CLACTON Sailing Club members were greeted by the most glorious conditions as they competed for the much-coveted Dennis Wood Cup.

Twelve boats of various classes, including Hurricanes and Darts, the speedy catamarans, along with the very nimble Laser fleet, lined up on the start line of a long and challenging course.

The course was made up of a combination of interlocking triangles and sausages, which took some competitors more than two hours to complete.

At 11am, the start gun sounded and Pete Boxer, single-handedly sailing his Dart 18, was first across the line.

Robert Mitchell, who went on to win the cup on handicap, sailing his Dart 16, also single-handed, was in hot pursuit.

James Foxon, in his Laser, was hard on their heels.

First buoy honours went to Larry Foxon and Mike Rolfe, in their new Hurricane catamaran, after charging though the fleet and so the chase was on.

By the completion of the first lap, the leading quintet of boats, Larry Foxon, Rolfe, Mitchell, Matt Burrell and his young developing crew of Jack and Dan Brzezinski, also sailing his Dart 18 single-handed, extended their lead significantly on the rest of the fleet, with the two Dart 16s sailed by Mark Venables and son George and Robert and Cathy Mitchell fought for honours among the double-handed Dart 16s.

The first lap was not without its casualties.

After a superb effort, the Laser fleet were forced to give in to the challenging course, but continued to enjoy free sailing in the perfect conditions.

The final and concluding lap was raced at an extremely fast pace with the freshening breeze and saw the top two places separated by 60 seconds on corrected time.

Final positions: 1 Robert Mitchell, Dart 16; 2 Pete Boxer, Dart 18; 3 Matt Burrell and Jack Wayland, Dart 18.

This coming weekend the sailing club will be supporting the national Push The Boat Out initiative and encourage anyone to come along and have a go.