again dominated in the fresh, chilly north easterly, with Jon Ibbotson following him home again. Third was this time taken by Graham Camm and Zoe Ballantyne sailing the first of Bim Daser's new 'Too Foolish' designs with notable speed.

After an evening of serious socialising and enjoying club chef Mark Sully's famous Carvery, Monday morning's race was sailed in possibly the strongest winds of the weekend and a very strong flood tide. The majority of the fleet opted for a start on the Portlemouth side and the bunching made a general recall inevitable! For the restart, the fleet decided to make it easier for the Race Officer and came over to the Salcombe side. It worked, and the fleet got away amid much shouting and the Race officer easily noted the sail numbers of the several OCS's! Again a fast reach to and from Gerston, and although the wind shifted enough to make the Bag live up to its reputation, the same boats were showing at the front. Stewart and Ross crossed the line with a clear lead but were greeted by silence, their number having been got at the start! This meant that Antony Gifford took the win from Geoffrey Camm and Jon Ibbotson in third, which was sufficient for the Ibbotsons to win overall.

1st N3445 Jon & Charlotte Ibbotson Royal Harwich YC (Final Chapter design)
2nd N3465 Tom Stewart & Liz Ross Royal Harwich YC (Feeling Foolish design)
3rd N3464 Geoffrey Camm & Amelia Hall Pevensey Bay SC (Final Chapter design)
4th N3419 Mike Cooke & Helen Hilditch Notts County SC (Feeling Foolish design)
5th N3469 Graham Camm & Zoe Ballantyne Burghfield SC (Too Foolish design)
6th N3429 John & Katy Meadowcroft Henley SC (Feeling Foolish design)