SAILING: CHESTER Sailing and Canoeing Club met on Sunday to compete for the Silver Jubilee Cup.

Twelve boats took to the water in a light wind and a strong current. New member Tom Forrester-Coles in a Laser, Peter Hadfield and crew Liz Whitehead in an RS200 and Mark Roberts, also in a Laser, went into the lead followed by the rest of the fleet in a mass.

The wind shifted during the race and the incoming tide caused the current to reverse, which caught out the unwary. The leaders lapped most of the rest of the fleet but, eventually, Forrester-Coles was first with Hadfield second and Roberts third.

In the second race, the same leading boats were ahead and in lapping the rest of the fleet became caught in the middle, which proved disastrous for Roberts on the final buoy before the finish. He caught the buoy and was forced to do a 360-degree turn which allowed Mike Kneale, in a Laser, to take his place. The final placing was Forrester-Coles first, Hadfield second and Kneale third.

The breeze was cold but steady and coming from the west as the first race got under way at Gresford on Sunday.

The Mirror of Jim Young had to make a return to the jetty after he forgot his life jacket, which is compulsory for sailing at Gresford, but soon returned to join the race.

Trevor Ward, with Kevin Forbes as crew in a GP, made a good start, as did Nick Blore in his Solo. These two boats were in close contact until Ward managed to open up a small gap in the second lap.

Frank Page, in his Enterprise, was not very far behind on the water, but the handicap does not favour this class of boat. The gap between Ward and Blore did not increase until the wind dropped away on the last lap, when the GP fared better than the Solo.

At the finish when the handicap was worked out, it was Ward and Forbes who were placed in first position from Blore and Young.

Race two saw a good start by all the boats with the exception of Young, who had to return and restart after he was deemed to be over the line when the start gun was fired.

On the first lap it was Forbes in the lead with Page in close attendance, followed by Blore. Page remained in front of Blore until the end of the second lap, when the wind again dropped away and Blore got the better of Page.

At the finish line it was Forbes in the lead by a half a minute, but only four seconds separated the second and third boats, Blore getting the better of Page with Young fourth.