SALCOMBE Yacht Club held the second races of their Summer Series on June 22.

Competitors were greeted by what the over-60s call classic Salcombe conditions. That is to say blue skies, blue seas, a strongly flooding tide and a Force 3-5 South Westerly wind. With those conditions, it was fitting that Mr Blue Sky himself, Malcolm Mackley, was the Race Officer.

Malcolm set the Yawls and Fast Handicap a course of one (Blackstone), five (Salstone), two (Millbay), three (Crossways), two (Millbay), X (inflatable laid near Snapes Point). The Short Course and Junior Handicap competitors had the same course but without the one, five.

In the Junior Handicap, George and Mark McClaren in a Feva XL sailed round in solitary splendour, as did Andrew and Tristram Squire in the Albacore in the Fast Handicap.

The modern (red) and classic (blue) fleet Yawls race together in the Summer Series, with the classics having a handicap advantage of about 3.2 minutes for every 100. Off the start, the four moderns and three classics all chose the East Portlemouth shore. Up the first beat, it was neck and neck on the water between the classic 68 and the moderns 145, 168 and 170.

That is, until, 145 ran aground off Ager Point and 68 sailed into an unusual windless patch just north of Blackstone. John Burn and Ross Bourne in 170 tacked onto starboard round Biddle Head and came out to Blackstone with a handy 30-metre lead over 168 which, like 68, was forlornly waiting for the South Sands puff (a lift on starboard blowing out of the South Sands valley). From there 168 chased 170 around the course. Those two went short tack for short tack up the beats, with 168 overtaking 170 on the third beat.

There was a similar battle on the water for third place between 68 and 145, which was joined in the later stages of the race by 187, making good progress after a slow early part to her race. At the finish, the moderns,145 and 187 crossed about a minute ahead of the classic 68, but on handicap 68 beat both of them to come third. Despite their hour-and-a-half-long battle 168 and 170 managed to put enough time between them and 68 to come 1st and 2nd of the Yawls on handicap.

The short course handicap race featured 4 ILCA 4s and 1 ILCA 6. The ILCA 6 sailed by Paul Donahey prevailed on the water, but the leading ILCA 4 sailed by Emily Hoar was only one and a half minutes behind and won on handicap from Paul by the fair margin of about one minute in a 40-minute race.

Here’s to more great racing for the rest of the summer.