GUNFLEET Sailing Club held their race for the Fleet Championship, with Jack and Elliot Berry claiming victory in their Fireball.

A very light east/north-east breeze, just slipping into a force two, saw the competitors holding close to the line, with the freshly flooding tide negating the risk of being overeager.

At the start it was the Berry boys that were instantly away on a tack up the coast to the Kingscliff buoy, followed very closely by Robert Gutteridge, in his Laser, and Jack Berry, in his Comet.

The latter sailed slightly freer off the wind and gained good speed.

It wasn’t long before Clare Williams and Michael Giles took their Xenon through all the single-handers but stopping short of the Fireball.

On the tight reach out to the Seaward mark, both the Fireball and Xenon hoisted their spinnakers and gained extra speed, opening up a considerable gap against the slow-handicap dinghies.

After a gentle gybe out at sea, it was another reach down to the AWS buoy, before a beat back out to sea.

It was this latter leg that caused one or two competitors to pinch in order to try and make the buoy in one but without success, only managing to stall their boats.

The penultimate leg was a run down to Eastcliff and then a beat back through the line.

For a while, Eddie White held off Harry Swinbourne in the Laser fleet but surprisingly White capsized when tacking close inshore, losing several minutes righting his craft.

In the slow-handicap fleet it was the Comets of Harvey and Cath Bicknell that dominated, but the Topazes were busy having their own battles.

Mia and Hannah Gittins did very well, considering they have only just started to sail, giving Millie Berry and Poppy a good run for their money.

Meanwhile, Owen and Lauren Hooper sailed a steady course in their Topaz and were delighted to be first home in their class.

By now the wind had freshened slightly, but during the second lap it had fallen again, only to freshen during the third and final lap.

For the Berry brothers, the variable winds appeared to make little difference and they took the winning gun, and the trophy, with a reasonable margin.

Results: Fleet Championship: 1 Fireball – Jack and Elliot Berry, 2 Laser – Robert Gutteridge, 3 Laser – Harry Swinbourne.