CLACTON Sailing Club staged two historic races in conditions that ranged from glorious to the truly epic.

The Butlins Trophy was held in light onshore winds, under fabulous blue skies and calm waters.

John Summerfield, sporting a new sail on his Solo dinghy, claimed the race win on handicap, followed by Matt Burrell and Larry Foxon, in their Hurricanes.

A mixed fleet of catamarans and dinghies headed up the coast to the Walings buoy, moored at Frinton, with Foxon and Pete Boxer getting away to a second-perfect start in the Hurricane 5.9.

The fleet slowly appeared to stretch out on the broad reach, with the pair of Hurricanes ahead of two Dart 18s, followed by two Dart 16s.

The dinghies were close behind, in accordance with handicap order.

Impressively, Burrell, sailing his Hurricane 5.9SX single-handed, hoisted the big asymmetric kite and became a distinctive trail blazer for the others to follow.

However, struggling to snuff the kite and control the three sails on his own, he lost ground at the Walings buoy, allowing the ebbing tide to carry him past and for chasing boats to close the gap.

With the boat classes nicely paired, mini-races developed, with Rob Mitchell showing his experience to finish ahead of Mark and George Venables, in the Dart 16s, and Martin and Debbie Chivers finishing ahead of Daniel Brzezinski, in the Dart 18s.

Brian Allan, in the Laser Two, was destined never to catch Summerfield, who demonstrated increasing mastery of his Solo.

The Rose Bowl race was fiercely contested in very different conditions, on Monday.

Force four to five southerlies and building seas under ominous grey skies meant only four experienced catamaran teams headed out towards the start line, supported by both of the club's rescue boats.

After a tough three-lap race lasting nearly an hour, husband-and-wife team Martin and Debbie Chivers retained their undisputed reputation of high-wind experts and went on to secure a well-deserved win overall.

Brzezinski and Boxer, in training for the Dart 18 Nationals later this month, had teamed-up for the race and gave chase to the Chivers' boat, both deciding to beat close to the shore to escape the tide.

Ian Wright, sailing with Brian Allan, adopted the strategy of sailing their Dart 18 slightly lower but noticeably faster upwind, but then had to tack out to sea earlier.

Without any dagger boards, the Dart 18 can be difficult to tack in waves and at various times each boat suffered knock-back manoeuvres.

Freeing off on to the reaching legs, the real force of the conditions was felt for the first time.

The crews had to trapeze to counter the ever-present risk of pitch pole, when racing these 18' cats in rolling swells.

Foxon and Mike Rolfe, sailing the bigger Hurricane catamaran, chose to retire early but continued to enjoy exciting free sailing.

Wright proved again that a race is not over until the end as he finally caught the Brzezinski Dart on the last leg.

Throwing caution to the wind, both helms gunned their cats down the swell lines, oblivious to the risks as they closed on the finish line.

It was perhaps sheer determination that allowed Wright to fight off the challenge to finish ahead by just seconds in this most epic of races.