The first race in the Blenheim weekend series for dinghies started in excellent but tricky sailing conditions. The wind was a westerly force 4 with stronger gusts and big shifts in direction as the wind was deflected by the St Peter Port landscape. 13 dinghies competed and a course was set from the GYC castle line. The start was delayed by 10 minutes while an inflatable mark was laid out in the Little Russell, however, in the meantime entertainment was provided by a pod of dolphins that appeared on the start line.

After a clean start the dinghies headed north to take Reffee to starboard before heading out to the inflatable buoy. The Hobie Tiger of Benn Garnham and Paul Harris rounded the mark first and quickly hoisted their kite followed by the faster asymmetric dinghies. It soon became clear to these boats that the angle to the second mark was too tight so after a white water ride they had to drop their spinnakers and head up towards the mark. This suited the Lasers and the RS300 that were able to sail a more direct course and they all benefitted keeping in contact with the faster boats.

The gusty and swinging wind direction made the conditions challenging for all. Up the first upwind leg big tactical gains could also be made by reading the wind shifts which David Aslett and Andrew Bridgman did well to get to the front of the closely-contested fleet of six Lasers. Allister Cleal in his RS300 was also in good position until capsizing on the following downwind leg allowing the chasing Lasers, led by David Aslett, to catch up. This downwind leg also resulted in two more boats capsizing during a gybe in the gusts coming over the Castle, first the RS500 of Stuart & Carol Bloese closely followed by Matthew Stark in his singled handed RS700. Matthew also fractured the daggerboard during the capsize and was forced to retire.

The Hobie Tiger completed the race in just over 35 minutes but as their handicap was applied they were beaten into second place by David Aslett in his Laser by 19 seconds. Sailing an excellent race and finishing on handicap just 9 seconds behind the Hobie Tiger in third place was Andrew Bridgman. So after a very close and exciting battle all the competitors are looking forward to next weeks race.