Weak and fluctuating North Westerly/ Northerly winds spoiled a nearly perfect day for the 183 boats that took part in the fifth week's racing, sponsored by Kayospruce Ltd.

A 30 minute postponement on the Black Group course allowed the wind to steady and build to five knots before the fleets were released by race director Jamie Wilkinson. The strong weather-going tide presented few problems on the start line as the fleets were held under Flag Zulu. Only the last combined start of IRC 3 and the Sigma 33s suffered a general recall.

The series-leading boats in both IRC 1 and IRC 2 were beaten by their nearest rivals as Russell Hodgson (Deliverance II) and Mark Franklin (Kimancee Eve) scored over Jerry Otter in Exabyte 2 and Peter Rutter's Quokka respectively.

In the Sportsboat Classes, Iain May, sailing his Hunter 707 Charlie Fish, improved his overall score with a win and a 4th place on the day behind Patrick Miles on Darkness in the afternoon.

In an exciting last windward leg to the entrance of the River Hamble, Andy Smith on Twister had led the 16-strong 1720 fleet to within 300 metres before he was overtaken by David and Robert Greenhalgh (G&T) and Mike Budd in Gul.