In July we sponsored the first Wednesday Evening Open Series hosted by Medway Yacht Club. 25 boats raced under Portsmouth Yardstick handicap (amended locally) with a separate class for Sonatas. There were a variety of entries varying from a Mirage 2700 to a J80 and included Sonatas Dragons and Squibs.

Nine races were scheduled with 6 to count and the competitors experienced a variety of conditions. In most races the breeze tended to drop as darkness approached but boats finished within the time limit for all races.

Some local tweaking of handicaps resulted in wins for 5 different boats but this didn't detract from the overall results with the top boats being the most consistent performers.

With two races left, any one of the top 3 boats was in contention.   The J80 Jemini (David Gould) came out on top to win the Barton Cruiser trophy and product voucher. In second place was Dragon Lacy Jayne 11 (Geoff Taylor/Jon Moon) who was unable to compete in the final race, tying with Mosaic a Salty Dog (Joe Bolton) on equal points.

In the Sonata fleet the series was dominated by Musical Express, which was sailed by Barton's own Paul Botterill with Mike Harrison. It went on to win the Barton Keelboat trophy and voucher with Kevin Hook and Mike Harrison at the helm. In second place was Silver Lining (Chris Hough/Colin Nutt) followed by BFG (Chris Bentley).

All competitors enjoyed the short race series format and racing will continue on Wednesday evenings until 17^th August, with the help of race officer Roger Bishop.

Results

Cruisers

1^st  Jemini (J 80) - D.Gould

2^nd  Lucy Jayne II(Dragon) - Taylor/Moon

3^rd   Mosaic(Salty Dog) - J. Bolton

4^th   Breeze(Squibb) - O. Wilby 

5^th   Lunan(Jeanneau 26) - I.  Hall

Sonatas

1^st    Musical Express - Hook/Harrison

2^nd   Silver Lining - Hough/Nutt