Penny Yarwood from Up River Yacht Club has won the Cookham Reach Sailing Club Lightning 368 Open after winning two races and a third and finishing with five points. The competition was extremely close with the top three sailors separated by one point after Andrew Yuille of Cookham Reach Sailing Club finished on six points by taking two wins and two fourths and Simon Hopkins of Up River Yacht Club also finished on six points after taking four second places.
Race officers Dave Phillips, Marcus Robb and James Dyas set a course with two buoys. The sailors started in front of the club OD box with a slightly upstream bias line and set off downstream. The downstream buoy was set about 150m downstream of the club jetty. This buoy was rounded to starboard, the sailors returned back upstream and downwind to the upstream buoy which was set about 40m above the club jetty and rounded to port.
The wind was light for the start of the first race and the sailors struggled away from the line with a couple recalled due to being across the line at the gun. Simon Hopkins (LN 428) took an early lead from Penny Yarwood (LN 425), but Penny took the lead and completed the race to take her first win of the day with Simon second and John Claridge (LN 447) third.
In the second race, Andrew Yuille made a better start than his false start in the first race and took an early lead which was never headed and he won ahead of Simon, Penny and Martin Evans (LN 150).
In the third race, Penny won ahead of Simon second, Martin third and Andrew fourth. Penny decided to sit out the final race of the day with an injury and Andrew took an early lead and pulled out a very healthy lead to win ahead of Simon second, John third and Martin fourth.
Andrew Yuille won the Derek Bayley Trophy as highest-placed CRSC Lightning helm.
