CLACTON Sailing Club held the last races in their Autumn Leaf Series.

They took place in unseasonably warm weather, under unbroken blue skies.

Once the series results had been calculated, the convincing overall champions were Matt Burrell and Dan Brzezinski, in their Hurricane SX catamaran.

Southerly winds the previous week had picked up a dangerous looking swell, with waves breaking onto the beach.

A ‘go’ decision was made on the basis that the sea would calm as the tide dropped and landing would be less of a problem.

Launching was only possible for the sail boats and the club's rescue rib by using the shelter of the sea defences.

The startline required the fleet to cross on port tack, heading against the ebbing tide.

Pete Boxer and Eilish Dempsey, in their Dart 18 cat, attempted to luff Brian Allen and Ian Wright, in their Hurricane SX, off the line, squeezing them close to the ODM.

However, in the final seconds, Rob Mitchell, sailing with Alan Griffins, dropped in from windward in the distinctive yellow Dart 16 and slipped into the smallest gap to cross ahead and claim startline honours in race one.

The fleet headed upwind in steady force four winds, with all the crews flat out on the trapeze wires.

Allen and Wright looked particularly good sailing just loose enough to keep the Hurricane powered-up and driving through the waves.

After a quick tack onto starboard, they rounded the windward mark in first place and then headed off on the first beam reach out to seaward.

Burrell and Brzezinski, looking very determined, chased in the other Hurricane.

Mitchell and Griffins did well to round the windward in second place, with Boxer and Dempsey hard on their heels.

Allen took up a defensive position just ahead and slightly downwind of Burrell on the final lap and controlled the leg by delaying his gybe before gunning his boat onto the final reach to claim line honours and first place on handicap.

Race two was equally close, although the wind both moderated and veered during the three laps.

In a role reversal, Burrell and Brzezinski led from the startline and covered Allen and Wright on each leg and in each manoeuvre to win by a close margin and claim the series win outright, with Allen and Wright second.

John Summerfield, with good results from the earlier part of the race series, was sailing this year in his single-handed Dart 15 cat.

He could only manage a fifth and fourth-place to finish third overall.

Peter and Helen Lyall thoroughly enjoyed putting their Wanderer dinghy through its paces, completing both races with broad smiles and waves to celebrate.