RACE Officer Dave Bowen set a tricky course for the afternoon's racing at Arden SC at Defford.

Having to contend with wind, varying in strength and direction, the small fleet had many a near capsize but all managed to stay upright.

Commodore Richard Drink-water, sailing with his ex-crew Helen Williams in the Enter-prise, managed a good win over Alan Salerman (Enterprise) with yet another crew from the recent training course ahead of Stuart Stephen and daughter Caroline.

These were the only finishers as the rest of the fleet found the weather too testing or a cuppa too inviting and retired after the first lap.

The second race of the day was an all-Enterprise event when, with the wind strength at the top of the scale, fast racing was the order of the day.

The first lap was a real battle between Salerman and Drink-water.

The second then saw the latter pull away slightly while Step-hen closed on Salerman.

The wind strength dropped slightly on the last lap, resulting in Drinkwater's lead being cut to just 30 seconds over Saler-man, while Stephen dropped back to finish a few minutes further adrift.