It was another good turnout for the last weekend of the Pwllheli Challenge Series with everyone needing to gain valuable points from the last races to be in the prizes. After the last couple of weekends with Summer like conditions and no wind, talk in the bar on the Friday night was of a gale in the forecast and a cold wet day but as the forecast had been changing all week, no-one truly knew what to expect. In the end Saturday brought bright skies and a cold dense wind from the west – perfect racing conditions! Strong winds were still forecast and the start of a chop building on the water indicated that heavier weather was out there somewhere, but in the shelter of the bay wind speeds ranged from just 6kts to a maximum of 20kts.

Although Sgrech had built a good lead over the series they could still lose it during the weekend if they put in a bad performance and with points still to be had, everyone was eager to get a good start Saturday. As a result several boats were over the line at the start giving Poppy and Midnight Mojito a good head start. However, they failed to maintain their positions and the final results were Sgrech first, Jetstream second and Jeepster third. The good weather managed to hold out for the second race and the jostle for second place between Jetstream and Jeepster was quite evident on the water. Sgrech took line honours giving them first overall with Jeepster finishing second on the water, just seconds in front of Jetstream. However the 6 second lead wasn’t enough for Jeepster to take the point from Jetstream and both J-Boats were beaten on corrected time by Wil2Win who took second place. Jetstream got third and Jeepster fourth.

The overnight hail storms Saturday night had replenished the white coating to the hills around Pwllheli, giving Sunday the perfect backdrop for Alan Dop’s photo shoot of racing in the bay, for next year’s PSC calendar. Despite the photos, all focus was on the last two races. Midnight Mojito got off to a good start on the first race but they failed to fly their spinnaker on the first downwind leg, letting Jeepster back into the top three and although Midnight Mojito hoisted their spinnaker on subsequent legs, they were unable to make up ground already lost on the fleet. Sgrech took and maintained a good lead to take first place followed by Jeepster and Jetstream on the water but again, Wil2Win’s handicap was too much for Jetstream and they had to settle for fourth place in the table with Wil2Win third. The last race, and although Sgrech had definitely won the trophy, there was still a battle for second and third place. All boats milled around the pin end of the start line trying to get a good start at the gun. Jetstream got squeezed out by Wil2win and had to go round for a second go. However, a late start by Midnight Mojito put them at the ODM just as Jetstream tried again. Again they were squeezed out! This gave both Sgrech and Jeepster clear air to continue to the finish. Sgrech took first, Jeepster second and Jetstream put in an exceptional performance to overtake the fleet and take third place.

The final positions in the table at the end of the Challenge Series were: 1st – Sgrech, 2nd – Jeepster,3rd – Jetstream, 4th - Wil 2 win, 5th - Midnight Mojito, 6th – Poppy, 7th – Injenous, 8th - Wennol 111, 9th - Filthy Gorgeous.

Photographs by Alan Dop available here  and full results here.