ROYAL Windermere Yacht Club’s third ‘race week’ of the season was characterised by light winds – yet the best sailors were out in force and always finding a zephyr of wind somewhere.

Renowned sailor Nigel Tullett won the Susan Crossley Trophy in his Windermere class 17-foot yacht ‘Chameleon’, coming first in all three races in the competition with his son Gavin as crew.

This outstanding win was the pinnacle of the week which saw three 17-foot class races at the start of the week, two in the south lake and one in the north.

The middle day saw the freshest breeze in otherwise fairly calm conditions, and ‘Chameleon’ had good starts in all three races and won each with a comfortable margin.

In second place came the classic 17-footer ‘Whisper’, helmed by Gay Crossley and crewed by Jim Schwerdt – it also won the Tarakee Cup for the best placed classic yacht.

In the Flying 15s, there was equally stiff competition and jockeying for first and second positions were ‘No Illusions’ and ‘Carbon Footprint’. ‘No Illusions’ (John and Roseanne Walter) won on Saturday and again in the first race on Sunday, while ‘Carbon Footprint’ (Phil Snewin and Ros Coleman) won the second race on Sunday.

The dinghies were out in force on the weekend too after being totally becalmed mid-week, with Peter Wright in his Devoti D-One and Nigel Hutchinson in his Solo sharing the honours in the two races. Nigel Hutchinson in ‘Ultra-Sonic’ won the first race on handicap, with Peter Wright coming second. The result was reversed in race two, with Peter Wright in his Devoti D-One winning the race, and Nigel Hutchinson in ‘Ultra-Sonic’ coming second. Judith Gore and Simon McVey followed closely behind in third place in both races in ‘Dream Catcher’, a GP 14.

The varied mix of yachts in the weekend’s cruiser race saw equally stiff competition, with ‘Va Voom’ (Trevor Bonson) winning in his First 21.7.

The past week has also seen the annual Belle Isle race, in which all types of dinghies competed in a clockwise course around the island. Light winds made tacking tricky up the narrow west side of the island, with Amanda Wilson showing her helming skills throughout the race and taking first place.